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SirMjac28
Patiently Waiting For The Next British Invasion
Everything on Revolver but my favorite is Dear Prudence and the guitar playing is the sweetest most haunting I've ever heard on any recording.
what songs or albums did paul play a jazz bass on? I've recently found a whole new respect for paul because we have a lot of harmonies in my band and it's insanely difficult for me to play intricate bass lines and sing the harmony at the same time. I have to learn the bass part really well to where I can shut it off in my brain and be able to do the harmony. Paul is a master
Silly little love song for me, anything else as mention tone isolated really shows the true sound which was squeeze to death by compression or distorted. But there are many other artist isolated that sound pretty much just like that it worked great in the mix, but stand alone it isn't pleasant to listen to.
Great song too! And my all time favorite Beatles tune, both for the music and the sentiment behind it.
Huh---everything I've read says it was Paul on the Jazz, but heck who knows? I was already proven wrong once this week on TB (Elvis did NOT play bass on "Jailhouse Rock" as I've preached for decades
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Most of my favorite Paul Beatle bass tones and lines have already been mentioned but...
I also really like the "fuzz bass" track on the Harrison penned song Think For Yourself. There's a clean bass track as well on that one. I actually could not find the original example of that on YouTube!
Of the Wings Material Good Night Tonight ( Don't Say It ) is definitely one that really made me want to play bass as a kid. Is he just sliding on a fretted or did he use a fretless on the intro? For me this is a prime example of "McCartney thunktone"
And although quite simple I also loved both the tone and the bass line in Coming Up.
I also really like the "fuzz bass" track on the Harrison penned song Think For Yourself. There's a clean bass track as well on that one. I actually could not find the original example of that on YouTube!
Of the Wings Material Good Night Tonight ( Don't Say It ) is definitely one that really made me want to play bass as a kid. Is he just sliding on a fretted or did he use a fretless on the intro? For me this is a prime example of "McCartney thunktone"
And although quite simple I also loved both the tone and the bass line in Coming Up.
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This is awesome! I remember this song from when I was a kid. I like this version 1000x better with just one voice, bass and drums. Sure makes it easier to learn that great bassline!!!
The specific songs he used a jazz bass on is a subject of a lot of debate amongst Beatle gear heads. Based upon photos, he had the jazz bass during the White Album sessions and the Abbey Road sessions. He also had it during the Let It Be sessions, but there's not much evidence to show he played it on that album.
Band On The Run was recorded in Lagos, Nigeria, and Paul didn't bring a bass, so he used the studio's jazz bass. Of course, he may have overdubbed some bass after those sessions, but most of Band On The Run seems to be jazz bass.
So White Album seems to be Rick and Jazz bass, Abbey Road features the Hofner, the Rick, and the Jazz. Then he used a Jazz on Band On The Run.
He had flatwound strings on his jazz bass- key part of the tone!
Just to think Paul plays Silly Love songs on bass and sings it too, talk about split brain!
Didn't the engineers use a bass speaker as a mic for some of the basslines for Sgt Pepper (i know they did on some songs)...i want to say A day in the life but might be wrong? Paul would often record the bassline last, once the other tracks had been laid down, as well so it gave him more scope to do something more melodic and interesting over the top.
BTW, Quite a few people seem to be naming their fave Paul bassline...the OP was about fave tones of his. If we're talking fave lines for me its def Rain, Something, or Silly love songs...but they're not my fave tones of his.
Didn't the engineers use a bass speaker as a mic for some of the basslines for Sgt Pepper (i know they did on some songs)...i want to say A day in the life but might be wrong? Paul would often record the bassline last, once the other tracks had been laid down, as well so it gave him more scope to do something more melodic and interesting over the top.
BTW, Quite a few people seem to be naming their fave Paul bassline...the OP was about fave tones of his. If we're talking fave lines for me its def Rain, Something, or Silly love songs...but they're not my fave tones of his.
I generally find his tone on the Ric with flatwounds (played with a pick) to be my favorite tone. As mentioned here already, Rain, Paperback Writer, Taxman...
"Paperback Writer" is marked by the boosted bass guitar sound throughout, partly in response to John Lennon demanding to know why the bass on a certain Wilson Pickett record far exceeded the bass on any Beatles records. This changed with the "Paperback Writer" single.
"'Paperback Writer' was the first time the bass sound had been heard in all its excitement," said Beatles' engineer Geoff Emerick in Invalid Link Removed's book The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions. "Paul played a different bass, a Rickenbacker. Then we boosted it further by using a loudspeaker as a Invalid Link Removed. We positioned it directly in front of the bass speaker and the moving diaphragm of the second speaker made the electric current." Further, McCartney's playing was more melodic and busy than on previous tracks."
I don't know what that last part means, but I think it's interesting that according to this that John Lennon was initially responsible for wanting the bass to be more prominent in the mix.
"Paperback Writer" is marked by the boosted bass guitar sound throughout, partly in response to John Lennon demanding to know why the bass on a certain Wilson Pickett record far exceeded the bass on any Beatles records. This changed with the "Paperback Writer" single.
"'Paperback Writer' was the first time the bass sound had been heard in all its excitement," said Beatles' engineer Geoff Emerick in Invalid Link Removed's book The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions. "Paul played a different bass, a Rickenbacker. Then we boosted it further by using a loudspeaker as a Invalid Link Removed. We positioned it directly in front of the bass speaker and the moving diaphragm of the second speaker made the electric current." Further, McCartney's playing was more melodic and busy than on previous tracks."
I don't know what that last part means, but I think it's interesting that according to this that John Lennon was initially responsible for wanting the bass to be more prominent in the mix.
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Well Sir Paul always uses flatwound strings, so you'll probably want to reduce the treble and slightly increase the midrange. Also, using the front pickup instead of the bridge pickup helps. Foam under the bridge (or use your palm) to mute the strings.
If we're talking only EQ, here's what I used to do:
-On the bass: If it has 2 pickups, don't use the bridge one. Roll the tone knob back about halfway. Use a pick when the song calls for it (he uses a pick and mute quite often).
-On the amp: Bass at 12 o'clock. Mids at 2 or 3 o'clock. Treble at 11 o'clock for early Paul tones (more thumpy), but increase the treble to closer to 1 or 2 o'clock for Wings type stuff.
Or you can just stick flatwound strings on your bass and you'll be 70% there, tone-wise.
I use a jazz bass with that pickup setting favoring the neck with TI power bass strings and a Mesa boogie big block 750. I have everything pretty close to flat except the active mid is at 2 0clock and frequency knob around the same. Little tricky to dial that in as the frequency knob doesn't have the mid EQ freq. displayed on the amp
Can anyone point to *definitive* proof that Paul used the mutes on his Rickenbacker?
This is often alleged, and could very well be true, but has he or someone who would know actually said so in an interview?
This is often alleged, and could very well be true, but has he or someone who would know actually said so in an interview?
