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How did Paul McCartney play with so little power?

As far as I know, PA systems in the 60s were really not that great. That's why everyone used Marshall full stacks and whatnot. So how did Paul McCartney get away with playing a 60 watt solid state Vox t-60 for bass? Apparently, even John Entwistle and John Paul Jones used them as well.
 
once the amp was mic'd, wasn't it really up to the PA? I know PAs weren't what they are today, but presumably the Beatles got the best there were at the time.

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All the Beatles have chimed in on this subject. Fact was most of the time they couldn't hear themselves on stage.
Touring got boring for them because the crowd screaming was so loud it overpowered their amps. Ringo said the only thing he could do was hold a beat because A) he couldn't hardly hear the band and B) if he hit the toms, the drums would disappear completely
 
Yup. Once they got out of playing clubs and into larger venues, The Beatles couldn't hear themselves over the screaming girls and vice versa. John notoriously would sing incorrect lyrics or play wrong chords and nobody knew the difference.
 
On the Beatles' last gig in '66, at Candlestick Park in SF, they were using 120 watt Vox Super Beatle amps. Not too flimsy, and rated as highly as a Marshall Stack, which wasn't in common use. Correct me if I'm wrong.
 
On the Beatles' last gig in '66, at Candlestick Park in SF, they were using 120 watt Vox Super Beatle amps. Not too flimsy, and rated as highly as a Marshall Stack, which wasn't in common use. Correct me if I'm wrong.

And they still couldn't hear themselves. That's why they quit touring. I heard Ringo say they were tired of playing like crap.

Now, if they had modern PA gear with the monitors of today, they could have carried on. In a way I'm glad they didn't because the work they put into the studio afterwards made them for me
 
So how did Paul McCartney get away with playing a 60 watt solid state Vox t-60 for bass?
he didn't.
...presumably the Beatles got the best there were at the time.
how can you guys not know this? i'm at best an "amateur" beatles fan and i know the answer to this one!

the screaming girls were like a 747 going full blast the whole time they were playing, to where the little "PA" was non-existent, and they were basically just up there pretending to play.

that's the big reason they quit doing it; had they held out for a few more years they might have had a chance to enjoy playing a show with a real system where they could hear themselves.
 

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