He bought it from a sailor. He polished it until it shone. It was his first real American guitar.
“One night I saw an advert in the Liverpool Echo,” George Harrison recalled, “and I rushed right over to see it. I bought the Gretsch Duo Jet from a sailor who had bought it in America and brought it back. It was my first real American guitar — and I’ll tell you, it was secondhand, but I polished that thing. I was so proud to own that.”
The Gretsch Duo Jet that seventeen-year-old George Harrison bought from Ivan Hayward — a twenty-five-year-old former Cunard Line merchant seaman — in the summer of 1961 for £75 was the guitar that played The Cavern Club, that recorded “Please Please Me” and “I Saw Her Standing There” and “Twist and Shout.” The guitar that launched The Beatles, in the most literal sense, through the hands of the youngest Beatle who polished it until it shone because he was so proud to own a real American guitar.
He gave it to Klaus Voormann, who designed the Revolver album cover. He got it back two decades later. He posed with it on the cover of Cloud Nine in 1987. Some things come back.
The Rosewood Telecaster that Fender gave him in January 1969 he called “the worst guitar I have ever played.” He gave it to Delaney Bramlett in December of the same year. Bramlett had it resprayed with gloss finish and replaced the tuners. The Harrison estate later recovered it. It sold in 2021 for $1,270,000.
The “worst guitar I ever played.” $1.27 million.
His SG — the 1964 red Gibson SG that he used on Rubber Soul and Revolver tracks, that he gave to Eric Clapton — sold at auction in 2004 for $570,000. Jim Irsay bought it. The same Jim Irsay who would later own the Black Strat that David Gilmour had sold for charity in 2019 and that would resell from Irsay’s collection for $14.55 million in 2026.
He was the quiet Beatle. He played the guitar quietly — melodically, economically, with specific purpose. “Something” is the most covered Beatles song after “Yesterday.” He wrote it. He played the solo. He convinced Eric Clapton to use a Stratocaster. He introduced the West to the sitar. He organized the Concert for Bangladesh.
He polished the secondhand Duo Jet because he was so proud to own a real American guitar. Everything grew from there.
Background: Liverpool, Hamburg, The Beatles, and the Inner Light
George Harold Harrison was born February 25, 1943, in Wavertree, Liverpool, England — the youngest of four children in a working-class family. He became interested in guitar after hearing Elvis Presley’s “Heartbreak Hotel” in 1956. His mother Louise bought him his first guitar — a cheap acoustic — when he was thirteen. His obsession was immediate and consuming.
He met Paul McCartney on the school bus; McCartney introduced him to John Lennon. He was initially considered too young to play with Lennon’s skiffle group, The Quarrymen, but his guitar skills were evident enough that Lennon relented. When The Quarrymen became The Beatles, Harrison was the lead guitarist — the technical instrumentalist in a band that would become the most commercially successful and culturally influential in history.
The Hamburg residencies (1960-1962) — playing eight-hour sets in German nightclubs — gave The Beatles the musical education that no school could provide. Harrison played his guitars until his fingers bled and his hands hardened. He listened to American rock and roll and American country guitar — Chet Atkins’s fingerpicking, Carl Perkins’s rockabilly, Chuck Berry’s double-stops — and absorbed everything.
His contribution to The Beatles was partly technical (the guitar solos, the chord voicings, the specific instrumental textures) and partly spiritual — his absorption of Indian classical music through Ravi Shankar and his introduction of the sitar to Western pop on “Norwegian Wood” (1965) changed the course of popular music. He was the Beatle most committed to spiritual development, most seriously interested in Eastern philosophy, and most willing to subordinate his ego to what the song required. “Something” — which Frank Sinatra called “the greatest love song of the past fifty years” — reflects all of these qualities.
He died November 29, 2001, of lung cancer, at fifty-eight. He left behind one of the most beloved guitar catalogs in rock history, a spiritual autobiography in music, and the Duo Jet he’d polished as a teenager.
Tone note: He convinced Eric Clapton to start using the Stratocaster in 1970. Clapton, who had built his career on Les Pauls and SGs, switched to Stratocasters partly because of Harrison’s enthusiasm for them. The guitarist who built “Blackie” from Nashville pawn shop Strats and whose signature model features to this day was partly pointed toward Stratocasters by the quiet Beatle who’d wanted one since he saw Buddy Holly’s Strat on The Chirping Crickets album cover. Influence traveling sideways, from Beatle to blues god, through a shared love of a specific guitar.
