Our “Andy Summers Tribute T-Type” is our version of the fantastic, idiosyncratic guitar that Summers used throughout his time with The Police and beyond. Summers reportedly bought the guitar complete with all the unusual modifications, as he loved the feel and tones. The complicated-looking switching and electronics are straightforward to use. The regular volume, tone and three-way do what you’d expect and operate like a twin pickup guitar. The first mini-toggle mounted on the control plate is a phase reversal switch that flips the phase only when both pickups are on together, producing a predictably nasal and hollow tone that can be heard on many Police tracks. The second mini-toggle engages an active pre-amp with a hefty gain and extra midrange, controlled by the third pot on the body below the control plate. Used with the out-of-phase tone, in particular, produces some very unusual and musical tones. The original guitar had the Kluson tuners replaced with a set of “Dual-mount” Schaller units (common enough in the ‘70s and early ‘80s), but they are no longer in production, as far as I can find. I was fortunate enough to have most of a set in a box in the workshop and even more fortunate to find another original set from another Luthier selling online. Another unusual feature is the brass six-saddle bridge. The original may have been a Schecter part (I’m not sure), but fortunately, the wonderful “Armadillo Guitar” guys in Texas offer a superb repro (along with many other sexy parts), which works perfectly. I aged the bridge once it arrived (via Australia!) And even replicated the “crack” from the pickup hole to the edge of the plate. You may notice the lack of pickup height adjustment screws in the bridge - well, the original has the bridge pickup mounted directly to the body, so we did the same. Elsewhere, the finish is all nitro three-tine ‘burst, heavily aged, of course, and the neck is a slim “C” shaped vintage recreation, featuring a 7.25” radius and small vintage-sized frets for an authentic feel. I’m almost certain that the original has been re-fretted at some point in its life, and during the process, the fingerboard was re-lacquered, losing all the sexy wear. This is understandable, given the number of gigs it would have been used for. I considered adding a lot more wear to the ‘board but ultimately decided to copy how it looks now with some darkening but without the heavy wear on the ‘board surface between frets.
Model: “Andy Summers Tribute T-Type”
Body: Two-piece, double-bound alder
Neck: One-piece maple
Neck profile: Slim “C” shape
Neck dimensions: 21.6mm deep at 1st fret to 24.5mm deep at 12th
Nut width: 41.5mm
Radius: 7.25”
Fret size: 6230 Vintage small
Number of frets: 21
Finish: All nitrocellulose, heavily aged three-tone sunburst
Plastics: Aged parchment three-ply pickguard
Bridge: Armadillo brass six-saddle, aged with a replicated crack between pickup hole and edge.
Tuners: Super rare Schaller dual-mount
Pickups: Eternal hand-wound “PAF Replica” in the neck position with a bespoke ‘60s wound single coil in a bridge using plain enamel coil wire. Black string wrap and aged, mounted direct to body.
Electronics: CTS Brass collar 250k volume and tone pots with an Orange Drop capacitor, CRL three-way and a Switchcraft output jack socket. Mini-toggle on the control plate for phase reversal with both pickups on.
The second mini-toggle on the body engages an active pre-amp boost circuit, with the amount of boost controlled by the third pot located on the body beneath the control plate.
Nut: Handcut bone
Strings: Ernie Ball Slinky 9-46
Weight: 7.14Ibs
Case: Vintage style hardcase included
