Flashback

EquipmentEquipmentEquipmentEquipmentEquipment

The most important factor in recreating that early 1960s Beat Group sound is Flashback’s choice of equipment. Using authentic period guitars and amplification, the sounds of Liverpool and Hamburg are brought to life once more.

1958 Hofner Club 40

Identical to the Club 40 that John Lennon bought from Hessy’s music store in Liverpool on 28th August 1959. John’s Aunt Mimi paid a £17 deposit there and then, and the balance of £13/9/- in irregular installments, the last one being on July 31st, 1960. It was this guitar that John took with him for The Beatles’ first engagement in Hamburg, in August 1960, the formative period that saw them becoming a force to be reckoned with.

 
This instrument was bought in Ellesmere Port, near Liverpool, still with its original case. In fact, the guitar is 100% original, right down to the “dog lead” strap clips and leather fittings. The single, black bar pickup is more than enough to provide the driving R&B sound that would have been so familiar to regulars of Hamburg’s Kaiserkeller club in 1960

1965 Vox Phantom XII

This Vox Phantom 12-string guitar, commonly known as the “Teardrop” was rescued from destruction by Pete, who was at a friend’s house when he noticed the body in the fireplace. On asking, he was told that the owner was going to chop it up for firewood! Needless to say Pete left the house with the piece of ex-firewood.

A few days later a mutual acquaintance tapped him on the shoulder and said that he knew where the neck was if he was interested! Along with the neck, Pete acquired a box of parts which were enough to get the guitar into playing shape, and, since the addition of a vintage pickup, it forms an integral part of Flashback’s set, sounding exactly like the 12-string Rickenbackers owned by the Byrds and The Beatles. 

since the addition of a vintage pickup, it forms an integral part of Flashback’s set, sounding exactly like the 12-string Rickenbackers owned by the Byrds and The Beatles.

1959 Hofner 500/50 bass

Late in 1959 Stuart Sutcliffe, an Art College friend of John Lennons, sold one of his paintings for £65. Instead of using the money to further his career in art, he was persuaded to buy a bass to use with The Quarrymen. On January 21st 1960, at Frank Hessy’s music store he put a £15 deposit on a Hofner 500/5 bass, serial number 199, and his place in the newly re-named Beatals was secure.

The 500/5 bass used by Flashback is serial number 272, placing it firmly in the exact same period as Sutcliffe’s. In fact, Kev also owns bass number 266 - almost twins! Bought in Lancashire from an ex-dance band musician who bought the bass second-hand in 1961 to cater for the trend in dance-bands to play more contemporary music, requiring more than the traditional double bass, the instrument needed a fair bit of work to bring it back to near-original condition. One pickup had been moved to the bridge position and glued in place, the other pickup was empty of all electrics! Add to that a bowed neck that needed 4 months in a steam oven, and the restoration is nearly complete, some general filling and a new scratch plate being the next steps on the list.

For an instrument well over 40 years old, it produces a warm, deep tone that puts many modern instruments to shame!

Boyer and Stagg microphones

The vocal microphones and stands complete the vintage effect, and are often the items of equipment that people comment on the most. Although the Stagg is a modern reproduction of a 1950s original, the Boyer is completely authentic, a French-made 1950s microphone which was rescued from the store room of a Parisian nightclub!