1978 Fender Stratocaster Black

The 1978 Fender Stratocaster (black) was a guitar owned by Sting.

History
Sting first acquired the Stratocaster brand new at Manny's music store in New York in 1978 while on the Outlandos D'Amour North American tour. He bought it alongside the Fender Precision fretless bass, which was acquired on 21 October 1978 according to The PoliceWiki. The guitar was his first ever proper electric guitar, which he bought for around $200-250 - it was completely stock according to Danny Quatrochi, with no modifications. The serial number was S908109.

He wrote and demoed many of The Police's hits with this guitar, including "Message In A Bottle". His first solo performance with the Stratocaster was the Secret Policeman's Other Ball concert in September 1981, organised by Amnesty International - Sting credited the performance for opening up the possibility of setting out on a solo career, which he did a few years later.

In an interview with Rick Beato, Sting recalled that in The Police he'd double the bass parts with the Fender Strat and a pick, which he felt had an edgy sound to it.

The guitar was played during the Live Aid concert in 1985, and Sting also took the Stratocaster with him on the Dream Of The Blue Turtles tour from 1985 to 1986.

In September 2017, Sting donated his Stratocaster to the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History.