The Guitars of George Harrison 

Bass VI is tuned an entire *Octave lower (not a "step lower") than a regular guitar. Great video, Keith. I always look forward to see what you choose to make a short history on next.

Keith you are becoming a big part of my life, just as George Harrison has been since the Beatles came to the states in 1964. I was 10. Saw George on the Darkhorse tour a couple times and that’s when I found out who Robben Ford was. He was just a kid and he’s playing leads for George. Thanks for all the great content Keith. Best wishes sir. 👍🏻🤠🇺🇸 RIP Hari Georgeson 😘

Thank you for documenting the guitars of my favorite and most tasteful guitarist, as well as a superb songwriter. George Harrison is my biggest influence.

Painted on F holes is just...werid

The insights into George's character are as fascinating as the guitar stories. I fully get the spiritual connection he might have felt with his instruments. I've given away a few to close friends but the hardest one to part with was my old Ovation Balladeer Custom. It had been everywhere with me, including a very muddy Glastonbury festival in 1987, and I couldn't bear the thought of it being abused. So I gave it to a long-time musical partner on her 50th birthday. She'd always coveted that guitar but was never going to afford to buy one similar. I still see it occasionally and play it. An old friend that's happy in its new home (although 'new' is relative since it's been nearly seventeen years since it went). I can imagine George taking great joy in seeing his old guitars being loved and used by people he regarded as friends. Somewhere (pun intended) within each of those guitars a little part of Harrison's spirit lives on. Quietly, maybe, but enjoying the music being made all the same.

Another great video, love your short histories! George is such an underrated guitarist. Like Ringo, he never overplayed, just gave the songs what was needed. He always had his own voice, especially his slide playing post-Beatles, truly unique.

Thanks Keith, I was one of those millions of kids whose life forever changed after seeing the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show.I was 6 years old and can remember everything about that night like it was yesterday. I'm absolutely positive that's why I'm a guitarist as are many, many others. George was my guy. Can't tell you how much I enjoyed this video. I hope you never stop making them. Happy New Year my friend.

Another masterpiece, Mr Keith. Thank you so much to you and your team for all their hard work. ✌️😌🎸

My uncle was in a guitar store in the LA area around 1970 trying out about the 20 or so 335s they had in stock. George was also there trying out the 335s. My uncle took one home that belongs to my dad to this day that George had played.

When i was in grade 2 my father showed me the ed Sullivan performance… you know THAT performance. It changed my life and sent me down this long road of musical discovery. I didn’t know it yet, but that one moment basically shaped my life as all my interests, hobbies, and passions slowly grew out of that moment. As i approach my 30s looking back i have so much to thank mr. Harrison for. Not only is he one of my biggest guitar inspirations but life inspirations.

Years ago I fell in love with Gretsch Guitars.. Recently I had the opportunity to purchase a reissued 1962 Gretsch G6122. It looks acts and plays exactly like the one pictured in the video. It will never ever leave my hands !!!!! It doesn't hurt that I was along time admirer of George's ability as both a musician and song writer.

Great documentary. I am George fan and love his guitar. Very sorry that he is gone but happy for the music that he left.

These ‘The Guitars of…” videos are always absolutely outstanding! Best time I’ll spend on the internet today.

Interesting piece of trivia: the guitar Francis Hall is holding in his photo is the very one John Lennon bought in Hamburg. It was one of two 1958 325s modified by Rickenbacker from two control knobs to four.

I am such a Beatles fan that it defies logic at times. I was struck in "Eric Clapton: Life in 12 Bars" wherein he said that "George was an innovator," as Clapton is far and away my favorite guitarist. Constantly overshadowed by Lennon and McCartney, I'd never thought of Harrison in those terms, but in hearing it, it was obvious enough it was like someone turning on a light switch in my mind. Harrison is remembered maybe as just one of the Beatles, but he was clearly so much more than that. The Rosewood Tele was later given to Delaney Bramlett of Delaney and Bonnie. Thank you for this outstanding video, Keith. (I loved the line of how The Beatles "turned to the East.". As a Freemason, I will say that "Look to the East" is a common phrase therein.)

