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| Babiuk Beatles' Gear; Anybody got the 3rd revised ed.? | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Oct 12 2013, 04:05 AM (693 Views) | |
| AurelianDE | Oct 12 2013, 04:05 AM Post #1 |
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This is still one of the books on my list and I've found a 2nd revised edition (2002) at a very good price. Has anybody got the 3rd revised edition of 2010 and could tell me if there are important changes? There must be a note in the preface or somewhere, but of course the amazoom function (look inside) misses those pages and, in addition, shows the paperback version which I assume is the 2002 version anyway. Has anybody got the latest version and might be willing to have a helpful look at it? |
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| RockySassoon | Oct 12 2013, 06:30 AM Post #2 |
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Just had a look - unfortunately my copy also is the 2nd ed. That's what I found on the net - book review from 2010: "First published in 2001, Beatles Gear: All the Fab Four's Instruments from Stage to Studio is now in its third edition. Updates include previously unpublished photos of guitars owned by McCartney, details of recent auctions, and expanded research." Babiuk's notes himself - apparently last updated in 2005 (after the 2nd ed.) - which will likely have found their way into the 3rd ed.: http://www.beatlesfabgear.com/gear_updates.html |
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| AurelianDE | Oct 14 2013, 11:11 PM Post #3 |
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Danke! Looks like there are minuscule changes. Number of pages is the same anyway. I'm actually not that keen about knowing 100 percent for sure that the picture of a Gretsch Country Gentleman has exactly the same inlays as George's 1965/6 copy and the original picture mistakenly showed a 1966/67 guitar etc. ... So I'll probably settle for the 2nd edition and save 10 Euros plus p+p. Unless somebody tells me that earthshaking improvements have been made. ;-) |
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| RockySassoon | Oct 15 2013, 06:05 AM Post #4 |
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It's been a while since I've read it, but I would recommend it. Of course it mainly focuses on guitars, as for the bulk of their career, Ringo played similar sets of Ludwig drums anyway. Me being a drummer, there's not that much to learn... At the moment I'm reading "Recording the Beatles" by Kehew & Ryan, which is more interesting for me, as it describes the way, the instruments were miked and recorded, alongside everything else you want to know in terms of recording equipment. It's very thorough and well researched but it took me a long time to finally order it from the U.S. as it's quite a bit of money. |
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| billstiggins | Oct 15 2013, 08:32 PM Post #5 |
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Level 3
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I have the 3rd Edition - but it doesn't really give any great clues about what has been added. I doubt that there's much between editions - it's a good book, possibly definitive, but it can be a bit of a slog to read. I'd have preferred a few more photos or anecdotes or _something_ :) It isn't just guitars & drums - thre's plenty of stuff about their sponsorship deals with Vox and how the company developed the 'huge' (:D) rigs that they used on stage. There's also plenty about electronic organs etc, but not (as I remember it) some of the unusual recording techniques that they used, which is perhaps what I was hoping for. (Sounds like I need to get hold of 'Recording The Beatles'!) |
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| RockySassoon | Oct 15 2013, 10:35 PM Post #6 |
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The last chapter of "Recording the Beatles" is a very large one called "Production" (almost 200 pages). After having read the 1st chapter about the history and personnel of Abbey Road Studios I skipped all the others and started off with that. It's a year by year account of recording techniques, fleshed out by so called "A closer look" paragraphs that focus on a particular song. I've read Lewisohn's Recording Sessions and the John C. Winn books but this book also describes their unusual recording techniques, used gear, sequence and layout of the multitracks, reduction mixes, varispeeding techniques, literally everything you can imagine. It also debunks a few myths along the way. The other chapters take a detailed look at the technical side - namely microphones, desks, outboard gear, outside studios and so on... This might be a bit dull for some readers (I haven't read them yet). All in all I think it's worth its rather high price. |
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| servi | Oct 16 2013, 09:48 AM Post #7 |
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Level 5
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Actually I think the price for Recording the Beatles ($100) is a "bargain", given the size of the book, the nice extras (poster, postcards etc.), the incredible information and the superb drawings and pictures and the great design. Only the shipping costs are very high outside the US because of its weight. I attended the lecture by the authors in AR in 2012 which was teriffic. IMO this book is in the top 3 Beatles books. |
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| RockySassoon | Oct 16 2013, 11:08 AM Post #8 |
