The Last Bass Outpost
Gear Discussion Forums => Other Bass Brands => Topic started by: Blazer on May 10, 2009, 01:14:04 PM
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sV-3aGnF714&NR=1
I hate to say this but this sounds better than either his Hofner or Rickenbacker.
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First time I've ever heard a bass tone of his that I like.
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First time I've ever heard a bass tone of his that I like.
Yeah imagine how the first Beatles record would've sounded if he had that sound back then. Songs like "Do you wanna know a secret?" have brilliant melodic bass lines but you can hardly hear them. Here: his Yamaha through Mesa Boogie amps sounds so fat and blooming, his Hofner through a VOX AC50 bass amp just won't cut it.
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And we can really hear and see what a great bass player he really is playing live.
And I don't remember what brand of bass or which album or period, but he did play a 5 string as well.
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The 5 string was a Wal. There is a reason he is still playing the Hofner live and in the studio.The days of the Vox Ac 50 and Super Beatle amps are long gone and he even admitted not getting a good bass sound on record prior to Revolver. You can find thousand of his quotes on this. I think it can be said that his style did develop exactly because of the specific qualities and limitations of the Hofner. Each bass in itself has certain attributes which we work on and have our preferences. We can directly attribute the more front and center function and acceptance of the bass guitar to better amplification along with correctly recording them in the studio and the mix.
I know it might sound weird and presumptuous of me to say but the Beatle sound was not really a Fender type sound overall. That is not to say if he used a Fender P or Jazz that it would have sounded that different however from where I sit particular instruments lend themselves to different approaches. I did see the Beatles live and up close and it sounded good up close. I also had the privilege of seeing his recent band go through a whole sound check playing familiar songs and jamming and his little Hofner sounded incredible, beyond imagination really. He does have an exrtra cosmic connection with that particular bass. I think it's the same for all of us though. There are particular one's we just get really on with. I remember one time my daughter was playing at a club and Marcus Miller was hanging around and later on we all got to talking and Marcus said to a few of the younger kids: 'Just find one bass you can really stick with and make that one yours and develop your sound and style with it and later on you can play around with other things and you'll always sound like you but that one you develop with will always bring you back around'. I think i can vouch and agree with that.
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'Just find one bass you can really stick with and make that one yours and develop your sound and style with it and later on you can play around with other things and you'll always sound like you but that one you develop with will always bring you back around'. I think i can vouch and agree with that.
I teach that exact same sentiment to beginners. Find a good bass and make it a part of you, then expand. Obviously Uwe has taken this to extremes. ;D Which brings me to a point that others may have asked and seen the answer to. But I haven't so........
Uwe, do you have one bass that is your go to bass, that gets played more than any other bass. Or do you share the love evenly like like a good mother? 8)
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another reason why his Hofner sounds as well as it does today is that Macca has stuck with the Big Mesa Boogie amps since the eighties, having a proper amp also helps here.
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That is not to say if he used a Fender P or Jazz that it would have sounded that different
There's plenty of Beatles tunes with a Fender Jazz Bass, they had two, a righty and a lefty.
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Not to slight your comment but I would not go so far as to say there were 'plenty of Beatle tunes with Fender bass'. Very few in fact and the ones that were played on that VI were pretty lackluster in feeling and not played by the Hofner guy. I cannot speak for Uwe at all as his collection is probably the most comprehensive in existence when it comes to Gibson (esq). It would be interesting to hear if he does have a 'go to' bass. I suspect so but you never know. I have about 36 basses covering the range of Guild, Fender, Hofner, Ampeg & some Gibsons and Epi's (and yes a certain "collectionitis' consciousness entered in there but I view the instruments as facets of sound, and tools really and also each instrument elicits a certain approach and stlye. Through it all at this point I suppose my style has developed to the degree that no matter what bass I pick up they might all sound the same with ofcourse differences in tone and definitly the Thunderbird brings out something different then the Starfire or the Ampeg Scrolltop. However I always find myself going back around to the semi hollowbodied basses that I started out with. Though I admit I still like my very 1st Hofner I got back in '62 for a combination of sentiment and the hell I put it through and as you say when plugged into my modern Mark Bass system you would never know it was the same bass I plugged into an Echolette 43+ years ago. Overall point: We are so fortunate now to have amazing amplification systems to really explore the bass universe and keep those guitar players on notice.
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The 5 string was a Wal. There is a reason he is still playing the Hofner live and in the studio.The days of the Vox Ac 50 and Super Beatle amps are long gone and he even admitted not getting a good bass sound on record prior to Revolver. You can find thousand of his quotes on this. I think it can be said that his style did develop exactly because of the specific qualities and limitations of the Hofner. Each bass in itself has certain attributes which we work on and have our preferences. We can directly attribute the more front and center function and acceptance of the bass guitar to better amplification along with correctly recording them in the studio and the mix.
I know it might sound weird and presumptuous of me to say but the Beatle sound was not really a Fender type sound overall. That is not to say if he used a Fender P or Jazz that it would have sounded that different however from where I sit particular instruments lend themselves to different approaches. I did see the Beatles live and up close and it sounded good up close. I also had the privilege of seeing his recent band go through a whole sound check playing familiar songs and jamming and his little Hofner sounded incredible, beyond imagination really. He does have an exrtra cosmic connection with that particular bass. I think it's the same for all of us though. There are particular one's we just get really on with. I remember one time my daughter was playing at a club and Marcus Miller was hanging around and later on we all got to talking and Marcus said to a few of the younger kids: 'Just find one bass you can really stick with and make that one yours and develop your sound and style with it and later on you can play around with other things and you'll always sound like you but that one you develop with will always bring you back around'. I think i can vouch and agree with that.
