List of the Beatles' instruments

The Beatles started out like most other rock and roll bands, employing a standard guitars/bass/drums instrumentation. As their touring days wound down, they became a full-time studio band. Their scope of experimentation grew, as did the palette of sounds. This article attempts to list the instruments used to achieve those results.

Not listed are instruments played by the Beatles’ session players such as cello, violin, saxophone, trumpet, French horn or the 41-piece orchestra heard on " A Day in the Life".

Guitars

Both John Lennon and George Harrison used the Gibson J-160E, an acoustic guitar with an electric pickup at the base of the fretboard. The resonant character of the full acoustic body, combined with the electric pickup, meant that this guitar was susceptible to feedback, employed to great effect on the intro to " I Feel Fine". Lennon also used a Framus Hootenanny twelve-string acoustic, which can be seen in the movie '' Help!'' and heard on the title song and " You've Got to Hide Your Love Away". This twelve-string guitar accounted for audibly richer rhythm guitar parts on songs like these, in comparison to the six-string Gibsons. After ''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'', Lennon moved on to a Martin D-28 from C. F. Martin & Company (alternating between the J-160E and the D-28 for ''The Beatles'') while Harrison upgraded to a Gibson J-200 Jumbo (which Lennon used on " Two of Us" and other acoustic tracks on ''Let It Be''). Harrison later gave the guitar to Bob Dylan in 1969.

Upgrading from a 1959 Höfner Club 40 guitar, purchased from Hessy's Music Shop in Liverpool, Lennon primarily used a Rickenbacker 325 Capri from 1960 until 1964. He purchased the guitar in Hamburg in its original natural finish and used the guitar extensively throughout the Cavern Club performances. In early 1963 he sent the guitar off to be refinished in its more popular black finish. This is the way the guitar appeared on '' The Ed Sullivan Show'' performance in February 1964. Shortly thereafter, he upgraded to a brand new Rickenbacker 325, a much-improved version of his 325 Capri. Rickenbacker specially made a 325/12. During the Christmas shows of 1964, Lennon dropped the new Rickenbacker 325 which made a huge crack in the neck and headstock. British instrument distributor Rose Morris sent a replacement Rickenbacker 325 with a sound hole and in a red fire glo finish. The guitar is called a Rickenbacker 325 1996. Lennon used the guitar for the shows until the other 325 was repaired. In 1968 during the recording of ''The Beatles'', drummer Ringo Starr left the group during tensions and when he returned, Lennon gave the Rickenbacker 325 1996 to Starr. He has had it ever since. During the ''Help!'' sessions, Lennon and Harrison acquired matching 1961 Fender Stratocasters. Lennon's was used on " Nowhere Man" and sparingly on the ''Sgt. Pepper'' album.

George Harrison wanted a Fender Stratocaster as his first electric guitar in 1956, but because of a US embargo there was not one Fender Stratocaster available in the city of Liverpool, so a very disappointed Harrison, who had been sitting in school painting Fender Stratocasters for hours everyday as a 12-13 year old boy, had to settle for Czech Stratocaster copy called Futurama. Harrison is famous for having said "If I'd had it my way my first guitar would have been a Stratocaster". After the Futurama he got hold of a Gretsch The Duo Jet as Stratocasters did not exist in England at that time. The Duo Jet was refurbished many years later and featured on the cover and album ''Cloud Nine''. In mid 1963 he switched to a Gretsch Country Gentleman and a Gretsch Tennessean, both of which he played until around the end of 1964. Harrison commented on the Gretsch guitars "I did not like the sound I had which was a Gretsch guitar and a Vox amp". His second Country Gentleman was given away to a friend (Harrison was an avid sharer of instruments) and is now retained by Ringo Starr, while his first Country Gentleman fell off the Beatles' van in 1965 and was crushed by a lorry. In 1964 Harrison introduced the electric twelve-string guitar into mainstream pop. His Rickenbacker 360/12 twelve-string was a prototype. Only the second twelve-string guitar Rickenbacker ever made, it was delivered specially to him during their first visit to New York City. Harrison's use of the 12-string inspired Roger McGuinn of the Byrds to start using one too. He also used a Ramirez Classical Guitar which can be heard in "And I Love Her" and seen used throughout the film '' A Hard Day's Night''. Harrison used a Gibson SG around 1966; these can be seen in the promotional videos for "Paperback Writer" and " Rain", in addition to film of the recording session for "Hey Bulldog". The guitar was prominent on both Revolver and the White Album. He eventually gave this guitar to Pete Ham of Badfinger. Harrison's most prominent guitar from December 1964 until early 1970 was a Fender Stratocaster. Obtained and used in December 1964 during the ''Help!'' sessions in, first used on " Ticket to Ride", it was originally Sonic Blue in colour until Harrison gave it a psychedelic paint job, using, among other substances, his wife's sparkly green nail polish. This psychedelic Stratocaster, dubbed "Rocky", is seen in the " I Am the Walrus" segment of '' Magical Mystery Tour'', and in the "All You Need Is Love" broadcast.It is also 'played' by Mike Campbell in the video for Tom Petty's 'I Won't Back Down'. Harrison after receiving his beloved Fender Stratocaster recorded almost exclusively for the rest of his life with a Fender Stratocaster. At his death they accounted he owned 350 Fender Stratocasters he had bought himself. The reason you did not see the Beatles with Stratocasters on stage or in videos is because Fender tried to bribe Brian Epstein who got incredibly insulted and forbid the Beatles to use Stratocasters in public. In the studio he allowed Harrison to use the Fender Stratocaster as much as he wanted.

