Take a look at McCartney's bass action.

[GianGian]

Hey people
I was browsing wikipedia as usual and I decided to see a big sized pic of Paul. Take a look at the high action!!! I know that he is not a fast player, that the Hofner is not a very well constructed bass, and that it is short scale. Still, it looks painful to play.

 

[JxBass]

Jamerson used very high action. Worked pretty well for him too

 

[Matt R.]

Hofners are very comfy in my experience. That may just be his preferred setup, but I've been able to have very low action on mine.

 

[GianGian]

Taking another look at it, the neck looks bowed. What do you think?

 

[Darkstrike]

In fairness, it's a bad angle to judge both action and neck relif.

 

[odysseios]

IMHO, Hofner requires an action not exactly low.
And the bowed neck is easy to restraighten, consider some years ago Macca brought his bass to Mandolin Brothers, a NY luthier, for a total revamping.
Anyway, this is the action on mine (even if i'm going to my luthier today):

 

[rubato]

I think I need some suspenders...

 

[odysseios]

Add the fact McCartney's bass is a 62-63 model, which has the thickest neck among the Hofners.

 

[GianGian]

IMHO, Hofner requires an action not exactly low.
And the bowed neck is easy to restraighten, consider some years ago Macca brought his bass to Mandolin Brothers, a NY luthier, for a total revamping.
Anyway, this is the action on mine (even if i'm going to my luthier today):

That looks very high to me, but if it works for you, it is all good.
I just find it interesting to see the set ups of some big names. People who can get pretty much any bass they want, with a perfect set up, confortable, low action, etc, often prefer "less desirable" instruments and set ups, like Paul and his old Hofner.

 

[JAUQO III-X]

Every bass player doesn't want what you would call low action. And some bass players feel that what you would call high action isn't even high at all.

 

[RFord04]

I just spotted a pic of Chris Squier in another thread from a similar angle, and his action looked really high as well. It could just be the angle of the shot.

 

[THORRR]

In the old days when the Beatles were just coming forward, lots of good guitars weren't readily available in England and the musicians had to make do with what there was.

I have always suspected that that's how Paul wound up getting a cheap Hofner bass to learn on and just wound up sticking with it.

I picked up a Hofner bass the other day and it felt like a "toy" in my hands . . . short scale for sure, and high action. But for some reason the narrow neck and shorter scale made the action feel "soft" and comfortable even though it was way-y higher than I'd ever entertain on my Jazz basses.

Again, I believe it's just what Paul got used to and he stuck with it.

 

[pjmuck]

Since the Hofner is a short scale bass, string tension tends to be looser than a standard/long scale instrument. I agree with another poster here: the action may be high, but it doesn't mean it's uncomfortable or difficult to play. IMO, a Hofner's thumpy tone improves with higher action.

 

[JxBass]

In the old days when the Beatles were just coming forward, lots of good guitars weren't readily available in England and the musicians had to make do with what there was.

I have always suspected that that's how Paul wound up getting a cheap Hofner bass to learn on and just wound up sticking with it.

As I recall, much of Paul's choice on picking the Hofner had to do with finding a bass that was light and comfortable to wear for prolonged periods on stage.

 

[BulbousMoses]

As I recall, much of Paul's choice on picking the Hofner had to do with finding a bass that was light and comfortable to wear for prolonged periods on stage.

+1 Paul, being a lefty, was intrigued that the Hofner was symmetrcal and the price was affordable for him as well. I recall him saying that the Hofner cost him about 30 pounds and a Fender was about 100 pounds at the time and he didn't have the money for a Fender.

 

[makkE]

I like a bit higher action, even if it's not that comfortable, but the tone gets a lot fuller and bloomier on my bass at least.

 

[GianGian]

Yeah I had already heard the story about the cheap and symmetrical instrument. I think it is cool to see that a lot of pros don't use the one that is expected to be the most desirable set up. I have tired to use higher action but I just can't. I can't play fast stuff and my arm hurts. Good if it works for you, because it can deliver a different and cleaner tone.

 

[Ric5]

When McCartney had his Ric serviced in the 70s. They replaced the bridge pickup and a few other things. But they had instructions not to lower the action.

Stevie Ray Vaughn used high action as well.

 

[Skitch it!]

Short scale, nice soft tension, Linda bought him a Wal 5 at some point (his birthday), never saw much of that though?

 

[lunarpollen]

Short-scale Pyramid Gold flatwounds would feel OK even with action that high