A bass for playing Beatles

[Stranger Danger]

Personally, I’d probably go with a Jazz bass. Neck pickup no tone for the violin stuff, pickups full on (or around there) for the Ric stuff. Or just stick with the P.

1 in 100 audience members will notice the bass. It’s the vocals you gotta worry about!

Correct!

 

[pbass2]

Macca used a Jazz bass quite a bit later on too in the Beatles(on some famous tracks that everyone usually thinks are the Hofner or the Ric). Unless it's a tribute band and you gotta dress the part, have period-correct looking gear, etc. just use whatcha got, play with a pick, and if it's too modern/zingy just palm mute or use a foam mute, slap some flats on, etc.

 

[Iridescentone]

Have you tried a P bass with Roto Tru-bass nylon strings for that big, W-I-D-E, cushy McCartney sound? Kinda surprised me how well these strings work with Beatles stuff, especially for copping Macca's later sounds. Good luck.

 

[Fender_Bender]

Tone knob down.

 

[getrhythm]

Gotta play lefty to get the sound!

 

[Jeff Hughes]

Unless the pay for the gigs covers the cost of the bass as well as some on top for your services, just use what you have.

Beatles lines are more about the style and notes than the bass tone in my opinion. Practice with your pick and palm muting if you want a close sound.

Remember that the recorded sounds work inside of recordings but not always in a live setting.

 

[Keitor]

Stick with you P and save money. Unless you are going to become a Beatles tribute band whereas you'll have to wear 60's suits and mop top wigs and fork out for a 4001, I doubt none of the intended audience will give a damn what bass you're playing, as long as your band sounds good to them.

Couldn't be more true, but in addition you can get the Beatles sound from almost any bass regardless on their strings and pickups (maybe not from a Stingray with new rounds ).

Just stick to the melodic playing, tone off, muted strings and get completely lost on feeling the right dynamics.

Good luck on your band project!

 

[ezstep]

Is your guitarist using a Country Gentleman, a rosewood Tele, a Casino, the Rocky Strat, Gibson 345? If not, then you shouldn't worry about it, either.

Don't overthink and over-analyze this. Just have fun. That is much more important that which brand or model bass you use.

 

[ProbablyTooLoud]

If you're just looking for an excuse to buy another bass, then buy what you want. You can make anything work for Beatles covers with strings and EQ.

QFT

 

[tvbop]

The last thing anyone listening to a band playing the Beatles will be thinking about is the bass tone. More important is to play the parts accurately. I know this. Ive done a lot of Beatles over the yrs.

 

[Bikeguy57]

that's the easiest way:

Dropbox

www.dropbox.com

this was my Precision bass a lot of years ago, recorded with Thomastik JF344 flats and some foam under the strings, but not much, because the Beatle's sound has some sustain, it's not Motown.
pick between the neck and the pickup.

nothing more.

the Hofner were recorded only in between 1961 and 1964, then from 1965 and all the studio albums the basses on their records, with some exception in the last two albums, are the Rickenbacker 4001s, a '66 Jazz bass with flats and a Bass VI with flats (usually played by Harrison or Lennon when Paul was playing the piano).

FW: "Maxwell Silver Hammer" is the Jazz Bass played by Harrison "in the style of McCartney", or "The Long and Winding Road" is Lennon on the Bass VI.

so, whatever bass with flats will do the job.

if you're looking for just aesthetics, like some fetish musicians doing tribute bands, you can't use anything other than a 4001s or the Hofner

Your singer is nailing the Lennon vocal! I enjoyed it.

 

[Boneless]

Of course, you don't really need another bass.

If you are just looking for an excuse to buy some new gear, other than my recommendation of a Hoefner Club, another thing you could do is get a compressor/limiter. The Beatles were quite heavily compressed (and it's quite blatant really). I'm not saying you should get a Fairchild limiter (look them up, for a laugh). But a fast compressor (not an optical one) would be great to get that squashed tone.

 

[pbass2]

Though I personally think you probably should play that stuff with a pick(at least I would), that said, Don Was did a pretty great job with his old Pbass with dead flats and a foam mute playing with his fingers at the Beatles Grammy tribute show he also MD'd. Can't find it now but there's an interview where he talks about deliberately not trying to chase it by using a Hofner, etc. All about the spirit of the songs more than the minutiae.

 

[BigJohnAZ]

To add on to pbass's comments, there are songs with a strong melodic bass like "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" and "Something" that non-musicians have subconsciously internalized, and if not hearing it properly, it would make the song suffer. Nail the bass lines and Paul's feel, don't worry about the look.

 

[tekhna]

Make sure you buy an absolute rubbish bass amp if you really want the right sound.

I recall an interview where Macca said they didn’t really play below an A on the E string because it sounded lousy.

Same was apparently true for Peter Hook, how he developed his signature style.

 

[micguy]

I’d put flats on a Danelectro - a thin skinned hollow body, not too different than a Hofner.

 

[jthisdell]

My band does a lot of Beatles and a P works well, often better than the boomy Hofner tone on the records.

 

[Artman]

Hello everyone.
I've been offered the opportunity to play bass in a cover band that also plays some of The Beatles' masterpieces. Therefore, I'd like to achieve a bass sound as close to the original as possible.
Unfortunately, I don't want to spend money on a Hofner violin bass, which I don't like at all (purely for aesthetic reasons; I don't want to offend anyone). So, I've considered a few alternatives: 1) using my Fender Precision with a fretwrap at the bridge and flatwound strings, or 2) buying a used Fender Coronado II bass, or 3) buying a used Epiphone Jack Casady bass, or 4) buying a new Hofner Verythin bass. As for options 2), 3), and 4), there's no opportunity to try these basses before purchasing them.
Which of the above alternatives do you think would be best for my purpose? (please, do not consider money, only the sound!) Thanks!

Anything with at least four flatwound strings and a tone control ought to do the job.
I have used a P bass and a Jazz bass with a strip of foam stuffed under the strings right in front of the bridge saddles.
Sounds great!

 

[jthisdell]

Anything with at least four flatwound strings and a tone control ought to do the job.

That narrows it down!!

Yes, the Beatles bass sound is all about the parts that Paul wrote and not about gear. I read that he used to record the bass track last as he usually played guitar or keys first. Not sure how much truth is in there and certainly not at the earlier sessions.

 

[Artman]

That narrows it down!!

Yes, the Beatles bass sound is all about the parts that Paul wrote and not about gear. I read that he used to record the bass track last as he usually played guitar or keys first. Not sure how much truth is in there and certainly not at the earlier sessions.

Definitely more about his bass lines and melodic phrasing than it is about the equipment.

There are pictures of him playing Fender basses in the recording studio, so who really knows which bass he played on which songs on any particular album.

Maybe someone knows, but it should not effect your performance.