
De-Capping
Moderators: rickenbrother, ajish4
That'd be Rustlin' Russ Lewark!
http://www.kahunacowboys.com/
They put on a great show at the Sawdust Market in Laguna Beach on Sunday afternoon during the 75th.
http://www.kahunacowboys.com/
They put on a great show at the Sawdust Market in Laguna Beach on Sunday afternoon during the 75th.
"Sawdust Festival."
Oh yeah - things were a little fuzzy that day (the pic I sent you was very early that morning!). Great place to walk around with your wife (garner points) and the glass-blower was very interesting to watch. Things cleared after the fish tacos. I believe I washed them down with a beer....
Oh yeah - things were a little fuzzy that day (the pic I sent you was very early that morning!). Great place to walk around with your wife (garner points) and the glass-blower was very interesting to watch. Things cleared after the fish tacos. I believe I washed them down with a beer....
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loveboatcaptain
- New member
- Posts: 22
- Joined: Fri Feb 02, 2007 5:50 am
Re:
It’s a common thought that McCartneys post 1975 Rickenbacker mod included the de-capping of that bass. This is not true. I have spoken to the guy who did the electrics and that bass Joel Helin and he stated it would have been criminal to remove the cap off of such an iconic bass, confirming it was never removed when the work was done.
If you listen I Wings over America especially and also perhaps Wings at the speed of sound, you can still hear it’s a 4001 with both pickups at full volume with the toaster producing that signature sound and the new bridge pickup adding the a bit of bite. An de-capped bass with volumes at full would just sound boomy and wouldn’t have that character.
There’s also a great video of Paul in studio with Elvis Costello on YouTube jamming My Brave Face and it’s pretty much the only time I’ve heard and seen Paul play his Rick with just the bridge pickup selected (switch in the up position because his bass is the first lefty) the bass sounds sooooo thin and bass-less, just as a capped 4001 bridge pickup would played soloed. Another great example for confirmation.
Part of the wings over America tone is down the the unusually high volume of the bass in The mix and also the EQ on the desk.
Never de-cap your bass for McCartney sounds.
Re: Re:
+1!loveboatcaptain wrote: Wed Feb 19, 2025 10:21 amIt’s a common thought that McCartneys post 1975 Rickenbacker mod included the de-capping of that bass. This is not true. I have spoken to the guy who did the electrics and that bass Joel Helin and he stated it would have been criminal to remove the cap off of such an iconic bass, confirming it was never removed when the work was done.
If you listen I Wings over America especially and also perhaps Wings at the speed of sound, you can still hear it’s a 4001 with both pickups at full volume with the toaster producing that signature sound and the new bridge pickup adding the a bit of bite. An de-capped bass with volumes at full would just sound boomy and wouldn’t have that character.
There’s also a great video of Paul in studio with Elvis Costello on YouTube jamming My Brave Face and it’s pretty much the only time I’ve heard and seen Paul play his Rick with just the bridge pickup selected (switch in the up position because his bass is the first lefty) the bass sounds sooooo thin and bass-less, just as a capped 4001 bridge pickup would played soloed. Another great example for confirmation.
Part of the wings over America tone is down the the unusually high volume of the bass in The mix and also the EQ on the desk.
Never de-cap your bass for McCartney sounds.
One of the iconic bass tones in Rock, the toaster and capped bridge pu combo!
Put some flats on and run it through heavy compression for Macca or rounds and open up the treble for Squire.
There's a lot of ground to cover in between.

