He’s used that for everything, recording, live. On the acoustic side, meanwhile, Smith went on to say that McCartney's “main acoustic is his Martin D-28 which he’s had for about 30 years. So we sort of rediscovered this 330, it’s just a really great sounding guitar.” Paul likes to be able to take a guitar out and play it without too much fuss. 'I’m always going through Paul’s guitar collection and restringing, checking, repairing and making sure they’re all up to scratch. “It’s only about seven or eight years old, and I dug that one out.

“To demonstrate the quality of the guitar that they’d make for him sent a really nice 330 from the Custom Shop,” Smith said. The third guitar, meanwhile, came about via the aborted ’64 Epi Casino project. It just sounds beautiful, I’ve got a great little pedalboard that I built that he’s not that interested in! He sticks the guitar straight into the AC30 and gets the sound, that’s how he’s always done it and I think that’s how he’ll always do it.”

“He’s had it three or four years now and he’s really enjoying playing it at the moment. It’s a mint condition, 1954 lefty which is rare as hen’s teeth. He’ll say ‘I want something really clean… let’s try a Tele.’ It’s a real favorite of his at the moment because he hasn’t had it very long. “But in Paul’s mind a Tele is a really nice clean, sparkly, almost country sound. Paul also made use of a ’54 Tele, which was “used on quite a few tracks,” Smith said. He got it before my time, but that’s his big rock sound through his AC30.” It’s PAFs in that, and it’s all original as far as I know. “For a really straightforward rock ’n’ roll sound he’s got a ’57 Gibson Les Paul Goldtop which is always his go-to chord-y rock sound. When it came to electric guitars, Smith said there were three main ones in the studio.

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