“I nearly got crushed by an elephant while holding it… That guitar has definitely seen some stuff”: Orianthi tells the remarkable story of the rhinestone-encrusted PRS Custom 24 she played with Michael Jackson, 50 Cent… and an elephant

In this edition of Guitar World‘s Cover Stars, we are speaking with the one and only Orianthi, who rocked up for her April 2013 covershoot with a beyond sparkly 2008 PRS Custom 24. To think that this was one of her backup electric guitars…

Well, it’s remarkable. As she explains here, it might have started out stock, but once Michael Jackson’s people were through with it it took on a life of its own…

Where and when did you get this guitar?

“I got it when it was new; PRS actually gave it to me during the Michael Jackson This Is It rehearsals. When I got it, it was a plain stock guitar, and then we covered it with rhinestones, which was pretty insane-looking.”

What led you to cover it in rhinestones?

“For the tour, Michael’s designers were like, ‘We need a really sparkly guitar. Can we make one of yours sparkly?’ I had a few Custom 24s; I brought this one in, which was one of my backups, and they said, ‘Okay, let’s cover it,’ and I said, ‘That sounds pretty good.’ 

“The designers just covered it, which made it pretty heavy. But yeah, it was a cool guitar, but I didn’t want to play it too much after that because I didn’t want the rhinestones falling off. [Laughs]”

While on tour with Michael Jackson, which songs did you use this guitar on?

“I believe I used it on Beat It and Black or White. But with Beat It, I always had a red guitar, so I interchanged with that one. I had about four guitars for that tour, but that was the main one I used for Beat It – and especially Black or White.”

Have you used this guitar on any notable recordings?

“I actually did! I used it on Monster, which I recorded with Michael Jackson and 50 Cent.”

Have you used it since?

“I used it – well, it was very strange – during a video shoot [for Dave Stewart’s Every Single Night]. I nearly got crushed by an elephant while holding it, but I didn’t, thank God! So, yeah, that guitar has definitely seen some shit. [Laughs]”

Dave Stewart – Every Single Night (Official Music Video) – YouTube

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All of that inherited mojo aside, what makes this PRS special?

“With any PRS, they’re incredibly well made. They all have different personalities because, you know, with the woodgrain and just the way the necks are. They’re all pieces of art and all pretty similar – but different. But that one definitely had a personality, and I used it for certain things; it’s a very diverse guitar; you could use it for anything.”

Is that why you chose it for your Guitar World cover shoot?

“Instead of using a regular PRS, we used that, which was definitely cover-worthy. They said, ‘Do you have a showy guitar?’ I said, ‘Yes, I do,’ and that’s why we chose it.”

Do you still have this guitar? If so, when was the last time you played it?

“That guitar is actually at a museum in Asia now. The last time I played it would have been quite a few years back. I wanted to display it there because Michael was massive in Asia and toured there a lot, and I still do. So instead of putting it away in a safe and never playing it, they asked, ‘Can we have it to display it?’ and I said, ‘Absolutely.’”