The Amplifiers that Shook the World

Guitars get a lot of attention, but the amps are important too

By Phil O'Keefe

Electric guitars are nothing without amplification, and the amplifier brand most closely associated with The Beatles is Vox. Early in their career, Beatles manager Brian Epstein made a "handshake" endorsement deal with Vox amplifiers, and they were used exclusively in public by The Beatles until his death in August of 1967. Models that they used include the famous AC-15 and AC-30 all-tube amplifiers, as well as the more powerful AC-50 units that John and George used for the first Ed Sullivan Show performance. Paul originally used a Vox T-60 bass amplifier, but soon found an AC-100 head and 2x15" speaker cabinet more to his liking, and this is the amplifier he used on the first Ed Sullivan Show appearance. The more powerful 50 and 100 watt models were especially useful on-stage, where by this time, The Beatles were finding it difficult to hear themselves over the screams of their fans. The AC-30 remained popular with the band for studio use even after they moved to larger amps for touring, and versions of the AC-15 and AC-30 are still made by Vox today.

By 1966, the Beatles were also using Vox UL4120 120 watt bass amps, and Vox UL730 30 watt and UL7120 120 watt guitar amplifiers, which were used in the recording of Revolver and Sgt. Pepper. The unique sound of these amps is apparent in several places on both of these landmark albums. A good example of the sound of the 730 can be heard on Revolver's She Said She Said. The 4120 lacked the footswitchable fuzz circuit, and the vibrato and reverb effects of the 730 and 7120, but all UL series amps featured solid state preamps, and tube power amplifier sections.  

During the Sgt. Pepper era, Paul also owned a Selmer Thunderbird Twin 50 Mark II all-tube amp, which he used for his solo on Good Morning Good Morning and guitar parts on Being For The Benefit Of Mr Kite. Other amps that they were known to have owned include a Tweed Fender Deluxe that John used in the Hamburg and Cavern Club days, a Gibson GA-40 that George used in the same era, and a Fender Showman. In the studio starting in 1965, McCartney also frequently used a blonde 1964 Fender Bassman amplifier when recording. This amplifier was also sometimes pressed into service for use with guitar too, making it one of their most favored and highly-used studio amps in the middle and later Beatles years.

The Beatles were given a silverface Fender Twin and a matching silverface Deluxe Reverb by Don Randall of Fender in 1968, and these amplifiers were used on a lot of their later material, including sessions for Abbey Road. Three late 1968 "drip edge" silverface Twin Reverbs and a Bassman head with a 2x12" cabinet can also be seen in use on the Apple "rooftop" performance in Let It Be, which was filmed on January 30, 1969. Today Fender makes a reissue version of both the silverface Deluxe Reverb and Twin Reverb amps.

Phil O'Keefe is a multi-instrumentalist, recording engineer / producer and the Senior Editor of Harmony Central. He has engineered, produced and performed on countless recording sessions in a diverse range of styles, with artists such as Alien Ant Farm, Jules Day, Voodoo Glow Skulls, John McGill, Michael Knott and Alexa's Wish. He is a former featured monthly columnist for EQ magazine, and his articles and product reviews have also appeared in Keyboard, Electronic Musician and Guitar Player magazines.