As a ’60s band we endeavour to play period-correct instruments where possible.

Bass

Hofner 500/1 violin basses – as made famous by Paul McCartney. You will see two variants of this iconic instrument; the “Cavern” model as used by McCartney during the Beatles’ Hamburg days and on their early records, and the ’63 model, which has been McCartney’s bass of choice for almost sixty years.

Rickenbacker basses have a look and sound all their own. An extremely versatile instrument, they have been played by the likes of Paul McCartney, Roger Waters, Geddy Lee, Chris Squire, Mike Rutherford, Peter Quaife, Lemmy Kilmister, John Entwistle, Bruce Foxton, Greg Lake, Randy Meisner, and many others. The 4003S model is the successor to the original 1964 4001S with near-identical specifications. The bass appears in the Magical Mystery Tour film with a suitably psychedelic paintjob.

Guitars

The Fender Telecaster was the world’s first mass-produced solid-body electric guitar, first introduced in 1950. Its simple yet effective design and revolutionary sound broke ground and set trends in electric guitar manufacturing and popular music. The Tele has remained in continuous production, mostly unchanged, since the 1950s, and has been played by the likes of Jeff Beck, Albert Collins, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, David Gilmore, George Harrison, Jimmy Page, Keith Richards, Pete Townshend and Muddy Waters

The FT-79 was produced by the Epiphone company starting in 1942, continued to be produced after Gibson bought Epiphone in 1957, and is still produced today. The Texan is an acoustic flattop guitar of the Jumbo type; the body shape resembles the slope-shouldered Gibson J-45 but has a longer 25.5″ scale length. The Texan was made popular by Paul McCartney for the recording and the live performances of the hit song from 1965 “Yesterday”, and was also found in the hands of Wizz Jones, Bert Jansch, Graham Nash, Noel Gallagher, T Bone Burnett and Peter Frampton.

The Riviera is one of Epiphone’s most enduring electric guitar models. First introduced in the early ’60s, the instrument has spanned multiple musical generations and transcended various genres – finding favour with the likes of Robben Ford, Otis Rush, Lou Reed and Nick Valensi (The Strokes). The Riviera’s signature design elements include an ES semi-hollow body, a punchy mini humbucker pairing, an elegant Frequensator tailpiece and a unique 3-layer pickguard.

Fender Stratocaster – a double cutaway guitar that has been continuously manufactured since 1954, the Strat is one of the most iconic electric guitar models of all time. Strats have been played by many great artists, such as Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, David Gilmour, Mark Knopfler, Bob Dylan, George Harrison, and Eric Clapton.

Keyboards

The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical musical instrument developed in Birmingham in 1963. It is played by pressing its keys, which trigger pre-recorded lengths magnetic tape to be pulled across playback heads; well known Mellotron sounds include ‘Flute’ and ‘3 Violins’. Original mellotrons are heavy to transport and prone to mechanical failure if not looked after. Gig-friendly digital versions of the mellotron have been developed in recent years. The Mellotron was adopted by rock and pop groups in the mid to late 1960s, including Manfred Mann, The Moody Blues, The Beatles and The Kinks. The Hurdy Gurdies use a digital Mellotron, and a Nord Electro stage keyboard for pianos and organs.

Harmonicas

Seydel 1847 harmonicas – 10-hole diatonic harmonicas with wooden combs and stainless steel reeds. They are handmade in the oldest harmonica factory in the world, in Klingenthal, Saxony. Notable Seydel harmonica players include James Cotton, Charlie Musselwhite, and Peter “Madcat” Ruth. Barry plays both standard Richter and Wilde tuned 1847s.

Drums

2020 Vox Telstar drum kit – this limited edition, rare, glistening beast comes with an unusual elliptically shaped bass drum, and is coated in a silver crocodile-skin wrap, so you can only play it wearing dark glasses. The design is based upon an earlier vintage kit known as the ‘Speedfire’, manufactured by Trixon in the late ‘60s. The best thing about the Telstar is that it looks like it has just melted, probably out of sheer ecstasy. It sounds great and is terrifically boomy. Mark uses Istanbul cymbals and Remo drum heads, and an old cowbell he found in a car-boot sale in Crawley.

