Paul McCartney and his Basses

[ShoeManiac]

I wrote Brian Ray asking him about Paul's bass technique and he answered me back almost instantly !! If anybody knows, I imagine it would be Paul's bassist.
He says Paul ALWAYS uses a light left hand muting!
Edit: I just realized I misspelled his name. I'm glad he responded anyway!

Listening to the tracks, the palm muting has sounded quite obvious to me for some time. Glad to hear Brian cleared that up.

I think Sir Paul is probably a little reticent about letting too much out about his creative process. Some of that might be his competitive nature. But I think it can also be attributable to the fact that he may not want to overthink things too much. Hence his lack of gear knowledge, too.

 

[ch willie]

McCartney has amassed an amazing collection over the years. I wonder how many of his guitars are ones given to him. I think he got the Ric, the Yamaha bass, and the Wal as gifts, and the jazz bass too?

 

[benlauziere]

McCartney has amassed an amazing collection over the years. I wonder how many of his guitars are ones given to him. I think he got the Ric, the Yamaha bass, and the Wal as gifts, and the jazz bass too?

Yeah the Ric and the Jazz were given by the builders and the Wal was a gift of Linda. I don't know for the Yamaha...

 

[mccartneyman]

I wrote Brian Ray asking him about Paul's bass technique and he answered me back almost instantly !! If anybody knows, I imagine it would be Paul's bassist.
He says Paul ALWAYS uses a light left hand muting!
Edit: I just realized I misspelled his name. I'm glad he responded anyway!

Brian is the best at corresponding with fans. I have traded emails with him several times.

 

[Pimpernel Smith]

Too true. Brian does answer e-mail. He uses round wounds D'Addario 105 gauge on his Jack Cassady bass.

 

[Back to Bassics]

Ok. I read where he had supposedly said he did it himself, but then I also see where it is claimed he took it to a dude in SoHo and had it sanded. One thing is certain, a belt sander was taken to it ( according to doc Q and the Ric dudes that restored it later) and it also a near certainty that a bunch of stoned Beatles painted their own guitars after Sgt. Pepper was recorded. The Fool painted Lennon's Rolls Royce though.

SoHo? Are you sure? I thought he took it dahn Denmark Street/Charing Cross Road/Shaftesbury Ave and got it done (Soho, not South of Houston ... boy was it cooler before the stupid London wannabe renaming ...)

And just a point from much earlier in the thread, I was always led to believe his first Hofner was nicked. The Let It Be/Get Back sessions Hofner that looked the same as the first one was a Hofner anniversary with gold-plated hardware (which is why it looks different ... is different). It seems he finally got the first nicked one back when some joker tried selling it on eBay (watch out for Apple Corps, they make the NSA look like jokers). Not sure what happened to the gold-plated one. Hofner probably asked for it back (cf Queen's diamond jubly). If memory serves, he may still have it. Pretty sure he's talked about it some time in the last 30 years ... can't remember when - that's what happens when you emulate your heroes too much :dope-smoking smiley:

And palm muting on a Ric? As a very long term player, all you can do is hold your little finger at an angle that makes it look like it's broken, mute what you can with that, and just bang away ... pretty much just where the crap piece of plastic sits if you haven't taken it off.

Palm muting on a Hofner. Watch some live Beatles Band stuff. Looks like
Macca's had some experience there ...

If only he'd kept that 4005

 

[mcarp555]

The gold-plated Hofner (known as the "presentation bass") was never in Paul's possession. It was 'given' to him at a press conference, but he did not take it with him. The plan was to take the bass around to various trade shows, then hand it over to Paul. However, at that point, the bass vanished. It's path is well-documented, and it was recently sold at auction. For several years, it belonged to a shifty guitar store owner who tried to hawk it as a bass Paul actually used. However there is zero proof Paul ever saw the bass after the press conference in the mid-60's. It's certainly not the bass shown in "Let It Be".

I'm not aware that the '61 ("Cavern") bass was ever located, never mind offered on eBay. So that's almost certainly not true. Urban legend.

It IS true however, that a few years ago, Hofner gave Paul a reissued Cavern bass (serial #001). There are photos of that event. Paul has never used it anywhere, as far as I know.

