Beatles' Abbey Road Console Goes Up For Sale
(Reverb) The recording console used by the Beatles to record the iconic Abbey Road album is coming to Reverb. The beautifully restored EMI TG1234 recording console will be for sale through the official Reverb shop of London's recording studio experts, MJQ Ltd, starting October 29.
The legendary one-of-one recording console was custom-built for EMI Studios in 1968 and used the following year to record Abbey Road-the Fab Four's last-ever recorded album before their breakup in 1970. The album went on to sell over 27 million copies worldwide, with a sound that shaped music for generations, and a cover-shot in front of the studio on Abbey Road-that is one of the most famous and imitated of all time.
"Abbey Road is one of the best albums that's ever been made, and it sounds so good because of this recording console," said Dave Harries, who participated in numerous Beatles recording sessions with the console in the 1960s. "Because of the way that Abbey Road was recorded, the album has a distinctive sound that hallmarked the future of pop recording."
Following the recording of Abbey Road, all four members of the Beatles would go on to use the recording console for solo projects, including John Lennon's standout single "Instant Karma!" Albums ranging from John Lennon's John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band and Paul McCartney's McCartney, to George Harrison's All Things Must Pass and Ringo Starr's Sentimental Journey, were all recorded with the help of the console's distinctive sound. According to Harries, the console's sound was so superior and distinctive that George Harrison asked EMI if he could buy one for himself, only to be turned down out of a fear that the console would be replicated and sold to one of their competitors.
"If you talk to the engineers who have used it, they'll tell you the same thing: It's a beautiful sounding machine...it enhances everything that goes through it," said Mike "The TG Man" Hedges, acclaimed producer and engineer known for his work with The Cure, U2, and more, who was the principal client in studio 2 at Abbey Road Studios throughout the '80s. "I even once threatened to stop working at Abbey Studios after being told that they planned to switch from EMI to a different brand of consoles. That is how I managed to purchase the consoles. A deal was done for me to acquire the replaced consoles"
After being disassembled and sitting unused for more than five decades, the recording console underwent a five-year restoration process under the guidance of Beatles collaborator and former EMI engineer Brian Gibson. Gibson, along with a team of audio engineers and technicians, managed to reunite the console with 70% of its original parts, working with expert British companies to faithfully reproduce the replacement parts to seamlessly work alongside their older counterparts. After years of work, Gibson and his team were able to bring the console to almost exactly the same form as it was when it sat at EMI Studios (known as Abbey Road Studios since the release of the legendary album.) According to Hedges, the console hadn't been used since the Beatles' solo sessions in the '70s until this autumn, when Reverb gathered artists and engineers at a legendary London studio that was reopened just to put the recording console to the test ahead of its September sale.
"This particular console is a one-off. It's unique. You can't replace it," said Harries of the recording console, which was the first of just 17 consoles worldwide made by EMI. "It sounds so good that it holds up against any modern console and, in many respects, it's probably better. Because in those days, it was built to a different standard, cost no object. EMI built this to be the best in the world."
To learn more about the renowned EMI TG 12345 that will be available in the Official MJQ Ltd. Reverb shop, and to sign up to be notified when the recording console goes live, visit: https://reverb.com/news/the-abbey-road-console-preview. Watch Harries, Hedges, audio technicians, and more demo and share behind-the-scenes stories about the console
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