How It Was Recorded

The Beatles · Album, 1963

Please Please Me

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: I Saw Her Standing There, Please Please Me. We found nothing specific to these songs, so this album record is the closest account we have.

Guitars (Harrison and Lennon)Bass (McCartney)Console and dynamics at Abbey RoadReported10

What the sources do and do not say

One article read in full, Guitar World's 2013 guide to the album, which lists the guitars, amplifiers and Abbey Road desk and compressor in narrative. All rows are album-level and reported; nothing is tied to the title track. Norman Smith's quote about placing microphones up to 20 feet from amplifiers names no model, so it has no row. The SOS Smith obituary and the SOS remastering and Martin remix pieces were read but add no usable recording gear for this album. The Tape Op interview is paywalled.

Guitars (Harrison and Lennon)

George Harrison and John Lennon

Instrument

Gretsch 6128 Duo Jet

Reported

Harrison's guitar for the album sessions, a 1957 example taken from his stage gear.

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.

Rickenbacker 325 Capri

Reported

Lennon's guitar for the album sessions, a 1958 example taken from his stage gear.

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.

Gibson J-160E

Reported

Acoustic-electric guitar that both Harrison and Lennon also played on the album sessions.

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

Vox AC30

Reported

The guitarists' stage amplifiers, fitted with retrofitted treble-boost circuits, used for the album.

Source: Guitar World, accessed 15 Nov 2026

Emulation of this unit

Native Instruments Guitar Rig 7 Pro

amp and cabinet simulator

Its AC Box amp is modelled on the Vox AC30.

Get the plugin ↗What else it stands in for

Also worth a look: IK Multimedia AmpliTube 5 (Includes an AC30-style amp model).

Bass (McCartney)

Paul McCartney

Instrument

Höfner 500/1

Reported

McCartney's violin bass for the album sessions, a 1961 example.

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

Leak Point One

Reported

Preamp that EMI supplied for McCartney's studio bass sound, replacing his noisy stage rig.

Source: Guitar World, accessed 15 Nov 2026

Covers this kind of unit

Universal Audio UA 610 Tube Preamp & EQ Collection

preamp and EQ

A valve preamp of the same period with simple bass and treble controls, so it adds a comparable gentle valve colour; it is not a model of this unit, which was hi-fi rather than studio equipment.

Get the plugin ↗What else it stands in for

Leak TL-12 Plus

Reported

Amplifier that EMI supplied for McCartney's bass work in the studio.

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).

Tannoy Dual-Concentric 15-inch

Reported

Speaker in the cabinet EMI supplied for McCartney's bass in the studio.

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).

Console and dynamics at Abbey Road

Input chain

EMI REDD.37

Reported

Eight-channel mixing desk used on Beatles sessions before 1964, with simple bass and treble boost and cut.

Source: Guitar World, accessed 15 Nov 2026

Emulation of this unit

Waves Abbey Road REDD Consoles

console emulation

Made with Abbey Road Studios as a model of its REDD.17, REDD.37 and REDD.51 desks.

Get the plugin ↗What else it stands in for

EMI TD114

Reported

Abbey Road's in-house compressor/limiter, used to control dynamics on Beatles recordings up to A Hard Day's Night.

Source: Guitar World, accessed 15 Nov 2026

Covers this kind of unit

Waves Abbey Road RS124 Compressor

compressor

Models a valve compressor built at the same studio, Abbey Road, in the same period. No source was found under this model number, so it is not a model of this unit.

Get the plugin ↗What else it stands in for

Sources

  1. Musician's Guide to the Songs and Instruments Featured on The Beatles' 'Please Please Me' Album, Guitar World, 2013-02-11. 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.

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