The legendary mixing desk used on The Beatles' Abbey Road is going up for sale
The legendary recording console used on The Beatles' Abbey Road is going up for sale on gear marketplace Reverb.
Custom-built for Abbey Road Studios (then known as EMI Studios) in 1968, the EMI TG 12345 MK1 was installed in Abbey Road's Studio 2 control room and used by George Martin and Geoff Emerick to record The Beatles' final album the following year, before being utilized on solo projects from all four members of the band, including John Lennon's John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band and Paul McCartney's McCartney.
The console was so beloved by the Fab Four that Harrison is said to have asked EMI if he could buy his own, a request that was denied out of fear that the console would be replicated and sold to competitors.
A team of engineers and technicians assembled by MJQ Ltd, who will be selling the console through their Reverb store, has spent four years restoring the desk under the watchful eye of former EMI engineer and Beatles collaborator Brian Gibson. The console now contains 70% of its original parts, with the remainder made up of painstakingly recreated replacements that have been custom-built to mirror the sound of the original unit, using the same materials and processes as the original components.
Source: Matt Mullen/musicradar.com
