With the exception of three tracks, "Pet Sounds" was recorded from January 18 to April 13, 1966 and spanned 27 session dates. Instrumental sessions were conducted at Western Studio 3 of United Western Recorders, except for a few tracks that were recorded at Gold Star Studios and Sunset Sound Recorders. Wilson produced the sessions with his usual engineer, Western's Chuck Britz. Although Phil Spector created all of his recordings at Gold Star, Wilson preferred working at Western for the studio's privacy and for the presence of Britz.