Prince's Hohner

[wjombat]

I played a Hohner "the Prince", which is pretty similar to the actual Hohner that Prince played. Very, very cool guitar. Any idea what kind of pickups are on the real deal and/or what would get you close. They seem to both be Strat sized pickups. Anyone have any idea.

PS I also played a Univox 12 string that the guy at my music store just had re-fretted. Very cool guitar with awesome action. It was like playing a strat.

 

[hamerfan]

Re: Prince's Hohner

Are you sure he played a Hohner. Me thinks Hohner tried to copy a custom made guitar. BTW i had a guitar on the bench, which looked alike but had different name (dont remember but not Hohner). This one was low low low budget and i would never put any money in such a cheaply made guitar.

 

[jmh151]

Re: Prince's Hohner

Prince originally (in the Purple Rain days) had the stock pickups in it, which weren't that good and were noisy as h*ll. His tone mainly relies on BOSS pedals. He later used EMG's in the custom Schecter/Auerswald guitars to cut down on the noise. When I saw him in concert a few years ago he played strats and the Scecter/Auerswald guitars all loaded with EMG's.

Due to the noise issue with the pickups on the original Hohner, I wouldn't be suprised if Prince's guitar tech changed the pickups out for something quieter, but everyone that works with Prince is pretty much sworn to secrecy.

 

[wjombat]

Re: Prince's Hohner

Prince's guitar was made in Japan by the Morris Factory. It is a Hohner branded H.S. Anderson guitar and is quite well built from what I understand. Since Purple Rain blew up, Hohner has put out several models of different quality that are variations on a theme. Thus "The Prinz" that I played. It was pretty well built but I guess some of their cash in copies are pretty crappy. I have heard rumors that he tried Kinmans and then switched to Fender Noiseless Strat pickups, which are in it right now.

I don't understand, there is nothing really boutique about his setup. He seems to be able to make magic with whatever he plays on. His tone is awesome and he plays all Boss pedals. Could be some secret mods that we do not hear about.

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: Prince's Hohner

Could be some secret mods that we do not hear about.

Could be that P. R. Nelson esquire is just a very talented mofo. :cool2:

 

[Butch Snyder]

Re: Prince's Hohner

I found a bunch of pics when I Googled the guitar. Many are better and closer shots of the repro guitar. This one actually shows the man with the guitar. It could be photoshopped. I don't know. Anyway, shots I have seen show the bridge pickup as being a Strat pickup and not a Telecaster bridge pickup. It mounts to a piece of vinyl like the pickguard.

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: Prince's Hohner

Those Hohners always came with two, same-size, Stratocaster-sized pickups. The plastic bridge PU mounting/surround is original.

As wjombat points out, the original guitars were MIJ. Later "cashing-in" editions, branded as The Prinz, were MIK - like the Jack Bass and those Superstrats with the Steinberger-licensed vibrato.

 

[wjombat]

Re: Prince's Hohner

I need to be clear, I played a MIJ "The Prince", which seems to be an early cash in model, hence the suspicious "legal action worthy" name. It did not have the Fender headstock. It was actually really nice. The original is supposed to be of even higher quality.

 

[wjombat]

Re: Prince's Hohner

If I were to build a clone, I think I would lean toward some very standard medium output pickups. Or make it an homage, and go ahead an make it a double humbucker model. "The Prince" that I played was soft Maple. The original was ash with lightly flamed maple top and back. Course, I might just go ahead and do it in alder because I like it and it is cheaper. I could never make it sound like his Royal Badness anyway so why not deviate from the plan. I would love to get my hands on any variation of this guitar. I love the way it looks. Except I hate the recent high end reissue models headstocks. The look like some sort of phallic bird beak. I don't think Prince has anything to do with those models anyway. I am sure the ones that he plays on stage and throws over his head, ala The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, are copies that were made sparing no expense. He has at least 2 of these that look the same. From what I understand they are just plain old Fender Noisless Strat Pickups. Don't Clapton and Beck use those too?

 

[John_L]

Re: Prince's Hohner

I would guess he had to change out the pickups a couple of years ago as they cut out on him in the rain at the Super Bowl.
As for Fender Noiseless Clapton uses them Jeff Beck uses Lace Holy Grail pick ups.

 

[Butch Snyder]

Re: Prince's Hohner

I think JB uses the ceramic Fender Noiseless pickups that come stock in his signature Strat.

 

[Jeff5]

Re: Prince's Hohner

I don't understand, there is nothing really boutique about his setup. He seems to be able to make magic with whatever he plays on. His tone is awesome and he plays all Boss pedals. Could be some secret mods that we do not hear about.

Either that or he's just...Prince! :1:

 

[wjombat]

Re: Prince's Hohner

So maybe we should play what we have and just practice. If someone can play such ho-hum gear and sound so awesome, maybe "tone chasing" is a bit of a waste of time.

 

[Butch Snyder]

Re: Prince's Hohner

So maybe we should play what we have and just practice. If someone can play such ho-hum gear and sound so awesome, maybe "tone chasing" is a bit of a waste of time.

Because when you're me and you can't play very well, every little bit helps.....

 

[John_L]

Re: Prince's Hohner

I think JB uses the ceramic Fender Noiseless pickups that come stock in his signature Strat.

He switched after the latest ones "Sound like crap" it was in Guitar and Bass last month.

 

[Butch Snyder]

Re: Prince's Hohner

He switched after the latest ones "Sound like crap" it was in Guitar and Bass last month.

Ahh, okay. I remember his old sig Strat, the one with the gold Lace Sensors and the Dually, That's the one I liked...

 

[LReese]

Re: Prince's Hohner

Ahh, okay. I remember his old sig Strat, the one with the gold Lace Sensors and the Dually, That's the one I liked...

It's been around on various forums - which means nothing recent - JB was using noiseless pickups (stacks) John Suhr wound while he was at Fender. I'd say JB could make most any pickup sound good, though.

But back to Prince - I really liked that baby blue Strat with Floyd Rose and EMG's. It was a nice look.

 

[wjombat]

Re: Prince's Hohner

But back to Prince - I really liked that baby blue Strat with Floyd Rose and EMG's. It was a nice look.

That is pretty slick. He is such an underated player.