What type of flatwounds give the same tone as McCartney's Hofner and Rickenbacker?

[gregstj114]

Hey everyone, I'm sure this has been posted before, but I'm very curious...

What brand of flatwound bass strings would give the same tone that Paul McCartney used on his Hofner and Rickenbacker basses??

Some people say RotoSound, Pyramid, Thomastik-Infled, and LaBella...But which type would give the best 60s style tone??

I plan on using the flatwounds on my Squier Vintage Modified 70s Jazz Bass.

Thanks!

[Rob Martinez]

For that bass, I would try TIs. Very nice strings.

[Floyd Eye]

Long, shiny ones. lol

[Pilgrim]

60's = Labella Deep Talkin' flats.

Love 'em.

TIs were not around in the US in the 60's.

[Shanty]

Well, what did Paul actually play? If you've got his strings, I see no reason why you wouldn't have close to the same tone.

[mr sprocket]

For the hofner try pyramid or Labella strings. The Labellas cost less and even have a set specific for the hofner scale. They sound pretty dead on even on a clone.

[markanini]

The above post sound like sound advice. IIRC Pyramid we're OEM for the original Pickenbacker brand strings.

[unclekebm]

GHS precision flats and right hand technique

[mccartneyman]

On the Hofner early on McCartney used Pyramids. Now he uses LaBella Beatle Bass strings. For the "Let It Be" sessions he used Rotosund tapewounds. I'm not sureanyone knows what he used on the Rick, but the stock Rickenbacker flats that used to ship on the 4001 will give you "that" sound -- if you're talking about the studio sound. The live sound McCartney gets now is the Hofner with LaBellas, through a Meas Boogie amp miked with a Shure SM 57.

[PandaMike]

For the hofner, La Bella flats work great. I've also had good luck with Pyramids. For the Ric, I've found Thomastiks to sound dead on, but they have to be well worn in. Most of that tone can be found in the way you play. Using a pick and muting with your fretting hand works very well (fret the note and gently press over the string just on top of the fret. Its awkward and takes practice but it works!) or you can use a string mute by the bridge (the ric had one built in). I'm going to try some GHS flats soon, I'll let you know how that goes.

[mark107]

Pyramids will get you there 100%.

[DavePlaysBass]

The local luthier around here is a huge McCartney head and collects Hofners. He uses La Bellas primarily but was having issues with them breaking on one of the basses. I recommended TI Flats in the 32" Scale which has a much larger E string (106). Everytime we talk Hofners he raves about how well they fit that bass.r

[gregstj114]

Thanks for the replies! Now I'm stuck between buying the Pyramids or the Thomastik flats... Which one should I go with??

[PandaMike]

The Pyramids are going to be thumpier, even at first. The TIs will need to break in to be thumpy/fat. They're fairly bright when new, but are a bit more dynamic and versatile. I just put the set of GHS flats (45-95) on my 4001 and they're perfect for Beatles and any 60's bass tone. Somewhere in between TIs and Pyramids I figure. And they're way cheaper! I've found my new strings. They sound broken in even though they are brand new! The tension is great too. I'd say check them out for $19 from juststrings.com. I'm going to order another set for spare asap.

[sedan_dad]

Originally Posted by gregstj114

Hey everyone, I'm sure this has been posted before, but I'm very curious...

What brand of flatwound bass strings would give the same tone that Paul McCartney used on his Hofner and Rickenbacker basses??.........................I plan on using the flatwounds on my Squier Vintage Modified 70s Jazz Bass.

Thanks!

There's the issue. A Jazz is not the way to go. I think you'd have a lot more luck with a short scale bass with flats.

[odysseios]

Originally Posted by gregstj114

Thanks for the replies! Now I'm stuck between buying the Pyramids or the Thomastik flats... Which one should I go with??

I'd go with the strings which were born to stay on the Hofner bass: Hofner/Pyramids (they are the same strings with a different packaging).
And from over a year, Sir Paul went back to Hofners.

[RHFusillo]

Pyramid flats. No other string sounds or feels like them.

[JimmyM]

paul sounds like paul no matter what bass he plays or what strings he used. it has so little to do with the strings that it's not even funny.

[OldDog52]

Originally Posted by JimmyM

paul sounds like paul no matter what bass he plays or what strings he used. it has so little to do with the strings that it's not even funny.

Hey as a new member here I get to do this for the first time:

+1

[Pilgrim]

Originally Posted by Shanty

Well, what did Paul actually play? If you've got his strings, I see no reason why you wouldn't have close to the same tone.

Absolutely. We all know that anyone playing a Jazz bass wtih strings like Jaco sounds JUST like Jaco!!!