The Guitar Behind the Sound: Andy Summers’ Legendary Telecaster Recreated by Fender Custom Shop
2007 Limited Edition • Serial No. MK438 • One of Only 250 Worldwide • Complete Original Documentation
Some guitars are instruments.
Some become signatures.
And a very select few become cultural artifacts.
Andy Summers' battered 1961 Fender Telecaster is unquestionably one of them.
For anyone who grew up with the music of The Police, its voice is immediately recognizable. The clipped, angular attack of Roxanne. The shimmering architecture of Walking on the Moon. The extraordinary harmonic tension of Message in a Bottle. The atmospheric textures of Every Breath You Take and Wrapped Around Your Finger.
Behind so much of that music was a single, highly individual Fender Telecaster — a guitar that had been modified, abused, repaired, refined and ultimately transformed into one of the most recognizable working instruments in the history of rock.
In 2007, Fender Custom Shop did something remarkable.
It set out not merely to produce an Andy Summers signature guitar, but to recreate the actual instrument.
The result was the extraordinarily rare Fender Custom Shop Andy Summers Tribute Telecaster, limited to only 250 examples worldwide.
Pure Effect Music is exceptionally pleased to offer Serial No. MK438, a superb example preserved in mint condition and accompanied by its complete original documentation.
An Instrument That Became Part of Rock History
The story begins in Southern California in the early 1970s.
Andy Summers had already established himself as a professional musician in Britain during the previous decade, but by this point had become deeply involved in classical guitar studies and was not playing electric guitar regularly.
Then came the Telecaster.
One of Summers' guitar students offered him a battered 1961 Fender Telecaster that had already been modified by a previous owner.
Summers paid $200 for it.
It was hardly an obvious candidate for immortality.
Yet when Summers began playing the instrument, something happened.
The guitar inspired him.
That $200 Telecaster would subsequently become the principal electric guitar associated with Andy Summers during his years with The Police — years in which the band progressed from the British new-wave scene to international superstardom.
Andy Summers' own account of the instrument, preserved in Fender's contemporary 2007 announcement, makes clear how central it became to his musical identity.
And the list of recordings associated with it reads almost like a history of modern rock guitar:
Roxanne
So Lonely
Walking on the Moon
Message in a Bottle
Don't Stand So Close to Me
Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic
Every Breath You Take
Wrapped Around Your Finger
Synchronicity II
King of Pain
The guitar was no longer simply a Fender Telecaster.
It had become the Andy Summers Telecaster.
Fender's Extraordinary Decision
In 2006 Fender announced plans to recreate Summers' instrument.
The objective was unusually ambitious.
The company would reproduce the guitar as an aged replica, down to its distinctive modifications and individual marks of use. Andy Summers' own website described Fender as having painstakingly studied the original Telecaster, including its unique pickup configuration, hardware and electronics.
This was not the usual approach to an artist model.
It was closer to an archaeological reconstruction.
The original guitar was examined.
Its components were documented.
Its unusual modifications were studied.
Its physical wear was replicated.
And the Fender Custom Shop was tasked with producing a limited series that would capture the character of one very particular Telecaster.
The prototype was built by Fender Custom Shop Master Builder Dennis Galuszka, who spent approximately a year developing the instrument.
The finished project was limited to 250 instruments worldwide.
Fender announced that all 250 examples had sold out.
The Original Guitar's Eccentricity — Faithfully Preserved
The brilliance of the Andy Summers Tribute lies partly in its refusal to "improve" the original.
The original Telecaster was unusual.
Fender recreated the unusualness.
The Tribute features a powerful humbucking neck pickup, the bridge pickup mounted directly into the body, a phase-switch mini-toggle, a recreated Police-era preamp, a rear-mounted overdrive system, soft brass bridge pieces and Schaller tuners.
None of these features exists simply for visual effect.
Each reflects the highly personalized instrument Summers actually used.
The result is one of the most distinctive Telecaster configurations ever produced by Fender Custom Shop.
The Hidden Electronics
Perhaps the most fascinating aspect of the Tribute is what lies beneath its familiar Telecaster exterior.
The guitar incorporates a recreated version of the preamp that had been installed in Summers' original instrument.
It also features a built-in overdrive system controlled by a third knob positioned below the conventional Telecaster volume and tone controls.
Together with the phase switching and contrasting pickup configuration, these modifications create a remarkably versatile tonal palette.
The instrument can move from the sharp, immediate attack associated with the Telecaster bridge pickup into considerably thicker and more complex textures.
That is an important part of understanding Andy Summers' contribution to The Police.