The Rig: George Harrison’s Guitars, Amps & Gear
Guitars: A Career of Iconic Instruments
1957 Gretsch Duo Jet — The Sailor’s Guitar
Harrison’s first “real American guitar” — the 1957 Gretsch 6128 Duo Jet (serial number 21947) purchased from former Cunard Line seaman Ivan Hayward in Liverpool in 1961 for £75. The Duo Jet’s specific character: a solid mahogany body with a chambered center (giving it semi-hollow resonance), Dynasonic pickups (later models had Filter’Trons), and the distinctive black finish with silver sparkle sides that gave it its name.
“One night I saw an advert in the Liverpool Echo, and I rushed right over to see it.” He bought it, polished it, and used it through the most important early period of The Beatles’ existence — The Cavern Club, the Hamburg residencies, the debut album Please Please Me, and early singles including “Love Me Do,” “Please Please Me,” and “Twist and Shout.”
He gave it to Klaus Voormann (bassist and designer of the Revolver cover) when he moved on to the Gretsch Country Gentleman. Voormann kept it for twenty years. In the mid-1980s, Harrison asked for it back “because of its nostalgic value” — Voormann returned it, and Harrison had it restored to its original condition (replacing the pickup Voormann had changed). He posed with it on the cover of Cloud Nine (1987). The full circle is complete.
Gretsch Country Gentleman (1963) — The Ed Sullivan Guitar
The guitar that most Americans saw George Harrison play for the first time — on the Ed Sullivan Show in February 1964, watched by over 73 million viewers — was his 1963 Gretsch Country Gentleman, purchased from Sound City in London for £400. The Country Gentleman’s specific character: a large (17-inch) hollow body with Filter’Tron pickups, painted-on f-holes (to reduce feedback at high volumes), and gold-plated hardware. Harrison actually preferred a second Country Gentleman he acquired just before the Ed Sullivan appearance — it was the newer one that appeared on that historic broadcast.
One of his Country Gentlemen met an undignified end in Scotland in 1965: while on the road to a gig in Glasgow, it came unmoored from its ties and ended up in the middle of the road. By the time the crew doubled back, the guitar was in bits and splinters. On a time crunch and already equipped with another Country Gentleman, they left the remains on the road. Harrison used the Country Gentleman through the early Beatles period and in later years for Traveling Wilburys work.
Rickenbacker 360/12 — The Jangle Machine
In February 1964, during The Beatles’ first American visit, Rickenbacker president F.C. Hall arranged a meeting at the hotel to demonstrate the company’s new 12-string prototype. (Harrison was sick and didn’t attend the initial meeting; John Lennon received his Rickenbacker 325 instead. Harrison subsequently received the 360/12.) The Rickenbacker 360/12 became the guitar on A Hard Day’s Night and gave The Beatles — and subsequently The Byrds, who heard Harrison’s 12-string Rickenbacker on “I Call Your Name” — the specific jangly, chiming, chorus-like 12-string electric sound that defined the British Invasion’s instrumental texture.
Roger McGuinn of The Byrds heard Harrison’s 12-string Rickenbacker playing and immediately ordered one. The “jangle pop” sound — the entire Byrds catalog, R.E.M., Tom Petty, and the jangly rock tradition — descends from Harrison’s Rickenbacker on A Hard Day’s Night. A single guitar, heard by the right person, creating an entire sonic tradition.
Harrison’s most visually striking guitar — and arguably the most personal guitar in The Beatles’ history — is the 1961 Fender Stratocaster known as “Rocky,” originally purchased as a standard Sonic Blue Stratocaster in 1965 (along with a matching one for John Lennon, at £180.60 each, sent out to buy by roadie Mal Evans).
“We sent out our roadie, Mal Evans, and said, ‘Go and get us two Strats.’ And he came back with two of them, pale blue ones. We used them on the album we were making at the time, which was Rubber Soul. I played it a lot on that album, most notably on the solo on ‘Nowhere Man,’ which John and I both played in unison.”
In 1967, during the psychedelic period, Harrison painted Rocky in vivid day-glo colors — “We were painting everything at that time: our houses, our clothes, our cars, our shop. Everything. In those days day-glo orange and lime paint were very rare, but I discovered where to buy them — very thick, rubbery stuff.” The paint job covered the original Sonic Blue front of the body; the original finish remains visible on most of the back. The neck is unusual — unusually fat for a Stratocaster of this vintage, made of highly figured bird’s-eye maple.
