"I Need You" 6-string or 12?

[RJM3]

I play this on my 360 by hooking my pinkie around the treble volume control and rolling it up and down-I thought that this was how the song was recorded when I first heard it. The effect wasn't new at the time. '60's period Framus guitars could be had with a master volume control with a hook for your pinkie. They called it something like "organ effect". It did the same thing as rolling the volume control only with a much shorter arc. Since Framus is German and the Beatles used a Framus 12-string, I kinda thought that that's where George picked up the idea.

[RJM3]

Ok, here's a link to the Framus 5/170 Electrona with the organ control. You can see it on the pick guard, the knob with the hook. Unlike a Wah Wah pedal, it only controls volume, not volume and tone. The idea was to create a swell-effect like an organ. As you see, this instrument has been produced starting in '63. Given the time that the Beatles spent in Germany and the dominance that Framus had in that market, there's a very realistic chance that they might have come in contact with one of these guitars.

http://www.framus-vintage.de/modules/mo ... 4626&cl=EN

Oh, other than my Ric's, I love my Framus bass -which is what I mostly played in bands.

[iiipopes]

There was no "volume Pedal" used on I Need You, because it had not been invented yet. This recording spurred Mr. Hall to invent one.
There are photos of John sitting at George's feet turning the guitar's volume knob up and down by hand while he recorded the song. Very cool!

Aw, c'mon Peter, you know it was the 12.
George Martin kept a listing on the instruments used in 3 songs from Help. It was in his book, which the title eludes me and is OOP. Besides the 12 and the volume pedal (which they did have in '65), the backing track also has George on a Spanish acoustic, according to Martin, and noted in the Recording the Beatles book.

You're both right. It's not an either/or. Both approaches were used on different songs.

[brammy]

Well..... Its probably the Ric 360 12-string on "I Need You"..... but I cant find a good reference for it.

Yes, it appears that they did have access to a "volume pedal" in Feb 1965:

According to Lewisohn's 'The Beatles - Recording Sessions', the signature riff was created by "it's distinctive tone pedal electric guitar".

From 'Beatles Gear' (Andy Babiuk): Goerge says ".... So what we do is, I played the part, and John would kneel down in front of me and turn my guitar's volume control." ..... "Harrison's 'I Need You' were also recorded on on February 15th..... Harrison again experimented with guitar volume swells on 'I Need you, this time using a traditional volume pedal for the effect rather than relying on Lennon to manipulate his volume control." .... "The group would also use the effect later on 'I Need You' and 'Yes It Is".

As seen in the video, I think that the rhythm is played by a J-160. The riff is coming from a "pedal electric guitar"...... whether that is a pedal attached to a Ric 12-string is not clear at this point, but most likely is.

[brammy]

[wolfgang]

brammy,
as we mentioned above:

by Scastles » 15 Jul 2012 02:01 am
Aw, c'mon Peter, you know it was the 12.

George Martin kept a listing on the instruments used in 3 songs from Help. It was in his book, which the title eludes me and is OOP. Besides the 12 and the volume pedal (which they did have in '65), the backing track also has George on a Spanish acoustic, according to Martin, and noted in the Recording the Beatles book.

[shamustwin]

I can hear the spanish acoustic way more than I hear a 12.