Thanks for sharing. I fell in love with the Club 40. Oh, the Bass VI is tuned an octave lower than standard, not just a step; mine is a Squire and is a rascal. Ü ♫

Thanks Keith! George Harrison always played the right notes, the appropriate solos and in the right mood. Great talent! In the Beatles "Real Love" video we can see George playing a green Tele style guitar. It's a Hamburguitar made by luthier Bernie Hamburger...Yes, that's his name!

Beautiful work, Keith and team. Something wonderful about Mr Harrison’s donation to the guitar community. This fine summary is fittingly well done to shine new light on a fine soul. Thanks guys!

As a little kid when our father bought the 1st Beatle album, my three brothers and I would imitate the Fab Four and I was told to be George which has stuck to me today 60 years ago!!

Another great installment of Five Watt World! Love all of this information about Harrison. Always loved his work with and without the Beatles.

Thanks for shining a gentle light on the quiet one, Keith. I gave away a guitar last week, to one of my band mates. He wasnt happy with his strat sound for our old man cover band. I wondered if a jazzmaster might be a good fit. I purchased a classic vibe, dressed the frets and the nut, installed CTS and switchcraft bits, and brought it to rehearsal. He liked it, and i gave it to him.

My very favorite, and IMO the best song in the Beatles catalog is not a Lennon-McCartney song but a Harrison song, _Something._ And when you strum the 1st few C chord variants on _any_ guitar, you know immediately how beautiful a song it is. It was Frank Sinatra's favorite Beatles song too, and covered it often; but I imagine it irked Harrison a bit because Frank always credited Lennon-McCartney. As time goes by, it seems George's songs withstand the test of time better than the Lennon-McCartney ones, they sound less dated. John's songs made it OK to be sad. Paul's songs made it OK to be happy. George's songs made it OK to _be._ And Ringo's songs.......well, Ringo is a great drummer. I think maybe George was a bit underused, underappreciated, and undervalued.

Great video, thanks! George was my first guitar hero, and definitely an inspiration. Though I don’t play in his style he has kept being a big influence.

I have always been drawn to George’s music. Thank you for the video.

When I see ringos bass drum head from the Sunday Ed Sullivan show in feb 1964 It makes me happy just to see it

I love George Harrison. I knew I would like his solo stuff.🧑‍🎨♾️🎸

One cannot overestimate the extent and breadth of impact the Feb. 9,1964 Ed Sullivan appearance had on the youth of North America. I watched that show, where we were "twice entertained" by them, in addition to the subsequent appearances a week and two weeks later. It cemented my own lifelong dedication to guitar, and that of millions of other boys my age. Around 1971=72, I was playing in a band whose bass player owned much of the equipment, making us rather lenient about his tone-deaf qualities. I played his rosewood Telecaster in that band. Tough on the back, but a great sound. VERY solid bottom end.

Thanks for this. George and later Clapton were the guys who made me love guitar. I can't imagine what the world of music would be without their contributions. The impact of their music remains so important to me personally that I bought paintings depicting each of them to hang in my apartment along with some of the lyrics from "While My Guitar Gently Weeps." I still haven't learned to play like either one, but love them both for their inspiration.

I got to touch the Rosewood Tele in 2002 (didn't dare ask to play it) at Delaney Bramlett's house. George had given the guitar to Delaney for teaching him slide. It eventually found its way back to Olivia and Dhani 🙏

Thank you Keith for this video. Harrison is my favourite Beatle. The spiritual act of giving and receiving guitars - this is something that Johnny Marr does as well. Another lovely person. The song “something” always makes me cry because it is just so beautiful. Thanks again.

A thing of beauty, a thing of joy. Thank you, Keith. This brought welcome warmth to this cold Northeast Ohio Saturday morning. Despite living a mere 30 miles or so from the R&R HOF, I've only visited twice, in the same 2000-2001 time period during a massive Lennon exhibit. Two of George's guitars were there at the time, the little Egmond and the 425 Ric, which was displayed in a rectangular glass case similar to the type used to display jewelry. Visitors could go nose first to the top of the case and examine the guitar in close up detail, which, of course, I did. It was apparent that the new pickguard made to house the added pickup had not been professionally made.

George wasn’t the quiet Beatle it’s just Paul and John sucked up the attention and one time at an interview he couldn’t talk so he was then the quiet Beatle.

