Paul Mccartneys tone on Wings - Mrs Vandebilt

[markdavid]

Apologies if this is in the wrong section.
I Have been listening to a lot of Mccartney and Wings recently and have been blow away by the bass tone on this Wings song (Mrs Vandebilt) i listened to it today and I would give left foot to get a tone like that , its a kind of clanky tone but could not in any way be described as bright , its obviously played on flats or tapes. Does anybody know how macca got the bass sound on this song?

[lunarpollen]

That's one of my fave Wings tunes... My guess it's a Rickenbacker with nylon tapewounds. There are some early (pre-disco) Bee Gees tunes with a similar tone. One of the secrets to why it sounds the way it does in the tune has to do with the stereo spread of--and the frequency ranges occupied by--the various elements in the song. There's virtually nothing to intrude on the bassline's territory, so it sounds very crisp and clear (as do almost all the other elements). I wish there was more production done like this nowadays. I really need to get myself some kind of cheap recording rig together....

[markdavid]

Originally Posted by lunarpollen

That's one of my fave Wings tunes... My guess it's a Rickenbacker with nylon tapewounds. There are some early (pre-disco) Bee Gees tunes with a similar tone. One of the secrets to why it sounds the way it does in the tune has to do with the stereo spread of--and the frequency ranges occupied by--the various elements in the song. There's virtually nothing to intrude on the bassline's territory, so it sounds very crisp and clear (as do almost all the other elements). I wish there was more production done like this nowadays. I really need to get myself some kind of cheap recording rig together....

Cheers lunarpollen , I have a set of nylons spare at the mo , looks like those will be going on my backup bass

[synaesthesia]

I think he used Rickenbacker flatwounds, they are rare. The Rick forum will bear this up, and CEO John Hall backs this up. The closest thing apparently in the present day are the Thomastik flats.

BTW, although pictured with a Rick very much in the 70's there is some argument going on as to waht he used in the recordings you mentioned. If you check the liner pics, there is no sign of a Ric anywhere in the Lagos sessions, but he is pictured playing a Fender Jazz. Rick forumites swear its a Rick of course, and maybe he did use one on those recordings but the liner pix don't show his Rick. ~I think it was a Fender J with flats and the tone you hear is a miked up 15" speaker or 2.

[lunarpollen]

For what it's worth, I can get an extremely similar sound with my crappy Hondo Rick copy strung with LaBella nylon tapewounds.