Paul Used a Jazz bass on most of the "Abbey Road" album, most notably on "Something"
But there are two reasons why he stopped using the Hofner during the seventies and eighties. One was that it was a conscious effort to distance himself from the Beatles and two because it was rather beat up and battered. According to the "Beatles Gear book" when the Mandolin brothers fixed it up for him in the early nineties it was falling apart at the scene and it was impossible to keep in tune. Their work included replacing the entire fingerboard, re-setting the neck and improving the intonation of the bass.
But with the Wings it was the Rickenbacker, the Jazz Bass and later on the Yamaha that saw the most action both live and on record.
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Not to slight your comment but I would not go so far as to say there were 'plenty of Beatle tunes with Fender bass'. Very few in fact and the ones that were played on that VI were pretty lackluster in feeling and not played by the Hofner guy.
To completely slight your comment, there ARE plenty of Beatles tunes recorded with a Fender Jazz, and, I never mentioned the Fender VI as it wasn't mentioned in the post I was referring to. Several tunes on "The White Album" were recorded with FJB, and also several on "Abbey Road", a couple being ones George played a righty FJB on.
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That was my understanding too (not that I know much about it), a good bit of the White Album and Abbey Road.
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Yes, sorry to have stretched your reference to the Jazz. I lumped the Fender all together there. Indeed the FIJ surfaced at the time of the 'white album'. The resurfacing of the Hofner started at the time of "FLowers in the Dirt' when Costello requested him to use it.
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On the (hijacked) subject of Beatles Jazz Basses, here's a couple of cool shots:
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v383/iamthebassman/jazzgh.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v383/iamthebassman/mccartneybass.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v383/iamthebassman/jazzbass62vo.jpg)
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Say, anyone knows whatever happen to those Jazzes?
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Say, anyone knows whatever happen to those Jazzes?
Paul still has his, and he used it with Wings in the seventies.
(http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e22/guitarman91/1PM.jpg)
Note that range of Basses behind Macca in the color picture includes his 4001S, his Jazz bass and a second Rickenbacker, I wonder what the story with that one was.
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I'll stick my head out a bit and venture the Ric is his original , went through a psychedelic paint job and then stripped down to the natural. It might be his one and lonely Ric. Returning to the exciting (hijacked)Fender thoughts, there was a mention several years back that Elvis's own Precision was under consideration to be possessed by whatiz name himself. Wonder what happened?
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I'll stick my head out a bit and venture the Ric is his original , went through a psychedelic paint job and then stripped down to the natural. It might be his one and lonely Ric. Returning to the exciting (hijacked)Fender thoughts, there was a mention several years back that Elvis's own Precision was under consideration to be possessed by whatiz name himself. Wonder what happened?
The pic in the post above wont open but I'm pretty sure I know what itis, the other Ric is a fretless and belongs to Paul, he has several Rics.
As far as Elvis's Precision being owned by McCartney, never heard that, perhaps you're thinking of Elvis's bassist Bill Black's upright, which Paul does own.
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I can't open that pic either.Re Presley's Precision I thought it was weird in a way also but I recall reading about it in a discussion he had about Bill Black's upright with Bass Player magazine just around the time of Chaos & Creation. I think he's have to leave that one in it's righty set up don't ya think? Actually i thought something like that should be in a museum or something just to let people know even Presley had a thing about bass.
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Fixed the picture.
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Say, didn't they say something on the Anthology movie about Elvis playing a Precision when they, the Beatles, met him in graceland back in the day?
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I've always loved this pic:
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v383/iamthebassman/ElvisP-bass.jpg)
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Neil Young has one of Hank william's acoustics, tours it and plays it on stage, and has done so for many years... I remember seeing Emmylou Harris declaring her love for an acoustic that used to belong to Gram Parsons...
err did I wander into the wrong thread... ;D
I once drove down Abbey Road...
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Well Kenny with that last comment I think you have nipped it in the bud and Abbey Road might be at a dead end. I mean we did go over Fender, Rickenbacker (and they even have their own forums), Yamaha & Hofner. Now before someone brings up Klira, Danelectro or Epiphone Casino's......
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He could most likely make a Tiesco sound good! ;D The instrument is only half of the equation.... ;)
Now, I'll crawl back under my bridge....
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I know Paul's Jazz is a '66 with the oval tuners but Fenders 70's MIM Jazz in sunburst could scratch that itch nicely for a lot less dough than a vintage one. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
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Scott, less of the "itchy fingers"... concentrate on what you've got and what you've got to finish... ;)
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Ken you sound disturbingly like my missus.
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I know Paul's Jazz is a '66 with the oval tuners but Fenders 70's MIM Jazz in sunburst could scratch that itch nicely for a lot less dough than a vintage one. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
I use a MIM for the "Jazz" tunes in the set.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v383/iamthebassman/newjazz003.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v383/iamthebassman/newjazz002.jpg)
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Love the neck plate Nigel ! Is that the 60's MIM J bass ? Looks nice ! I have a '08 American standard that I use for our Zeppelin set, I wanted a mim 60's J but couldn't find one at the time. (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v102/godofthunder59/img_0715.jpg)