Rocky appeared on the globally-televised “All You Need Is Love” performance on June 25, 1967 (Our World, the first global satellite television broadcast). It is in the possession of the Harrison estate. Experts estimate it would fetch similar prices to the Rosewood Telecaster ($1.27 million) or higher if sold.
In 1968, Eric Clapton gave George Harrison a 1957 Gibson Les Paul Standard — a Goldtop that had been refinished to cherry red at the Gibson Kalamazoo factory. Harrison nicknamed it “Lucy” after Lucille Ball (connecting to B.B. King’s “Lucille” naming tradition). Lucy was Harrison’s primary guitar for the White Album sessions and early solo work.
The guitar was used on the “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” session — the song for which Harrison specifically invited Clapton to play lead guitar (Clapton, reluctant to play on a Beatles record, was convinced by Harrison). The guitar that Clapton had given Harrison was present while Clapton played the solo on the song named for a guitar’s emotional expression. The full circle is complete here too.
Lucy sold at auction in 2004 for approximately $570,000 alongside the SG that Harrison had previously given to Clapton — auction lots that reflected how completely the Clapton-Harrison relationship was embedded in specific instruments passing between them.
In January 1969, Fender gave Harrison a prototype solid-rosewood Telecaster — a dense, unusual instrument built entirely from rosewood (neck and body) that Fender had designed to draw attention to the material. Harrison famously described it as “the worst guitar I have ever played.” He used it reluctantly during the Let It Be sessions and in the famous rooftop concert on January 30, 1969 — the last public performance The Beatles ever gave.
In December 1969, he gave the guitar to Delaney Bramlett of Delaney & Bonnie. Bramlett had it resprayed with a gloss finish (replacing the original satin) and replaced the tuners with Schallers. The Harrison estate eventually recovered it. It was authenticated, restored to approximate original condition, and sold in 2021 for $1,270,000 — making “the worst guitar I ever played” the most expensive guitar Harrison ever owned at auction.
Note: Duane Allman briefly played this guitar at the Schaefer Music Festival on August 5, 1970, while it was in Delaney Bramlett’s possession.
Harrison’s red 1964 Gibson SG Standard was his primary guitar for many Rubber Soul and Revolver tracks, and was later used by John Lennon on White Album tracks. He gave it to Clapton (their instrument-gifting relationship was deeply interconnected). It was purchased by Jim Irsay at Christie’s in 2004 for $567,000 — the same buyer who would later purchase David Gilmour’s Black Strat in 2019.
Other Key Guitars
- Hofner President and Club 40 — Earliest professional instruments; Hamburg-era guitars before the Duo Jet
- Futurama (Czech Strat copy) — “The only thing I could find resembling a Strat was a Futurama that had strings about a half an inch off the fingerboard”; used in Hamburg before the Duo Jet
- Epiphone Casino — Semi-hollow; used on Revolver and White Album sessions; preferred by John Lennon but also played by Harrison
- Gibson J-160E acoustic/electric — One of two J-160Es shared between Harrison and Lennon; used on many Beatles recordings; the “only guitar used on every Beatles album”
- Ravi Shankar’s sitar influence and Harrison’s own sitar — “Norwegian Wood” (1965) introduced the sitar to Western pop; Harrison subsequently studied seriously with Ravi Shankar and played sitar on multiple Beatles tracks
- Guild acoustic (later career) — Used for solo acoustic work
- Traveling Wilburys guitars (Gretsch and others) — Return to Gretsch for the supergroup project with Dylan, Petty, Lynne, and Orbison
- Danelectro Silvertone — Used jamming with Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne, and Bob Dylan in the late 1980s
Complete Guitar List (Key Instruments)
- 1957 Gretsch Duo Jet (£75 from seaman Ivan Hayward) — First real guitar; Cavern/Hamburg/Please Please Me; given to Voormann, reclaimed, Cloud Nine cover
- Gretsch Country Gentleman (1963, Ed Sullivan) — Beatlemania primary; one destroyed on Scottish road; Traveling Wilburys
- Rickenbacker 360/12 — A Hard Day’s Night; inspired The Byrds’ jangle sound
- Fender Stratocaster “Rocky” (1961, psychedelic paint) — Rubber Soul; “Nowhere Man” unison solo; “All You Need Is Love” TV; Harrison estate
- Gibson Les Paul “Lucy” (1957, refinished red, Clapton gift) — White Album; “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” session; $570K auction 2004
- Fender Rosewood Telecaster (“worst guitar ever played”) — Let It Be; rooftop concert; given to Bramlett; $1.27M auction 2021
- 1964 Gibson SG Standard (red) — Rubber Soul/Revolver; given to Clapton; $567K auction 2004
- Gibson J-160E acoustic/electric — Used on every Beatles album
- Sitar (various) — “Norwegian Wood” through “Love You To”; studied with Ravi Shankar
Amps: Vox AC30 Through the Beatles Era
The Beatles received Vox AC30 amplifiers as part of an endorsement deal in 1963, and the AC30 became the foundational amplifier of their sound throughout the Beatlemania period. Harrison’s Gretsch guitars through the Vox AC30’s EL84-powered clean-to-crunch character produced the specific “chimey” British Invasion guitar tone — the specific articulation and top-end character that defined the early Beatles sound and influenced every British Invasion band that followed.
