List of The Beatles' Instruments - Guitars

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 D-28 from C. F. Martin & Company (alternating between the J-160E and the D-28 for The White Album) while Harrison upgraded to a Gibson J-200 Jumbo (which Lennon used on "Two of Us" and other acoustic tracks on Let It Be).

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. During the Rubber Soul sessions, Lennon and Harrison acquired matching 1961 Stratocasters. Lennon's was used on "Nowhere Man" and sparingly on the Sgt. Pepper album, when it disappeared from the group's guitar lineup, most likely stolen.

Harrison started off in the Cavern Club days playing a black Gretsch Duo Jet. The Duo Jet was refurbished many years later and featured on the cover and album Cloud Nine. Around 1962 he switched to a Gretsch Country Gentleman and a Gretsch Tennessean, both of which he played until around 1965. 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". He eventually gave this guitar to Pete Ham of Badfinger. Harrison's most prominent guitar from 1967 until early 1969 was a Fender Stratocaster. Obtained and used during the Rubber Soul sessions, first used on "Nowhere Man", 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 Strat, dubbed "Rocky", is seen in the "I Am the Walrus" segment of Magical Mystery Tour, and in the "All You Need Is Love" broadcast. Around this time Harrison also used a 1957 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. The guitar can be seen in the "Revolution" promo video and the Let It Be film—in addition to a rosewood Telecaster specially flown to him by Fender.

Lennon and Harrison both purchased Epiphone Casinos in 1965 after Paul McCartney acquired one. They were used extensively in the recording of the Revolver album. 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 an Epiphone Casino almost exclusively from 1966 until the group's break-up and 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", "Helter Skelter", "Drive My Car", "The End" 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.