Prince's iconic Cloud 3 electric guitar has returned to auction after it was last sold almost 20 years ago. The yellow Cloud 3 was one of Prince's centerpiece instruments, after being used on stage at the height of his stardom in the mid-1980s to the early 1990s, including during the Purple Rain, Parade, Sign of the Times, Lovesexy, and Diamonds & Pearls tours.
Christie previously sold Prince's Cloud 3 for £4,200 (around $8,114 at the time) in 2005 and on eBay for less than its original listing of £59,000 (approx $113,983). The main reason for this low price, however, was that it was not yet verified as Prince's original instrument.
Auction house Julien’s verified Cloud 3’s authenticity by conducting a CT scan and interviewing Dave Rusan, the luthier who created the guitar. Cloud 3 is now expected to fetch between $400,000 and $600,000 at the upcoming auction this May.
Julien's was previously responsible for selling some of Prince's most prized Cloud guitars, including his yellow Cloud ($225,000), his “Blue Angel” Cloud 2 ($563,500), and his blue teal Cloud, which set the world record for the most expensive Prince guitar sold at auction when it went for an eye-watering $700,000.
“Julien’s Auctions has laid the groundwork for the return of Prince’s Cloud 3 guitar, exemplified by our longstanding commitment to honoring his legacy,” said David Goodman, CEO of Julien’s Auctions.
“Our company proudly stands by our proven track record in sourcing and presenting instruments of unparalleled historical significance, and Prince’s Cloud 3 now joins this esteemed category.”
In an interview with Guitar.com, luthier Dave Rusan explained the process of creating the iconic Cloud guitars for The Artist:
“He said to take the bass as a starting point. It’s got to be white, it has to have gold parts, he already knew he liked EMG pickups, so it had to have those, he said it had to have spades on the fingerboard. A lot of people think they’re dots, but they’re actually little spades. He wanted one on the truss rod cover.
“Prince was a guy who had to have guitars that would perform well for him, but it was all part of his big plan – his image was a big deal. He’s not a guy who would sit around and polish his guitars or even think that much about them – they were tools. He was so multi-faceted – he was much more than just a guitar hero.”
Prince's Cloud 3 joins the Music Icons exhibition tour of iconic guitars. It includes Bob Dylan and Robbie Robertson's “Workhorse” 1965 Fender Telecaster, John Lennon's Framus 12-string Hootenanny acoustic guitar, Randy Bachman's collection, and Bono's “Irish Falcon” Gretsch G6136i.
The exhibition is open to the public between May 15 and 18 at the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, and May 22-28 at Times Square’s Hard Rock Cafe. The auction will then take place on May 29 and 30.
For more information about Music Icons, visit Julien's.
