The Police Ghost In The Machine recording gear

(last updated: 16/4/22)

Musical equipment

Stewart Copeland:

•  TAMA Imperialstar 5-ply drums (Dark Blue):
• 14” x 22” Bass Drum
• 8” x 10” Rack Tom
• 8” x 12” Rack Tom
• 9” x 13” Rack Tom
• 16” x 16” Floor Tom
• Pearl 5” x 14” Snare (B4514 Custom Deluxe Chrome-Over-Brass)
• TAMA Octobans (70’s Model Royalstar lugs)
• Additional drums:
• TAMA 14” x 22” Gong Drum
• TAMA Supplementary Tom
• 5” LP Black Beauty Cowbell
• TAMA Hardware
• Cymbals:
• Paiste 602 & 2002's
• UFIP Ice Bell
• Sticks:
• Calato Regal Tip ‘Rock’ Model
• Heads:
• Remo Weather King on Toms batter side
• Remo Ambassador on Toms
• Remo Black Dot on Bass drum batter side
• Remo Black Dot on Octobans
• Remo Ambassador on the snare

• Simmons Clap trap HC 131/HC 132 (“Darkness”)
• Roland RS-505 Paraphonic synth (“Darkness” & “Rehumanize Yourself”, possibly other songs too)
• Note: According to Jeff Seitz, Stewart mainly used his TAMA “A” kit, which was in the living room adjacent to the dining room in Montserrat (the only room in the studio which had the best room sound) and used for most songs. In addition to that, there was a TAMA “B” kit in the main studio – this had an identical setup to the “A” kit, except it had Remo black dots on the toms. “Demolition Man” and “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic” were recorded on the “B” kit.

Sting:

• Basses:
• Van Zalinge Z-bass
• 1963 Fender Precision Sunburst - loaned from Andy Summers
• 1978 Fender Precision fretless
• Effects:
• Boss Chorus CE-2 pedal
• Synthesizers:
• Oberheim OB-Xa
• Sequential Circuits Prophet-10 - seen in photos, unclear if appears on album
• Moog Minimoog Model D
• Miscellaneous:
• Moog Taurus Pedals
• Yamaha tenor saxophone
• Yamaha alto saxophone

Andy Summers:

• Guitars:
• Customized ‘53 Fender telecaster
• ‘61 Fender Stratocaster
• ‘57 Gibson Les Paul Gold Top
• ‘58 Gibson ES-335
• Roland G-303 guitar synth controller
• Amplification:
• Roland Bolt-60
• Roland JC-120 Jazz Chorus
• Roland JC-60 Jazz Chorus
• Roland Cube-60
• 2 x Marshall JMP 1959 Super Lead 100-watt amps
• Marshall 4x12 cabinets
• Effects:
• Pete Cornish custom effects board. Includes:
• MXR Phase 90
• MXR Analog Delay
• MXR fuzz
• MXR Dyna-Comp compressor
• Mutron III
• Dyna-Comp compressor
• Electro-Harmonix Flanger
• Volume pedals (labels visibly blacked out):
• Foxx Fuzz & Wah & Volume (vintage 1970’s model, black)
• Roland FV-2 Minimum Vol.
• Synthesizers:
• Roland GR-300 guitar synth
• Roland GR-100 guitar synth
• Sequential Circuits Prophet-5 ("Spirits In The Material World" solo)
• Moog Minimoog Model D 

Recording & Studio equipment

Outboard gear:

• AMS dm2.20 tape phase (x2)
• AMS DMX 15-80 delay (x3)
• Dolby M16 24-track noise reduction
• Dolby 361 Processor /w CAT 22 Dolby A noise reduction card (x5)
• EMT 140 plate reverb
• EMT 240 gold foil plate reverb
• Marshall Time Modulator
• UREI 1176 compressors (x4)
• UREI 545 Parametric Equalizer (x2)
• UREI Graphic Equalizer model 527-A (x2)
• Neve compressors/limiters

Tape machines:

• MCI JH24 2-inch 24-track 2-inch
• MCI JH114 2-inch 24-track 2-inch
• 3 x ATR 102 ¼-inch 2-track

Microphones:

• Drums:
• Bass drum:
• Neumann U47
• Snare:
• Shure SM57
• Hi-hat:
• Neumann KM84i (assumed)
• Toms:
• 4 x Sennheiser MD421
•  Overheads:
• 2 x Neumann U87
•  Drum room:
• 2 x Neumann U87 – typically placed 10-15 ft. away from kit
•  TAMA Octobans:
• Shure SM57s
• Guitars:
• Shure SM57s (assumed)
• Vocals & saxophone:
• Neumann U47

Studio monitors:

•  Acoustic Research AR18S (x2)
•  Auratone 5C Super Sound Cubes /w walnut finish (x2)

Mixing console(s):

• Neve A4792 8078 at AIR Montserrat

References:

Modern Drummer, October 1982

Music U.K., October 1981

Musician magazine, December 1981

Jeff Seitz

Hugh Padgham TapeOp magazine interview (subscriber version)

ICON podcast interview /w Hugh Padgham on Ghost In The Machine

Various photos

Andy Summers guitar information: https://www.musicradar.com/news/andy-summers-career-in-gear-its-all-mythology-sometimes-old-guitars-are-great-but-not-always

Rolling Stone 18 February 1982

Drum microphones info taken from various Hugh Padgham interviews, plus photos in Didi Zill’s book

Contains info about AIR Montserrat: https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Audio/Archive-Studio-Sound/70s/Studio-Sound-1979-05.pdf

AIR Montserrat info included in Billboard magazine 9 February 1980 issue: https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/80s/1980/BB-1980-02-09.pdf

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9y78QT_VNS0

Music videos for "Spirits In The Material World" and "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" (Neumann KM84 microphone on Stewart's hi-hat, other pieces of studio gear)