The AC30’s specific characteristics: 30 watts of EL84 power, two 12-inch speakers, Normal and Top Boost channels providing clean and slightly overdriven options. The Top Boost channel’s specific high-frequency character — emphasized treble that produces the “chime” — was specifically suited to the Filter’Tron pickups of Harrison’s Gretsch guitars.
As The Beatles began playing larger venues, Vox developed the AC50 and AC100 specifically for them, providing the volume needed for stadium performances over the screaming of their audiences.
Fender Twin Reverb — The Late Beatles Era
In The Beatles’ later period — as their approach became more studio-sophisticated and less tied to the British Invasion chime — Harrison also used Fender Twin Reverb amplifiers. The Twin’s 6L6 power tubes delivered a cleaner, more powerful American tone suited to the more complex compositions of the White Album and Abbey Road period.
Leslie 145 and 147 Rotating Speaker — The Psychedelic Dimension
CBS gave The Beatles Leslie rotating speaker cabinets to promote the Leslie brand’s entry into the rock market, and Harrison became the primary advocate for their use with guitar. The Leslie rotating speaker — designed for Hammond organs, with a rotating horn and rotating drum producing the specific Doppler pitch modulation — produced the distinctive swirling effect heard on Revolver-era Beatles tracks. Harrison pioneered its use with guitar; Eric Clapton and David Gilmour subsequently adopted it for their own work.
The Leslie’s specific sound: as the horn rotates toward the listener, the sound is slightly louder and higher-pitched (Doppler effect); as it rotates away, it’s quieter and lower-pitched. The combination produces the characteristic “wobble” that is simultaneously a pitch variation and a volume modulation. For guitar, this was a new kind of modulation — different from any pedal-based effect available at the time.
Pedals and Studio Effects
Harrison used the Maestro Fuzz-Tone on the first two Beatles albums and on “Think for Yourself” from Rubber Soul — the first prominent use of fuzz bass in a Beatles recording (McCartney’s bass through the Fuzz-Tone on “Think for Yourself”). The Maestro Fuzz-Tone FZ-1 was the first commercially produced fuzz pedal, preceding the Fuzz Face and Tone Bender.
Studio Effects — ADT, Tape Delay, Flanging
At EMI Studios (Abbey Road), Harrison and The Beatles worked with pioneering studio techniques that functioned as “effects”:
- ADT (Artificial Double Tracking): Invented by Ken Townsend at Abbey Road to spare John Lennon from manually double-tracking vocals; widely used on guitar as well, producing the specific “wide” guitar sound of many Beatles tracks
- Tape delay and flanging: Various tape-based effects available through the EMI REDD mixing desk and tape machine manipulation
- Leslie speaker (as discussed above) — Used in the studio as a live effect, not just amplification
Wah Pedal
Harrison used wah pedals during the psychedelic era — consistent with the period’s embrace of the wah as a primary expressive tool. The wah appears on specific Abbey Road-era recordings.
The Sitar — Beyond the Guitar
George Harrison’s introduction of the sitar to Western popular music is his most culturally consequential single gear decision. “Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)” on Rubber Soul (1965) featured his sitar playing — the first prominent use of the instrument on a mainstream Western pop recording. He subsequently studied sitar seriously with Ravi Shankar, the world’s most celebrated sitar player, and sitar appears on multiple Beatles tracks (“Love You To,” “Within You Without You”) and his solo work.
