On Reverb.com, a Fender Telecaster Thinline owned by Prince is for sale. The Thinline was customised by Prince’s luthier, Chuck Orr, and was owned by the late Minnesotan pop icon during his early years and into the 1980s – when it would have been a viable alternative to his Hohner Madcat, which had been his number one electric guitar for years.
The guitar is finished in Butterscotch and comes with a Paisley Park certificate of authenticity, though there are no details on the model’s exact year. In any case, this is a player grade vintage Telecaster, with visible signs of wear from Prince’s guitar pick – which, on a guitar like this, is what you’re really paying for.
Prince wasn’t a purist. He didn’t stand on ceremony with his first love, a ’70s Hohner T-style knockoff with an animal print pickguard, and this Tele has been modded with a pair of EMG single-coils.
There’s no word on whether Chuck Orr swapped humbuckers for single-coils or if it was a straight swap. The’spaghetti’ Fender logo on the headstock suggests that this is an older neck that has been retrofitted to the body. However, as with the wear, this only adds to the enigma. The bridge appears to be an aftermarket addition as well.
Orr’s fingerprints, on the other hand, are all over this. The serial number on the headstock is #Orr, and his surname is stamped on the neckplate. Orr was highly regarded by Prince. The guitar comes with a copy of a photo of Prince that is signed and addressed to Orr, “the greatest guitar maker in the world”.
Making a Frankenstein Thinline Tele would have taken Orr an afternoon. He also designed a custom bass guitar for Prince, as well as the cream/white Orr Guitar, an oddball offset with a quartet of dials and switches to control its humbucker pairing. The Orr Guitar can be seen in action in the video Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad?
If you want to buy a Thinline Telecaster, once owned by Prince, go to Reverb.com, where it is currently listed for £39,500 by the Gear Emporium in the UK.