This has got to be the best channel on YT and this video just proves why. I always learn something amazing about guitar gear, both its history and its science, and it all helps me truly, as the moto goes, "get the most music from the least gear." Amazing job to Keith and the team!

I remember the Gretsch sound , loved George , got one later. lol , and a few others !

Well done Keith, you left us with a healthy dose of Harrison spiritualism beyond just the guitars he played. Both were educational and helpful, I feel we've lost something both with his passing and with the modern music industry, there's so little of that camaraderie left and it is sorely missed.

Beautiful informative Video of Beatles guitars with pictures and Videos of both. Certainly Well Done. Thank-you.....

Way to go , Keith. My studio is replete with Harrison guitars and memorabilia. What a great human being this man was. One minor correction, you mention the Fender VI is one step down from a guitar when, as you well know, it's one octave down. Very minor but worth the mention. Again WTG with another bit of GREAT content.

"I Wanna Hold Your Hand" stopped me in my tracks... I was 10 years old (1966 circa 1956), riding my bike... with a tiny AM radio dangling from my handlebars, in a small town in Louisiana (Benton, LA) .. My little buddies stopped and said, "Come on!" but I couldn't move. I had never heard anything like it! My dad was a guitar player/country singer, friends with Glen (George) Jones, ...playing in clubs n bars...n union meetings (LOL!) I went with him and sat in. Picking up guitar at a young age. Played drums, trumpet, baritone, french horn, flugelhorn, ... bass guitar and always 6 string. I am now 67... soon to be 68. I still love the Beatles and Paul's later ventures.. And, yes, I Still love old-school country. If the music is good.. (?) .. I Love All of It!

the end made me cry a bit, with George giving away ukuleles and being generally awesome. I'll never forget seeing Paul live and speak the sweetest words of appreciation about George before playing "Something" on a ukulele...

I love the presentation and editing of this video. Great job 👍

A fantastic post as usual Keith!!! Another great axe George used post-Beatles was the Fritz Brothers made Roy Buchanan Tele that George played on his tour of Japan with EC.

Great job as always but I'd love to see you do a deep dive on Pignose amps. Most musicians I know consider them a must-have. Whether as a practice amp or in the studio, everybody could use one.

I also was 10 years old in 1970, but also started playing drums at the ripe old age of 8 in 1968. But this is interesting to me on many levels. Though I have been playing drums for 50+ years, and keyboards for 15 or so. I am also a big fan of the guitar as well as a student, and I couldn't help but start a collection of guitars. I have a candy apple red Stratocaster, a black beauty Les Paul Custom, an Ovation, and a 12 string Martin acoustic (and a Yamaha bass). But this is particularly interesting to me because my sister, whop passed away way too young, played on several Indian music albums, and was good friends with Ravi Shankar, and George. She and her 3 kids stayed at his castle for a week. I also used to had a signed personalized copy of 33 1/3 that was stolen from me in the late 70's. Interestingly however, I wasn't aware of all those guitars, and that many were used because they couldn't get Fenders, or American guitars for the most part Very interesting.

I love the way the rosewood Tele’s looked but even the chambered ones were too heavy, I need something at 7lbs or below at this point in my life. George seems like he was a decent man (we need more of those these days) in addition to being a great musician. Wonderful Saturday morning video Keith!

Just beautiful. Thanks Keith. As always, really enjoyable.

The Sullivan show became the template for nearly everyone putting a band together at that time - me being one of the many.

The 5 Watt presentations are excellent. The best documentaries in the U tube format with regards to musical instruments

Absolutely FAB! A lot there I didn't know about, the Maton, the Czech guitar . . . wonderful walk thru of our George's guitars. I would love to get my hands on a Fender Rosewood Tele - one day maybe! I was 7 when I heard All My Loving and decided then and there I wanted to be a Beatle . . . they provided the soundtrack for my childhood and I still listen to the records - kept the original 7" singles, sadly I sold the 12" albums to help cover the rent when our band was banging away promoting our album in the late 70s in NZ. George still definitely my No. 1 Guitarist! 😃

Most outstanding. Thank you, dedicated to those, who didn't see/here experience the spirit of George. Om......

Thank you for your video Keith. Solo George also saw him playing some Zamaitis works.😻

Although born in Liverpool during the Beatles era, I've just learned more about them by watching your excellent video than ever before. Great video, many thanks for posting.

