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Video about McCartney Sgt Pepper sounds

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slinkp:
I thought this was pretty cool:

Chris P.:
Saw it. Nice and good vid!

ilan:
Speaking as a lifelong admirer of McCartney's bass playing - and assuming that most of us have listened to some isolated bass tracks off Beatles songs - I would like to raise the question: Why would anyone want to replicate the recording technique and/or bass amplification?

I owned a similar Fender bass rig, 1969 vintage, and it was downright awful. Had it been any good, Paul would still be using it, right? Like he still plays his old Hofner, Pyramid flats, Martin, Epi Texan, Gibson uke, etc.

uwe:
I think Paul uses just about anything that works!

I don't understand the nostalgia for old amp sounds and recording techniques either (the fabricated vintage sound of The Strokes debut drove me mad at the time, who wants muffled and distorted vocals?), but then is the craze for vintage instruments rational? (Of course, even bringing that up in question form is anathema to the eternal commandments of the LBO!  :mrgreen: ) If you would have handed Paul an Alembic or a Kubicki at the Sgt. Pepper sessions, don't you think he would have immediately chosen that to record after figuring it out?

Paul doesn't need a Höfner to create lasting art, he did plenty fine when he played a WAL. He sticks to the Höfner because it is an iconic image with him (even people who can't otherwise tell a guitar from a bass, recognize a "Beatles bass" immediately) and it feels comfy to him - like a pair of worn-in shoes. When I last saw Paul in Berlin, his Höffie sounded fine, but the SG Bass of the blond guitarist who plays with him and sometimes picks up bass duties sounded definitely better, more tone, more sustain, a more even output across the fretboard. Nuff said (and heard).

slinkp:
I get it, I would probably never record like that myself - maybe for a song or two at most, if it really fit something I was trying to do. But I love learning how old sounds were made, and I love the bass on Sgt Pepper, though it's far from "my" sound.
 I find things like this fun and fascinating.

While going down the youtube bass rabbit hole I also much enjoyed this, quite different in many regards:

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