Abbey Road Studios recording equipment goes up for sale
Written by worldOneFm on August 11, 2022
Did you know that one legendary piece of recording console connected legendary bands such as The Beatles, Pink Floyd, and more? In 1957, E.M.I Studios — which was renamed to “Abbey Road Studios” in 1970 — upgraded to the state of the art BTR2 (British Tape Recorder 2) recording console for the best recording quality that money could buy. Now, that very same BTR2 console is going up for sale at music and pop culture auction house Gotta Have Rock & Roll.
From 1957 until the mid 1970’s, countless iconic albums were made on this same recording console including “A Hard Day’s Night”, “Beatles For Sale”, “Revolver”, “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”, “Magical Mystery Tour”, “The White Album” and “Abbey Road” from just The Beatles alone. Other albums recorded using it include “Plastic Ono Band” LP by John Lennon, “All Things Must Pass” by George Harrison, and the Diamond selling “Dark Side of the Moon” by Pink Floyd.
One can only imagine the flashes of inspiration, late night creative sessions, and wild partying that took place in that studio room. The auction listing includes two images from Abbey Road Studios, one with a pensive John Lennon in front of the BTR2 and another with George Harrison and Ringo Starr celebrating with cake and champagne right in front of the BTR2.
Equipment from Abbey Road Studios is very rarely brought up for public sale, and only a few pieces have made it into the hands of collectors. This BT2 was originally bought in 1980 from the studio itself during their “Sale of the Century” before selling again at Sotheby’s in 1988 to none other than the world renowned Hard Rock Café. The current owner bought it from Hard Rock and is the one selling it today.
Check out this historic piece and 1200+ other Rock’n’Roll artifacts that are on sale through August 19th at here.
