A very rare love symbol tambourine, owned by Prince and used by him during concerts on his 1990 Nude Tour.  An identical Prince-owned tambourine is in the collection of the Smithsonian Institution (see screen shot from their blog).  Also included is an 8 1/2″ x 11″ inch double photograph of Prince with an identical–and perhaps the same–tambourine.

We acquired this directly from Prince’s former guitar technician, Joel Bernstein, who details its history in his included letter of authenticity, quoted here:
“This letter is to authenticate a black and gold “love symbol” tambourine, used during concert performances by Prince circa 1990.

I worked with Prince from 1987 through 1991, as his personal guitar technician for concerts and recording, and occasionally as his photographer. This period included Sign O’ The Times, Lovesexy, the Batman soundtrack, and My Name is Prince.

This is from my personal collection. (Signed) Joel Bernstein.”

Bernstein is a legendary music photographer, Neil Young’s longtime archivist, and a respected guitar expert who on occasion worked as a guitar tech for some of the greatest musicians ever, including Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Crosby Stills Nash & Young, and Prince. His photographs have graced album covers for Dylan, Young, Mitchell, CSNY, Jackson Browne, Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty and many others.

Authentic Prince owned and concert used artifacts extremely rare.  While some sellers claim to have caught a commercially available tambourine thrown at a concert, this has indisputable provenance from a close associate of Prince (a later model tambourine, with the curved love symbol logo, was briefly sold, but this custom-made tambourine was never for sale and only made for use by Prince.)

Included is Bernstein’s letter of authenticity, and Recordmecca’s written lifetime guarantee of authenticity (Recordmecca owner Jeff Gold worked extensively with Prince, art directing a number of his album covers, and will sign the letter of authenticity personally.) See our other listings for more Prince owned memorabilia.