The Beatles taped the rhythm track of "If I Needed Someone" at EMI Studios in London, in a single take, on 16 October 1965. The recording took place just before midnight at the end of a session dedicated to their next single, "Day Tripper". Harrison played his new, 1965 Rickenbacker 360/12 on the song. According to musicologist Walter Everett, the sound of Harrison's chiming guitar, combined with that of Lennon's Fender Stratocaster rhythm part, produced "the Beatles' brightest guitar sound yet", and so served as "a fitting tribute to the Byrds". Using his new Rickenbacker 4001S bass, McCartney inaugurated an ostinato-heavy style that would feature prominently on the band's 1966 recordings, particularly the song "Rain".