The Artist Mad Cat Inspired Guitar Coaster - Drinks Mat Gift
Regular price £4.95
Prince Rogers Nelson Guitar Inspired Coaster - Mad Cat Drinks Mat Gift. Rock'n'Roll Redux coasters 100 x 100mm hand-made ethically in the UK with a sustainably sourced Eucalyptus board base and a non-slip cork backing. The robust melamine gloss finish is scratch and stain resistant and can withstand temperatures of up to 140ºc.
Employing the Découpe (cut-up) technique in which written text is cut up and rearranged to create a different and perhaps unexpected new narrative, I have employed shards of an artist's words to give discerning fans an opportunity to engage in 'find the song' beneath a foreground that features iconic and beautiful guitars associated with that artist. The Découpe concept can be traced back to at least the Dadaists of the 1920s, but was popularized in the late 1950s and early 1960s by writer William S. Burroughs and used later by David Bowie, Kurt Cobain and Thom Yorke.
My aim from the start, was to create beautiful, collectable pieces that customers could cherish for many years. I made the decision to manufacture close to home in the UK, employing a hard-wearing, high-quality melamine surface as opposed to manufacturing abroad on cheaper, unprotected paper surfaces that begin to stain, scratch and peel in just a matter weeks.
Prince purchased the original Hohner Mad Cat for $30 from “out of guy's trunk at a gas station on his way to a gig”. Another version of the story is that he bought it from Knut Koupee Music in Minneapolis in 1980. The guitar is a 1970’s Fender Telecaster copy made by H.S.Anderson in Japan. Around 500 of these were sold under the Hohner brand during the 70s and Prince is believed to have purchased a second one from Purdom's music in Lagrange Illinois (that guitar can be identified because it doesn’t have a toggle-switch tip). In later years Prince requested that three exact replicas be made by New York luthier Roger Sadowsky. Even the original ‘Fender’ shaped headstock and Hohner logo’s are correct.
VIDEO: But boy could he play guitar...
Despite the numerous ‘Cloud’ and ‘Symbol’ guitars, the Hohner Mad Cat was always Prince’s main guitar for stage and studio work. It has a flamed maple body with walnut central binding and a maple fretboard/neck. It sports a faux leopard skin pick-guard, chrome hardware and has two single-coil pickups and a fixed bridge. Prince used the guitar extensively during the ‘Fire It Up’ tour with Rick James in early 1980 and throughout the recording of ‘Dirty Mind’ between May and June 1980. He can be seen playing the MadCat in the accompanying ‘Uptown’ video made later in the year year.
Prince’s original Hohner is now on display in a glass case at Paisley Park.