The Police Synchronicity equipment

Synchronicity is the fifth album by The Police, released in June 1983.

Recording for the album took place over six weeks, between December 1982 and January 1983 at AIR Studios in Montserrat, with further overdubbing and mixing done at Le Studio in Morin Heights, Canada in January-February 1983. Hugh Padgham was engineer and co-producer on the album. The album saw an introduction of sequencers into the band's music, and was a radical departure from Ghost In The Machine with far fewer saxophone parts and less vocals & instrumentation. Considerably more "spartan", in the band's own words.

Sting
Basses:
 * 1962 Fender Jazz
 * 1978 Fender Precision fretless
 * Henk Van Zalinge Z-bass
 * Steinberger L2 /w Superwound SDB-505 strings

Sting's basses were recorded directly via the console, often with overdubs. He'd use a bit of Boss Chorus on his bass.

Synthesizers & electronics:
 * Oberheim OB-Xa
 * Oberheim DSX
 * Oberheim DMX ("Every Breath You Take")

A Roland Jupiter-8 was reportedly around and used on the album as well. He played piano parts on a Bosendorfer 225 grand piano which was available at AIR Studios in Montserrat.

Wind:
 * Jupiter Oboe 335
 * Yamaha saxophone (assumed, "O My God")

Andy Summers
Guitars:
 * 1963 Fender Telecaster custom - not used much
 * 1961 Fender Stratocaster
 * 1957 Gibson Les Paul Goldtop (e.g. "Synchronicity II")
 * 1958 Gibson ES-335
 * 1964 Gibson ES-175
 * Gibson Chet Atkins CE classical electric guitar
 * Guitarman custom electric 12-string
 * Roland G-303

Effects
 * DeArmond 610 Volume Tone pedal (assumed)
 * Maestro Echoplex EP-2 tape echo
 * MXR M-101 Phase 90 - outside pedalboard
 * Pete Cornish custom FX board
 * Roland FV-2 volume pedal (assumed)

Rack units in 'The Roland Rack' case - possibly used:
 * Alembic F-2B Stereo Preamp
 * Roland SDD-320 Dimension D
 * Roland SIP-300 Guitar Pre-amp (or SIP-301 Bass Guitar Pre-amp)
 * Roland SPA-240 Stereo Power Amplifier (x2)
 * Roland SRE-555 Chorus Echo

Amplification:
 * Marshall 100-watt amp heads
 * Marshall 1960A 4x12 cabinets
 * Roland JC-60 Jazz Chorus
 * Roland JC-120 Jazz Chorus

A Fender Twin Reverb amp was also available at the studio to use - probably a 1968 silverface model.

Miscellaneous:
 * Roland GR-300 guitar synthesizer (x2)
 * Sequential Circuits Prophet-5

Stewart Copeland
Drums (TAMA Imperialstar dark blue drums, except where noted):
 * 14" x 22" Bass Drum
 * 8" x 10" Rack Tom
 * 8" x 12" Rack Tom
 * 9" x 13" Rack Tom
 * 16" x 16" Floor Tom
 * Pearl 5" x 14" Snare (B4514 Custom Deluxe Chrome-Over-Brass)
 * TAMA Octobans (70s Model Royalastar Lugs)

Additional drums & equipment:
 * Paiste Percussion rack
 * Premier Marimba ("King Of Pain")
 * TAMA 14" x 22" Gong Drum
 * TAMA Supplementary Tom
 * 5" LP Black Beauty Cowbell
 * TAMA Titan Hardware

Cymbals (Paiste, except where noted):
 * Ictus UFIP 75 Ice Bell
 * 8 2002 Bell
 * 8" 2002 Splash
 * 10" 2002 Splash
 * 22" 2002 China Type
 * 16" 2002 medium crash
 * 18" 2002 medium Crash
 * 13" 602 heavy hi-Hats
 * 22" Formula 602 medium ride
 * 16" 602 thin crash
 * 18" 602 thin crash

Sticks:
 * Calato Regal Tip 'Rock' Model

Drum Heads:
 * Remo Weather King on Toms batter side
 * Remo Ambassador on Toms
 * Remo Black Dot on Bass drum batter side
 * Remo Black Dot on Octobans
 * Remo Ambassador on the snare

Production
On this album, the recording techniques were the same as the previous album. Which involved recording live takes with each bandmember in different rooms: Stewart in the living room, Sting in the main studio with Hugh and Andy in the main studio. The live takes were often spliced (edited) together to create master backing tracks, then overdubs (including vocals) would be done on top. "Every Breath You Take", however, is an exception: the song was done entirely with overdubs - the drum parts being recorded separately, for instance. This was because the normal method of recording did not quite work and because of the song's simple arrangement. They had even used an Oberheim DMX on the track for the kick drum pattern, one of the few occasions they used a click track (although Stewart played live to Sting's sequencer on the first two songs of the album).

Microphones
Drums:
 * Bass drum:
 * Neumann U47 FET
 * Snare:
 * Shure SM57
 * Hi-hat:
 * AKG C451E or Neumann KM84i
 * Tom-toms:
 * Shure SM57's or Sennheiser MD421's
 * Octobans:
 * four unidentified microphones - possibly including AKG 451?
 * Overheads:
 * STC 4038 (x2)
 * Ambience mikes (drums):
 * Neumann U87 (x2) - placed approx. 15-20 feet away from kit

Percussion:
 * Neumann U47
 * Neumann U87
 * Sennheiser MD421 (TAMA Gong drum)

Guitar amplifiers:
 * Shure SM57 or Sennheiser MD421

Lead vocals:
 * Neumann U47 FET - main vocal mic, seen in session footage & photos
 * AKG C414 - possibly tried on Sting's voice at some stage
 * Shure Unidyne 57(?) - guide vocals during tracking

Outboard gear
Note that effects used are very minimal on the record, possibly the following units below:
 * EMT 140 reverb plate
 * Eventide H949 Harmoniser
 * tape echo - possibly Roland RE-301 Chorus Echo?

See Le Studio Morin Heights page for full list

Tape machines

 * AIR Montserrat:
 * MCI JH24 24-track 2-inch
 * MCI JH114 24-track 2-inch
 * Ampex ATR-102 2-track ¼-inch (for rough mixes) (x3)
 * Le Studio:
 * Studer A80 Mk. II 24-track
 * Studer A800 Mk. III 24-track
 * JVC BP-90 digital 2-track processor (mixdown)

Mixing consoles

 * Solid State Logic SL4000E Master Studio System /w Total Recall automation, Serial No. 11 (Le Studio, Morin Heights) - used for final mixing. This exact console currently belongs to Tree Sound Studios, Atlanta.
 * Neve A4792 - AIR Studios Montserrat rough mixes

Monitors

 * Acoustic Research AR18S pair (AIR Montserrat & Le Studio)
 * Auratone 5C Super Sound Cube pair (AIR Montserrat & Le Studio) - note: each studio had different variants of the 5C monitors

Miscellaneous studio equipment

 * Yamaha 9' grand piano (Le Studio) - possibly used
 * Yamaha CS-80 - this synth was around at AIR Studios as seen in photos, but it's not known if it was used on any songs.