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Riff Tone

Message In a Bottle

The Police

Guitarrock1970s

Original Gear

Guitar1973 Fender Telecaster (custom, with humbucker in neck and single-coil in bridge)
AmpFender Twin Reverb (silverface, early Police era studio recording)

Amp Settings

gain0
bass5.5

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Effects & Signal Chain

Notes

Studio recording, 1979. Andy Summers used his custom Telecaster with a Fender Twin Reverb amp for the original 'Message In a Bottle' riff. Echoplex tape delay was used for rhythmic repeats. No evidence of Marshall or Roland JC-120 on the original studio riff. Effects were mostly pedals, not amp-based.

Tone Character(10)
bright and glassychiming, chorus-like shimmertight and articulatepercussive attackslightly compressedclear note separationrhythmic delay repeatsminimal breakupopen and airydistinctive tape echo trails

Difficulty

The riff requires advanced left-hand stretching for add9 chord shapes, tight right-hand picking for rhythmic clarity, and precise muting to avoid string noise, making it challenging for most players.

This tone has been researched 10 times by the community

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