The Hurdy Gurdies use Vox amplifiers, which are famous for their chimey “British” sound. Vox released the AC15 in 1958, and the AC30 in 1959; their amplifiers helped to produce the sound of the British Invasion, being used by The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Kinks, and The Yardbirds, among others.

The Gibson Les Paul is a solid body electric guitar that was first sold by the Gibson Guitar Corporation in 1952. Its typical design features a solid mahogany body with a carved maple top and a single cutaway, a mahogany set-in neck with a rosewood fretboard, two pickups with independent volume and tone controls, and a stoptail bridge.  Along with Fender’s Telecaster and Stratocaster, it was one of the first mass-produced electric solid-body guitars. The Les Paul has been played by many artists, including Jimmy Page, Gary Moore, Pete Townshend, Eric Clapton, and Billy Gibbons.

Epiphone Casino – originally created as a budget version of the more prestigious Gibson 330 semi-acoustic, the Casino was popularised in the mid-’60s by the Beatles. Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and John Lennon all used Casinos extensively in the studio and on tour during this period, and their endorsement led to the humble instrument outselling its Gibson counterpart.

Fender Coronado – a double-cutaway thin-line hollow-body electric guitar, announced in 1965. The aesthetic design embodied in the Coronado was a departure from previous Fender instruments, and the design remains an uncharacteristic piece of Fender history.

The Fender Jaguar is a short-scale (24″) offset-body electric guitar introduced in 1962 as Fender’s feature-laden top-of-the-line model, designed to lure players from Gibson, and achieved its most noticeable popularity in the surf music scene; notable players include Johnny Marr and Carl Wilson.

Danelectro DC59-12 is a 12 string electric guitar based on the original 6 string 1958-1969 period Danelectro Model 3021 (later known as the DC59) double cut-away “shorthorn” style guitar as used by Jimmy Page. The guitar body is still made using Masonite fibre board, and it has a distinctive “jangly” tone. Danelectros have also been used by Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Jimi Hendrix, Lightnin’ Hopkins, and Elvis Presley.

The Danelectro DBS68 Baby Sitar is an electric sitar, of which less than 100 originals were made in 1968 and ’69. The key to the Baby Sitar’s sonic hallmarks can be found at the bridge – the ‘buzz bridge’ provides a sitar-like sound, and a lipstick pickup installed close to the bridge for cutting mids and chime. Electric Sitars were used widely in the ’60s, and can be found on tracks by The Supremes, Stevie Wonder, Yes and Genesis.

Martin Dreadnought – originally developed in 1916, Martin guitars have been played by many artists including Johnny Cash, Elvis, Hank Williams and Willie Nelson.

Gibson SG – first introduced in 1961, the SG has gone on to become one of the world’s most iconic models, associated with many renowned guitarists such as Pete Townshend, George Harrison, Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Angus Young, Frank Zappa, and Tommy Iommi. The very first SG model was branded as a “Les Paul” before Gibson later dropped the designation; some SGs come fitted with Gibson’s unique “sideways” vibrola system.

Epiphone EJ-160E Electroacoustic – this model is a faithful reproduction of John Lennon’s iconic Gibson original. Lennon’s EJ-160E was a central pillar of The Beatles’ sound on records from Please Please Me to Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and beyond. The first ever use of guitar feedback on a record (the introduction to I Feel Fine, 1964) was the result of Lennon’s EJ-160E reverberating to a note played by Paul McCartney on his Hofner bass.

Squier Bass VI – originally produced by Fender from 1961 to 1975, it is a sort of guitar/bass hybrid and was favoured by many session musicians of the era. Famous players include Beatles John Lennon and George Harrison, John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin, Jack Bruce of Cream, and country star Glen Campbell who recorded one of his most enduring records, “Witchita Lineman”, on a VI.