The ‘Abbey Road’ Console

“A truly historic musical artefact”— Journalist and broadcaster John Wilson introduces The EMI TG12345 MkI Recording Console, the star lot of our Sound of The Beatles: The ‘Abbey Road’ Console auction on 14 December in London.

Together with renowned record producer and audio engineer Haydn Bendall—who worked at Abbey Road Studios between 1973-90—they retrace the history and significance of this console used to record Abbey Road, the last album recorded by The Beatles and one of the most ground-breaking albums of all time.

Special thanks to Lockwood Loud Speakers
Music by Bird www.birdofficial.com
Thanks to Mike Hedges & Bird

Developed specifically by EMI as their first solid-state transistorised desk, the console was installed at the studio in 1968. The Beatles used it to record and mix Abbey Road a year later, resulting in a smoother, more polished sound.

In the words on Haydn Bendall, this prototype “enabled artists, engineers and producers to become much more innovative in the way they constructed a piece of music... It allowed engineers and producers to refine and define the sound in a much more delicate way.”

The Beatles Abbey Road Console will be offered for the first time at auction in our dedicated sale, Sound of The Beatles: The ‘Abbey Road’ Console, on 14 December at Bonhams Knightsbridge, London.

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Browse more lots in our upcoming auction on 14 December, including original artworks by John Lennon, Ian Macmillan, and more memorabilia from The Beatles .