Macca and His Rick

[johnallg]

Here's a thought that just occurred to me as I listened to "Baby Your A Rich Man" and I ask for your thoughts. Would Paul's 4001S bass parts in the Beatles have been the same if he was using the Hofner and never received the Rick? Or, as I suspect, the Rick inspired him with it's ease of use, tone, and being in tune all the way up the neck, to reach for more tuneful and involved bass parts.

Your thoughts?

[beatlefreak]

I believe Paul's bass parts would have been the same, although they would have sounded different. Paul was always able to get the Hofner to do what he wanted. After all, he still uses it.

[cassius987]

Not to immediately drag this thread off course but when was he actually recording with the Ric? Lots of people on other forums like to point out that he "never really used it for anything" whenever the subject is brought up. I really know nothing of the matter (and don't really even know any Macca basslines) so I feel no reason to argue but... could this really be true? His Ric was just a prop?

[beatlefreak]

Most recordings Paul did from Sgt. Pepper's in 1967 through the Wings era in 1980 (with the exception of the Let It Be album, when he reverted to the Hofner) were made using his 4001.

[tallpat1]

Here is a story how Macca got his ric and why he accepted it, excerpt from Andy Babiuk's Beatles gear book.

"Francis Hall didn't give up on McCartney. He easily forsaw what a marketing coup it would be to get the world's most well known and popular bassist to use a Rickenbacker. Hall tracked down the Fabs on their 1965 North American tour when they had a few days off while staying in Los Angeles. It was the same week they met Elvis. The Fabs were always glad to see the Halls, Francis and his son John, because it meant really cool new, free guitars. It was at this meeting in August, 1965 that they once again presented Paul with the very same bass guitar they tried to give him in 1964. It was the model 4001S, specifically made for left handed players with the serial number DA23, which meant it was made in January 1964.

The winning argument for McCartney was when Hall said to him that the Rickenbacker would record much better than the Hofner. Paul accepted the free bass guitar and Hall was right, the Rickenbacker 4001 did record better than the Hofner, owing in large part to the Ricky's interesting pickup wiring; the bass pickup is what we call a split coil which means the wiring is offset while the treble pickup is a dual coil. The end result is a much more electronically even output from the guitar itself which negates wild output swings that result in certain notes sounding decidedly louder than others. It also helps explain Rickenbacker bass's famed "ringing" sustain anywhere on the fret board. Although, the "neck through the body" construction of the instrument helps with that as well. All in all, a fantastic bass and a fantastic coup for the Rickenbacker company. McCartney, and the estates of Lennon and Harrison have all of their original Rickenbackers to this day. Paul still actively uses his original 4001S bass. Incidentally, Lennon's use of the short scale 325 "Capri" saved that guitar from extinction. Rickenbacker, to this day, can't make enough of them."


I will try to post photos of Paul playing the rick in the studio, the only one I remember off hand was "All You Need is Love" recorded live for The BBC. Paul is playing his ric during the recording. Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLxTpsIVzzo

a new book just came out of unseen Beatles in the studio recording Sgt Peppers
http://www.curvebender.com/k-eyes.html $ 495.00

If anyone has this I'm sure there are photos of Paul with his ric.

Here is a photo, and by their apperance I would say this is 1965 or 1966 since the bass is still a fireglo and they do not have their famous Sgt Peppers moustaches yet.

[sloop_john_b]

Most recordings Paul did from Sgt. Pepper's in 1967 through the Wings era in 1980 (with the exception of the Let It Be album, when he reverted to the Hofner) were made using his 4001.

He also used it for Revolver and most of Rubber Soul.

[rickboy88]

See the "Beatles" topic area here on RickResource and check out the "Rare Photo - McCartney Plays 4001S" thread most of the way down the page for a boatload of images of Paul playing it over the years. I was the humble thread starter after finding an old image that I'd never seen anywhere else.

On youtube, you can find the "Hello, Goodbye" and "Hey Bulldog" videos and more (just a short snippet in Hey Bulldog). In addition, there is nice video or two from the "Back to the Egg" years. The song is "Getting Closer":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIhVlVnwJHo

There are more of course, and there are links all over RickResource.

I've not seen him play the Ric in many years now, having gone back to the Hofner.

