Once of Prince‘s iconic Cloud guitars – a teal model made by luthier Andy Beech that he used on tour in the late 1980s and into the 1990s – sold at auction for $700,000 over the weekend.
One of Prince’s iconic Cloud guitars made for him by luthier, Andy Beech, has sold at auction for $700,000 over the weekend.
The auction took place in Los Angeles on Saturday, held by Julien’s Live auction house, which featured a number of iconic rock ‘n’ roll memorabilia (including a Fuzz Face owned by Jimi Hendrix, sold off by the estate of Experience drummer Mitch Mitchell).
According to Julien’s Live auction house, the amount is the highest ever paid for a Prince guitar, and went far above their estimate of $60,000 to $80,000. The new owner of the teal Cloud axe has not been revealed.
The guitar was accompanied by a letter of authenticity from Cloud luthier Beech stating that he made it for Prince. Beech made 31 similar guitars for Prince during his illustrious career.
The catalog listing for the guitar reads:
“A Prince stage-used blue Cloud guitar originally donated by Prince to an auction in 1994 to benefit Los Angeles Earthquake Relief. The guitar was used by Prince in the very late 1980s and early 1990s on stage, in the studio, and for publicity photoshoots. A label affixed to the back of the guitar reads “Property of PRN Music Corp” with a phone number and “PM 16164.”
The guitar is accompanied by a printout of a list of guitars and serial numbers on which this guitar is the second Purple/Blue guitar listed. The guitar is also accompanied by a letter of authenticity from Cloud guitar luthier Andy Beech stating that he made this guitar for Prince.”