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You're right, the shipping and customs charges almost doubled the 100 € for me. I agree that it belongs to the top of Beatles books. Great that you had the opportunity of visiting Abbey Road and attend their lecture. I planned on travelling to London but could not make it back then. Always wanted to have a look behind those studio walls - that must have been quite an experience! |
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| servi | Oct 16 2013, 04:01 PM Post #9 |
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Level 5
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Yes, they should find a European distributor for it. Their Henry Grossman book is also fab, but that one is really too expensive for me..... Brian and Kevin did another lecture this year so maybe there is a chance for you in the future. It was expensive but worth every second, one of the highlights being the last chord of ADITL played live on the pianos that were actually used on the recording. Here is some footage of it (I am visible at 1:50-1:51 at the extreme left hand side ;) ). |
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| billstiggins | Oct 16 2013, 07:29 PM Post #10 |
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Does anyone know how it stacks up against the Geoff Emerick book? |
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| servi | Oct 16 2013, 07:48 PM Post #11 |
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Level 5
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The Emerick paperback is a good read, nice personal stories from someone who was there when it all happened, but it has almost no technical details and only very few photographs. Sometimes you wonder whether his memory is completely correct. He literally transcribes conversations that happened 40 years ago as if they occured yesterday, which I find doubtful. He seems to have disliked George (Harrison and Martin !) and Paul is his big favourite obvisouly. But it is infinitely better than Norman "Hurricane" Smith's book (anyone read that one ? It's called "John Lennon called me Normal".....). Emerick was heavily criticised for his book, some people saying it contains untruths. Recording the Beatles is in a completely different league. It iIt takes the subject to an objective, academic level in more than 500 pages (almost LP sized), explaining literally what every button on the recording and mixing console was for, showing every microphone they used, explaining in stunning detail how songs were recorded (how was the microphone set-up, what instruments were used, what limiters and recording desk etc.), showing all EMI instruments that were used etc. etc. It has a great amount of previously unseen photographs and great drawings. The only criticisim I can think of, is that it does not include detailed info for all songs, but then it probably would have been twice as thick. Here is a sample page. |
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| RockySassoon | Oct 16 2013, 08:34 PM Post #12 |
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Emerick also had a co-writer in this, who possibly made up those 40 year old conversations to make the storyline more interesting, who knows. Ken Scott was the most vocal with his criticism when it came out - there even was an exchange of letters on the daytrippin site between them concerning twisted facts and the like, if I remember it correctly. For example, Emerick tells you that McCartney recorded Blackbird outside and the bird was recorded live with him singing, which is one of the myths that was debunked in "Recording the Beatles", as it surely was a tape loop from the AR library! Emerick also claims that he was the first one to close-mike the drums, which apparently isn't true either. And the list goes on... But in spite of that, as Servi said, it's quite a good read! @Servi: may I ask, if it was "just" a lecture - or were you also shown around the building? |
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| servi | Oct 17 2013, 07:24 AM Post #13 |
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Level 5
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No tour of the building unfortunately. We had to go studio 2 immediately, where you could make photographs and look at the instruments, recording and mixing consoles and microphones. Then there was the lecture by Brian and Kevin, which had audio and video material included. Afterwards there was another hour or so left for talking to the presenters and other people and to look around again. Five minutes would have been enough to explore the studio, which is basically just a large room, but most people didn't want to leave. They went on photographing everything incl. details of the floor, the ceiling, the light buttons, the door handle, the chairs, the emergency exit, etc. ;) |
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| billstiggins | Oct 17 2013, 07:47 PM Post #14 |
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Level 3
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Excellent - thank you for that :) |
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| servi | Oct 22 2013, 07:11 PM Post #15 |
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Level 5
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Another nice book, about the Beeb recordings. The book comes in a nice box and with some fascimile documents, including a polite letter dated 23-5-67 which the BBC sent to sir Joseph Lockwood at EMI to inform him about the ADITL radio ban. |
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