McCartney's Hofner a converted righty?

revolver323 · Post by **revolver323** » Sun Aug 21, 2005 7:59 am

I saw this quote and wanted to bring it up. From a McCartney interview concerning his 4001s: "Back in the midsixties Mr Rickenbacker (!) gave me a special left-handed bass. It was the first left-handed bass I´d ever had, ´cause the Hofner was a converted right-hand."
Is this possible? Aren't the controls of the Hofners mounted on a plate that is set into a hole cut in the top? (It's been years since I saw a Hofner in personsoI can't remember) If that's true, did Hofner make Paul a new top for a right-handed bass? Otherwise, his Hofner should have a rather large patch in it. I've read somewhere else that Paul probably saw a right handed bass in a shop and they ordered a lefty for him. Given that Macca claims to not even know what strings he uses, is it possible he juist has a bad memory?

winston · Post by **winston** » Sun Aug 21, 2005 9:04 am

Dave, I am suspicious of that comment. Surely that comment by Macca borders on the absurd. If he could afford to get that sort of luthier work done he could have ordered a new leftie for the same money. Hofner basses were not that expensive back then. Plus what about the curl of the headstock. If it is the right way round surely that would give his claim away and show it up to be false.

revolver323 · Post by **revolver323** » Sun Aug 21, 2005 9:13 am

I agree. Never thought about the headstock. I could see that he probably hasn't paid for a bass since 1964. It's just hard to believe that someone noted for being so picky in the studio could be so blase about his basses.

wolfgang · Post by **wolfgang** » Sun Aug 21, 2005 9:35 am

Much is written to that topic in Andy Babiuk's book.
It seems that McCartney's bass was custom made for him. The Violin Bass is of symmetrical design, so a left handed bass looks like converted.
I can imagine how the salesman at the posh Steinway's shop in Hamburg was sayin': "There's no need to modify it, of course, Mr. ...McCartnay, we may order a left handed bass from the factory in Bubenreuth!"

brammy · Post by **brammy** » Sun Aug 21, 2005 1:07 pm

Looks like Paul was a bit confused about the Hofner. But I suspect that he chose the Rosetti Solid Seven for the similar reason that it was symetrical and would not look upside-down (at least the body shape wouldn't). Ever notice how for obviously posed photos Paul often seems to be straining to put his fingers in some contorted show-off way? Ah, Pauly... always the showman.

says Paul.......

"Then we went to play in Hamburg, Germany, and I'd bought a Rosetti Solid Seven electric guitar in Liverpool before we went. It was a terrible guitar. It was really just a good-looking piece of wood. It had a nice paint job, but it was a disastrous, cheap guitar. It fell apart when I got to Hamburg-the sweat and the damp and the getting knocked around, falling over and stuff. So in Hamburg, with my guitar bust, I turned to the piano. "

"Stu said he was going to stay in Hamburg. He'd met a girl and was going to stay there with her and paint," Paul remembers. "So it was like, Uh-oh, we haven't got a bass player. And everyone sort of turned 'round and looked at me. I was a bit lumbered with it, realy it was like, 'Well ... it'd better be you then.' I dont think you would have caught John doing it; he would have said: 'No, you're kidding. I've got a nice new Rickenbacker!' I was playing piano and didn't even have a guitar at the time, so I couldn't really say that I wanted to be a guitarist."

(You may have seen the Beatles' Hamburg period portrayed in the movie Backbeat, and in one scene McCartney/s character picks up Sutcliffe's right-handed bass and plays it left-handed and upside down. Did you really do that, Paul?) - "I did, yes. I had to! Guys wouldn't let you change their strings around," he laughs.

leftybass · Post by **leftybass** » Sun Aug 21, 2005 2:54 pm

Paul's Hofner violin basses were all factory leftys, period.

If his Cavern was converted, the whole top was replaced, and it was done at the Hofner factory---an easy solution actually, since The Beatles were based in Hamburg at the time and the Hofner factory is not far from Hamburg...There is nothing other than that comment from Paul to suggest it was changed over. Since the bass was redone in 1964 and hasn't seen the light of day since 1969, it may be hard to prove this if the bass would happen to surface again.

The are pics floating around of Stu's bass(with Stu holding it) that seem to show left-handed stringing, supporting the claim that Paul DID switch the strings around on Stu's bass shortly before getting his 500/1... I'm thinking the pics were taken by Astrid too, but I'm not clear on this.

brammy · Post by **brammy** » Sun Aug 21, 2005 3:17 pm

>>>....pics floating around of Stu's bass(with Stu holding it) that seem to show left-handed stringing, supporting the claim that Paul DID switch the strings around on Stu's bass shortly before getting his 500/1.

I wouldn't doubt it. Stu's leaving the beatles didn't happen overnight. It was a bit of a process. This photo seems to have the strings correct for a righty .... I'd like to see the others and will keep an eye out for it.

shamustwin · Post by **shamustwin** » Sun Aug 21, 2005 3:48 pm

Everything I've read says it's the first lefty from the Hofner factory, and that he bought it because it was the only lefty in town!

brammy · Post by **brammy** » Sun Aug 21, 2005 4:40 pm

The "Beatles gear" book has a good description on page 49:

"In fact the Hofner was specially ordered for McCartney as a left-hander".

It was the symetrical violin shape that made the custom order easy for Hofner to do.

Also, Paul said "Stu lent me his bass for a week or so" and the author states that "Being left-handed, McCartney had to play Sutcliff's Hofner 333 Bass upside-down".... but it is certainly possibl that author Andy Babiuk is making an incorrect assumption here and that Paul switched the strings.

iamthebassman · Post by **iamthebassman** » Mon Aug 22, 2005 3:25 am

You can see Paul's lefty Hofner in that pic of Stu and George.

revolver323 · Post by **revolver323** » Mon Aug 22, 2005 4:15 am

Good eye, Ronn! I think the E string is tuned flat, too

wolfgang · Post by **wolfgang** » Mon Aug 22, 2005 8:03 am

Ronn, you are right! So, there were 2 basses and 2 bassmen, Stu and Paul...

winston · Post by **winston** » Mon Aug 22, 2005 11:22 am

Looks like it Wolfgang. Guess who was the cuckoo in that nest? Sir.................

.

winston · Post by **winston** » Mon Aug 22, 2005 11:25 am

After further review. It looks to me like Pauls' bass was "drop" tuned.

brammy · Post by **brammy** » Mon Aug 22, 2005 2:55 pm

Like I said, Stu didn't leave overnight.... there was a period that he still sat in (a consession to John no doubt) even after Paul took over bass.

I suspect that pix was taken AFTER Stu had "officially" left the band.