Johns first rickenbacker guitar is photographed as it looks today. The hardback book was delivered promptly and well packaged. If you do a bit of research books written on the beatles, like beatles gear book, and in particular beatles recording engineer geoff emericks book about the beatle s recording sessions where he specifically references the new gretsch 6120 that john lennon had just acquired and played rythm on the track that is the story of that particular. In that same book, this description of the guitar can be found. The first and only story of all the instruments played by all the beatles, of course including many gretsch guitars. As far as beatles books are concerned andy babiuks book ranks among the very best of them. Fab gear sells new and vintage equipment from the top manufacturers in the industry, from iconic brands like fender, gretsch, martin, rickenbacker, gibson, epiphone, vox, marshall, and ampeg. Andy babiuks beatles gear now bigger, better, almost backbreaking. A jet is the gretsch body style i can get along with best. Beatles gear is a landmark book that details exactly which guitars, drums, amplifiers and keyboards the beatles used at key points during their career. I cant think of a single song where they ever used a th. Fifty years ago, teenager fred gretsch sat in front of his familys blackandwhite television and watched the beatles first live tv performance in the u. Streetsounds nyc is located in brooklyn, just 4 miles away from the original gretsch factory. Father of the modern electric solidbody guitar, published in february 2009.
Look for inversions or simpler chords than the transcriber may have put in that book. In andy babiuks book beatles gear, the author writes of the film a hard days night. Beatles instrument expert babiuk returns with an expanded edition of his acclaimed reference book. All the fab fours instruments, from stage to studio by andy babiuk 2002, paperback at the best online prices at ebay. The beatles gear book is well written, informative and has excellent photographs of the musical instruments used by the beatles. Dec 10, 2015 babiuk celebrates the new, pumpedup beatles gear. 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. The ultimate edition, discusses the beatles early days and earliest instruments. The beatles and beyond georges guitars tilonlysilenceremains. Andy babiuk this ultimate guide to all the gear used by the beatles details exactly which guitars, drums, amplifiers, and keyboards the fab four embraced throughout their brief but revolutionary career, from their earliest days as the quarry men to the dissolution of the beatles in 1970. It is my recollection that, around the time that this second edition of the book was released, andy babiuk worked with fred gretsch to have these special gretsch editions printed and then fred gretsch sold them on his gretsch. Epiphone beatles gear limited edition book musicians friend. Includes free shipping, free expert guitar setup and a free autographed copy of the critically acclaimed book beatles gear. Learn about the prototype vox amplifiers the beatles used as well as their experimentation with fender amps.
Beatles gear is a landmark book that details exactly which guitars, drums, amplifiers and keyboards the beatles used at key points during their career the book was even used as the official technical reference book for beatles rock band, and its author, musician andy babiuk, was the official technical consultant to the game the book follows the band, from a gear perspective, from the. In early cavern days the boys used these instruments. The books subdued design conveys the soulfulness of the musician and helps create an intimate portrait of his life. Whichever camp you choose to pitch your tent with, beatles gear is a book that any beatles fan can agree on. John had his rickenbacker 325, paul an earlier version of the hofner 5001 and george his gretsch duojet. Beatles gear tracks the fab fours instruments from stage. While a few companies and individual craftsmen had previously experimented with solidbody electrics, it was fenders telecaster and gibsons les paul models that first popularized the solidbody design, and moved the market beyond the standard amplified acoustic guitars of the time. Home forums gretsch discussion pages the gretsch discussion forum beatles gear ultimate edition discussion in the gretsch discussion forum started by drmilktruck, dec 12, 2015. Andy shares stories about the groups time as a german house band and their.
My point, take that chord book with a grain of salt. Jul 28, 2016 the visual and interactive aspects of the harrison app are immediately impressive, as are the detailed descriptions of the seven guitars included in the first iteration of the app. I like brian setzer, but that style of gretsch feels cumbersome. Story of paul bigsby, limited edition special collectors edition. These are the guitars that will get you to the big stage play proud. The book was even considered the official technical reference book for beatles rock band, and its author, musician andy babiuk, was the official technical consultant to the game. This landmark 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 in the 1950s to the dissolution of the. All the fab fours instruments from stage to studio 2001, the story of paul bigsby. Andy babiuks fab gear rickenbacker, fender, gretsch. Gretsch guitars g2622t streamliner center block with bigsby electric guitar.
In the years since monkeemania in the 1960s, nez has continued to play gretsch guitars. My favourite beatles guitar sound is the rockabilly twang of that gretsch chet atkins tennessean heard for example on babys in black. It is my recollection that, around the time that this second edition of the book was released, andy babiuk worked with fred gretsch to have these special gretsch editions printed and then fred gretsch sold them on his website as gretsch accessories. Get your autographed deluxe hardcover edition of beatles gear by andy babiuk from fab gear.
The original beatles gear book was published back in 2001 and, over the past. Gretsch was started in a small music shop in brooklyn, n. The gretsch electric guitar book 60 years of white falcons, 6120s, jets, gents and more. Andy is also the author of the book the story of paul bigsby. Beatles gear limited edition for gretsch street sounds. Recording sessions by mark lewisohn covers all of the beatles work in the studio, complete with information about each song and when it was recorded. Buy this one book if you dont own a single beatles book and buy this one book if you have them all. The gretsch electromatic collection gives you essential gretsch power, style and performance. Recording the beatles by kevin ryan and brian kehew from curvebender publishing. Beatles gear now bigger, better, almost backbreaking. This would be a great companion book to beatles gear.