Well done..........

Fantastic vid of one of the most important aspects of the Beatle phenomenon. Thanks for that vid...!!

2:24 Toledo! I had these two friends that both had these guitars with unbelievable action and they were Toledos! A student guitar. Going thru a Heathkit amp. I never knew guitars could have such amazing action! So, I got my dad to take me to Long&McQuade on Yonge St and got a Telecaster. (1970) And so it began…lol

Thank you, Keith! Appreciate your delivery, diligence and expertise. This was wonderful!

I was 13 in 1963 when I first heard the Beatles. They have been the core of my love for music ever since. I always thought Harrison was the one with the burn for music, the most serious player of the 4.

I so wish you would do a vid on George's post Beatles tone and slide playing. It's rather amazing that a guitarist of George's stature would add an odd unusual technique and tone to become his signature sound after the Beatles.

Another great video from Keith and his team.

Great Video!!! I’m out of budget on the Subscription for True Fire but I signed up for a Mug and a Shirt! Happy to support your channel! 👊🏼

My day always gets better when I open my laptop and find a new 5WW video!! Thanks Keith!! 8) --gary

This video reminded of the first videos from Five Watt World. Super detailed and almost 30 minutes long. I hope you keep going with this format.

12:28. George Harrison's Rickenbacker 360/12 is one of the few guitars in the world that I regard as being "Priceless". A historical relic that is a work art. It should remain in the Harrison Family Estate never to be sold. It now belongs to the entire Human Race. An artifact that forever ties human ingenuity and innovation with the greatest contemporary popular music quartet of the twentieth century.

The first 30 seconds sounds amazingly like George love it. I could listen to that all day, very nice into!

Interviewed Wendy Dio recently and of course even for Ronnie it was all about the Beatles in the beginning

Keith, I really enjoyed this segment, I encourage everybody who hasn’t seen it yet to watch the George Harrison tribute concert led by Eric Clapton with an All-Star cast, including at the end Paul McCartney on ukulele, playing the intro to Something… I bought a Gretsch and put on a Bigsby so that I would have a George Harrison inspired guitar for my collection. Long live George and long live 5 W world.

This is going to be good!

This is my favorite of your videos so far. The coda in the end about Harrison's spiritual relationship to giving (and getting) his guitars was perfect, great, and I don't think I'd consciously thought of that yet myself. The ukelele story was revelatory and really brought that to light. Peace.

I really enjoyed this one, thx for making it mate :) I’ve seen quite a few of your episodes now as i’m a guitarocentric myself and i love how into guitar and guitar lore you are. When i was a lad i lived in London, in the 60s and i remember riding around in my mom’s friend’s Beatle car and listening to Obla di Obla da and stuff like that, Love Rita Meter Maid, etc. Much later i apprenticed in film with the fellow who made the first Beatles short film, which was Lovely Rita Meter Maid. That was Phil Pendry and Phil actually knew Yoko BEFORE John Lennon even met her because he had rented her flat in Tokyo as he was BBC’s ‘man in Tokyo’ or maybe it was Pathe News service, something like that. One of my first ever acid trips, as a teenager we listened to the White Album in it’s entirety and that really blew my mind, after which i went back to Beatles discography and fortunately my father was an audiophile so it all sounded great to my young ears. Never really liked their earlier stuff like Love Me Do, that was for little girls to make them scream and wet their knickers. I loved Sergeant😂 Peppers, Revolver, Rubber Soul and above all the White Album. Abbey Road was excellent also of course. another footnote; i did see Segovia live, he was 90 years old, in Toronto, Canada at Massey Hall, which is an excellent place to see a show, intimate and classy, they don’t build them like that any more. I never did discover how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall though, as we had emigrated to Canada when i was still pretty young. I also saw Narcisso Yepes while in Toronto, at the Royal Conservatory of Music, and also of note is that I saw Joe Pass play a solo gig at the Royal York hotel one night. That was some of the most skillful guitar playing I’ve ever seen, just masterful and we were two of four people in the audience, it’s just a little bar but pretty high class venue. Also got to see Pat Metheny is an outdoor concert in a geodesic dome, also a masterful player. I hate that guy ‘cause he plays the most complicated jazz and never seems to hit a bad note; he’s impossibly good at guitar. Also of note, when i was 21 years old i got to sit in at a Cafe gig with Long John Baldry and a guy who went by the name of Papa John King who combined folk blues fingerstyle with jazzy licks. He was very good but the crowd dug me for my hot licks and youthful enthusiasm. The was also my first date with a woman who I later married, also a musician. After the gig Baldry came and sat with us at our table so that was kind of neat, he was lanky and confident with an odd smile. He’s also a better guitarist than i thought, in the folky blues department mainly. By that time I was into a lot of other stuff, Fripp, various world musics, indian, middle eastern modal stuff, African, etc so i threw a bit of that into my playing. I was only 21 and not a very sophisticated player but had a natural talent for it and a lot of energy to inject into my sound. 10 years later i played with a really great band called HP Lovesauce and another one called The Subtonic Monks which was a music and performance are collective, until the singer/songwriter fell in love with a girl from the states and moved down there to live in a cabin in the forests of Vermont, never to be seen again. He was really brilliant artist/songwriter, wonder what became of him. Sorry to be journaling on your page, sometimes i start writing and reminiscing and it just pours out. Music has been the bridge for me, my whole life, it’s how i meet people and make friends and it’s also my daily meditation, helping to keep me young. Cheers ❤

