Does anyone have any idea what that instrument is at the end of The Beatles' Birthday song (as the song fades out)?  Is it some sort of electric piano, or a Jedi Light Sabre, or what?  Do you know how they managed to achieve that effect?  And if so, got any ideas on how I could emulate that today?
many thanks-
John Volanski
San Diego, CA

Don't remember where I read this, but I thought I remember it being a Leslie speaker cabinet on the guitar.  A Leslie cabinet gives that swirling/ rotating sound.

It does not sound like a Leslie to me. A Leslie has a smoother rotating type of effect. Seeing as the whole track sounds like there are only guitars present it could be some sort of feedback guitar note maybe running through some sort of effect. The sound seems to change abruptly in tone etc.  Could be a feedback sound running through a wah pedal or something like that not sure though. Guitars can make some pretty weird sounds you know.

When you watch Paul McCartney live doing that tune they don't seem to do it all, but rather left it out. But there are keys playing in the live Paul gig.

Interesting info from JayJayVee below. At first I did not hear the piano that well, it is back in the mix a bit and heavily effected. At the end they must have just played a piano note and effected it heavily through a guitar amp as beatlesbible.con suggests. Sounds like it for sure.

I just found this when searching around the beatlesbible.com web site:
 
Birthday was a straightforward song to record, and all four Beatles contributed. Backing vocals were added by Pattie Harrison and Yoko Ono, and all - including the group's assistant Mal Evans - recorded handclaps.
The effects heard towards the song's end, and in the 'I would like you to dance' section, were created by a piano microphone fed through a guitar amplifier with effects added.
Based around a standard blues structure, Birthday contains one of McCartney's finest vocal performances on the White Album. Perhaps the soundtrack to The Girl Can't Help It - which featured Little Richard, Gene Vincent, Eddie Cochran, Fats Domino and others - played a part.
 
So......who knows.

JayJayVee

 Does anyone have any idea what that instrument is at the end of The Beatles' Birthday song (as the song fades out)?

I have always assumed that it was a piano through a wah-wah pedal.  It is not significantly different from the sound used in the instrumental part at 1:12.

I've just had a listen and its def not a leslie, I know a leslie sound.  It sounds like a filter but it also sounds like when you switch pickups on a guitar, it wouldn't surprise me if they have put a guitar up against an amp turned up the guitar full bore and recorded a 2nd guitar amp with the piano going through the 2nd and switched the guitar pickups up and down.

Also I find it funny that they have listed Ringo playing drums on this track, I am pretty sure it was Paul playing drums, I might be wrong and I know it's suppose to be The Beatles bible but I know Mc's drum style and I am pretty sure that this was recorded in the week that Ringo quit the band.  I wish I still had my Mark Lewison book.

History it's funny how it gets distorted over time.

Peace Ben

On thinking about it, I bet we are getting two sounds mixed up and that this sound idea at the end has been lost in the anals of time.

I bet you that, that sound at the end is a jews harp recorded through a guitar pick up with someone switching the pickup at the same time.  I know it sounds crazy but if def sounds like that to me.

Peace Ben 

One can easily get overcomplicated about it I think although it is always fun speculating I suppose as to how they might have got a certain sound.

I think its the piano through the wah pedal and that is it. At the end it sounds like just a sustained note (or interval or chord even) and the wah pedal is just being moved quickly from one position to another and left in that position and then moved etc. Not a slow sweeping movement. More discreet pedal positions. 

You have got to think of what they had around at the time. I agree with Kev999. At 1.30  you can sort of hear what that effected piano sounds like. It is more exposed there doing the question and answer thing.

The reason I think it's the piano is that a normal piano sound cannot be really heard except for this piano through a wah wah type sound so it must be it.

Jeff Evans

At 1.30  you can sort of hear what that effected piano sounds like. It is more exposed there doing the question and answer thing.

Yes, 1:30 not 1:12 as I stated.  I forgot that my display (in iTunes) shows time remaining.

BenMMusTech

I find it funny that they have listed Ringo playing drums on this track, I am pretty sure it was Paul playing drums, I might be wrong and I know it's suppose to be The Beatles bible but I know Mc's drum style and I am pretty sure that this was recorded in the week that Ringo quit the band.  I wish I still had my Mark Lewison book.

According to Lewisohn, Paul arrived early to the studio one day (Wednesday 18 September 1968), wrote this song and recorded the backing track himself before the other Beatles arrived.  The others joined him later to complete it but it is not clear who played what.  But I also remember reading somewhere than John played bass on this song.

Ringo rejoined the band on 3 September, having been absent for "Back In The USSR" and "Dear Prudence".