A Cloud 3 electric guitar owned by Prince has sold for a whopping $910,000 at an auction hosted by Julien's Auctions last week. The instrument is the most expensive of Prince's, surpassing the 2017 sale of his teal Schechter "Cloud" guitar, which brought in $700,000.
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The Cloud 3 was sold before in 2005; however, the price tag was far lower at "only" $8,114. The guitar's price multiplied by over 100 after the instrument was authenticated. It was estimated to sell for somewhere between $400,00 to $600,000.
Prince used the Cloud 3 on his Purple Rain tour in 1985 as well as his other tours between 1985 and 1992. The instrument was given away during the beginning of his 1993 Act 1 tour.
The yellow guitar was built by Dave Rusan, owner of Rusan Guitarworks. It "began life" as an O'Hagan Nightwater guitar and "presents with correct three-piece neck-through-body construction." The body was later cut down, with maple wings attached to it.
"I was under a lot of pressure to do them quick, and I made everything except the neck," said Rusan.
"I didn't have a lot of jigs so there are some variations in the scroll carvings, but they're all really close," he continued.
The "Cloud" control cavity backplate of the guitar was designed by Gerald Ronning, who combined the SG and Les Paul plate shapes.
Prince donated his Cloud 1 to the Smithsonian Museum. In 2020, his Cloud 2, which "suffered a headstock break and was left un-repaired," sold for over $550,000. The now-sold Cloud 3 was originally gifted to a lucky Z100 listener in a 1993 giveaway. His Cloud 4 was also given away, this time to a fan at a television concert in Germany.
The Cloud 3 was originally painted white, re-painted a peachy-pink and re-re-painted a bright yellow.
The instrument was sold with a case, a Polaroid of the guitar from 1985, the letter of congratulations from Z100 to its 1993 winner, a letter of authenticity from Paisely Park, a Billboard Magazine with the contest winner, a Diamonds & Pearls Deluxe Edition 12 LP and DVD box set with 120-page hardback book, and four photo prints of Prince performing at Madison Square Garden 1988.
Julien's recently auctioned off another expensive guitar: John Lennon's 12-string acoustic guitar, used to record the Help! album and film. The Hootenanny guitar fetched a pretty penny of almost $3 million. Other pricey instruments include Kurt Cobain's Martin D-18E, which boasts the title of most-expensive guitar sold, selling for over $6 million.
READ ALSO: John Lennon's Iconic 'Help' Guitar Sold For Almost $3 Million
