How It Was Recorded

The Beatles · Album, 1970

Let It Be

This is an album-level record: the sources describe how the album as a whole was recorded, not one song. Where a detail belongs to a single song, the row says so.

Songs this record stands for: The Long and Winding Road. We found nothing specific to this song, so this album record is the closest account we have.

Guitars and guitar amplification (Let It Be sessions)Bass and bass amplification (Let It Be sessions)Apple studio recording equipment (Let It Be sessions)Reported7

What the sources do and do not say

Album record from one Guitar World guide, written by the journalist (no engineer or artist quotes), so every row is reported and album-level: it describes the Let It Be sessions at Apple, not this song. A second Guitar World feature (Alan di Perna, 2024) was also read in full; it says the master takes of The Long and Winding Road and Let It Be were made at Apple on the day after the rooftop performance and that Phil Spector later added orchestra and choir, but it names no gear for the song. It also gives the Abbey Road consoles as four-track where the guide says eight-channel, so no channel count is stated.

Guitars and guitar amplification (Let It Be sessions)

Instrument

Epiphone Casino

Reported

Lennon's electric guitar for the Let It Be sessions, a stripped-down Casino that he is rarely seen without.

Source: Guitar World, accessed 15 Nov 2026

No plugin suggested. A guitar is the source of the sound, not a process applied to it. No plugin stands in for it.

Fender Rosewood Telecaster

Reported

Harrison's usual electric guitar in the session footage, a custom-made rosewood Telecaster.

Source: Guitar World, accessed 15 Nov 2026

No plugin suggested. A guitar is the source of the sound, not a process applied to it. No plugin stands in for it.

Amplifier

Fender Twin (silverface, 85-watt)

Reported

Amplification for the Harrison and Lennon guitars during the sessions, with vibrato and reverb circuits.

Source: Guitar World, accessed 15 Nov 2026

Covers this kind of unit

IK Multimedia AmpliTube 5

amp and cabinet simulator

An amp and cabinet simulator that covers a wide range of amplifiers and speaker cabinets of this kind. It is not a model of this unit, so pick the nearest one in it by ear.

Get the plugin ↗What else it stands in for

Also worth a look: Native Instruments Guitar Rig 7 Pro (An amp and cabinet simulator that covers a wide range of amplifiers and speaker cabinets of this kind. It is not a model of this unit, so pick the nearest one in it by ear).

Bass and bass amplification (Let It Be sessions)

Paul McCartney

Instrument

Höfner 500/1

Reported

McCartney's bass for the sessions, a 1963 Hofner 500/1 that the guide says he used exclusively.

Source: Guitar World, accessed 15 Nov 2026

No plugin suggested. A bass guitar is the source of the sound, not a process applied to it. No plugin stands in for it.

Amplifier

Fender Bassman

Reported

McCartney's bass amplification, a 50-watt silverface head with a tall Bassman cabinet.

Source: Guitar World, accessed 15 Nov 2026

Emulation of this unit

Native Instruments Guitar Rig 7 Pro

amp and cabinet simulator

Its Tweedman amp is modelled on the Fender Bassman.

Get the plugin ↗What else it stands in for

Also worth a look: IK Multimedia AmpliTube 5 (Includes Fender-style tweed amp models; an official Bassman model is sold as an add-on collection).

Apple studio recording equipment (Let It Be sessions)

Input chain

3M Eight-track tape machine (model not stated)

Reported

The eight-track tape machine at Apple, described as the one piece of studio equipment there that worked, used for tracking the sessions.

Source: Guitar World, accessed 15 Nov 2026

Approximate

Slate Digital Virtual Tape Machines

tape

Models two Studer machines, not this recorder. It gives the general behaviour of analogue multitrack tape.

Get the plugin ↗What else it stands in for

Also worth a look: Universal Audio Studer A800 Tape Recorder (Models a Studer A800, not this recorder. It gives the general behaviour of analogue multitrack tape).

Unidentified Console (model not stated)

Reported

Mixing consoles sent from Abbey Road to replace the unusable Apple desk, used together with the eight-track machine.

Source: Guitar World, accessed 15 Nov 2026

No plugin suggested. The source does not name the model, so no specific plugin can be suggested.

Sources

  1. Guide to the Songs and Instruments Featured on The Beatles' 'Let It Be' Album, Guitar World, 2014-12. Accessed 15 Nov 2026.
Verified

Stated by the engineer, producer or artist, or by the manufacturer.

Reported

Stated by a reputable secondary source.

Inferred

An educated suggestion, not a documented fact.

Disclosure: plugin links currently go straight to the maker and earn us nothing. If that changes, affiliate links will be marked here. Suggestions are chosen on fit, never on commission, and are kept separate from the recording facts. More.