Beatles 'Abbey Road' Recording Console Up for Bid - See the Video

Info via Reverb:

The legendary recording console responsible for tracking Abbey Road, the final Beatles record, is going to be available for sale on Reverb.

The EMI TG12345 console has been painstakingly and beautifully restored—ready for decades more of recording—and will be available through the official Reverb shop of London's recording studio experts, MJQ Ltd, starting October 29. 

The EMI TG12345 is a one-of-one console that was custom-built by EMI Studios back in 1968. The following year, it recorded the Fab Four's last-ever album, Abbey Road, before the band's breakup in 1970.

"Abbey Road is one of the best albums that's ever been made, and it sounds so good because of this recording console," said Dave Harries, who participated in numerous Beatles recording sessions with the console in the 1960s. "Because of the way that Abbey Road was recorded, the album has a distinctive sound that hallmarked the future of pop recording."

While the console only recorded one full band Beatles project, all four members would go on to use it for their solo projects. Some of these projects include John Lennon's standout single "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.

According to Harries, the console's sound was so superior and distinctive that George Harrison asked EMI if he could buy one for himself, only to be turned down out of a fear that the console would be replicated and sold to one of their competitors.

After being disassembled and sitting unused for more than five decades, the recording console underwent a five-year restoration process under the guidance of Beatles collaborator and former EMI engineer Brian Gibson. Gibson, along with a team of audio engineers and technicians, managed to reunite the console with 70% of its original parts, working with expert British companies to faithfully reproduce the replacement parts to seamlessly work alongside their older counterparts.