Beatles Gear: All the Fab Four's Instruments, From Stage to Studio

by Andy Babiuk

Revised Edition
Including Many Previously Unseen Photographs

This book details exactly which guitars, drums, amplifiers and keyboards The Beatles used at the key points of their relatively brief but entirely revolutionary career -- from the formation of The Quarry men skiffle group in the 1950s to the dissolution of The Beatles in 1970. It provides a fascinating fresh insight into Beatle history from an entirely new viewpoint, and along the way many myths are exploded and dozens of stories told for the first time. John, Paul, George and Ringo's moves from cheap early instruments to the pick of 1960s technology is carefully and entertainingly documented in an easy-to-read narrative, fully illustrated with many unseen photographs, a cache of rare memorabilia, and a unique collection of specially-photographed actual Beatle instruments. This landmark book is perfect for the fan absorbed by music rather than hairstyles, for the tribute-band member with an eye for detail, and for any reader with an abiding interest in the 1960s. At last, Beatles Gear gets right inside the music.

Andy Babiuk is a musician and writer, has worked in a major instrument store, The House Of Guitars, for over 20 years, and is Staff Consultant to The Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame. Andy perceived the need for a book about The Beatles' gear when he tried to emulate some of their recorded sounds for his own band, The Chesterfield Kings. Andy then embarked on six years of research for Beatles Gear, during which time he interviewed over 400 people who worked with or were closely associated with The Beatles, listened to hundreds of recordings, watched miles of film, and amassed a vast library of documents and photographic evidence of The Beatles using their instruments and equipment. The result is this most detailed account of The Beatles and the tools that they used, on-stage and in the studio. Beatles Gear is a book that manages to be both a historical document and an entertaining read. Andy lives in Rochester, New York, with his wife, five children and a very large collection of guitars and Beatles memorabilia.

Just how did The Beatles get those fantastic sounds? Now it can be told: here at last in this revised edition the story of all the instruments and gear that the Fab Four used from their earliest days to the group's break-up, with a foreword by acclaimed Beatle author Mark Lewisohn, this book tells it like it was.