Beatle Bass

adorshki

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What Al said...

walrus

's kinda interesting, I'm reading conflicting info about when Paul got that Rickenbacker in that Talkbass thread.
One poster says it's actually a '64 and it was given to him on a '65 US Tour, and another says it was used on Rubber Soul.
Which fits my perception of "Drive My Car", sound-wise (it's one of the other "pre-Rickenbacker" licks I was thinking of, but now thinking maybe it is the Rick after all).
Interestingly "Drive My Car"'s Wiki page tells a Motown bass anecdote very similar to the one told in the "P. Writer" page:
"Harrison had been listening to Otis Redding's "Respect" at the time and, as a result of this influence, "Drive My Car" contains more bottom end than previous Beatles recordings, mimicking the bass-heavy sound captured in Redding's Memphis studio.
"Day Tripper" was recorded during the Soul sessions too.
Another believes it's first use was probably on Revolver, whose recording dates include those for "Rain" and "Writer"
And a more discriminating read of Emerick's quote in the the Wiki article shows "Paul played a different bass", it doesn't say it was new.
I'm goin' with semantic mi-interpretation on my part, and that the real "new" sound was due to the mic-ing technique on "Writer".
And then to top it all off there's the Hofner again in the "Revolution" video.
But he's got the Rick in the "Hey Bulldog" video and boy it sounds like it on the record.
I'm not really a Paul fanboy by any means but by golly I b'lieve we got another case of "the player not the axe" goin' on here....

UPDATE on when he got the Rick:
http://www.rickbeat.com/modelslibrary/4001spmc/4001spmc.htm
 
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adorshki

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There's a great scene in the "Imagine" film where Lennon complains that his Epiphone Casino is getting to be unplayable. No surprise considering how much he used it and the beating it took. But when you see that scene, you say to yourself, "So then get a new guitar, John!". Right? He's got the money!

walrus

It ain't the money, it's the sentimental value.

linus-blanket.gif
 
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walrus

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The "Revolution" video was mimed, so he may have played the Ric on the recording:

http://wogew.blogspot.com/2015/10/the-revolution-video-closer-look.html


I'd go with your first assessment - he started using it to record during the Revolver era, whatever that really is. Not much actual time between Rubber Soul (released 12/3/65) and Revolver (released 8/6/66) anyway. Light years in "Beatles musical evolution" time, but hard to tell exactly when the Ric appeared in a serious way.

walrus
 

adorshki

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The "Revolution" video was mimed, so he may have played the Ric on the recording:

http://wogew.blogspot.com/2015/10/the-revolution-video-closer-look.html
Was wondering about that, didn't actually listen due to slow buffering on this machine I post from.
I bet it is the Rick although the Fender's a candidate by that time, too.
I'd go with your first assessment - he started using it to record during the Revolver era, whatever that really is. Not much actual time between Rubber Soul (released 12/3/65) and Revolver (released 8/6/66) anyway. Light years in "Beatles musical evolution" time, but hard to tell exactly when the Ric appeared in a serious way.

walrus

Haven't actually finished reading that thread, but there's more than one assertion it was used on Rubber Soul and (so far) the song count is undecided: 1, 2, or 3.
"Drive My Car" gets a vote, and "Think For Yourself" (which I thought was the other likely candidate because it's the "fuzz bass" listed under Paul's credits on the sleeve, and "Michelle" is getting a vote with the usual debate about whether or not George actually played the bass on that one....
So I go with at least 2 on Soul, "Car" and "Think for Yourself", since it appears he received the bass in late '64 according to that link I posted in #21.
And Antney gets a thanks for sending me on a great nostalgic fact-finding mission.
In fact another look at Wiki's Rubber Soul page to see if there were any other tunes I thought might be candidates yields this tidbit I missed previously:
"Lennon recalled that Rubber Soul was the first album on which the Beatles were in complete creative control, with enough studio time to develop and refine new sound ideas. Before the recording sessions, McCartney was given a new bass guitar, a solid-body Rickenbacker 4001, which produced a fuller sound than his hollow-body Hofner.[28]"
I'm thinking now "the Word" has that sound, too.
So I go for at least 3 Rick appearances on Soul.
And I still say he got inspired to write "Mystery Tour" on the plane ride back to the UK after hearing "She Has Funny Cars" while partying with Casady and company on that trip to San Francisco in '66.
 
