If you have a bag of cash lying around, then now is your chance to purchase the console that The Beatles Recorded their Abbey Road album on. The one-of-a-kind EMI TG12345 console custom-built by the boffins at EMI specifically for Abbey Road Studio Studio 2 is up for auction next week on Reverb.
This is one of 17 consoles originally built exclusively for EMI studios around the world, and it’s also the first that departed from a vacuum tubes topology for solid state. The Abbey Road engineers didn’t care so much for the sound compared to what they were used to, but there are still many that say this might be one of the finest sounding consoles ever built.
According to Dave Harries, one of the engineers who actually worked on the desk when it lived at Abbey Road, “This particular console is a one-off. It’s unique. You can’t replace it. 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.”
Some of the solo Beatle projects also done on the console include include John Lennon’s “Instant Karma!” and his John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band record, Paul McCartney’s McCartney, George Harrison’s All Things Must Pass, and Ringo Starr’s Sentimental Journey record.
The console has been fully restored and everything actually works, which is pretty amazing for a 50+ year old piece of gear. The only question is the price that it will demand, which no doubt will be steep. I’m going to be watching this closely, if for no other reason than the curiosity factor.
You can find out more about it directly from the people with the most intimate knowledge of the desk in the video below.
