I have just met McCartney, held the Hofner, 59 LP, Epi

[ilan]

I'm posting this from London Heathrow airport. This afternoon me and Danny Cushmaro, Channel 2 News (Israel) anchorman, held a 13 minutes interview with Sir Paul, in a rehearsal studio in London, for his Sept. 25 Tel Aviv concert. The interview will be aired Saturday in Israel Channel 2.

After the interview was over, we were told to turn off the cameras, and prepared to leave. I said to McCartney, can I ask you a question about your bass. He said, come on, and led me and Danny into the rehearsal space where we had seen them prior to the interview playing three songs.

He took us to his guitar rack. There were the '59 LP Standard, a Hofner Cavern reissue, the '64 Hofner (he assured me it wasn't a replica, that it was the real thing), another new Les Paul, his Martin acoustic, and the Epiphone acoustic. He also showed us a brown ukelele that George gave him.

Then he took the Hofner bass, and showed us that the switches were glued to position (neck pickup soloe'd) with black plastic insets.

And then he handed the bass over to me.

I did not play it because it is left handed, and because I simply couldn't.

It was a bit heavier than I thought it would be, but Paul said it was because of the wireless transmitter attached to the strap. It was a wide black strap, not the vintage kind. He said that he feels that a light bass changes the way he plays, and that is why he doesn't play the Rickenbacker any more. But I still have it, he said. He added that the new Hofner sounded nice but not nearly as good as his old Hofner, and he attributed this to the fact that it is old and has been played a lot. Like a Stradivarius, he said.

The action was medium-low. I couldn't bring myself to fret a note.

I forgot to ask about the Jazz bass.

Then he handed me the '59 Gibson. Now this is heavy, he said. It was really heavy. But I was more interested in the bass.

He said that engineers and producers always compliment the sound of the old Hofner.

Next he took the ukulele and played 'Something'. I asked about the bass part, and he said it was an interesting bass part. I replied that in my mind it's a piece of art.

Then I told him about the first time I'd heard the beatles and how it changed my life.

Next he took the Epi from the rack. This is the 'Yesterday' guitar and it has a lot of wear. He strummed the opening chord to Yesterday, and said that the guitar is tuned a step lower, so that he can play Yesterday in G and it sounded in F. He said he liked the open strings in the G chord. I didn't get to hold the Epi.

Sadly, all this was not on camera. But I was not alone there...

My first impression is that Paul McCartney isn't just a great bass player, he's also one of the nicest persons on earth. He went out of his way to make us feel good. Even when an assistant came to say that time is up and they want to go back to rehearsal, Paul said, no, I think we have some more time, and continued to show us the guitars.

He had a Gibson LP that he said he ordered just to have it custom painted, but then, he said, he realized that he likes it a lot because it played very well.

Here is a link to a short part of the interview. This is Danny's question. but in the reaction shots you can see me next to him, I'm the long haired guy.

http://www.keshet-tv.com/VideoPage.aspx ... ourceID=23

I will get another chance to take a closer look at his gear - and on video. This will hopefully happen two days before the concert, when the equipment arrives in Israel.

I took with me two pickguards (C64 and Strat) and a TRC, but we were told before we arrived, no pictures and no autographs.

My flight leaves soon so I have to log off. More when I get back to Israel.

[scotty]

ilan,what a great story and that must have been a special moment.Congrats! BTW i cant get the video to play it goes blank when i try!

[fireglo]

That's awesome! I'd love to see him in person. Congratulations!

[ajish4]

Ilan,

Wow, what a great story!

It is so good to hear that when one of us meet our hero's, they they are just as good if not better HUMAN' BEINGS than they are artists.

I keep my fingers crossed that one day I'll meet mine...

Congratulations.

[johnallg]

Ilan, that is just so cool! What a life moment that must have been. I'll bet you never so badly wanted to be left handed before in your life! The interview looks like it will be a fun one - if they put the video on their website after airing, how about a heads up and a link? Have a safe return trip!!

Scott - I had to use IE to go to the site and view the video - Firefox would not play it.

[scotty]

Scott - I had to use IE to go to the site and view the video - Firefox would not play it.

That was it john im usually on firefox!
Very cool ilan

[rickfan63]

All I can say is.....WOW!!!!!!

[robj]

THUD !

That must have been an amazing experience, I can't imagine.

[kiramdear]

OMG, someone pass me the Pampers!

I'm just so, so, .... happy for you Ilan!

[jps]

Wow! I hope you didn't wet your pants when he handed you the Höfner!

Mazel Tov!

[wints]

Very cool Ilan...

But, what...No question about the Ric?

[antipodean]

Super cool Ilan. I presume you haven't washed your hands since they touched the Hofner!

[rickenbrother]

Great story Ilan, thanks for sharing!

[winston]

Wow! Thanks Ilan. That is such a cool story.

[beatlefreak]

Lucky dog!