The sitar’s introduction to Western ears through The Beatles — reaching an audience of hundreds of millions — began a cultural exchange that transformed Western music’s relationship with Indian classical tradition. Harrison wasn’t dabbling; he was a serious student who spent significant time in India studying under Shankar and who maintained a serious commitment to Indian music throughout his life.
Playing Style & Tone Philosophy: The Song First, Always
George Harrison’s guitar philosophy is the most selflessly song-serving in this series. His specific philosophy: the song determines the guitar part; the guitar player’s ego is subordinate to the song’s needs. This is the Beatle philosophy — the band’s collective intelligence was always more important than any individual’s expression — and it is most visible in Harrison’s guitar work.
The Melodic Economy
Harrison’s solos are melodic rather than technical — he plays the melody that the song needs, not the most notes he can manage. “Something” — generally cited as his finest guitar composition — features a solo that is so melodically right it sounds inevitable rather than created. “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” invited Clapton to play the solo specifically because Harrison felt an outside perspective would benefit the song more than his own playing. This is not insecurity; it is confidence in the song’s needs over the player’s ambition.
The Indian Influence on Guitar
His study of Indian classical music — specifically the modal melodic approach of Ravi Shankar’s raga tradition — influenced his guitar playing in ways that are subtle but pervasive. The specific scale choices in his solos, the modal quality of his melodic lines, the approach to sustain and resonance — all of these reflect his absorption of Indian musical thinking. “Within You Without You,” recorded without any Western instruments, represents the full expression of this influence; but the Indian modal thinking runs through his guitar work on more conventional tracks too.
The Slide Guitar in Later Career
In his solo career, Harrison developed a distinctive slide guitar style — particularly on All Things Must Pass (1970) and Cloud Nine (1987). His “Rocky” Stratocaster was specifically set up for slide playing in his later years. The slide technique he developed — influenced by Dobro players and by the Hawaiian steel guitar tradition — gave his solo work a specific emotional directness that complement his melodic singing voice.
How to Sound Like George Harrison
The Guitar
Gretsch for the early Beatles sound; Fender Stratocaster for the mid-to-late Beatles and solo work. A Rickenbacker 360/12 for the A Hard Day’s Night jangle.
- Gretsch Duo Jet or Country Gentleman — For the early Beatles “Please Please Me” through Beatlemania tone; Filter’Tron pickups essential
- Fender Stratocaster (Sonic Blue or equivalent, vintage spec) — For the Rubber Soul onward tone; Rocky’s unusual bird’s-eye maple neck profile
- Rickenbacker 360/12 — For the specific A Hard Day’s Night 12-string jangle
The Amp
Vox AC30 — always. The early Beatles sound is the AC30’s characteristic chime. Clean to very light crunch; the Filter’Trons or Strat pickups do the heavy lifting.
| Control | Setting (Vox AC30 Top Boost) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Volume | 6–8 (light crunch) | Clean to edge of breakup; the AC30’s EL84 saturation at moderate volume |
| Treble | 6–7 | Present; the Top Boost channel’s specific high-frequency chime |
| Bass | 5–6 | Moderate; Filter’Trons and Strat pickups provide natural warmth |
| Tone Cut | 3–4 | Minimal cut; preserve the Top Boost’s high-frequency content |
Budget vs Authentic
Budget:
- Guitar: Gretsch Electromatic Duo Jet (for early sound) or Fender Player Stratocaster (for later sound)
- Amp: Vox AC15 or AC30 reissue
- No essential effects for the core tone
Authentic:
- Guitar: Vintage 1957 Gretsch Duo Jet (if you can find one for less than £75 from a sailor) or 1961 Fender Stratocaster
- Amp: Vox AC30 (vintage 1963 preferred)
- For the psychedelic era: Leslie 145 cabinet
Influence & Legacy: The Quiet Innovator Who Changed Everything
George Harrison’s influence on guitar playing is the influence of someone who consistently put the song first and consequently produced guitar work that has lasted because it was always in service of something larger than itself. His specific innovations — introducing the Rickenbacker 12-string to rock guitar, introducing the sitar to Western pop, using the Leslie speaker with guitar, developing a distinctive slide vocabulary — each changed the direction of popular music.
