One of the most prominent guitar auctions of 2020 – and there sure were a lot of them – was that of Prince's "Blue Angel" Cloud guitar, which sold for over $563,000 in June.
Now, another Prince-owned and -played Cloud guitar is going under the auctioneer's hammer.
Built by Minneapolis luthier Kurt Nelson in the early '90s (after he was commissioned for the job by Prince), the guitar features a bright yellow finish, golden hardware, cloud-inspired designs on the horn and headstock, and 18 black Prince symbols on the fretboard and the top of neck.
Additionally, the guitar's battery plate features a “PRN Musical Corp.” label, which is marked “PM 16200.”
RR Auction – the firm selling the guitar – says that the instrument is in "fine" condition, with a repair to the headstock's uppermost point, a couple small chips to the paint (near the neck pickup and lower bout), some "faint scattered scuffs" on the back, and a few instances of flaking on the interior of the swirl designs.
“There appears to be an extremely small finish chip towards the lower bout and another near pickup," said a condition report from guitar specialist Chris Lamy.
"There is some wear on the frets indicating the guitar has been played. The strings are old and appeared rather fragile and did have some buildup on them, again, indicative this guitar has been played.
"There is repaired headstock damage to the bass side horn of the headstock and it does not detract or impact playability. I have seen this exact damage on another Cloud and it may just be a weak point on the headstock.”
The guitar comes with a pearloid guitar pick with the Prince symbol, the original purple hardshell carrying case with a matching plush interior and faux reptile scale exterior, and a detailed letter of provenance from Nelson. Its value is estimated at around $60,000.
It also comes with Nelson’s original clear plastic guitar pattern sheet – with a matching Cloud outline in black felt tip – a Plexiglas cut-out of the upper body, and a yellow handkerchief given to Nelson by Paisley Park to color-match with the guitar.
For more info on the guitar, point your browser on over to rrauction.com.
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