# Prince Symbol Guitar Replica



## Hemi-Powered Drone (Oct 25, 2011)

Just out of curiosity, and maybe an eventual(very far in the future) buy, but does anyone know what builder would be good for making a replica of Prince's Purple Symbol guitar?

I'm talking about this one,







I'm also curious about getting a strap like that one.


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## BobbyBaja (Oct 25, 2011)

I think Ed Roman made replicas of it, but I've heard nothing but bad things about him..
Worth a look though.


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## Grand Moff Tim (Oct 26, 2011)

I'm sure ESP would do it, if you've recently won the lottery or something.


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## Triple-J (Oct 26, 2011)

It's actually Schecter who make those guitars for Prince but IIRC they have some of kind of contract with him which means they won't mass produce them but will make them in extremely limited runs, I'm pretty sure that ESP japan produced a guitar that was similar to that or the cloud guitar at some point too but I'm not sure of the models name.


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## ridner (Oct 26, 2011)

Schecter makes Prince's guitars? Crazy.


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## Be_eM (Oct 26, 2011)

Triple-J said:


> It's actually Schecter who make those guitars for Prince




Hmmm my vote goes to Auerswald 

Not a replica, but the original, though.

Bernd


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## daemon barbeque (Oct 26, 2011)

Ask the original luthier 
HOME

Edit: You beat me to it


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## MaxOfMetal (Oct 26, 2011)

Ask when you're actually going to do it, as even ten years time can cause the builders of today to fold, and the builders of tomorrow to rise.


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## yellowv (Oct 26, 2011)

ridner said:


> Schecter makes Prince's guitars? Crazy.



People look at Schecter and think mid level Korean guitars, but their USA custom guitars are some of the best guitars money can buy. Oh and you will need a lot of it to buy one.


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## MaxOfMetal (Oct 26, 2011)

yellowv said:


> People look at Schecter and think mid level Korean guitars, but their USA custom guitars are some of the best guitars money can buy. Oh and you will need a lot of it to buy one.



I think Schecter's USA output is even smaller than some popular independent USA shops.


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## DrakkarTyrannis (Oct 26, 2011)

Last I heard, because I'm a Prince fan and wanted one of his cloud guitars, is guitars are made by Schecter but can't be sold by them. Prince's company NPG (New Power Generation) owns the merchandising rights to that kind of stuff and you'd have to buy it through there. Any company can make a replica though (Dunno how legal it is but I doubt it would go public enough for Prince's lawyer to show up at your door) but for the official Cloud and Symbol guitars, they're done through Prince's company and made by Schecter.

Btw you have EXCELLENT taste in guitars


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## yellowv (Oct 26, 2011)

MaxOfMetal said:


> I think Schecter's USA output is even smaller than some popular independent USA shops.



Yeah you don't see them building much these days.


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## nojyeloot (Oct 26, 2011)

I sure do know a guy. He lives and has a shop down the street from my house. He made this one for a tribute band. It's not the one you pictured, but it's of the same flavor.






Bell Custom Guitars


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## Grand Moff Tim (Oct 26, 2011)

Triple-J said:


> I'm pretty sure that ESP japan produced a guitar that was similar to that or the cloud guitar at some point too but I'm not sure of the models name.


 
Sugizo of Luna Sea had a signature model that looked like Prince's cloud guitar. I've seen some Edwards (Japan's equivalent of LTD) versions floating around on eBay from time to time.


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## MTech (Oct 26, 2011)

*This was pretty easy to find with google but just to help...

Q: What's the story behind the Cloud Guitar? *
A: It was originally built in 1983 by David Husain, luthier at Knut Koupee music store in Minneapolis. The design is based on a bass guitar Prince used in the video for "Why you Wanna Treat me so bad." (A Bass version of the guitar was on display at the NPG in Minneapolis). Although only four were originally patented (These have been resprayed to suit his cosmetic needs.) there have been variations including a Blue model with "Batsign" inlays on the neck. The Cloud was first seen and played an important part in the movie Purple Rain.

*Q: What are the specs for the original Clouds? *
A: This guitar features all maple construction and has a thru-neck. It is built using Gibson&#8217;s 24.75&#8221; scale length and has 22 medium/jumbo frets with a 12&#8221; radius on the fretboard. This guitar is equipped with EMG active pickups (an 81 humbucker at the bridge and an SA single coil in the neck position) and Schaller hardware &#8211; a tunomatic style &#8216;457&#8217; bridge/tailpiece and M6 machine heads. It has one volume control, one tone control and a 3-way switch. The whole guitar is finished in two-pack paint (including the fretboard) and is equipped with Jim Dunlop strap locks and a brass nut. The truss rod cover is also made from brass. All hardware is gold plated. 

*Q: What's the difference between the original Clouds played by Prince and the ones for sale at www.npgmc.com? *
A: These are made by Schecter, (not handmade), have a bolt-on neck and different pickups. Also, the original Clouds have Love Symbol-shaped (or in one instance: batman-logo shaped) fretmarkers. The NPGMC models have regular dots. Schecter says: "The Prince "Cloud" guitars (and the "Symbol" guitar, as well) are made under an exclusive agreement with Prince and Paisley Park, and are only available through Prince's website and at his live shows. We do not offer them in any form anywhere else, and, per our agreement, will not use any of their features in the construction of other guitars!" 
Scotty2Funky adds: Recently you could buy a copy of the Cloud from NPG Music Club (Prince&#8217;s official site). These are made by the Korean wing of American guitar company Shecter under the &#8216;Diamond Series&#8217; label. Two versions were available &#8211; one with a thru-neck and the other with a bolt-on neck. They feature Duncan Design pickups and Grover machine heads. The bridge is, I believe, made by Gotoh. These guitars were available in metallic white and metallic blue. They are currently fetching high prices on the auction sites although practically every one seems to have the same fault. The paint wears away very easily along the top edge of the fretboard. Many guitars were even shipped in this condition. 





Apparently they're only $1,500 off Prince's site when it was working...but the legit one is $25,000!!!!!


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