1961 Fender Telecaster (sunburst)

Fender Telecaster
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The Telecaster on 1979-06-22 - copyright Dietmar
Artist:	Andy Summers
Band or ensemble:	Kevin Coyne / Kevin Ayers / The Police
Time gear used:	YYYY - 1987

Introduction

Andy Summers bought his 1961 Fender Telecaster from a guitar student in Los Angeles in the early Seventies for just $200.

Gear breakdown

Most modifications to the original Fender Telecaster were already there when Andy bought the guitar:

• Gibson Humbucker pickup
• mini-toggle phase switch
• preamp on/off mini-toggle switch
• rear-mounted overdrive unit controlled by a third knob

When he performed with Kevin Coyne the tuners on the Telecaster were still the originals. By the time he performed with The Police Andy had them replaced with Schallers, probably during his Kevin Ayers period.

During The Police times Andy Summers made even more changes to his guitar:

• For the first years up until at least 1978-03-12 Andy played the guitar with its original 3-saddle bridge with raised sides. Photos from October 1978 up until 1979-02-06 show Andy playing the Telecaster with a Fender 6-saddle bridge with raised sides. At the 1979-02-21 Hatfield concert he already played the guitar with a flat brass bridge with its pickup mounted in the guitar's body.

• Andy added a second string tree on the guitar headstock shortly before the Reading festival on 1979-08-24.

Quotations and trivia

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See also

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External links

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References and footnotes

sources:

• by the time of Andy's book One Train Later and when the replica was built the original guitar was described as a 1961 model
• in the years before one wasn't so sure - the guitar was described as being from 1961 or 1963 in various magazines and books
• Rolling Stone - February 18, 1982 (mentions Andy bought the 1963 Telecaster for $200 from a guy he was teaching)
• Steve Lukas