She Said She Said - Guitar Tutorial (4K) - Fender Stratocaster - Epiphone SG

June 24th, 1966 was the last recording session for the Revolver album. This session however was hastily thrown together in a panic. A few days earlier on the 21st, George Martin and Geoff Emerick were nearing completion on the stereo and mono mixes for Revolver when somebody noticed that they were one song short. This was a massive problem for everyone because if the consumers and the labels noticed, there would be serious complaints and returns left and right.

The Beatles were due for a European tour in a couple of days so there was absolutely no time to spare. June 24th was the day chosen. With strict deadlines quickly arriving, it was Lennon that came to the rescue with She Said She Said; however at this point it was largely unfinished. This left them no choice but to piece everything together in the studio.

The session began at 7 pm and a large chunk of it was spent rehearsing it. Roughly 25 rehearsal takes were recorded according to Beatles biographer Mark Lewisohn. The group were on their usual lineup with Lennon and Harrison on guitars, McCartney on bass and Starr on the kit.

A four track tape recorder was used for this session. Starrs drums and McCartneys bass were on track one and Harrison and Lennons guitars were on track two. This left two open tracks on the tape.

At some point after recording the basic rhythm track, Lennon and McCartney had an argument over arrangements for the song. This altercation resulted in McCartney abruptly leaving the session leaving the other three Beatles to finish overdubs. Take 13 was determined to be the best so overdubs would be added to that.

Onto track three came Lennons lead vocals and Harrisons harmony vocals. After that, Lennon and Harrison double tracked their vocals onto track four. With the four track tape filled, a reduction mix needed to be done to free up space. With track four now free, Harrison recorded a guitar overdub, Starr recorded shaker and Lennon played a single note on a Vox organ.

At around 3:45 am the next morning, the song was finished and ready to be mixed!

A few notes:
Theres a bit of debate over what guitar Lennon played on this song. Some people say he used his 1965 Epiphone Casino and others say he used his 1963 Gretsch 6120. I say, however that Lennon could have possibly used his black Fender Stratocaster in the neck pickup position. The black strat was photographed in studio two around the time the recording session for this song took place. In my opinion, the tone of this guitar much more resembles a Stratocaster over a Casino or 6120. Lennons part is essentially him picking out notes from the chords in the verses and strumming straight through the bridges.

Harrison played his 1964 Gibson SG standard on the basic rhythm track aswell as for the overdub. Pay attention to the left and right channels and take note of how they differentiate. For example, the riffs at 0:46-0:50 which are the ends of the verses. Take notice of these things aswell:
In the left channel guitar right before the riff at 0:59, Harrison appears to play a very brief F note. Either a mistake of simply making sure he was going in on the right note lol
In the left channel guitar at 1:08, Harrison plays a C and D.
During the second bridge, the left channel guitar plays the same riff as during the first bridge but this time around adds on a G note at the third fret.

*it is also worth noting that the master track is slightly sharp. This demonstration is done in standard Bb.

GEAR USED
Epiphone "1965 reissue" G400
Lennon "Mystery Strat" replica
Vox AD100
Vox ToneLab


Thats about it!