The documented connections:
- The Byrds and jangle pop — Roger McGuinn heard Harrison’s Rickenbacker 12-string on A Hard Day’s Night and immediately ordered one; the Byrds’ sound is directly descended from Harrison’s specific 12-string tone
- Eric Clapton — Harrison convinced Clapton to use Stratocasters; gave Clapton the SG that Clapton had originally given him; invited Clapton to play the “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” solo; their instrument-gifting relationship is the most extensively documented guitar-passing friendship in rock history (#9 in this series)
- Indian classical music in Western pop — The cultural exchange Harrison initiated — introducing Western audiences to the sitar through Beatles records, studying seriously with Ravi Shankar — created a bridge between traditions that continues to influence music
- The Concert for Bangladesh (1971) — The first major celebrity charity concert in rock history; the template for Live Aid, Farm Aid, and every subsequent benefit concert; Harrison organized it in response to the Bangladesh humanitarian crisis
- “Something” — Frank Sinatra called it “the greatest love song of the past fifty years”; it is the most covered Beatles song after “Yesterday”; the solo is one of the finest in rock history
- The slide guitar tradition — His All Things Must Pass slide guitar work influenced an entire generation of players who absorbed the Indian-informed, melodically minded approach
He bought the Duo Jet from a sailor for £75 and polished it until it shone. He played the Ed Sullivan Show on a Country Gentleman to 73 million Americans. He had Mal Evans buy him and Lennon matching Sonic Blue Strats. He painted the Strat psychedelic. He learned sitar from Ravi Shankar. He called the Rosewood Telecaster the worst guitar he ever played. He gave the SG to Clapton and Lucy came back from Clapton in return. He organized the Concert for Bangladesh. He wrote “Something.” He played the “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” slide outro. He made Cloud Nine and Traveling Wilburys and Brainwashed.
He was the quiet Beatle. The quietest revolution in rock history.
Tone note: The Rosewood Telecaster sold for $1,270,000. “The worst guitar I ever played.” The gap between historical significance and the player’s experience of the instrument is at its most extreme here. Harrison could not make peace with the instrument; he gave it away within the year. The instrument’s subsequent auction value reflects the significance of everything around it — the Let It Be sessions, the rooftop concert, the end of The Beatles — not the guitar’s intrinsic quality as Harrison experienced it. He was right that it was a difficult instrument. The world disagreed about its value. Both positions are correct simultaneously.
He polished the secondhand Gretsch because he was so proud of his first real American guitar. He had Mal Evans buy matching Sonic Blue Strats because he’d wanted a Strat since seeing Buddy Holly’s on an album cover. He called the Rosewood Telecaster the worst guitar he ever played and it sold for $1.27 million. He invited Eric Clapton to play the solo on “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” because he thought Clapton would serve the song better than himself.
The Vox AC30. The Leslie rotating speaker. The sitar from Ravi Shankar. The Rickenbacker 12-string that launched The Byrds.
“Something in the way she moves.”
The quiet Beatle. Everything started with a sailor and a £75 guitar he polished until it shone.
George Harrison sits at #21 in this series — for the guitarist who was his closest musical and personal friend, who gave him Lucy the Les Paul and received the SG in return, and who played the guitar solo on “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” at Harrison’s invitation, check our complete guide to Eric Clapton’s guitars and gear at #9.
And for the guitarist whose Rickenbacker 12-string Harrison’s playing directly inspired — Roger McGuinn bought a Rickenbacker 360/12 after hearing Harrison on A Hard Day’s Night — check our complete guide to the broader jangle pop tradition through The Edge’s guitars and gear at #40 in this series.
For the guitarist who studied under the same Ravi Shankar influence and who represents the slide guitar tradition that Harrison helped establish — don’t miss our complete guide to Derek Trucks’s guitars and gear at #33.
FAQ: George Harrison Guitars & Gear
How did George Harrison get his first real guitar?
He saw an advertisement in the Liverpool Echo in the summer of 1961 and went to see it. The seller was Ivan Hayward, a twenty-five-year-old former Cunard Line merchant seaman who had bought the guitar in America. Harrison paid £75 for the 1957 Gretsch Duo Jet — a guitar he described as his “first real American guitar.” “It was secondhand, but I polished that thing. I was so proud to own that.” He used the Duo Jet through the Cavern Club period and the debut album Please Please Me. He eventually gave it to Klaus Voormann (the bassist who designed the Revolver cover art), then recovered it in the mid-1980s and posed with it on the cover of Cloud Nine (1987).
