1963 Fender Telecaster custom

The 1963 (or 1961) Fender Telecaster custom (hybrid, sunburst) was Andy Summers' main guitar throughout The Police years - played on both live and studio work - and was a key instrument in sculpting the band’s sound.

It appears on several Police hits like "Roxanne", "Message In A Bottle" and "Walking On The Moon". On the last two Police albums, however, he wasn’t using the Telecaster as much as he started preferring the 1961 Fender Stratocaster and other guitars, and felt the former ‘lacked a few highs’ in the studio.

The custom Telecaster was later replicated as the Andy Summers Tribute Telecaster model in 2007. Summers himself later used the Tribute Telecaster on The Police's Reunion tour from 2007 to 2008, while the original remained safe in storage.

Background & Specification
The Fender Telecaster was bought by Andy from a guitar student of his in 1972 for $200. It already had modifications done to it:
 * a 1959 Gibson PAF Humbucker pickup at the front (in the place of the original stock Fender neck pickup)
 * a built-in preamp/overdrive unit at the back (controlled by a third knob at the front)
 * mini-toggle phase switch.

At some point - probably during the Kevin Ayers era - Andy had changed the tuners to Schaller tuners.

A second string tree was added by the time of the Milton Keynes concerts in August 1979.

More recent photos of the Telecaster show that the phase switch had been removed and the preamp switch has been moved towards one of the knobs.

Andy Summers quotes on the Telecaster
"'My main guitar is the Telecaster I use onstage. It's a '63 I think. It's just a great guitar - it's lively to play, very responsive. Because it's been messed around with it's come out sounding great... it's a very versatile guitar - I've been able to use it so much." "'I don't use [the Telecaster] so much now in the studio, I tend to use a [Gibson ES-335] and a Stratocaster a lot more. I've found my Telecaster to be a little lacking in highs sometimes in the studio - not quite brilliant and clean enough for some of the things you want to do, but it's great for solos' (International Musician & Recording World, September 1982)"

Story behind how Andy got the Telecaster: "'I bought it off a kid in Los Angeles prior to the Police for like, 200 bucks. He wanted the money and I needed a guitar. I was very fortunate; I realized later that night, “This is a really great guitar. It’s magical.” And I offered to give it back, but he didn’t want it. For me, it was a life-changing instrument. I still have it, obviously – I can’t get rid of a guitar that changed everything for me and I used to record almost every single Police track. It’s a hybrid instrument, whoever had it put a Gibson humbucker in the front and an overdrive switch powered by a nine-volt battery. There was an out-of-phase switch on it, as well. So, somebody really played around, and it was an absolutely kick-ass guitar. I barely play it anymore, though.' (Andy Summers interview with Vintage Guitar)"