To answer your question John, I will disagree with Kris here and put in my 1 cent that the Ric may have helped inspire a bit. My favorite bass lines have been the stuff he did with his 4001S (Hey Bulldog, etc.). I remember us discussing "Another Day" way back when and that it was likely done on the Ric - would be nice to know for sure though. I've read that he did "Something" on the Hofner, as by Abbey Road he was likely using all three (Hofner, Fender Jazz, and Ric).

[tallpat1]

Hey Bulldog video Paul Playing some great licks on the Ric

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGrEZH7j1bQ

[godber]

Here's a thought that just occurred to me as I listened to "Baby Your A Rich Man" and I ask for your thoughts. Would Paul's 4001S bass parts in the Beatles have been the same if he was using the Hofner and never received the Rick? Or, as I suspect, the Rick inspired him with it's ease of use, tone, and being in tune all the way up the neck, to reach for more tuneful and involved bass parts.

Your thoughts?

I think they would have been different rather than just sounding different; the Rickenbacker enabled Paul to play higher up the neck with more melodic success.

Listen to this quote from the man himself from Bassist Magazine Jan 1996.

"The Rickenbacker was very nice, it recorded better than the Höfner. It has a fatter neck and was much more stable. It didn't go out of tune as easily. Also, it stayed in tune right up the neck: the Höfner had problems when you got right up near the top so I hardly ever went up there..."

The magazine also quotes the influences at the time as being Brian Wilson, James Jamerson and Carole Kaye - so it's possible (in the absence of a Rickenbacker) that he would have still played the same style, but with a...Fender...
http://www.carolkaye.com/www/library/sounds/index.htm

[cassius987]

On another forum some guy (who is really anti-Ric... I was pestering him) brought Macca up to me (I didn't even think Macca related to our discussion) and said, "Macca, for instance, was often photographed with a Ric but recorded with a P Bass more often," something to that effect. Not true?

This guy always makes himself out to be the authority so I just believed him, but more and more I find he is wrong (and never called on it).

[chucksimms]

Paul had a Jazz bass on some of the White album and Abbey Road stuff, and he's pictured with a Jazz in the Band on the Run snaps as well. To the best of my knowledge he NEVER had a Precision, and the lionshare of material he recorded from late '65 to 1980 was with his Rick 4001S.

[soundmasterg]

During his time with the Beatles, Macca used a Hofner, the Rick 4001S, and a Fender Jazz bass from what most people have been able to determine. I've never heard of him using a P bass while with the Beatles at all. Most accounts will say that he used the Hofner exclusively up to Rubber Soul, when he bagan to use the RIC, which he then used exclusively until the Whitealbum. Starting at the White Album, he began to use the RIC and the Fender Jazz bass, and on Let it Be he used the Hofner again. On Abbey Road, he used all three again. I've heard the RIC was used on Something myself, and that is what it sounds like to me also.

His early solo career up to the mid 70's was almost all RIC except for the noted exception of Band on the Run which was a Fender Jazz.....aside from that I'm not sure.....but if you do some searching and read some books, you can find the info you're looking for. No matter which bass he uses, he always sounds good and has some great bass lines, so its not all the bass.

Greg

[johnallg]

I personally think his lines vary more than just using the whole neck - with the Hofner he tended to play more "bouncy" parts and more root oriented. With the 4001S, he became more melodic, more varied, and not the speedy thump bouncy parts he played in earlier recordings. No doubt he grew as a bass player in the intervening years, but I believe the Rick inspired the tastefulness of that progression. IMHO.

[rickboy88]

I think you are right about ""Something", Greg. McCartney seemed to have more faith in the Ric intonation as he went up the neck, so it would be a surprise if he decided to use the Hofner for that now classic bass line. The self admitted story is that he really had to sell it to George who wanted something less busy.
The Jazz seems to have been used then for the more "percussive" sounding bass stuff (Glass Onion, etc.).

I've always wondered if his heavy use of a Jazz (heard this one was a righty) in Nigeria for "Band on the Run" was due to the fact that he didn't want anything to happen to the Ric. He was mugged there, and could have been killed according to the story.

[fireglo]

Here is a story how Macca got his ric and why he accepted it, excerpt from Andy Babiuk's Beatles gear book.

" owing in large part to the Ricky's interesting pickup wiring; the bass pickup is what we call a split coil which means the wiring is offset while the treble pickup is a dual coil."

What's up with this about the pickups? Are they not both single coil?