Harrison is considered the biggest fan of the Fender Stratocaster of all musicians.
John Lennon's Guitars
Around this time Harrison also used a 1957 Gibson Les Paul model, which was given to him by Eric Clapton and was once in the possession of, among other musicians, John Sebastian of The Lovin' Spoonful. Originally a "gold top" model, the guitar was refinished with a dark red stain before it got to Harrison and was nicknamed " Lucy". The guitar can be seen in the " Revolution" promotional video and the ''Let It Be'' film. Also seen in that film is a rosewood Fender Telecaster, given to him by Fender, though the Telecaster George Harrison referens to as "The worst guitar I have ever played" in a Rolling Stone magazine interview was never used in any Beatle song. The roof top songs George rerecorded for the album Let it be with his Fender Stratocaster Rocky.

Harrison used the Telecaster during the Beatles' "Get Back Sessions" as well as on the Beatles' 1970 album ''Let It Be'' and '' Abbey Road'' (1969).

Lennon and Harrison both purchased Epiphone Casinos in the spring of 1966. Paul McCartney acquired his Casino in 1964. They were used extensively in the recording of the ''Revolver'' album and continued to be used throughout their remaining years along with other instruments. Lennon extensively used his Casino as can be witnessed in the film of their final concert at Candlestick Park in 1966, as well as in the ''Let it Be'' film when playing in their studio in London. Lennon's Casino was double-tracked to get sufficient distortion to satisfy Lennon in the intro to ''Revolution''. Although they purchased the guitars with sunburst finishes, both Harrison and Lennon later stripped the finishes off the guitars, claiming it allowed the guitars to "breathe" better. Lennon's stripped-down Casino can be seen in video footage of the famous rooftop concert. Lennon used a Casino almost exclusively from 1966 until the group's break-up and he is even seen with it during the sessions for his '' Imagine'' album.

Paul McCartney's electric guitar parts (solos on " Ticket to Ride", "Another Girl", " Taxman", " Drive My Car", " Carry That Weight" and "Good Morning Good Morning" to name a few) were chiefly performed on his own Epiphone Casino or sunburst Fender Esquire. For recordings with acoustic parts played by McCartney (" Yesterday"), he favoured a 1964 Epiphone Texan FT-79. In 1968, he started using a D-28 from C. F. Martin & Company.

Basses

McCartney custom-ordered a left-handed Höfner model 500/1 "violin" bass during one of the group's early residences in Hamburg. This model, with two pickups very close to the neck and almost touching each other, was replaced in 1962 by a 1963 model, whose pickups were spaced much farther apart, in a more conventional manner. McCartney continued to use his early model, although very rarely, until the ''Get Back'' sessions. It was stolen in 1972, but was later recovered in 2023. He continues to use his 1963 Höfner bass. In October 1965 he switched to a Rickenbacker Model 4001S, during the recording of '' Rubber Soul'' (as seen in pictures from those sessions), but certainly by the recording of "Paperback Writer". It would be his principal choice for the remainder of the Beatles' career. He briefly used a left-handed Fender Jazz Bass during sessions for '' The Beatles'' double album and again for '' Abbey Road''. He returned to the Höfner during ''Get Back'' sessions He used the 1961 Höfner on the 2 January 1969 session. On 3 January he switched to the '63 Hofner. and played it during the rooftop concert, but returned to the Rickenbacker for ''Abbey Road''. McCartney continued to use his Rickenbacker in his solo career and with Wings.

Keyboards

All four Beatles contributed keyboard parts to their catalogue, supplemented by George Martin, Mal Evans, Chris Thomas, Nicky Hopkins and Billy Preston.