His guitar playing was rarely about conventional guitar-hero excess.
It was about space, texture, rhythm, harmony and atmosphere.
The electronics of his Telecaster were integral to that approach.
The Finish — A Recreation of History
Perhaps the most visually arresting characteristic of the Tribute is its finish.
The original Summers Telecaster had spent years on the road.
It had acquired chips, scratches, dents, lacquer checking and countless other signs of professional use.
Fender recreated them.
Not approximately.
Specifically.
Contemporary Fender material describes the aged finish as an "immaculately recreated" reproduction of the original, including its extensive chips, scratches, dings and nicks. Even reproducing the characteristic cracking of the lacquer was described as a significant technical challenge.
This creates an intriguing paradox.
The instrument looks like a guitar that has lived an extraordinary life.
But in reality it represents a newly manufactured recreation of that life.
It is factory-aged history.
The Ultimate Approval
The most convincing endorsement of Fender's work did not come from a press release.
It came from Andy Summers himself.
The prototype was placed in Summers' hands.
He liked it.
Then he played it.
On February 11, 2007, The Police reunited to open the 49th Annual Grammy Awards.
Summers played number one of the 250 Tribute guitars.
He subsequently used the replica during The Police's major 2007 reunion tour. Fender's contemporary announcement explicitly records this use.
That is an extraordinary distinction.
The artist did not merely authorize the reproduction.
He did not merely sign it.
He did not merely approve the specification.
He took the recreation onto the stage with The Police.
For a collector, that fact gives the entire project a level of authenticity that is difficult to manufacture after the event.
2007 — The Perfect Moment
The year of the Tribute's release is itself significant.
2007 was the year The Police returned to the world's stages.
The band's reunion generated enormous international attention, and Andy Summers once again appeared in front of audiences around the world with the guitar that had helped define his sound.
Fender's recreation therefore arrived at precisely the moment when the cultural memory of The Police was being reactivated on a global scale.
The Tribute is consequently connected to two periods simultaneously:
The Police's classic recording era
and
their extraordinary 2007 reunion.
Few modern artist guitars possess such a direct bridge between the original historical period and the moment of their own recreation.
Serial No. MK438
A Particularly Complete Example
The guitar offered by Pure Effect Music is Serial No. MK438.
This particular instrument is presented in mint condition and, importantly, retains its complete original documentation.
For a limited edition of only 250 instruments, that completeness is significant.
The documentation establishes the individual identity and provenance of the instrument and should properly be considered part of the collectible.
For the serious collector, there is a meaningful difference between an example of a limited edition and a fully documented, exceptionally preserved example.
MK438 offers the latter.
Pure Effect Music identifies this individual guitar as having been built by Fender Custom Shop Master Builder Mark Kendrick.
This individual attribution is separate from the historical development of the project itself: Fender's original announcement identifies Dennis Galuszka as the Master Builder who developed the prototype.
That distinction is worth preserving in the historical record of the instrument.
A Modern Fender With Vintage Provenance
The Andy Summers Tribute occupies a fascinating position in the Fender universe.
It is not a vintage 1961 Telecaster.
Nor does it pretend to be.
Its importance lies elsewhere.
It is a documented Custom Shop recreation of a specific historically important guitar.
That makes it closer in spirit to a museum reconstruction than to a conventional signature model.
The guitar recreates not merely the basic specification of a vintage Telecaster, but its:
Pickup configuration
Electronics
Hardware
Bridge arrangement
Switching
Wear pattern
Cosmetic details
Overall personality
In other words, Fender attempted to preserve the individuality of Summers' guitar.
That is precisely what makes this model so fascinating.
A Telecaster Unlike Any Other
Remove the Andy Summers association for a moment and examine the guitar purely as an instrument.
It remains extraordinary.
The alder body and maple neck retain the familiar Fender foundation, but the electronics transform the instrument into something much more specialized.
There is the familiar Telecaster immediacy.
There is the muscularity of the humbucker.
There is the phase circuitry.
There is the recreated preamp.
There is the integrated overdrive.
And there is the distinctive bridge and control configuration.
This is a guitar designed around a musician's particular vocabulary.
It is not generic.
It is personal.
And that is exactly what the best Custom Shop instruments are supposed to achieve.
Why Collectors Will Recognize Its Importance
There are several characteristics that make the Andy Summers Tribute particularly compelling as a collectible instrument.
Extremely limited production
Only 250 examples were produced worldwide.
Historically important original
The guitar recreates the instrument most closely associated with Andy Summers and The Police.