While my parents’ generation was the one that got to see the famous Ed Sullivan performance, it was the birthday gift of a Beatles calendar some 25 years later that had a similar effect upon me, cementing the image of a young George with a Gretsch as the iconic pairing. And it was a worn and tattered Beatles piano songbook from 1965, held on to by my mother since her teen years, that I learned my first guitar chords from later that same year. Fast forward another three decades, and mom-now grandma-rebound the old songbook, long since deteriorated into a disorganized collection of loose-leaf pages, and passed it on to my daughter as she was just picking up the guitar. So many lives enriched by those boys from Liverpool.

Great video! I was born in 1955 and had 2 older sisters. Thank God they played the Beatles. My oldest sister would play 45's over & over. Like most kids during that time we knew every Beatles song that came out. It was a great time to grow up and music just got better & better. Does this mean that maybe John & Paul will be up next? Hope so! Thank you for all you do.

Beautiful summary! I didn't expect this to be my favourite 5WW video but it definitely is now!

George cared more about the musicians than the guitars he was playing. It is better to give than receive - what a concept! Another great short history. I love the Beatles and Andy Babiuk’s book!

You get me every time Keith - I just came for the Duo Jet and then I go back to the beginning for the whole piece. Your historical accounts are so engaging and, I might say, important to the ongoing history of the guitars and the players that used them. Cheers.

Friends don't let friends, use too much gain.

Such a great vid. Made my morning! That SG blew my mind when I first saw the paperback writer video 30 years back.

George was & Is absolutely AMAZING‼️🎶💥

Very intereting. Thanks for this, Keith.

Inspiring video! Something about George Harrison always makes me want to pick up the first guitar that I can find and write something completely different from anything I’ve ever written before. Don’t know why, but I embrace it. Thanks Keith ❤

Your videos are just on another level fella. Thanks for all the research and work man.

Love watching these videos without even knowing how to play guitar 🎸

George seemed to have a heart of gold ❤ unfortunately, he had to leave the earth for a better place called heaven... Not to mention he was a great musician!!!🎉🎉

so so loved the guitar he played on the song And I Love Her

haven't been here in a minute. Thank you so much Keith! This episode really made me have a greater appreciation on my parents and grandparents supporting my musical journey.

My dad Harry Stedman used to sail with a guy called Ivan who was also his classmate at school in Liverpool. He said Ivan bought the duo jet and then sold it to George. He says they would buy cheap guitars in New York but the lousy ones would get thrown overboard if they sounded poor! He always said in Liverpool the dream guitar was the “lecky jumbo” or super 400 or es 175 type. All jazzers were called lecky jumbos. I often wondered if they bought the j-160e sight unseen and were expecting something completely different. As a kid I used to go to Rushworth and Dreapers and there was a huge blown up photo of John and George collecting their guitars. I always thought they looked a little crestfallen :)

There's a RU-vid video of Delaney and Bonnie with Eric Clapton and George Harrison playing backup.... In Denmark...great video BTW......Delaney is playing a rosewood Telecaster the one I believe George gave him....1970 I was 18... great job as always Keith 👏👍👌💪🇺🇸⛄🦫🎶🌲🎂 Happy New Year!!!🎊🥳🍩

Really great post! Fascinating.