The blonde gretsch guitar he used on the 2012, 20, 2014, and 2016 monkees tours is a twelve string country classic i. All the fab fours instruments from stage to studio babiuk, andy on. Get the first book ever to tell the stories behind the guitars, basses, drums, keyboards, amplifiers, effects everything the beatles used to become the greatest rock and roll band of all time. The gretsch duo jet guitar was first introduced in 1953, at the dawn of the modern solidbody electric guitar era. Home forums gretsch discussion pages the gretsch discussion forum beatles gear ultimate edition discussion in the gretsch discussion forum started by drmilktruck. Dec 01, 2009 the beatles gear book is well written, informative and has excellent photographs of the musical instruments used by the beatles. Gretsch guitar and beatles gear book placed at memorial in memory of john lennon representing the fourth generation of gretsch musicalinstrument manufacturers, fred and dinah gretsch made a visit to new york citys central park on december 8the 30th anniversary of the assassination of legendary singer, composer, and musician john lennon. This article attempts to list the instruments used to achieve those results. They got mixed up many times, and the guitar thought to be lennons, but was actually harrisons, was stolen during their 1963 finsbury park christmas show. Babiuk is playing a gretsch g61221962 chet atkins country gentleman. View the original article on columnist joel connelly has written about.
Epiphone beatles gear limited edition book musicians. The official technical reference book for beatles rock band, written by the official consultant to the game for technical specifications. If you want to know more, i urge you to buy a book by andy babiuk titled beatles gear currently in its 3rd edition. However, beatles gear fills a void that previous books rarely touched on.
The very unusual gretsch george harrison 12string has an oldstyle model 6120 singlecutaway body finished in black, with white bound fholes. Major, minor, 7ths, 9ths, and occasionally an augmented chord. Hard cover book measures x 10 x 114 with 512 pages and features over 625 color and black and white. The label inside reads special, a name gretsch often applied to custom guitars, and. Beatles gear discussion in guitars in general started by aram, aug 30, 2008. Rickenbacker, hofner, gretsch, ludwig, vox, epiphone. From pauls iconic hofner bass to georges gretsch country gentleman, all the gear is in there. Hard cover book measures x 10 x 114 with 512 pages and features over 6. It was custom made for him by gretsch when he did a concert for them in the 1990s at the namm show, a music products industry trade event. Hofner bass to georges gretsch country gentleman, all the gear is in there. Gretsch duo jet 6128 1957 model george harrison later described the gretsch duo jet as his first good guitar. But it wont be simply the author sitting at a table. You know the songs, now know the gear that got them famous.
George harrisons gretsch guitar is destroyed the beatles bible. He is a founding member and bassist of the supergroup the empty hearts and was also a founding member of the chesterfield kings. In addition to the original material, the author has added over 650 new photos and more stories behind the groups iconic guitars, drums, pianos, amps, and more. Beatles gear is lavishly illustrated with hundreds of beautiful photographs of the beatles musical tools of the trade. George harrisons gretsch guitar is destroyed thursday 2 december 1965 travel comments the day before their 1965 uk tour began in glasgow, the beatles and their equipment were driven to berwickupontweed on englands border with scotland. The visual and interactive aspects of the harrison app are immediately impressive, as are the detailed descriptions of the seven guitars included in the first iteration of the app.
Beatles gear history in a limited edition, hardcover, coffee table book. Awesome collection of info about all the gear used by the beatles including your favorite brand gretsch. Andy babiuk born november 27, 1963 is an american musician, author, consultant, and owner of andy babiuks fab gear in fairport, new york. The beatles started out like most other rock and roll bands, employing a standard guitars bass drums instrumentation. It is a real collectors peice for any beatles fan and gives a great insight into some amzing guitars. The first and only story of all the instruments played by all the beatles, of. It is set for a november 10 release via backbeat books. In addition to what fans would expect such as mccartneys violinshaped hofner bass, lennons trademark rickenbacker, georges gretsch hollowbody, and ringos ludwig drum kit many of these photos are rarer. George gretsch 612262 celebrate with us, the release of backbeat books, beatles gear, the definitive history of the beatles instruments by andy babiuk. The beatles gear book is well written, informative and has excellent.
Im not a fan of floating bridges, i dont like how the end of the gretsch fretboard hangs off the end of the neck like a diving board. Discussion in music corner started by drbeatle, mar 9. Gretsch was a 27yearold german immigrant, that opened this small shop shortly after his arrival to the united states. It is a hard book to put down and i fully recommend this book to anyone interested in the musical evolution of this exceptional band. That includes some of the more obscure instruments, too. His critically acclaimed books beatles gear 2001 and rolling stones gear 2014 are books that manage to be both historical documents and an entertaining read.
But whats most pleasing about beatles gear is that it isnt geeky in the least though geeks are well catered for. Their scope of experimentation grew, as did the palette of sounds. The book s subdued design conveys the soulfulness of the musician and helps create an intimate portrait of his life. An epic history of the style, sound, and revolution of the electric guitar. The book s yearbyyear format analyzes in detail the beatles entire touring and recording career. This ultimate guide to all the gear used by the beatles details exactly which guitars, drums, amplifiers, and keyboards the fab four embraced throughout their brief but revolutionary career, from their earliest days as the quarry men to the dissolution of the beatles in 1970. Written by andy babiuk, a staff consultant to the rock. George played his gretsch guitars on stage for the beatles u.
As their touring days wound down, they became a fulltime studio band. Beatles gear tracks the fab fours instruments from. This book gives a full overview of the gretsch gear that the beatles used over the many albums and live shows. Beatles gear gives you new insights into the instruments, drawn from the authors 400plus interviews with musicians and others who worked with the. At last, beatles gear the ultimate edition gets right inside the music. All the fab fours instruments from stage to studio. The limited edition book, the beatles geartakes a close look at all the instruments used by the john, paul, ringo, and george and examines in detail how the fab four used them to create their legendary sound.
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