Paul McCartney and his Basses

[bbjonz]

Recall that when Paul first started to play bass, using his guitar(!), they would cut strings out of pianos and use those. They might qualify as the original roundwounds.

Yes, I remember that story. And yes, I think that does qualify. I can't imagine that Paul would have purchased rounds on his own. So assuming the '66 Jazz arrived with flats, maybe Paul instructed Mal to cut the corresponding strings from the Steinway in studio 1. Hilarity ensues when, a few weeks later, Van Cliburn plays a low E on the Steinway but there is no sound. Same for the A, D, and G...

 

[mcarp555]

Van Cliburn: "@#$% McCartney!"

(studio engineers twiddle their thumbs, whistle and look up at the ceiling...)

 

[shoulderpet]

Here's the isolated bass track for While My Guitar Gently Weeps. This absolutely sounds like roundwounds to me:

I see what you mean with the string noise on this track, I think the bass probably already had rounds on it as I cannot see Macca asking for rounds to be fitted

 

[terr0rgasm]

Yes, I remember that story. And yes, I think that does qualify. I can't imagine that Paul would have purchased rounds on his own. So assuming the '66 Jazz arrived with flats, maybe Paul instructed Mal to cut the corresponding strings from the Steinway in studio 1. Hilarity ensues when, a few weeks later, Van Cliburn plays a low E on the Steinway but there is no sound. Same for the A, D, and G...

 

[zombywoof5050]

Found this pic at "Meet the Beatles for Real." Really cool site where fans upload their own or found pics.

Not sure when this pic was taken but he obtained that Jazz Bass during or just before the White Album sessions. Seems a post-fab pic but will find out more on that site when users post comments. I play mostly Jazz Basses and not surprisingly I love the sound he gets on the White Album. I know he used the Ric on some cuts, too. It's also the case they started recording on an 8-track machine, so the bass often had its own track. That certainly helped.


View attachment 2905179

Joe

I'm surprised that nobody has mentioned the Acoustic Bass Amp in this picture.

 

[juancaminos]

There probably is no single "right" answer, and certainly no evidence either way. But given that the whole Get Back idea was simply to record without overdubs or studio "trickery" (as all of them agreed), I fail to see how using one instrument over another makes any difference. Certainly there's no sign of Rickenbacker, Gretch or Ludwig at any point with the other three.

But as with "Beatle Paul" from the Coming Up video, the Hofner is a visual image that equates to "Beatles" in the mind of many people. I would include Paul in that group, as he has likened it to Charlie Chaplin's cane.

Nick named "The Beatle Bass".

 

[juancaminos]

You're Luca Perasi?

I have that book.....it's pretty good.

Me Too and I agree.

 

[juancaminos]

36 years apart. The 2012 band is very good with excellent videos all over YouTube.
But this 2012 performance finds Pauls voice not very good. Age? Maybe a cold?

 

[bassnyc1]

Take Paul’s voice and bass (rick) sound from ‘76 and put it with the modern band, and then.... perfection!

Of course, IMHO

 

[Craig4003]

Paul's voice in the 2012 version sounds pretty good for a guy his age. His pitch control isn't quite what it used to be, and his voice isn't quite as strong as it once was, but lots of other vocalists have sounded worse at age 70 (Ian Anderson and Frank Sinatra, to name only two).

The 2012 band sounds great, though -- way better than Wings ever did.

 

[mcarp555]

Yeah, I mean, c'mon; he's 68 in that second video. Of course his voice isn't what it once was, but what do you expect?

Here's the same song from 2017; the sound quality isn't as good as the other clips, but his voice does seem to be slightly better than in 2012:

 

[Craig4003]

Yeah, I mean, c'mon; he's 68 in that second video.

70. That concert was in December 2012, and he was born in June 1942.

 

[bassnyc1]

70. That concert was in December 2012, and he was born in June 1942.

And... as I’m sure most of you know, today’s his 76th Birthday!!!
Happy Birthday Paul!!!!!

 

[mcarp555]

70. That concert was in December 2012, and he was born in June 1942.

Yes, I realized later I was having a senior moment or something. My bad! And yes, today he's 76 (or 74 in my limited mental vision of the world...).

 

[terr0rgasm]

And I dont care how shaky his voice is now....

WHO else knows any other 76 years olds who are NEARLY in such performance condition???

Stones are still killing it as well!

They dont make 70 year olds like they used to! They make them better!

 

[bassplayer8953]

And I dont care how shaky his voice is now....

WHO else knows any other 76 years olds who are NEARLY in such performance condition???

Stones are still killing it as well!

They dont make 70 year olds like they used to! They make them better!

I went to one of his concerts last summer, 2.5 hours nonstop. All of his bandmates got a break here and there, but Macca never left the stage.

I wonder how many of those saying he doesn't have it anymore could do what he does, at their age, much less at 75.

Concert was awesome, BTW, one of the best I've ever attended...and that's a lot of concerts.

 

[ChrisWright]

Wouldn't it be sweet to have a definitive list of which bass Paul used on every track?

Yes! This is an item that I search for on a pretty regular basis. Any guidance or form posts or websites you can recommend that get to a 90% answer at least?

 

[ChrisWright]

this seems to clear a few things up;

Rickenbacker 4001S "Paul McCartney" (4001V63)

Very helpful JD. Thanks much.

 

[mcarp555]

Very helpful JD. Thanks much.

Interesting article, but as it's from 1999, a lot of the information in it has since been proven incorrect; and other things he was unaware of have since come to light (Paul playing the Ric during the Abbey Road sessions, for example).

And I doubt there will ever be a 'definitive' list of what bass he played on which track, as it's been shown that on some tracks it's just too difficult to pin down.

 

[ChrisWright]

Interesting article, but as it's from 1999, a lot of the information in it has since been proven incorrect; and other things he was unaware of have since come to light (Paul playing the Ric during the Abbey Road sessions, for example).

And I doubt there will ever be a 'definitive' list of what bass he played on which track, as it's been shown that on some tracks it's just too difficult to pin down.

Ah! Was oblivious to the timing. Thanks for the update.