What is the “Rocky” Stratocaster?
The “Rocky” is a 1961 Fender Stratocaster that Harrison purchased in 1965 (along with a matching one for John Lennon) through roadie Mal Evans for £180.60 each. Originally Sonic Blue, Harrison painted it with day-glo psychedelic colors in 1967. “We were painting everything at that time: our houses, our clothes, our cars, our shop. Everything.” It appeared on the globally-televised “All You Need Is Love” performance on June 25, 1967 — the first live global satellite television broadcast. Used on Rubber Soul (including the “Nowhere Man” unison solo with Lennon), and set up for slide guitar in later years. It remains in the possession of the Harrison estate and is considered one of the most historically significant guitars in rock history.
Why did George Harrison call the Rosewood Telecaster “the worst guitar he ever played”?
Fender gave Harrison the solid-rosewood Telecaster prototype in January 1969 as a promotional gesture. The guitar — built entirely from rosewood, body and neck — was dense, heavy, and not to his taste. He used it reluctantly during the Let It Be sessions and the famous rooftop concert on January 30, 1969 (the last public performance The Beatles ever gave). In December 1969, he gave it to Delaney Bramlett. Bramlett had it resprayed with gloss finish and replaced the tuners. The Harrison estate eventually recovered it. Despite Harrison’s low opinion of the guitar, it sold at auction in 2021 for $1,270,000 — its value reflecting the historical significance of the Let It Be sessions and the rooftop concert rather than its quality as an instrument.
What was “Lucy” and where did it come from?
Lucy is a 1957 Gibson Les Paul Standard that Eric Clapton gave to Harrison in 1968. Originally a Goldtop, it had been refinished to cherry red at the Gibson Kalamazoo factory. Harrison nicknamed it “Lucy” after actress Lucille Ball. Lucy was used during the White Album sessions and the famous “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” recording — the song for which Harrison specifically invited Clapton to play lead guitar (Clapton played the solo on “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” while Harrison played rhythm on Lucy, the guitar Clapton had given him). Lucy sold at auction in 2004 for approximately $570,000.
How did George Harrison influence The Byrds?
Roger McGuinn of The Byrds heard Harrison’s Rickenbacker 360/12 electric 12-string guitar on A Hard Day’s Night (1964) and immediately ordered one. The specific tone that Harrison produced on A Hard Day’s Night — the chiming, chorus-like quality of the electric 12-string — became the sonic foundation of The Byrds’ sound on “Mr. Tambourine Man” and their entire early catalog. The “jangle pop” sound that defines The Byrds, and that subsequently influenced R.E.M., Tom Petty, and the entire jangly rock tradition, traces directly to Harrison’s specific 12-string Rickenbacker tone on one Beatles album.
How did Harrison use the Leslie speaker?
CBS gave The Beatles Leslie rotating speaker cabinets to promote the Leslie brand’s entry into the rock market. Harrison became the primary advocate for using the Leslie with guitar — traditionally a speaker system for Hammond organs. The Leslie’s rotating horn and drum created a distinctive swirling effect (the Doppler pitch modulation produced by rotating toward and away from the listener). Harrison used it on Revolver tracks and the psychedelic period recordings. He pioneered its use with guitar at a time when it was exclusively associated with organ. Eric Clapton subsequently adopted the Leslie for his own work, and David Gilmour also incorporated it — both influenced by Harrison’s guitar application of the speaker system.
How do I get George Harrison’s early Beatles guitar tone?
Gretsch guitar (Duo Jet or Country Gentleman) with Filter’Tron pickups, through a Vox AC30 at moderate volume (Top Boost channel preferred, clean to very light crunch). The Filter’Tron pickups’ specific midrange character through the AC30’s EL84 tubes produces the chimey, defined tone of the early Beatles recordings. For the Rubber Soul/Revolver onward tone: Fender Stratocaster (Sonic Blue or equivalent vintage) through the same AC30, perhaps with a Leslie cabinet for specific songs. For the A Hard Day’s Night jangle: Rickenbacker 360/12 through the AC30. The key philosophical element: play what the song requires, not what displays your technique. Harrison’s solo on “Something” is the model — every note serves the emotional content of the song.