- John Lennon played rhythm guitar, harmonica, piano and acoustic guitar during his time with the Beatles. On their first British album, "Please, Please Me" in 1963, John played a Rickenbacker 325 semi-hollow-bodied electric guitar, an acoustic Gibson with built-in pickups and a harmonica. His main guitar on the album was the Rickenbacker. In fact, he played it or other Rickenbackers on most of their early albums. In the early days when he played acoustic guitar, he generally chose the Gibson J160E acoustic with built-in pickups.
- Paul McCartney made the Hofner 500 bass so popular that its violin-shape became known widely as a "Beatle Bass." He didn't leave it behind until the band stopped touring after its final concert at Candlestick Park in San Francisco in 1966. For the psychedelic period, starting with some tracks on "Rubber Soul" and most on "Revolver," he switched to the Rickenbacker 4001. He is seen playing it in the film "Magical Mystery Tour" and on "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band." For the famous "Yesterday" on "Help!" he used an Epiphone acoustic guitar. He also occasionally played a Hofner electric piano.
- George Harrison frequently used a Gretch semi-hollow-bodied electric guitar as lead guitarist. He used a variety of these throughout the early years. He also played the Rickenback 360-12-string guitar for songs on "A Hard Day's Night." For later work, he used Gibson Les Pauls, Epiphones and a variety of other Gibsons, including the SG. He also played a Fender Telecaster. George also introduced the Indian instrument, the sitar, to Western audiences with "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)" on 1965's "Rubber Soul." He occasionally played bass, too.
- Drummer Ringo Starr started off "Please, Please Me" with a Premier drum kit. By the time their second album, "With the Beatles," rolled around later in 1963, he had switched to a Ludwig drum kit. He stuck with Ludwig. Ringo also played other percussion instruments including the tambourine, maracas and bongos.
- When the Beatles started playing to big crowds, they didn't have the kind of stadium-filling amplifiers known today. They had essentially the same amps they used in the studio. These generally were Vox AC-100 amp heads with 12-inch speakers.
They also had no "foldback" speakers on stage, so they could not hear what they were playing, especially among the thousands of screaming girls. Foldback came into wide use later when other bands routinely played large shows.
The Beatles had switched to Fender amps by the time the filmed their last live show on the Apple rooftop for the film "Let It Be." They may have had some form of foldbacks there, though it is a little difficult to tell from the film.
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