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walrus

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That's a story from the 1974 CSN&Y tour (the "Doom Tour"). Supposedly, Stills insulted Bob Dylan, too. That's what cocaine can do to your ego.

Interesting "Oral History" of the tour here:

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/the-oral-history-of-csnys-infamous-doom-tour-20140619

The part with the specific story you mention:

Nash:
"Somewhere in the Midwest, I think in Minneapolis, we were at the hotel after the show and Bob Dylan came by. Stephen and Tim Drummond immediately corralled him into a different room and shut the door. That wasn't nice."

Drummond (bassist): "He played us all the songs from Blood on the Tracks on acoustic guitar. We were on twin beds, across from each other. Oh God, I can't tell you how great it was. At one point Stephen said something to him about the songs not being good. I was so Goddamn embarrassed. He was probably coked out. Dylan, being the arrogant man that he was said, 'Well, Stephen, play me one of your songs.' That was the end of it. Stephen couldn't even find one string from another at that point."

Nash: "Stephen walked out of the room and said to me, 'Bob's no musician.' In the back of my mind, I also remember Stephen buying a Precision bass for Paul McCartney and telling him it was time to start playing a 'real' instrument and not his old Höfner. He's saying this to one of the greatest bass players in the world."

walrus
 
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adorshki

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Nash: "Stephen walked out of the room and said to me, 'Bob's no musician.' In the back of my mind, I also remember Stephen buying a Precision bass for Paul McCartney and telling him it was time to start playing a 'real' instrument and not his old Höfner. He's saying this to one of the greatest bass players in the world."

walrus

Paul did say "I´m anybody´s for a free guitar....."
:glee:
 
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Antney

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I think Neil Armstrong said it best "it ain't about the bike".
 

Rubsoul

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The Hofner is a pre 67 bass on Craigslist. It is priced right at $1800 if it has no issues. It was Paul's go to bass live. (Wings was the Ric 4001). I also love my 69 Hofner 500/1 bass. You can thump it all night long. It's like playing a Guild M-75 which I also own. You can play them all night without a break! Both are love as air!
 

jp

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It's also worth mentioning that Paul McCartney isn't the only notable Hofner player. There are a host of 500/1 and /2 players that get a decent sound from their Hofners, like Tina Weymouth (Talking Heads) or John Stirrat (Wilco). Chris Wood from Medeski, Martin, and Wood gets a great sound out of a 500/1.
 

mavuser

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The Hofner is a pre 67 bass on Craigslist. It is priced right at $1800 if it has no issues. It was Paul's go to bass live. (Wings was the Ric 4001). I also love my 69 Hofner 500/1 bass. You can thump it all night long. It's like playing a Guild M-75 which I also own. You can play them all night without a break! Both are love as air!

do u mean Guild M-85? that is the bass version of the M-75 guitar.
 

gilded

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In my opinion, Beatle basses are fun to use. I'm not a huge fan of the pickups, but they are okay, maybe even good. They way I remember it, they are hum buckers, yes?

Let me present another point of view: There are certain iconic sounds from electric string instruments that changed the world of recording. The P-Bass and to a lesser extent the J-Bass come to mind. They cleaned up the lower-frequency part of the recorded sound enough that you could let higher-frequency instruments shine.

There are other sounds that have changed the world for players, if not for Recording. For me, that would include the sound of the Bisonic pickup and playability of short scale Starfires and Beatle basses. I absolutely love playing a Bisonic-equipped SF bass. It's a gas.

One could argue that the Beatle bass was an iconic sound for recording, too, but the original Pyramid Strings were part of that sound and you can't get a string that sounds and plays like that today (even from Pyramid), so I don't know if it's truly reproducible.

Just my 2 cents. gilded
 

walrus

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Listening to the White Album today reminded me - we forgot the song "I Will" - McCartney didn't play the Hofner or the Ric - he played "vocal bass", i.e. he sang the bass line!

walrus
 

mavuser

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No, I have a M-75 six string that is light as a feather too. Thanks for the info on the M-85. :smug:

oh, I understand what you mean now. yes the M-75 guitar is light as a feather, I agree. the M-85 basses are heavier for sure.
 
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