Music memorabilia can sell for high prices, especially if it involves The Beatles. Equipment used by the group has recently surfaced, including John Lennon’s first Vox amplifier, and the recording console used for the Abbey Road album.
Pictured above is the first recording session by The Beatles after they were signed to EMI by George Martin, and the amplifier John Lennon used in that session. The amp recently resurfaced when a fan spotted it in an online auction. Not that it was easy to see. The old owner had decided to paint it black (we could blame The Rolling Stones), but the serial number matched the fawn colored amp used by Lennon. As you can see, the black paint has been removed, and the 60+ year old amplifier looks a little rough around the edges.
There is still some certifying that needs to be done to make sure it’s the genuine article, but at this point it seems real. The buyer in England took a chance and paid 16,000-pounds for it, but if it’s certified and is put up for auction again, it’s estimated it could bring $123,000 to $320,000. It makes me wonder what happened to The Beatles’ most famous amplifiers, the Vox “Super Beatle” model.
Of course even these larger amps were not powerful enough for the size of concerts The Beatles played. A couple of the guitarists in my 1960’s band had “Super Beatle” amplifiers, and really liked them.
The Beatles’ Abbey Road album is the band’s most modern sounding recording. That’s because of this 8-track custom built console.
Previous Beatles albums were recorded on older 4-track consoles. Here are photos from when the recording console was new back in 1969.
It was state of the art back then, and was also used to record some of the first solo albums by the ex-Beatles. Without considering its historical value, the console was eventually disassembled and placed in storage.
Now, the console has been restored to its original working condition using 70% of its original parts. The owners believe the console could bring up to 3-million-dollars.
Beatles memorabilia sells for big numbers. In 2005, John Lennon’s handwritten lyrics to “All You Need Is Love” sold for 1.25-million-dollars, and in 2015, Ringo Starr’s personal copy of The White Album sold for $790,000
Wow – I need to find some 🙂