Take a look at McCartney's bass action.

[dvh]

It’s just another bass mythology: professional competence must equal low action (or vise versa)

 

[GianGian]

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

I am not that much of a fan of solo Paul, but I have never seen him with anything other than 4 strings.

 

[Stick_Player]

I have never seen him with anything other than 4 strings

 

[corinpills]

He used the Wal 5 string for only about 100 shows on his 1990 tour. I saw the tour and I can tell you that not only did people soil their trousers when he picked up the Hofner, but it sounded deeper than the Wal. I suppose EQ is subjective and most basses aren't voiced for a football stadium, but the Wal sounded a lot less heavy.

 

[mikeswals]

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

He recorded the early 90's Beatle recording "Free As a Bird" with it. There's footage floating around of that recording session and he can be seen using the Wal.

You can see it here after the first minute,

 

[Skitch it!]

He recorded the early 90's Beatle recording "Free As a Bird" with it. There's footage floating around of that recording session and he can be seen using the Wal.

You can see it here after the first minute,

Cool, I feel the weight of the Wal would have been the decider really, Paul loved the fact that the Hofner felt like 'part of him'. Wal is a weighty bass imo with 2 9v batteries in it too ; )

 

[SnakeKappele]

I like a high action and I play fretless with LaBella 760M flatwounds.

It gives me a cleaner sound when I get aggressive (stops strings from slapping on the fingerboard).

 

[GianGian]

I like a high action and I play fretless with LaBella 760M flatwounds.

It gives me a cleaner sound when I get aggressive (stops strings from slapping on the fingerboard).

Impressive. You must have very strong fingers.

 

[odin70]

What scale is that bass 30"? Should be no problem

 

[Chrisk-K]

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.

I read the article. They described Paul's action as "unplayable." Plus, Paul instructed them not to change the strings which were probably 10 years old.

 

[THORRR]

For Paul's birthday one year, Linda acquired the actual stand-up bass that was used in Elvis' recording of "Heartbreak Hotel".

It had been painted over with 5" housepaint-brush and had brushstrokes all over it. It was a really unique and thoughtful gift. She must've been a real peach of a wife.

He keeps it in this giant free-standing wood-armoire-type closet. Pretty cool collector's item.

 

[GianGian]

For Paul's birthday one year, Linda acquired the actual stand-up bass that was used in Elvis' recording of "Heartbreak Hotel".

It had been painted over with 5" housepaint-brush and had brushstrokes all over it. It was a really unique and thoughtful gift. She must've been a real peach of a wife.

He keeps it in this giant free-standing wood-armoire-type closet. Pretty cool collector's item.

Yeah, no wonder they stayed together until "death made them part." A shame she had to go so young.

 

[AndroWal]

Cool, I feel the weight of the Wal would have been the decider really, Paul loved the fact that the Hofner felt like 'part of him'. Wal is a weighty bass imo with 2 9v batteries in it too ; )

My Wals all have only 1 9v per bass. Years are 90, 92, 96 and 03.

 

[MosGuy]

For Paul's birthday one year, Linda acquired the actual stand-up bass that was used in Elvis' recording of "Heartbreak Hotel".

It had been painted over with 5" housepaint-brush and had brushstrokes all over it. It was a really unique and thoughtful gift. She must've been a real peach of a wife.

He keeps it in this giant free-standing wood-armoire-type closet. Pretty cool collector's item.

He does break it out and play it on rare occasions too:

 

[Floyd Eye]

McCartney prefers high action. Chris Squire does too.

 

[Skitch it!]

My Wals all have only 1 9v per bass. Years are 90, 92, 96 and 03.

Ah, my custom Fretless (which I sold years back unfortunately) was around 83? 18v circuit.

 

[staindbass]

anyone ever check the tone between a low and high action? high action has more bang, smack and character to the sound. the strings spinning figure -8 travel (watch your string under a flourescent light) gets muted out on the frets and the string gets choked from its normal path of travel. how high is high? for me i use a 4.5 mm space between the 12th fret and the bottom of the b string. i use 5 mm in the studio to insure no string clacks. a bassist friend tried mine and called it a 'mans bass' lol. im pretty sure if paul wanted his bass easy to play he could have had someone adjust it. there is a reason behind it. paul is one of my favorites. johnny a. staind

 

[LHbassist]

I agree with THORRR - I'm a lefty like Paul, and play with the 'E' on top. If I see any interesting bass, lefty, I'll try it. There's a store here that has a lefty '62 re-issue in the basement, of course they wouldn't want to hang it where anyone could actually buy it...I played it, and it feels like a toy bass. Neck is as small like the thin end of a baseball bat, and narrowly spaced. The short scale, and high action, and soft flats might not be as hard to play as you might think. I know as a tech, I remove my eyeglasses to sight down a neck. If I don't, I see a curve in the fingerboard that isn't really there. That angle of the pic of Paul McCartney may have a bit of lens distortion, giving you the visual impression of a bigger amount of relief in the neck than is actually there. I'll bet his Hofner feels like a toy, too.

 

[iamthebassman]

My Hofner, and all my basses, has a completely straight neck.

 

[odysseios]

Neck is as small like the thin end of a baseball bat...

And consider the RI 62 has the thicker neck among all Hofners...