Recording console used by Beatles on Abbey Road album up for sale

Reverb The EMI TG12345 console sits in a room. It has countless switches and dials to help record music. — The EMI TG12345 console helped to record the Beatles final album

A console used to record the Beatles’ Abbey Road album and found discarded in a skip is due to be auctioned off after a four-year restoration project.

Malcolm Jackson and his son Hamish Jackson, who are both from Hertfordshire, have worked within a wider group to restore the one-of-a-kind EMI TG12345 console.

It was used to record the Beatles’ hit album in the north London studios, which was released on 26 September 1969. It was later donated to a school that discarded it in a skip.

It was subsequently found but left unused for years before the project was started, and will now be auctioned by online music marketplace, Reverb, on 29 October.

The Beatles’ Abbey Road album cover is of George Harrison, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and John Lennon on a zebra crossing outside the recording studios in London

APPLE CORPS The Beatles' Abbey Road album cover shows four men, George Harrison, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and John Lennon, walking on a zebra crossing outside the recording studios in north London. It is a residential street with cars parked on either side of the road. — The Beatles’ Abbey Road album cover is of George Harrison, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and John Lennon on a zebra crossing outside the recording studios in London

Mr Jackson Snr and Jnr run their own company, Malcolm Jackson Quipment, from Rickmansworth, where they specialise in selling studio equipment and helping to sell studio space.

For the past four years, they were part of the team restoring the console under the guidance of former EMI engineer and Beatles collaborator Brian Gibson, who had used it in the 1960s.

It was the first of just 17 consoles worldwide made by EMI, and it helped record the Beatles last album in the late 1960s before they split up in 1970.

Hamish Jackson (left) with his father Malcolm Jackson (right) said some parts of the console survived while others they had to replace

Reverb Hamish and Malcolm sit beside each other smiling at one another. They are sitting in a music studio with sound equipment behind them as well as a recording booth. Hamish has dark short hair, is wearing a blue shirt and brown trousers. Malcolm has grey short hair and is wearing a black jumper with a light shirt on underneath. — Hamish Jackson (left) with his father Malcolm Jackson (right) said some parts of the console survived while others they had to replace

The console was eventually donated to a London school, but a few years later it was dumped in a skip when staff reportedly did not know how to use it.

However, a musician walking by one day was quick to notice it.

“It was the switches that someone noticed; they liked the look of the knobs and so pulled it out of the skip,” Mr Jackson Jnr explained.

“The skip was outside a school in St John’s Wood.”

Mr Jackson Snr added: “He was a guitarist and saw the switches and thought, ‘It’ll look great on my guitar’.”

The Beatles recorded much of their music at the Abbey Road Studios in London

Getty Images The Beatles are pictured lined up together during press call at Abbey Road Studios in a black and white photo. There are balloons behind them and music recording equipment. They are wearing jackets and multi-patterned shirts. — The Beatles recorded much of their music at the Abbey Road Studios in London

According to Mr Jackson Snr, 31 British companies helped the team restore parts of the console during the project.

Asked why the console was so unique, he explained: “The sound is so great; it’s special.

“Anybody who has this console will have the best studio in the world.”

Hertfordshire father and son, Malcolm and Hamish Jackson, led the restoration team.

His son added that the quality of the sound was “something you couldn’t describe”.

“You really appreciate it when you’re actually recording with it.

“You understand, ‘Wow, that sounds really different’.”

Mr Jackson Jnr said the restored console was “definitely” a piece of equipment that could be used to make music again, but equally could be a collector’s item.

“You’re buying into the story – it’s that lovely combination of being the perfect engineering quality as well as having all this very significant history,” he added.