Following a quartet of “cloud” models, Prince’s Vox HDC-77 is the latest electric guitar from his collection set to be sold at auction.
A 1994 blue "cloud", a yellow model, his "Blue Angel" six-string, and his iconic “Cloud 3” have sold for a combined $1.9m in recent years, with the “blackburst” Vox estimated to sell for up to £300,000 ($383,000).
A regular on Prince’s stages, including his famed Montreux Jazz Festival set in 2013, it was a regular during the musician’s HitNRun tour, which visited the UK, US, and Canada between 2014-15. Those shows proved to be his final electric performances, with the Piano & Microphone tour concluding shortly before his death in April 2016.
Another HDC-77, this time with an ivory/white finish and a psychedelic body pattern, was also employed during this era, though the "blackburst" seems to have seen more stage time.
Vox launched the guitar in 2010 – a highly contoured body and a three-way switch for its CoAxe pickups to dish out humbucker, single-coil, and P-90-esque tones, were notable features.
3rdeyegirl – made up of guitarist Donna Grantis, bass player Ida Nielsen, and drummer Hannah Welton – had served as his backing band for the HitNRun tour, with the guitar’s last recorded usage at the White House. Prince played it during a special performance for Barack Obama in 2015.
“Cloud” guitars were a notable family of sidekicks during Prince's illustrious career, with other prominent, unorthodox, models including his crazily shaped Schecter custom shop symbol guitar.
But it was Nielsen who had turned him into Vox guitars. The bassist confirmed this with a 2019 tweet that read “I bought one for me, and then he liked it so much that I got one for him, too.”
The guitar has been in Grantis’ private collection until earlier this year, and according to the London-based auction house Sotheby's, the HDC-77 “hasn't been played since Prince last performed with it,” extending a chance for bidders to battle for an unblemished piece of Prince’s history.
The Vox’s sale is part of Sotheby's inaugural Pop Culture auction. It will bring artifacts from the worlds of music, film, and entertainment for the auction block, with three Noel Gallagher-played guitars and a Steinway grand piano that once called Abbey Road Studios its home, also set to be sold.
Bidding takes place online between August 29 and September 12. An in-person exhibition of the listings will take place at London's New Bond Street from September 9.
Visit Sotheby's to learn more about Prince’s Vox HDC-77 and the other artifacts that make up the Pop Culture collection.
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