The legendary console used to record The Beatles’ ‘Abbey Road’ is now up for sale

A piece of Beatles and music history is going on sale. The legendary recording console used by the Beatles to record Abbey Road is set to go sale on Reverb.com on October 29.

The EMI TG1234 recording console has been meticulously restored and is being sold through Reverb by MJQ Ltd, the London-based recording studio experts. This console, in particular, really is a pretty huge deal. It was custom built for EMI Studios (now known as Abbey Road Studios) in 1968, essentially making it a one-of-a-kind console that can’t be found anywhere else. It was used by the group to record Abbey Road in 1969. If you’re a fan, you’ll know this happened to be the group’s final album before their breakup in 1970.

“Abbey Road is one of the best albums that’s ever been made, and it sounds so good because of this recording console,” said Dave Harries, who participated in Beatles recording sessions with the console in the 1960s. “Because of the way that Abbey Road was recorded, the album has a distinctive sound that hallmarked the future of pop recording.”

Following the recording of Abbey Road, the console saw plenty more Beatles action even after their breakup. All four of members of the band would go on to use the exact same console for various solo projects — including famous works like Paul McCartney’s McCartney and John Lennon’s John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band.

Eventually, the TG1234 was disassembled and stored — where it essentially sat unused for over five decades. However, it then finally underwent a massive restoration, under the guidance of former EMI engineer Brian Gibson, who was able to rebuild the console with 70% of its original components, with the remaining parts being built by legendary British audio companies to build reproduce any replacement parts.

Check out the Reverb page for the listing yourself, or the YouTube video below for a look at the console, the restoration process, and some new recordings with the newly-restored piece of history.