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Paul McCartney and his Basses

#401
ChrisWright said:
Very nice and appreciated. I’m in a Beatles band that is focused on the later years (68-70), well after touring had stopped. I’m keeping it to the Hofner and the Rickenbacker for performance purposes, but very helpful to know when finger technique might have been applicable. Although I’ve been playing for a long time, I just started using a pick in the last 3-4 months specifically for this project. Learning curve aside, it’s actually going quite well ... although a little break may be appreciated! It seems that some riffs (such as those in the verses of BITUSSR) actually play better (for me) with fingers but I’m trying to be true to the original when possible. Naturally someone will chime in now that he used a pick on that one (but all input is appreciated, so that’s cool)!! BTW - I have seen him use a pick when playing that song live in the later years, but he’s not playing the verse riff and just substituting 16th notes instead. Thanks for your insight.
Click to expand...
A question, do you have to play lefty? Since most Beatles tribute bands feature guys in the Paul role who learned how to play lefty (talk about commitment!) to complete the look.

Or is your band more like the Fab Faux: out there to play the songs as well as they can and not giving a crap about looking the part?

Here's a Beatles tribute band called The Analogues who are in the second category. But different from the Fab Faux, they actually go out of their way to use period correct gear, don't work with sequencers and digital modelling.



Jan Van Der Mei, the guy doing the Paul vocals made his mark playing guitar for Vitesse and Power Play, said "Sure, I'll do it, I can get all the sounds using my Strat and my Marshall!" at which he was told "No, you're gonna play genuine sixties Fenders, Rickenbackers and Epiphones through genuine sixties Vox amps!"
 
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#402
Definitely closer to the latter (faux). Firstly, there are five of us (KB), then we have the afore-mentioned right handed bass player issue (who also sings the Lennon voice), a Paul voice who is a guitar player, etc. So we probably will do some period - type clothing, but not overboard. By the last three or so albums, I think they were toning it way down from the earlier psychedelic days. Some of us have vintage (or at least look a like) classic Beatles guitars (Casinos, Hofner/Ric, etc.). This will not be a show for the purest who wants to know where why we’re not using the 62 Gretsch versus the 63 Gretsch ( I don’t really know if that’s a solid example but hopefully you understand what I mean)! We are going to try to emulate their sound as closely as possible, but we won’t sample or likely model. There will be electric piano, synthesized strings, etc. where needed. It’s a tall order no matter what we’re wearing. Thanks for the link.
 
#403
Skokiaan said:
Besides the famous '63, Paul also known to use a reissue Cavern in the studio. It can be seen in this studio shot in the background, partially obscured by the tripod.

View attachment 3156189
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In this photo actually, he's being given the reissue (#1 of that particular series) by Hofner (the two guys to either side). I've wondered if he ever uses it. The first photo you posted is the first time I've seen it since it was given to him.

And I think he still has the Union Jack Hofner he played for the Queen's Jubilee as well.
 
#404
mcarp555 said:
In this photo actually, he's being given the reissue (#1 of that particular series) by Hofner (the two guys to either side). I've wondered if he ever uses it. The first photo you posted is the first time I've seen it since it was given to him.

And I think he still has the Union Jack Hofner he played for the Queen's Jubilee as well.
Click to expand...

An archivist at Hofner said Paul owns five Hofners, though he did not list them. I know of four basses: the '63, the reissue Cavern, the Jubilee and the one pictured below, second from the left...

maccasguitarrack-jpg.jpg



For the fifth Hofner, he may have been referring to the Club 40 guitar shown below in his studio. This may be a recent John Lennon Signature Club 40.
42193761_10156915147803432_4943327630494531584_o.jpg



McCartney used Lennon's Club 40 briefly, but Lennon soon sold it, so Paul's current Hofner is not likely to be Lennon's old one.
ceb717f5c9f06b9e4563f435d2d193bf.jpg
 
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#409
Blazer said:
A question, do you have to play lefty? Since most Beatles tribute bands feature guys in the Paul role who learned how to play lefty (talk about commitment!) to complete the look.

Or is your band more like the Fab Faux: out there to play the songs as well as they can and not giving a crap about looking the part?

Here's a Beatles tribute band called The Analogues who are in the second category. But different from the Fab Faux, they actually go out of their way to use period correct gear, don't work with sequencers and digital modelling.



Jan Van Der Mei, the guy doing the Paul vocals made his mark playing guitar for Vitesse and Power Play, said "Sure, I'll do it, I can get all the sounds using my Strat and my Marshall!" at which he was told "No, you're gonna play genuine sixties Fenders, Rickenbackers and Epiphones through genuine sixties Vox amps!"
Click to expand...


The Beatles band I’m in is more in The Fab Faux type category, albeit we’re acoustic/electric. There are 7 of us (originally 8 as seen in the video.)
 
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#412
ChrisWright said:
Terrific!
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Thank you, @ChrisWright! Do you have any videos of your band that you can share?

Also, I learned how to play with a pick in early 2016, and I now use it on everything (the video is from 2015 when I was still using my fingers.) I’ve found there are many songs which require a pick to truly emulate Paul’s bass lines.

StereoPlayer said:
Got my tickets early for the Fab Faux, April 11, 2019 Ann Arbor, MI
I’ve seen them many times, highly recommended!

Performing The White Album, The Beatles.
Click to expand...

Agreed! I caught Will and the boys a year ago in L.A. Fantastic show!
 
#416
nixdad said:
Thank you, @ChrisWright! Do you have any videos of your band that you can share?

Also, I learned how to play with a pick in early 2016, and I now use it on everything (the video is from 2015 when I was still using my fingers.) I’ve found there are many songs which require a pick to truly emulate Paul’s bass lines.



Agreed! I caught Will and the boys a year ago in L.A. Fantastic show!
Click to expand...
Not yet - we recorded our promo video about 10 days ago and it’s in the edit room right now. I may have a link in the next few weeks. We’re hoping to be ready to play a 90 minute show by the February-March timeframe as most of us have been in some form of a Beatles band previously. Vocals are the biggest challenge … no surprise there.

With the Hofner the tone is close to the pin right out of the box, especially with the pick. I’m using a heavy. I haven’t incorporated a compressor yet (I have a Line 6 Bass Pod multi-effect with a pretty good selection) or any type of tape saturation effect either, though my Ric might need some of that to sound closer to Macca.

I’m also enjoying the pick very much. I can’t believe I waited so long to get with it and pick one up. I play in a Tom Petty tribute band and moved over to a pick for most of that music (on a P-Bass). Much easier lines obviously, but it’s helping reinforce some basic skills.
 
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