* Hohner Pianet N and CH models
* Steinway Vertegrand upright piano
* Baldwin Combo harpsichord
* Baldwin Satin Ebony Grand
* Bechstein D-280 concert grand piano
* Blüthner Grand Piano
* Challen Piano
* Schiedmayer Celeste
* Mannborg Harmonium
* Moog synthesizer III
* Fender Rhodes Suitcase (‘68)
* Selmer Concert Clavioline
* Hammond RT-3 organ with Leslie Model 122 cabinet
* Hammond C-3 organ
* Hammond L-100
* Lowrey DSO Heritage Deluxe organ
* Mellotron MK II
* Vox Continental organs used on " I'm Down" and others
* Unidentified harpsichord(s?) used on " All You Need Is Love", "Fixing a Hole", " Piggies"
* Unidentified clavichord used on "For No One"

Microphones

Although microphone usage varied somewhat according to the requirements of each song, the group's recordings at Abbey Road most often employed Neumann U47 or U67 microphones for electric guitars and one or more Neumann U47s (unidirectional); U48's "figure eight" (bidirectional) pickup pattern for vocals and most other instruments. The AKG C-12 was used as well, particularly on the bass (speaker) amplifier. Early in their recording career the drums usually were recorded with only two microphones: one overhead (an AKG D19 or STC 4038) and one for the bass drum (such as an AKG D20). Later, more microphones were used on the drums.

The AKG C28 is visible in the ''Let It Be'' film. Available studio documentation and interviews with their former recording engineers indicate that this microphone was not used for recording in the studio.

With the group's encouragement, recording engineer Geoff Emerick experimented with microphone placement and equalization. Many of his techniques were unusual for the time but have since become commonplace, such as "close miking" (physically placing the microphone very close to a sound source) of acoustic instruments or deliberately overloading the signal to produce distortion. For example, he obtained the biting string sound that characterises " Eleanor Rigby" by miking the instruments extremely closely—Emerick has related that the string players would instinctively back away from the microphones at the start of each take, and he would go back into the studio and move the microphones closer again. The recording of George Harrison's acoustic guitar in " Here Comes the Sun" was another incidence of close miking.

Drums

Ringo Starr bought a set of Premier drums in 1960, but in June 1963 made the switch to a four-piece Ludwig set. The American-made drums were newly available in England, but the clincher for Starr was the Black Oyster Pearl finish of the Ludwig kit. He used four similar kits altogether, including two that he kept at Abbey Road. The first two Ludwig kits were 20", 12", 14", plus 14" snare and the second two 22",13",16", 14" snare. Starr played a 20" kit on the '' Ed Sullivan Show'' debut in February 1964. He changed to the bigger 22" kit at the end of May 1964. Near the end of the sessions for the ''White Album'', he obtained a natural-tone five-piece Ludwig Hollywood set and set it up alongside his existing Black Oyster Pearl bass drum, according to Mal Evans in the November 1968 edition of ''The Beatles' Monthly''.
Starr continued to use the Hollywood kit for the ''Let It Be'' and ''Abbey Road'' sessions, albeit with a Ludwig Black Oyster Pearl snare rather than the snare with the Hollywood kit, and he used it at the "rooftop concert" as well as his drum solo in " The End". Starr experimented with various muffling techniques. He used Ludwig and Remo drumheads. He started his career playing Paiste cymbals, but switched to Zildjian. He has used Paiste occasionally, most likely due to their easier availability in Europe.

Instruments specific to ''Rubber Soul'' sessions

Photographs of these sessions reveal the following gear:

Lennon

* 1964 Rickenbacker 325 in Black finish (given to Lennon by Rickenbacker at the Deauville Hotel, Miami Beach, Florida, on 14 February 1964)
* 1964 Gibson J-160E sunburst finish acoustic-electric guitar (purchased during the September 1964 US tour. Modified for the ''Rubber Soul'' sessions by moving the pick-up to the bridge side of the sound hole)
* 1961 Fender Stratocaster in Sonic Blue finish (purchased by Mal Evans during the making of the '' Help!'' album)
* 1965 Framus Hootenanny 5/024 acoustic 12 string guitar
* 1965 Epiphone Casino

McCartney

* 1963 Höfner 500/1 Violin Bass (purchased by McCartney in October 1963)
* 1962 Epiphone Casino E230TD in sunburst finish (modified for playing left-handed)
* 1964 Epiphone Texan FT-79 acoustic guitar (also modified for playing left-handed)
* 1965 Rickenbacker 4001S left-handed bass guitar in fireglo (red sunburst) finish, given to McCartney by Rickenbacker at Burt Lancaster's house in Benedict Canyon, Hollywood, during the week beginning 23 August 1965.
* 1965 Tone Bender

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