 

[Skokiaan]

And palm muting on a Ric? As a very long term player, all you can do is hold your little finger at an angle that makes it look like it's broken, mute what you can with that, and just bang away ... pretty much just where the crap piece of plastic sits if you haven't taken it off.


If only he'd kept that 4005

Any bass can be palm muted. The pickup cover on Paul's Ric is/was an actual horseshoe pickup that surrounded the strings. The cover is chrome. Paul eventually removed it, as many people did.

Rickenbacker no longer uses horseshoe pickups, but rather a plastic cover that is there just to maintain its traditional look.

Paul never had a 4005, which was Rickenbacker's hollowbody bass. John Entwistle had several of them, though.

 

[ICM]

If I may add, McCartney almost always used the neck pickup on his rick.
Also, never had a 4005.
I know there is a photo where it looks like the pickup selected is bridge, but it's been theorized that he had a reversed electronics bit.
As far as I'm concerned on the Rick, McCartney is 99% playing the neck pickup.

 

[ShoeManiac]

Any bass can be palm muted. The pickup cover on Paul's Ric is/was an actual horseshoe pickup that surrounded the strings. The cover is chrome. Paul eventually removed it, as many people did.

Rickenbacker no longer uses horseshoe pickups, but rather a plastic cover that is there just to maintain its traditional look.

Paul never had a 4005, which was Rickenbacker's hollowbody bass. John Entwistle had several of them, though.

I get the feeling that the 4005 mention earlier in the thread may have been a reference to Sir Paul's Rickenbacker 5 string.

 

[Back to Bassics]

The gold-plated Hofner (known as the "presentation bass") was never in Paul's possession. It was 'given' to him at a press conference, but he did not take it with him. The plan was to take the bass around to various trade shows, then hand it over to Paul. However, at that point, the bass vanished. It's path is well-documented, and it was recently sold at auction. For several years, it belonged to a shifty guitar store owner who tried to hawk it as a bass Paul actually used. However there is zero proof Paul ever saw the bass after the press conference in the mid-60's. It's certainly not the bass shown in "Let It Be".

I'm not aware that the '61 ("Cavern") bass was ever located, never mind offered on eBay. So that's almost certainly not true. Urban legend.

It IS true however, that a few years ago, Hofner gave Paul a reissued Cavern bass (serial #001). There are photos of that event. Paul has never used it anywhere, as far as I know.

I'm sure you're right. But what is the Hofner he's seen playing in Let It Be (the one that looks brand new, with gold-plated hardware and two pickups close together by the neck)?

The ''Cavern'' bass may or may not have been advertised on eBay, but I'm sure there were news stories sometime in the last 20 years that he'd recovered it because someone was trying to sell it. Must have been more than 10 years ago, but I can't remember exactly when, and of course, just because it made the news doesn't mean it's not still an urban legend ...

 

[ggoat!!!]

If I may add, McCartney almost always used the neck pickup on his rick.

As far as I'm concerned on the Rick, McCartney is 99% playing the neck pickup.

You're wrong. Paul almost always used both pickups full-on.

Check the Wings concert "Rockshow." On more than one occasion you can see Paul turn down ALL the knobs on his Rick when he is about to switch instruments. When he picks it back up, he turns ALL the controls all the way up, with the pickup switch in the center position.

BTW...the original Rockshow concert (not the f'd up new reissue with horrible audio) has some of the best bass playing as well as one of the best recorded bass tones ANYWHERE. Paul never played the same since. Nor does he care to.

 

[Back to Bassics]

Any bass can be palm muted. The pickup cover on Paul's Ric is/was an actual horseshoe pickup that surrounded the strings. The cover is chrome. Paul eventually removed it, as many people did.

Rickenbacker no longer uses horseshoe pickups, but rather a plastic cover that is there just to maintain its traditional look.

Paul never had a 4005, which was Rickenbacker's hollowbody bass. John Entwistle had several of them, though.

