Take a tour through the guitars Paul McCartney used in The Beatles
Paul McCartney had a specific role in The Beatles: he was the one and only bass player. While arguably his role as co-lead singer and co-main songwriter was more essential to the overall success of the group, McCartney was also responsible for holding down the groove and rhythm of the band’s stringed instrumentalists.
It was a role McCartney took on reluctantly at first. The Beatles’ original bass player, Stuart Sutcliffe, left the group to focus on art and his relationship with Astrid Kirchherr, a German photographer he met while the band were gigging around Hamburg.
“When we were in Hamburg, Stuart fell in love with a local girl called Astrid and decided he was leaving the group,” McCartney says in The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present. “So we were now without a bass player. We couldn’t have three guitars and no bass. Nobody wanted to be the bass player in those days because it was always the fat guy playing bass. There seemed to be some sort of stigma attached to it.”
George Harrison had already been assigned the role of lead guitarist, and John Lennon demurred when it came to picking up the bass. That left McCartney, who begrudgingly took the instrument. He eventually developed his own style on the instrument, becoming one of the most influential bass players in rock history. Still, McCartney always yearned to return to the guitar as his main instrument.
In the band’s earliest recordings, McCartney wasn’t able to return to his primary instrument. The Beatles recorded quickly and efficiently, often using live takes with minimal overdubs. McCartney got the opportunity to play the piano on Beatles songs as early as 1963’s ‘Little Child’ from With the Beatles, but it would only be in the following year’s ‘I’ll Follow the Sun’ that McCartney got to play the guitar on record for the first time.
As The Beatles began exploring the possibilities that the studio environment afforded them, McCartney began to rediscover his love for the electric guitar. He began collecting more instruments as the band’s success continued to grow, eventually amassing a small arsenal of guitars that helped boost his role as a guitarist within the band. By 1965’s Help!, McCartney was regularly contributing lead guitar lines to all of The Beatles’ studio albums.
In order to fully understand McCartney’s ever-changing role in The Beatles, we’re taking a look at all of the his six-strings that he played throughout his time in The Beatles. From acoustics to electrics and everything in between, these are the guitars that Paul McCartney wielded during his time with The Beatles.
What guitars did Paul McCartney use in The Beatles?
Epiphone Texan FT-79
McCartney had a number of guitars during The Beatles’ pre-recording days, including a Zenith Model 17 acoustic, a Framus 5/1 Parlo acoustic, a Rosetti Solid 7, and a Hofner Club 40 formerly owned by Lennon. For his first recorded performances, however, McCartney stuck to the acoustic guitar, specifically the Epiphone Texan FT-79.
By the time McCartney bought his Texan, Epiphone had become a subsidiary of Gibson Guitars. McCartney’s 1962 FT-79 was the acoustic that produced ‘I’ll Follow the Sun’ and ‘Yesterday’, the latter of which would become the song that most fans first saw McCartney play guitar on. It would remain a live staple for the band until their final touring year in 1966.
Epiphone Casino ES-230TD
For his first electric guitar recordings, McCartney grabbed an instrument that would help him in the department of feedback: the Epiphone Casino ES-230TD. Although he credits Jimi Hendrix with the inspiration, that doesn’t quite work out with the timeline – McCartney bought the guitar in 1964, while Hendrix wouldn’t make it over to England until 1966.
The Casino was McCartney’s go-to guitar during his first stabs at recording, providing the lead lines for ‘Another Girl’, ‘Taxman’, and ‘Paperback Writer’. In fact, if you catch McCartney on any of his modern stadium tours, he’ll still bring out the Casino for a couple of classic tracks.
Fender Esquire
While McCartney has largely gravitated toward the Gibson collection of guitars, Fender has played an important role in The Beatles’ music as well. Both Lennon and Harrison had Stratocasters that they used extensively, while Harrison was later gifted a custom-made Rosewood Telecaster. McCartney was less inclined to play Fenders, with one major exception.
The recording of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band saw McCartney pick up a tobacco sunburst 1964 Fender Esquire. McCartney modified the right-handed model to play left-handed, and he used it on the tracks ‘Good Morning Good Morning’ and ‘Helter Skelter’. There doesn’t appear to be any footage of McCartney playing the Esquire, but the makers of The Beatles: Rock Band made sure to include the guitar in the gameplay for ‘Good Morning Good Morning’.
C.F. Martin D-28
By the time The Beatles began sessions for The White Album, McCartney had found a new favourite acoustic guitar. Having put aside the Epiphone Texan, McCartney was now using a Martin D-28, once again repurposing a right-handed model in order to play it with his own left-handed style.
Nearly all of McCartney’s acoustic songs from The White Album were recorded on the Martin, including ‘Mother Nature’s Son’ and ‘Blackbird’, and McCartney would keep the guitar handy for the recording of Let It Be‘s ‘Two of Us’ as well.
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