According to Dave Rusan and his guitar techs his clouds had custom slimmer necks, so I guess all his customized guitar had also slimmer necks.

JorisE73 said:

I wonder when that started? It's unlikely he had a custom guitar to learn from, but by all accounts he impressed people before the fame. He also borrowed that classic guitar from The Roots guy for a performance.

lavendardrummachine said:

I wonder when that started? It's unlikely he had a custom guitar to learn from, but by all accounts he impressed people before the fame. He also borrowed that classic guitar from The Roots guy for a performance.

Rusan told the story of the cloud guitar, he said that after he built the first one with the standard Gobson specs for the movie Prince loved it and ordered two more for the tour but needed slimmer necks to get more action out of it.

JorisE73 said:

lavendardrummachine said:

I wonder when that started? It's unlikely he had a custom guitar to learn from, but by all accounts he impressed people before the fame. He also borrowed that classic guitar from The Roots guy for a performance.

Rusan told the story of the cloud guitar, he said that after he built the first one with the standard Gobson specs for the movie Prince loved it and ordered two more for the tour but needed slimmer necks to get more action out of it.

Right, not disputing that, but I am pointing out he was able to play adult sized guitars, and it couldn't have been that drastic or else he woudn't have been able to swap guitars with people the times it happened.

lavendardrummachine said:

LoveGalore said:

lavendardrummachine said:

Right, not disputing that, but I am pointing out he was able to play adult sized guitars, and it couldn't have been that drastic or else he woudn't have been able to swap guitars with people the times it happened.

He isn't saying Prince wasn't using adult sized guitars, lol. A slimmer neck doesn't mean a shorter neck.

Well aware. I was making a joke.

lavendardrummachine said:

LoveGalore said:

lavendardrummachine said: He isn't saying Prince wasn't using adult sized guitars, lol. A slimmer neck doesn't mean a shorter neck.

Well aware. I was making a joke.

For info:
Gibson standard is a full 'adult' sized guitar like the cloud just not to Fender Specs.
Gibson standard is 3/4 and Fender standard is 4/4. Almost everyone who plays a Gibson plays a 3/4 unless it's a custom 4/4 build according to Fender specs.

JorisE73 said:

jazzz said:

. Furthermore, it is clear that Prince was perfectly capable of playing factory-made (non-custom) guitars, also when using the thumb-over-neck technique in the left hand. After all, in the beginning of his career, he played several standard models, such as the Hohner Madcat, Gibson models and Fender Telecasters and Stratocasters. .

Thank you. This is what I keep trying to say.

Also a common complaint from new guitarists is "oh my hands are too small" or whatever. That's not really a thing, any able-bodied person can play a regular guitar, you don't need big hands. Bear in mind that thumb-over-top players are typically doing it more for muting benefit or maybe fretting on the low E string, it's not hard once you get used to that position (rock position rather than classical).

The comment about the acoustic set, "Cream" etc - I've played that purple Taylor guitar actually and it is a small body, a parlour guitar essentially. It was custom made for him so the neck was kinda comfortable / slim in terms of the carve, but I'd argue that's a Taylor thing anyway, they specialize in guitars for touring musicians who aren't exclusively acoustic players etc so often their necks are less chunky than a Martin equivalent. It's more the nut width than the neck shape I think, that makes it feel comfortable (for an acoustic).