Any bass can be palm muted? IME, the trouble with a Ric 4000/4001/4003 is that if you use the heel of your hand (as people do when ''palm'' muting) the design of the (unmodified) bridge then makes it almost impossible to play the bass with fingers or a plectrum. There's only a very narrow gap — certainly too narrow for me to get the heel of my hand into — between the saddles and the lumps of bridge between the saddles and the bridge pickup.

If you mute beyond the lumps of bridge (What are they called? Why are they there?) you'll just kill the tone completely (ie stop the string vibrating at all) and/or run into the bridge pickup cover if you haven't removed it. Some people remove the ''lumps'' to allow palm muting. Some people use the awful integral rubber mute. Some use their little finger. Some replace the bridge/tailpiece. It's a well-known Ric ''design feature'' overcome on the 4005, 4004, etc.

That's why I use my little finger. It looks odd but it works. And many Ric players are very good at damping strings (consciously or unconsciously) with both left and right hands.

And you're right in as much as I don't think a picture exists of Macca with a 4005. I don't believe I've ever seen a reference to him playing one either.

But once upon a time, or maybe twice, a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away ... OK, it was in the late '70s, in the Midlands ... I got to know quite independently of each other two bass players who knew Macca around the late '60s. They both recorded at Abbey Road around the same time, and both said they remembered a 4005 turning up at the studio as a gift for Macca. AFAICR, neither claimed to have seen it and him in the same room, let alone playing it, and I believe after a few weeks or months, Macca ended up telling someone (an EMI employee, I guess) to give it to a third bass player (who I also knew, but not very well). The story was not a secret, and would come up over a few pints whenever the word ''Rickenbacker'' was mentioned.

I think the story may have been retold in an ancient guitar magazine in the '70s. I've seen it in print somewhere.

Entwistle? Only had two 4005s didn't he? An MG and an LS.

 

[mcarp555]

I'm sure you're right. But what is the Hofner he's seen playing in Let It Be (the one that looks brand new, with gold-plated hardware and two pickups close together by the neck)?

The ''Cavern'' bass may or may not have been advertised on eBay, but I'm sure there were news stories sometime in the last 20 years that he'd recovered it because someone was trying to sell it. Must have been more than 10 years ago, but I can't remember exactly when, and of course, just because it made the news doesn't mean it's not still an urban legend ...

The '61 Hofner (his original one, the "Cavern" model) was refinished and repaired in June of 1964. It was given a new sunburst finish, similar to a Fender (with much more orange/red than Hofner uses), and the damaged pickup mounts were replaced with either a large black plate for both pups, or two surrounds next to each other.

This is the bass you see in the "Revolution" video, and in a few photos from "Let It Be" (the Hof with the "Bassman" sticker you see in the movie itself is the '63 bass he uses today).

And it doesn't have gold-coloured hardware:

But it can look like gold pup covers if the lighting is right:

Then again, so can the '63 bass:

Part of the urban legend that Paul recovered the '61 Cavern is that he's kept it hushed up for some reason. However, there's no proof whatsoever that he's got it back. So until he's photographed with it, or explicitly says so in an interview that can be verified, I'm not convinced. Besides, he's not the kind of guy who would obsess over a bass he owned for eight years, fifty years later.

 

[Back to Bassics]

The '61 Hofner (his original one, the "Cavern" model) was refinished and repaired in June of 1964. It was given a new sunburst finish, similar to a Fender (with much more orange/red than Hofner uses), and the damaged pickup mounts were replaced with either a large black plate for both pups, or two surrounds next to each other.

This is the bass you see in the "Revolution" video, and in a few photos from "Let It Be" (the Hof with the "Bassman" sticker you see in the movie itself is the '63 bass he uses today).

And it doesn't have gold-coloured hardware:

But it can look like gold pup covers if the lighting is right:

Then again, so can the '63 bass:

Part of the urban legend that Paul recovered the '61 Cavern is that he's kept it hushed up for some reason. However, there's no proof whatsoever that he's got it back. So until he's photographed with it, or explicitly says so in an interview that can be verified, I'm not convinced. Besides, he's not the kind of guy who would obsess over a bass he owned for eight years, fifty years later.

So in one post you say it was stolen and never returned and in another you say it was refinished and everybody's happy.

