The Epiphone Emperor Thinline is an electric guitar used by Prince in the 1980s and 1990s. It is similar to an “archtop” jazz guitar but has a slim (thinline) body. Prince had two models in sunburst and natural.
Prince first used the sunburst model on the Parade tour. It appears on the song “Everybody Wants What They Don't Got” from the Sign O The Times Super Deluxe Edition and likely appears on other recordings from the era. Miko Weaver played this guitar on the Sign O The Times tour. The current location of this guitar is not known.
Prince went onto to pose with the natural model in the Batman era, with the guitar appearing in the Nude tour book. Prince would play this guitar live up until the Gold Experience era. Tony M used this guitar live.
The natural-finished Emperor Thinline is currently a part of the collection at Paisley Park.
References
Tudahl, Duane. (2020) Vault Tracks (Sign O The Times Super Deluxe Edition).
