Paul McCartney and his Basses

[Rahil]

from Linda's pics in 1976

Link Removed

 

[Revolver]

There seems to be a certain insistence from some people in making a big connection between McCartney and fender, when the truth is he has never been a "fender guy"; not on bass, not on guitar. Throughout his career, the instruments he has used in live performances are the ones that have seen the bulk of his recording work . . . and we all know (too well) which instruments are those.

 

[IPA]

Not sure if it has been mentioned, but yall should be sure to check out "Beatles Gear" by Andy Babiuk. It's a beautiful book filled with almost obsessive chronicling of their gear with lots of purty pictures.

 

[N. Kentucky Bass]

Yeah, here are two good ones:

"Beatles Gear: All the Fab Four's Instruments, from Stage to Studio" by Andy Babiuk
http://www.amazon.com/Beatles-Gear-Fours-Instruments-Studio/dp/0879309563

"Recording The Beatles: The Studio Equipment and Techniques Used to Create Their Classic Albums" by Kehew & Ryan
http://www.recordingthebeatles.com/

 

[Old Fart]

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.

It does sound like a fretless, although it may have been fretted. I think it was fretless. At the end, when he stands on the D note, he plays with the intonation. Both sharp and flat. I think. I say fretless.

To my ear, the bass on Dear Prudence sounds like it could not have been a fretted bass.

 

[Old Fart]

I believe he used foam mutes, not palm muting.

This is hard to believe and I'll tell you why. I spent a good number of years playing bass with a pick exclusively. I got good at it. When you get good at pick playing, you wind up using a variety of techniques and pressures, etc. With the heel of my hand resting on the bridge, the strings were only millimeters away from my skin. It would be hard NOT to occasionally roll one's hand forward to achieve a temporary mute effect. Sure, Paul used foam mutes. But I am quite confident he could, and did, mute notes at any moment without the use of special equipment.

 

[JimmyM]

Nope, he said in a Bass Player interview a few years ago that he never palm mutes. And the only time I ever saw him using foam is on the video for "Revolution."

 

[Old Fart]

Yeah well, he's a liar.

JUST KIDDING. Really. Kidding. He's probably the nicest person in entertainment today.

 

[FrednBass]

It does sound like a fretless, although it may have been fretted. I think it was fretless. At the end, when he stands on the D note, he plays with the intonation. Both sharp and flat. I think. I say fretless.

To my ear, the bass on Dear Prudence sounds like it could not have been a fretted bass.

I think Paul never used a fretless...
And Come Together was recorded with the Rick

 

[iamthebassman]

I think Paul never used a fretless...
And Come Together was recorded with the Rick

Come Together and Dear Prudence are both the 4001S.

There is a studio pic from the "Speed Of Sound" era with the 4001S and a lefty fretless 4001 in the background.

 

[Stick_Player]

It does sound like a fretless, although it may have been fretted. I think it was fretless. At the end, when he stands on the D note, he plays with the intonation. Both sharp and flat. I think. I say fretless.

Abbey Road: "Supposedly", the very last pictures in studio, as they recorded Come Together. Later/earlier that day they did the cover photos.

Or he was just posing with this bass to thow everyone off.

To my ear, the bass on Dear Prudence sounds like it could not have been a fretted bass.

Dear Prudence isolated bass track. Clearly a fretted bass.

 

[zon6c-f]

I bought my first Rick 4001 due in part to Paul 's
melodic bass playing..still mazing... but moreso by 1972-3 due to YES..Chris Squire as well as other Brit-prog bassists of the era.

I never perfectly cloned either Pauls nor Squire's tone, although a new set of roto sound rounds on any bass..pups on full treble and played with a pick gets you 95% of Squire's.

I always used rotosound rounds on my first Rick, which is why I never copped Pauls tone perfectly... On my 2nd Rick, A '78 Autumn-glo which was bought used in '84, I had grown tired of the ting-n-tang of rounds..as I returned to the blues. So I changed to flats on it in 1997.

Also my wife gifted me with Bartolini jazz pups due to my liking Jaco, so the 78 was modified with Barts and Schallers as well.

Frankly flats defeat the whole purpose of having any tonal vesatility as with a Rick or any other 2 pup bass..MY OPINION..NO FLAMES PLEASE FROM FLATS LOVERS.

Haven't changed strings on the 78 since .. Flats last forever.. rounds do too but they lose their zing and brightness in less than a few days of practice or gigging.

Paul will always sound like Paul ..even on my basses and rigs..and I will always sound like me whether on my basses and rigs or JimmyM's.. Whereas JimmyM will simply sound like a pro..using whatever..LOL..

 

[JimmyM]

Well that all depends on the night you catch me

 

[zon6c-f]

I actually tried the foam mute in bridge of my first Rick..just to see what it would do.

....IT COMPLETELY DEADENED STRINGS..Nothing but THUMP...never used it again.

'Lazy man' method...I have put one of those 'scrunchy'....hair thing-ys on my ZON as I haven't yet learned how to mute enough strings on a 6er..one or two..always ringing out.
Frankly, I don't like the overall effect as it nearly deadens ALL strings as well. I am sure its me.. not the hair thing-y.

 

[Skokiaan]

I think Paul never used a fretless...
And Come Together was recorded with the Rick

Paul never used a fretless with the Beatles. Wasn't the first commercial fretless bass guitar a 1970 Fender P? (Somebody correct me if I'm wrong).

You can hear Paul play what I can only assume is his fretless Ric on at least two tracks on Wings "Back to the Egg" (1979). Beyond that, I haven't spotted any other fretless work (upright excluded).

 

[zon6c-f]

I recall very well, seeing and wanting a Fender fretless Precison in 1969.

 

[N. Kentucky Bass]

From The Fender Bass: An Illustrated History by J.W. Black and Albert Molinaro, p.58:

"The fretless Precision Bass started appearing in ads and literature in 1970. Though not a very common instrument, it was produced throughout the 1970s and early 1980s. The standard model fretless returned in the mid-1990s."

 

[Mr. Mig]

I think Paul began to phase the Hofner out during Rubber Soul sessions. If not mistaken it was on Rain that he first used the Ric in Studio.

 

[iamthebassman]

Paul never used a fretless with the Beatles. Wasn't the first commercial fretless bass guitar a 1970 Fender P? (Somebody correct me if I'm wrong).

You can hear Paul play what I can only assume is his fretless Ric on at least two tracks on Wings "Back to the Egg" (1979). Beyond that, I haven't spotted any other fretless work (upright excluded).

I thought those fretless Ampegs were out during the mid-60s.
And isn't a "fretless Precision" an oxymoron?

 

[bassfiddlesteve]

I think Paul began to phase the Hofner out during Rubber Soul sessions. If not mistaken it was on Rain that he first used the Ric in Studio.

Rain was recorded four months after Rubber Soul was released. If he started phasing out the Hofner during the Rubber Soul sessions, Rain could not have been the first time he used the Ric.

- Steve