Welcome back to Guitardoor.com, where we celebrate the sonic innovators who completely changed our perception of the guitar’s role in music. Today, we explore the intricate and atmospheric world of Andy Summers, the brilliant sonic architect behind the legendary trio, The Police. In an era often defined by guitar excess, Summers took a different path, rejecting rock and roll clichés in favor of a sophisticated, textural, and rhythmically inventive style that was as crucial to the band’s sound as any vocal melody or drum beat.
The Sound of a New Wave
Andy Summers‘ musical style is a masterful fusion of disparate influences, reflecting his rich musical background. With roots in jazz and classical guitar, and years spent as a working musician in the vibrant 60s London scene, he brought a level of harmonic sophistication that was virtually unheard of in the punk and new wave movements. He seamlessly blended the harmonic complexity of jazz, the sparse, syncopated rhythms of reggae, and the atmospheric textures of ambient music into a cohesive and utterly unique sound.
Summers was the definitive “anti-soloist.” He largely eschewed the long, blues-based solos that were the hallmark of classic rock. Instead, his genius lay in creating intricate, interlocking guitar parts that were simultaneously rhythmic, harmonic, and melodic. His “riffs” were often built from shimmering, arpeggiated chords and sharp, rhythmic stabs rather than simple power chords. As one-third of a trio, he had a massive amount of sonic space to fill, and he did so brilliantly, using effects, space, and rhythm to make his single guitar sound like an entire orchestra, creating the perfect counterpoint to Sting’s melodic bass lines and Stewart Copeland’s groundbreaking polyrhythmic drumming.
The Alchemist’s Laboratory: Technique and Tone
The secret to Andy Summers’ sound on guitar lies in his advanced harmonic vocabulary and his pioneering use of effects as a compositional tool. His playing is characterized by the use of extended and “add” chords (like his famous add9 voicings), which gave The Police’s music its signature melancholic, spacious, and sophisticated quality. His right-hand technique was precise and funky, allowing him to lock into a rhythmic puzzle with his bandmates and create a sound that was both complex and compulsively danceable.
His choice of gear is iconic and was central to creating his sound. His primary weapon was a heavily modified 1961 Fender Telecaster. This guitar, with its added neck humbucker pickup and a built-in preamp/overdrive circuit, was the source of his signature tone—a sound that could be sharp and biting one moment, and warm and full the next.
Even more crucial, however, was his revolutionary approach to effects. For Andy Summers, effects were not an afterthought; they were an integral part of his instrument. His sound is unimaginable without the rhythmic pulse of a Maestro Echoplex tape delay, which he used to create the cascading, syncopated echo patterns that drove songs like “Walking on the Moon.” The other cornerstone of his sound was the Electro-Harmonix Electric Mistress flanger/chorus pedal, which provided the shimmering, watery, and atmospheric textures that defined so many of their hits. Combined with a compressor to add sustain and even out his clean tones, this “pedalboard” was his laboratory for sonic innovation. To project this complex sound, he favoured loud, clean amplifiers like Marshall heads, which provided the perfect high-headroom platform to let his effects and intricate chord voicings ring out with clarity.
Essential Summers: The Police’s Sonic Signature
Andy Summers’ guitar work with The Police is a masterclass in creative, song-serving arrangement. To fully appreciate his genius for crafting unforgettable and innovative guitar parts, these three tracks are absolutely essential.
“Message in a Bottle”
“Walking on the Moon”
“Every Breath You Take”
Andy Summers is one of the most important and influential guitarists of his generation. He provided a brilliant and sophisticated alternative to the dominant rock guitar narrative, proving that texture, harmony, and rhythm could be infinitely more compelling than mere speed or volume. He wrote the playbook for a new kind of guitar hero, one who painted with sound and inspired countless players in the new wave, post-punk, and alternative rock scenes to think beyond the ordinary.