Either I'm drunk enough to buy a Duisenberg bass (is it just me or are they overpriced crap?) or you're doing some great 'shrooms.

 

[Back to Bassics]

Whoops, sorry. Dupe.

May I smoke some of what you're smoking?

Oh, and gold-plated crap looks really different to crap chrome ...

 

[mcarp555]

Let me spell it out in case anyone else is confused:

1961 - With Stu Sutcliffe announcing he's leaving the band, McCartney needs a bass. He buys a new Hofner 500/1 in Hamburg. He and Stu rotate bass playing duties for a few weeks until Stu finally leaves.

1963 (Oct) - Paul buys a backup Hofner bass, which quickly becomes his favourite. The '61 becomes the backup instead.

1964 (March or April) - Paul is presented with a special Hofner that has gold-plated hardware. He does not take possession of this bass, which is scheduled to be displayed at various trade shows. During this tour, the bass is lost, only to surface a year later in the hands of a John Bunning. The "Presentation" bass is never played or used by Paul (or even seen by him) outside of the day of the original press conference.

1964 (Jun) - Paul has the '61 bass refinished, and the damaged pickup surrounds replaced with a bulkier system (previously the pickups were held in place by tape). The '63 continues to be his main stage bass.

1965 (Aug) - Paul takes possession of the Rickenbacker 4001S he was presented with a year earlier in New York. It becomes his main recording bass, and shares backup duties at concerts with the '61 Hofner. The '63 Hofner continues to be his main stage bass.

1968 - The 61' refurbished Hofner is seen in the video for "Revolution" with some sort of foam mute stuck under the strings by the bridge.

1969 (Jan) - During sessions at Twickenham studios for what will eventually become "Let It Be", the '61 Hofner (still with foam mute) is seen for the last time. The '63 Hofner (with temporary 'Bassman' sticker) is used throughout filming.

Shortly after this, the '61 bass is stolen. To this day, there have been no reliable reports of what happened to it, or its current location (if it still exists).

 

[Skokiaan]

And you're right in as much as I don't think a picture exists of Macca with a 4005. I don't believe I've ever seen a reference to him playing one either.

But once upon a time, or maybe twice, a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away ... OK, it was in the late '70s, in the Midlands ... I got to know quite independently of each other two bass players who knew Macca around the late '60s. They both recorded at Abbey Road around the same time, and both said they remembered a 4005 turning up at the studio as a gift for Macca. AFAICR, neither claimed to have seen it and him in the same room, let alone playing it, and I believe after a few weeks or months, Macca ended up telling someone (an EMI employee, I guess) to give it to a third bass player (who I also knew, but not very well). The story was not a secret, and would come up over a few pints whenever the word ''Rickenbacker'' was mentioned.

I think the story may have been retold in an ancient guitar magazine in the '70s. I've seen it in print somewhere.

Entwistle? Only had two 4005s didn't he? An MG and an LS.

I've never heard the 4005 story. Ricenbacker CEO John Hall never mentioned sending Paul a 4005 in his Beatle stories (he used to post frequently years ago on another board), so if it was a gift it didn't come from Ric.

Entwistle also had a 4005 Lightshow in Fireglo. You can see it here: Invalid Link Removed

(Server problems prevent me from posting pics today)

 

[Skokiaan]

1963 (Oct) - Paul buys a backup Hofner bass, which quickly becomes his favourite. The '61 becomes the backup instead.

One correction: the '63 Hofner was a gift from Selmer, Hofner's UK distributor. The '61 Hofner is possibly the only bass Paul ever actually bought in his life. All the others were most likely gifts.

 

[mcarp555]

There's some confusion regarding whether or not Selmer actually "gave" the '63 bass to Paul. He's quoted in The Beatles Gear (pg. 98) as saying:

"I ordered another Hofner bass... because it was the only left-handed bass available and I thought I'd better have a spare."

He certainly would have gotten the bass from Selmer, since they were the UK distributor for Hofner at the time, but exactly who paid for the bass is unclear.

Many of his other basses were certainly gifts, including the Rick, the Yamaha, his 'replacement' "Cavern" bass, the Jubilee Hofner (with the Union flag on it) and the Bill Black upright (Linda bought it for him).