The Beatles: Instruments, Amps and Equipment Used 1962 - 1970

[Double Stop]

I was recently gifted the epic “Recording The Beatles” book, and at over 500 pages, it’s an exhaustive in-depth collection of all the gear that was used on their recordings. This includes all of the guitars, basses, drums, and other instruments personally owned by the band, as well as the myriad “In-House” gear/equipment available at Abbey Road and other studios.

With all of the recent talk about the “Get Back” documentary, I thought you’d be interested in this here.

While the book does not contain an exact list of any specific instrument used on a particular track, it does provide a comprehensive list of every Guitar, Bass, Drumkit, and amplifier used by the band in any given year, so this at least narrows it down nicely.

I’ll be intermittently posting more pics taken directly from the book, so keep an eye out. For now, though, I hope you enjoy these pics of the instruments they used per year.

 

[Riffmaster227]

Very cool! Thanks for sharing.

 

[brookdalebill]

Gracias!

 

[turftone]

It's amazing how much they did with such relatively little gear, by today's standards, at least. Understandable when they were just starting out, but even after they "made it," they still didn't go crazy on gear - just a new guitar or amp here or there.

Are the Leslie cab and the moog basically the only "effects," or did I miss something?

 

[Double Stop]

Are the Leslie cab and the moog basically the only "effects," or did I miss something?

There's an entire chapter devoted to "Effects". Use of big echo chamber rooms, vary-speeding, ADT (Artificial Double Tracking), Tape Loops, Phasing/Flanging, and more. Lots of nice photos of echo units and the like. I'll be posting more pics here soon. Stay tuned!

 

[turftone]

There's an entire chapter devoted to "Effects". Use of big echo chamber rooms, vary-speeding, ADT (Artificial Double Tracking), Tape Loops, Phasing/Flanging, and more. Lots of nice photos of echo units and the like. I'll be posting more pics here soon. Stay tuned!

Cool, that will be interesting.

 

[dogmeat]

their first 2 albums were made on 2 track tape, then they got 4 track. they used that on all their recordings until 1968 when they got 8 tracks to record on....

 

[nvilletele]

My son got me this one a few years back. I looked through it a few times, but maybe now I owe it a closer read.

 

[runstendt]

Speaking of Beatles gear, this photo still strikes me as odd (and makes me hum “Nowhere Man”).

 

[Ed Driscoll]

View attachment 925479 View attachment 925478 View attachment 925477 View attachment 925476 View attachment 925475 View attachment 925474 View attachment 925473 View attachment 925472 View attachment 925471 View attachment 925470 I was recently gifted the epic “Recording The Beatles” book, and at over 500 pages, it’s an exhaustive in-depth collection of all the gear that was used on their recordings. This includes all of the guitars, basses, drums, and other instruments personally owned by the band, as well as the myriad “In-House” gear/equipment available at Abbey Road and other studios.

With all of the recent talk about the “Get Back” documentary, I thought you’d be interested in this here.

While the book does not contain an exact list of any specific instrument used on a particular track, it does provide a comprehensive list of every Guitar, Bass, Drumkit, and amplifier used by the band in any given year, so this at least narrows it down nicely.

I’ll be intermittently posting more pics taken directly from the book, so keep an eye out. For now, though, I hope you enjoy these pics of the instruments they used per year.

If you're into recording, is that not the best book? I bought my copy last year:

 

[E5RSY]

There's a bass missing in the '69-'70 section.

Pretty sure he used two different Hofners.

 

[Killing Floor]

That brown guitar gots no whammy bar. What gives?

 

[Mr. St. Paul]

There's a bass missing in the '69-'70 section.

Pretty sure he used two different Hofners.

Two or three...the first Hofner Paul got was a 1961. It's recognizable because the pickups were close together: one right by the neck, the other in the middle of the body. The spruce top was damaged along the line and the pickups were supported with plastic combining both pickup rings:

This guitar was stolen some time after the Get Back sessions.

But Paul had bought a 1963 Hofner 500/1 several years earlier. It had a more standard pickup configuration: one by the neck, one close to the bridge. That became his main bass, and the 1961 became his backup. This is the bass seen in Get Back with the 'BASSMAN' sticker on it, and the one Paul has continued using recently:

Hofner also made a bass for Paul with gold-plated hardware that he evidently never used and wound up in the hands of a young British bass player--that story is covered in The Beatles Gear book.

 

[drewg]

Speaking of Beatles gear, this photo still strikes me as odd (and makes me hum “Nowhere Man”).

View attachment 925535

Cool. Would that be daphne or sonic blue?

 

[drewg]

There's an entire chapter devoted to "Effects". Use of big echo chamber rooms, vary-speeding, ADT (Artificial Double Tracking), Tape Loops, Phasing/Flanging, and more. Lots of nice photos of echo units and the like. I'll be posting more pics here soon. Stay tuned!

Is there a section on microphones? This is all very interesting, thanks for sharing.

 

[jayyj]

Cool. Would that be daphne or sonic blue?

Both John and George got sonic blue Strats around 1965 - I think they both got repainted or stripped, George's being the basis for the famous 'Rocky' Strat with the psychedelic paint.

 

[Double Stop]

Is there a section on microphones? This is all very interesting, thanks for sharing.

Yes! Lots of microphone details and info, indeed! I'll take some pictures in the morning and upload them here. It's about 1:00 A.M. in California right now and "I'm sooo tired, I haven't slept a wink.........". Stay tuned.

 

[AJBaker]

That's! Very cool.

It says John liked playing through a Fender Deluxe.
Do we know what kind? A Deluxe Reverb, or some non reverb version like a blonde Deluxe?

 

[Double Stop]

Howdy, friends. Let’s move onto microphones. More from the book. Part 1 of 3

 

[Double Stop]

^^^ More Mics Part 2 of 3