Direct artist involvement
Summers' original instrument was studied by Fender Custom Shop, and he subsequently played the resulting replica.
Exceptional specificity
The Tribute recreates the modifications of one particular guitar rather than simply offering an Andy Summers-themed Telecaster.
Custom Shop provenance
The project originated within Fender Custom Shop's high-end Tribute Series.
2007 Police reunion connection
The replica was used by Summers during the band's historic reunion period.
Scarcity
The original 250-piece run is finite and cannot be reproduced as the 2007 edition.
Complete documentation
MK438 retains its complete original documentation.
Mint condition
The instrument has been preserved in exceptional condition despite its deliberately aged appearance.
Together these characteristics create a compelling provenance chain.
The Difference Between Rarity and Significance
Rarity alone does not make a guitar important.
There are countless rare guitars that have little historical significance.
The Andy Summers Tribute is interesting because its rarity is supported by context.
It is rare because Fender deliberately limited production.
It is historically interesting because the original guitar played a central role in The Police's music.
It is technically interesting because the original instrument was unusually modified.
It is culturally important because The Police became one of the defining bands of their generation.
And it is particularly well documented because Fender itself undertook the recreation while Summers was still actively performing.
That combination is much harder to replicate than rarity alone.
The Pure Effect Music Example
Pure Effect Music's MK438 represents an unusually complete opportunity to acquire one of these instruments.
The guitar is offered in mint condition with complete original documentation, retaining the essential attributes that a serious collector would want to see preserved.
This is not an ordinary modern Custom Shop guitar.
It is a limited-production historical recreation tied directly to one of the most important bands of the late twentieth century and one of rock's most distinctive guitarists.
It is also an instrument that can be appreciated on several levels simultaneously:
as a Fender,
as a Custom Shop creation,
as an Andy Summers instrument,
as a Police artifact,
as a piece of 2007 music history,
and
as a highly unusual working Telecaster.
A Guitar to Own, Not Merely Display
Perhaps the greatest appeal of the Andy Summers Tribute is that it remains fundamentally a guitar.
It was not conceived as a static commemorative object.
Fender built it to reproduce the instrument that Summers actually used.
The electronics work.
The unusual switching works.
The overdrive works.
The instrument can be played.
And the artist himself demonstrated its legitimacy by taking the prototype onto the stage with The Police.
That distinction matters.
For the collector who also plays, this is not simply an object to admire behind glass.
It is a piece of rock history that can still be plugged into an amplifier and experienced as a musical instrument.
A Rare Opportunity
Nearly two decades after its release, the 2007 Andy Summers Tribute has become an increasingly interesting chapter in Fender Custom Shop history.
It represents an era when the Custom Shop was willing to undertake extraordinarily specific artist recreations — down to individual scratches, unusual circuitry and idiosyncratic modifications.
And it represents one of the rare occasions when the artist whose instrument inspired the project actually took the resulting replica onto one of the world's largest stages.
Serial No. MK438 adds another layer to the story.
Its mint condition and complete original documentation make it a particularly well-preserved example of a 250-piece edition whose original production run sold out at launch.
The Andy Summers Tribute
Fender Custom Shop Limited Edition — 2007
Serial Number: MK438
Edition: 250 examples worldwide
Condition: Mint
Documentation: Complete original documentation
Custom Shop: Fender Custom Shop
Master Builder: Mark Kendrick, as identified by Pure Effect Music
Original Prototype: Dennis Galuszka
Body: Alder
Neck: Maple
Electronics: Summers-specific humbucker, body-mounted bridge pickup, phase switching, recreated preamp and integrated overdrive
Finish: Faithfully recreated aged/worn finish
A Piece of The Police. A Piece of Fender History.
There are moments when an instrument transcends its original purpose.
Andy Summers' 1961 Telecaster was one such instrument.
It began life as a used Fender guitar purchased for $200.
It became an essential component of the sound of The Police.
It appeared on recordings that became part of the permanent fabric of popular music.
It accumulated the scars of a working life.
And in 2007, Fender Custom Shop attempted something extraordinary:
to preserve that story in a new instrument.
The result was limited to 250 examples.
Andy Summers played the first.
And now, almost twenty years later, Serial No. MK438 offers the opportunity to own one of these remarkable recreations in mint condition, complete with its original documentation.
For the serious Fender collector, the dedicated Police enthusiast, the Andy Summers aficionado, or the player looking for one of the most unusual Custom Shop Telecasters ever produced, this is an instrument with a story that requires very little embellishment.
The history is already there.
The guitar simply carries it forward.
