white album bass

[Warmplay]

Does anyone know what bass Paul played on
Glass Onion and While my guitar gently weeps?

[john_martin_sai]

Paul McCartney played a 1961 Fender Bass VI on 'While My Guitar...'

[DeliriumTremens]

It's a Jazz Bass on WMGGW and Glass Onion

[Floyd Eye]

Agreed. Jazz bass with flats.

[FrednBass]

[FretlessMainly]

Agreed that it was the Jazz on those two. From the sounds of it, he also used it on Yer Blues.

[john_martin_sai]

I guess this website is lying to us then.....

http://oldies.about.com/od/thebeatle...entlyweeps.htm

[FrednBass]

Yes, it is. Paul never played the Fender Bass VI, John and George used it one. Aparently they asked Eric Clapton for some bass for them to use when Paul was playing something else, and Eric suggested the Bass VI because Jack Bruce used one for sometime and was great for a guitarist to get used to it.
George also used a right-handed Jazz Bass during Abbey Road sessions.

[Ric5]

On any given Beatle track you can have Paul playing a Rick, jazz, or Hofner, Also John played a bass VI, and George played a bass vi and a Jazz. So that is 6 different possibilities for the bass on any track.

[Ric5]

Originally Posted by john_martin_sai

I guess this website is lying to us then.....

http://oldies.about.com/od/thebeatle...entlyweeps.htm

I don't think that Paul ever played a bass vi on any Beatle recordings. The bass vi the Beatles used was RIGHT handed. Yes Paul could have turned it over and played but there is no evidence that he did.


Pics of the bass vi

[Floyd Eye]

Yes the website is wrong. Does that shock anyone?

[iamthebassman]

Jazz on both.

[ShoeManiac]

...But

....but

....everything that's posted on the internet is true, isn't it?!?!




Honestly, I would be seriously surprised if Fender actually made a left-handed Bass VI in 1961. True, that hasn't stopped McCartney from playing right-handed instruments in a left-handed fashion. But most of the McCartney / Beatles fans on the forum seem to be of the consensus that tracks like "While my guitar gently weeps", "Glass onion", "Everybody's got something to hide except for me and my monkey", "Yer blues" and possibly others were played on the lefty '67 Fender Jazz bass.

[FrednBass]

"...MY Monkey" was on the Jazz? I thought it was the Rick.

[music fun]

I thought we've settled this elsewhere in the forum. On WMGGW, I'm pretty sure I hear George playing bass, not Paul. Those 2- and three-note bass chords in the latter verse can be played on a four-string bass, but I've heard through the folklore channels that the bass George used on the track was a 6-string.

Help me out here: wasn't that George on bass?

[FrednBass]

I'm pretty sure it wasn't. Paul uses chords on other songs as well, and the bassline is too McCartneyish to be done by George.

[Floyd Eye]

Absolutely Paul.

[music fun]

But if you listen to the isolated track, I've never heard note attack like that with Paul. It sounds like George's lead style.

If George were here on this thread, he'd say, let's move on. We can hear what we hear.

[Chrisk-K]

Because the bass was a J, not a Ric. Paul played his Jazz on WWGGW. Period.

According to Fender's article on "The most famous Fender basses," Paul played his J on 4 tracks on White Album. If Paul had played the J more, Fender would have advertised it to death.

[Basstreble]

He played a '66 Fender Jazz on a few. ( you can tell because of the 'oval' shaped tuners.