Prince: a custom-made Cloud guitar in black finish, numbered 4, taken on the Act I & II, Prince and the New Power Generation tours, 1993,

Footnotes

Prince was synonomous with his custom Schecter guitars, the first being a Cloud comissioned by him in 1983. Throughout his career he used this model in many colours, with varying inlay designs to the fretboard. His guitars were often resprayed to coordinate with new looks he was adopting.

The guitar in this lot can be matched to the photography shoot by Lynn Goldsmith of Prince for the programme cover for his Act 1 1993 tour. The distinctive Roman numerals are visible and on the headstock the number 4 can clearly be seen, painted black on the photographs. There are areas of wear which would be expected for a used guitar. It has been confirmed by a member of Prince's technical team at the time that this guitar was taken on tour.

This black Cloud guitar has been treasured by the vendor and has rarely been taken out of its case while in her posession, since she won it in an MTV competition in 1993. The prize included travelling with the NPG band on their tour bus during the Act II tour in Germany, where she joined them in Munich and then to Düsseldorf the following day. The whirlwind experience saw the vendor watch Prince on stage as well as eventually meeting him and having a private performance by him. The entire experience culminated in her being presented with this guitar. The black Cloud was handed to her on stage by Levi Seacer Jr (NPG Guitarist) at the Wildenrath Flugplatz in Wegberg before watching Prince perform. It is sold with the original Paisley Park letter as well as copies of much of the touring itinerary and travelling paperwork.