Paul McCartney and his Basses

[Ric5]

Loved it! Very cool stuff.

Hard to believe that in 1960 they were just a mediocre bar band, who according to some were pretty bad. Four years later, they changed music and culture.

Still amazes me.

A few years of gigging every night and a new drummer and Paul switching to bass made them better.

 

[Ric5]

 

[grenadilla]

Certainly Sir Paul has some spare Hofners?? If the company sent him a free Hofner each year, would he turn it down? Give it away?

 

[Ric5]

Paul McCartney - My Brave Face - YouTube

 

[JD Supernatural]

"he used a Fender Jazz mainly on the White album"

True, the Jazz saw use on "TWA", but I'd say "mainly" on "Abbey Road". In fact "AR" has 2 Fender Jazzes, a lefty and a righty, not to mention the Fender VI.

"and of course moved onto a Ric for the period around Magical Mystery Tour/ All You Need Is Love !"

The 4001S was used as early as "Rubber Soul".

Considering my gig, I gotta know this stuff.

Thanks for the input guys, Im no expert on this but Im interested in all info, can I ask how you know the Ric was used on RS ? is it proven fact or just heresay ?

 

[the rocket]

i believe mccartney just played the ric on 2 songs on Rubber Soul. then used it for all of Revolver, Sgt Pepper, and MMT, as well as the singles recorded during that period.

the info comes from various books documenting the beatles in the recording studio. mark lewisohn's "Beatles: Recording Sessions" is a great reference.

 

[kevbassman]

Here's Paul with the Hofner & Joe Walsh!

 

[Spaldo]

The picture was taken at Pete Best Mum's 'Casbah Club'.

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

incidentally, this was taken by Paul's younger brother, Mike, who has published some amazing photos of the band in their early years

 

[NortyFiner]

Paul used this right handed Kay "Jazz Special" bass only on a few occasions including the 1982 Ebony & Ivory video, but I've always wondered if he used it during the Beatles period since it is an early 60's instrument.

- Steve

He definitely used it in the Wings era. Evidence: Invalid Link Removed

 

[ShoeManiac]

Certainly Sir Paul has some spare Hofners?? If the company sent him a free Hofner each year, would he turn it down? Give it away?

He's far from any kind of a gear head. He had stopped playing the Hofner in large part because it had serious intonation issues. Elvis Costello wrote a tune called "Veronica" with him and wanted him to play bass on the track. He specifically requested that he play the Hofner, and that got Macca back into playing that bass. The folks at Mandolin Brothers in New York finally got the '63 Hofner back in playing shape and McCartney has been playing it on a regular basis ever since.

And then there's the saga of his Rick. That story is actually kind of funny. Initially, the bass came to him in the Fireglo finish. When The Beatles went all psychedelic the Dutch art group called The Fool painted McCartney's Rick and Harrison's Strat which is known as "Rocky". He played it in that state for a couple of years, but then The Beatles started having their instrument finishes stripped down in the belief that the finishes were choking the tones from their instruments. Lennon had his Epiphone Casino stripped down, Harrison may have had a Strat stripped down, and McCartney had the Rickenbacker bass stripped down. Apparently that job wasn't so well done.

And then there was the horseshoe pickup. Evidently it got in the way of McCartney's plucking hand, and his tech hacksawed it off. But in the case of the 4001 that horseshoe at the bridge pickup IS ACTUALLY THE PICKUP. So the output of the bass was effected. Eventually the bass wound up going back to the Rickenbacker factory and a number of significant repairs were made, including the rear pickup.

 

[iamthebassman]

McCartney painted his Ric himself.
Here's a shot of my 4001S.

 

[JD Supernatural]

Certainly Sir Paul has some spare Hofners?? If the company sent him a free Hofner each year, would he turn it down? Give it away?

IMO Hofner should give him a lot more than a free bass every year after all he alone made those (pretty ordinary) basses world famous and theyre still going strong..the 60's german ones are worth quite a bit now, heres me in 1972 with my 68 model (I had some hair then)

But Ive been informed by a person ITK that the one he uses on stage is indeed the original 63 one, as he says its the only one with the vibe (wonder who stole his 61 ?)

 

[JD Supernatural]

this seems to clear a few things up;

Rickenbacker 4001S "Paul McCartney" (4001V63)

 

[bklynbass]

Paul used this right handed Kay "Jazz Special" bass only on a few occasions including the 1982 Ebony & Ivory video, but I've always wondered if he used it during the Beatles period since it is an early 60's instrument.

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

The first appearance that I know of the Kay Jazz Special is in the "Junior's Farm" video from the early 70s. One of the photos you posted is from the same video. He wasn't playing live, only lip syncing, and he most likely used his Rickenbacker on the recording. I don't know if he ever actually used it in the studio, but I've heard that he did use it live on the Band on the Run tour. It seems doubtful that he got it while he was with the Beatles, but rather perhaps picked it up while on the road somewhere with Wings. If anyone knows anything about when Paul got it or used it in the studio, I'd be curious to know as I have one of these rare basses.

 

[Roscoe East]

incidentally, this was taken by Paul's younger brother, Mike

So Mike was 12 years old when he took that photo?

 

[-=DanAtkinson=-]

It's interesting that there is so much debate on which bass Paul used on which track. The Hofner, Ric, and Jazz are all drastically different in design/construction. But it is very difficult to identify them by ear.

Paul always sounds like Paul, because the tone is in the fingers...and heart. Not so much in the instrument. And certainly not in the species of wood, the type of bridge, the nut, etc.

 

[dbd1963]

It's interesting that there is so much debate on which bass Paul used on which track. The Hofner, Ric, and Jazz are all drastically different in design/construction. But it is very difficult to identify them by ear.

Paul always sounds like Paul, because the tone is in the fingers...and heart. Not so much in the instrument. And certainly not in the species of wood, the type of bridge, the nut, etc.

You can't ignore what his fingers did to the tone knob and PU selector either. Each bass does sound different, but PM didn't much want a different sound.

 

[4-string]

It's interesting that there is so much debate on which bass Paul used on which track. The Hofner, Ric, and Jazz are all drastically different in design/construction. But it is very difficult to identify them by ear.

Paul always sounds like Paul, because the tone is in the fingers...and heart. Not so much in the instrument. And certainly not in the species of wood, the type of bridge, the nut, etc.

Don't forget all the compression that was added to the bass tracks.

 

[PDGood]

He rolls a lot of treble off which takes away some of the more distinguishing characteristics of some of those brands.
Listen to "Come Together" - the slides and gentle bends without a lot of treble almost sounds like a fretless. That's a large part of the mood of that song.

 

[music fun]

Wouldn't you love to know who stole that '61? And where it is today?