Moog Minimoog Model D

The Minimoog Model D is a monophonic synthesizer released in the 1970s. Both Sting and Andy Summers had each owned Minimoogs.

Sting's Minimoog
Sting was the first member of the band to use a Minimoog. According to The PoliceWiki: during a US tour, Sting had seen Jeff Boynton of Wazmo Nariz (one of The Police's support acts) use a Minimoog and was apparently impressed with it that he decided to get his own and try it out (with Boynton's assistance) on soundcheck ahead of the show at Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium in Santa Cruz, USA on 19 May 1979. Photos seem to suggest, however, that earliest known live appearance of Sting's Minimoog was on 3 February 1980 at PNE Garden Auditorium in Canada.

Live, Sting occasionally played a few notes on the Minimoog during the setlist, whenever he was free to do so (or whenever his playing allowed). Such as during "Walking On The Moon" and the intro of "Don't Stand So Close To Me" (where he played the Moog Taurus I pedals), respectively.

Little is known about its studio use, but the earliest use of the Minimoog was for the prominent synth bassline in "Contact" from the Reggatta De Blanc album. He had the Minimoog at his disposal for Zenyatta Mondatta, but the extent to which he used it on the album is unclear. And he also had one around during the recording of Ghost In The Machine, but by then Sting seemed more interested in working with polyphonic synthesizers.

Sting later replaced it with the polyphonic Oberheim OB-Xa for the Ghost In The Machine tour.

References
 * Various photos
 * The PoliceWiki

Andy Summers' Minimoog
Andy Summers acquired a Minimoog after Sting, and played it onstage on several Police tours. With the exception of the summer 1982 leg of the Ghost In The Machine tour, when he tried out the Prophet-5. Like Sting, he'd slot in a few notes on the Minimoog during a setlist whenever his guitar parts allowed him to, such as in between playing the Dmin11 chords on "Walking On The Moon".

Besides being used onstage, he also recorded demos using the Minimoog at his home studio in Ireland in the early 1980s.

Various studio photos show that Andy had the Minimoog with him during recording of Zenyatta Mondatta and Ghost In The Machine. But the extent to which he played the Minimoog on either album is unclear, especially as Andy seemed to prefer recording with polyphonic synths like the Roland SH-2 and Prophet-5. It is possible that the Minimoog came in handy when rehearsing in the studio. Andy's Minimoog has a mini photo of Dave "Doive" Harvey, a former roadie.

References
 * Guitar World, May 1981
 * Various photos, including Didi Zill photos
 * Vintagesynth forums

More information

 * Minimoog on Wikipedia