I've loved George Harrison for a long time. He's my favorite Beatle and somebody I look up to a lot. This video was fittingly beautiful. Thanks. I have a theory. Viewing footage of George's tour of Japan in the 90's, you can see him playing a Fender Electric XII for "If I Needed Someone". This video answers my question for why he didn't just play his Rickenbacker for that number, which he still had, but that still leaves us with a George and a guitar not documented. So we know: 1. George had a Fender Electric XII in the 90's. 2. The Fender Electric XII was only produced, at that point, in the 60's. 3. Fender sent the Beatles a care package in the 60's. 4. An unidentified 12-string guitar can be heard on "While My Guitar Gently Weeps". 5. By the time they recorded "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", one of George's Rickenbackers had been destroyed, and the other was in rough shape. My theory, therefore, is that George was given a Fender Electric XII in that care package, since Fender knew George was well-known for playing an electric 12-string, and they had an electric 12-string that wasn't doing well, so they wanted to get it into his hands and boost sales. If that was their plan, it didn't work, since I don't recall ever seeing George with the guitar besides that tour. Of course, I have absolutely no proof at all of this theory, and it's probably more likely that George borrowed a 12-string from John for "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" and borrowed the Fender for his 90's tour, knowing he'd need a 12-string for one song and not having one. But it's just a fun little theory I have and I don't know where else I'm gonna put it, so right here feels like a good place.

I'm often impressed about the history of guitar players and their guitars😃

these videos are always the best. love it when a new one pops up.

Thank you Keith. Really enjoyed this one. I'd have liked to have heard a few more demos of the guitars, but the wonderful selection of photos a number of which I'd never seen before made up for that. I learned a lot of new things for this.

I was surprised to see how many “George” and “Beatles” styled guitars I have or have owned. I think the number is six different models. George chose well!

Great Video

Thank you Keith

Keith! As Always Great Work! WooF!

Keith - I loved this one. I’ve always been most drawn to George out of all the Beatles. I also loved the live stream about lessons. Made me wonder: do you think you’d ever do short histories of certain kinds of playing, or techniques? Such as a short history of electric blues, tapping, surf style, power chords? I think it would be cool and it would lean away from the “gear” and more into “playing.” I also think companions to “guitars of” could be “the playing styles of ______” with mini lessons on how to incorporate it into our playing. Sorry for the rant. I’m just personally trying to cut most “gear” content out of my life because it makes me obsess over it, and trying to increase “playing” and “music” content cuz that’s what I want to fill my life with. Anyway, thanks for all you do!

Great video Keith. And so many photos I had never seen before. 🎸

I’ve read John used to own a Framus that George played on as well on occasion. Great video! Glad I came across your channel.

You missed One Guitar, it may be one of the most Famous. It was when George Harrison in the 1980s was with what was called the Super Band= Which consisted of George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty & Roy Orbison. The name of the band they formed was the Travlin Wilburys. George had a guitar specially made for him from Gretch= which had a short neck and small body, with a lot of different colors on it. I had one of the copies of it. It was signed on the back plate that covered the controls by all of them= and put through the factory that way. I can send you a couple pictures of it if you like? I saw Him Playing It.

Really interesting, and I'm a drummer, but I do remember my brother getting a Tennessean.

Not appearing to be disrespectful, (I'm from the U.K.) how is it that virtually the entire RU-vid and all MSM appear to be polluted with content producers from across the Big Pond (America) I grew up with the Beatles, read every snippet and gossip on a daily basis through the entirety of the '60s, Bought every record, E.P, and L.P every Magazine, listened to every Radio broadcast, watched every documentary, I was a newspaper delivery boy until the day I left School (1969) and read the front page headlines of their Break-up, and continued to follow their journey beyond the Beatles era, there are similar people here that visited the Casbah, and the original Cavern along with all their other venues from the earliest days until stardom came. why haven't a great many people from the UK produced content that would accentuate a more Authentic timeline from our doorstep, rather than a remote area of 6,000 miles away from people who have no concept of that age or period as it evolved?? was just wondering 🤔