BEATLE BASS | Fab Forum | The Beatles Bible

thisbirdhasflown said

So let me get this straight:

This:

and this:

are the same bass guitar played by the same guy?

thisbirdhasflown

Yep.  If we could see the headstock in the top photo, it’d give it away immediately, because Paul’s lefty bass had a righty headstock.

The psychedelic paint job happened in ’67, over the original Fireglo, then it was sanded back to a natural finish around the time of the ‘Get Back ‘ sessions in ’69. 

At some point after the ‘Ram ‘ sessions, Paul did some more sanding, smoothing out the points on the cutaways (horns), hence the difference in shape on the horn where the strap button is. 

In ’75 or thereabouts, the bass got sent back to Rickenbacker for some work – they replaced the dead horseshoe pickup and did some other work.  This also explains why in later photos the bass is missing the horseshoe pickup cover; in old Rickenbacker basses, the horseshoe cover surround was part of the pickup circuit, and if it was removed, the pickup wouldn’t work.  Later on (not exactly sure when), Rickenbacker changed the design of that pickup so the cover could be removed and the pickup would still work.  If you take that cover off, it puts your hand in a really comfortable spot to play. You can see that’s where Paul’s left hand sits from the 70’s concert photos.

There’s somewhere on a Rickenbacker forum or a bass forum or something where someone quotes John Hall (Mr Rickenbacker) from a Q&A session, and he only ever talks about one McCartney instrument from that time. Later on (80’s-90’s) Rickenbacker gave Paul a couple of different model basses, but who knows if he’s ever used them on anything.

Hope that helps.

vonbontee said
Wish there was a picture of Paul playing the standup bass that he used on “All You Need Is Love “…

Hen’s teeth, anyone?

I don’t think it’s that important in his bass lineage, since his double bass playing is virtually inaudible on everything except the moggs.  It’s pretty funny hearing his little bits on it; Paul certainly wasn’t a double bass player!

There must have been an in-house double bass at Olympic Studios, since that’s where the track containing the double bass was recorded.  There must also have been a violin, since George is on the same track scratching around on one.

vonbontee said

 I didn’t even know if it made the final mix or was wiped before that stage! But hey, a picture’s a picture and this is a picture thread and it sure would be nice if one existed. Hen’s teeth indeed.

Agreed, it’d be cool to see, or even to know where that instrument came from. Olympic certainly seems to have had it’s fair share of regular instruments and oddities (like the Clavioline on ‘Baby You’re A Rich Man ‘).  I can’t remember off the top of my head if the bit on Olympic in the Recording The Beatles book mentions what they had available.

Abbey Road must’ve had a double bass also, doesn’t Paul play one on the back end of ‘You Know My Name’?  I haven’t listened closely to that track for ages, but somewhere in the back of my head I remember thinking that it sounded a little like a double in that last section.  I *think* the rhythm track for that might’ve been recorded around the same time as ‘All You Need Is Love ‘.   

It’s definitely the Rickenbacker at the beginning of ‘YKMN’, and it sounds like Pepper-era Paul to me.  Sounds like a different bass at the end (but not the Hofner), and if it is a double bass, it’s different to the one on ‘All You Need Is Love ‘ – totally different tone, and he does a better job playing it. 

Might need to do a little research on this one when I get the chance!