Bass tones on Abbey Road

gt76 · Post by **gt76** » Mon Apr 05, 2004 5:16 pm

Anyone care to take a shot at what was used to get the bass tones on the "Abbey Road" album?? Sounds like a F**der all over that record to me. Anyone hear the Ric or the Hofner in there?

gt40graham · Post by **gt40graham** » Tue Apr 06, 2004 12:29 am

It's hard to tell with all the processing that they were doing at this stage. For instance, try and copy the bass sound on "Here Comes the Sun" which is a very "big" sound.

My guess would be the Rickenbacker especially on tracks such as "Maxwell's Silver Hammer".

rictified · Post by **rictified** » Wed Apr 07, 2004 1:18 pm

Yeah, I especially agree with "Maxwell" always thought so too, I hear the Hofner in "She's so heavy" With flatwound strings it's sometimes harder to "hear" what kind of bass is being played, especially with someone as accomplished as McCartney, when you are that good and play that much you tend to get a similar sound out of different instruments.
FWIW, I can imitate most of those sounds with Ric basses, with the mutes on and flatwounds. I can get "Come Together" down to a T, a lot of the stuff could also be a jazz though as they often sound similar especially with flats on them.

johnashfield · Post by **johnashfield** » Sun Jul 17, 2005 5:49 am

This album has a lot of great tones. It's been posted here before but a ricky with flats and a jazz with flats, depending on the amp settings/studio settings, can sound similar.

I would tend to think it's the ricky more often than not because he did seem to favor that over the jazz. I don't hear the hofner so much because on "let it be" you can hear that the intonation is off. I don't hear that here.

Now having said that, "she's so heavy" is the obvious one that could be the hofner. But it just sounds too in tune to my ears.

"here comes the sun" is the obvious ricky tune. It has that "kerplunk" kinda sound like "penny lane" does.

"maxwell's..." to me sounds more like the Jazz. The tone there isn't too different than the "yer blues" tone, which the aerovones guy say he saw Macca playing on the jazz.

"Something" and "come together" sound like the rick to me as well because of what happens when he does the high notes up the fretboard.

This may sound wacky, but it's just my opinion...

A fender to my ears keeps it's timbre mostly the same as you move around. Like it's more "even" or balanced. Which is why, IMHO, a lot of guys like them better. The Ricky as you go high all of a sudden gets weird and wonderful, punchier, or more mid rangey, like it swells in a weird way. More "character" IMHO. I hear that all over the album. Especially on "here comes the sun".

Of course if all of a sudden pictures come out showing him playing the jazz on every tune... well I'd be wrong, but not terribly surprised!

jingle_jangle · Post by **jingle_jangle** » Sun Jul 17, 2005 7:31 am

John, you've got an amazing ear.

Coincidentally, I was listening to your album "Distance to Empty" (yeah, it's a plug, but if you love '60s style bright pop, John has it NAILED on this one, and takes it into the present in terms of production values!) last night and this morning--first thing with breakfast--to exercise my new stereo. It sounded great on my car setup (which is factory), but on the new home system there's all sorts of subtle, cool stuff that jumps out of the mix.

And I got to thinking, man, anybody who crafts pop like this has two amazing traits: he does things very well for the love of it, and he really knows his beans, musically and technically. Not to mention that there are Rickenbackers everywhere.

This is fast becoming an album that, like my Gil Evans albums, offer something new each time I listen closely. The difference is that Gil is dense and coolly distant. Your stuff is listenable and approachable. I wish you much success in a tough business.

beefandbones · Post by **beefandbones** » Sun Jul 17, 2005 9:35 am

Come Together - During Ringo's tom rolls during the main riff, the decending bass slide sounds a lot like the Rick to me.

Something - Hofner or Jazz. If you listen to the way the first note fades away, it's dark and warm with little sustain - very unlike his Rick sound. Also, I believe Something was begun early in the AR sessions, when Paul was still using his Hofner a lot (as on the Ballad of John and Yoko).

Maxwell's Silver Hammer - The bass has a oddly barky sound and the sort of resonance that makes me think it could possibly be Jazz or the Hofner.

I Want You - Sounds like the Hofner to me, and I think this one was recorded early in the sessions as well.

Here Comes the Sun - I think this song is one of the all time best examples of Paul's Rick sound.

The Medley - who knows? I tend to think it's the Jazz on a lot of it, because the bass sound doesn't pop out at my ears as on Here Comes the Sun or something like With a Little Help from My Friends.

johnashfield · Post by **johnashfield** » Sun Jul 17, 2005 10:40 am

Paul - thank you for the words about my album! That has really made my day! I can't tell you how many compliments I have got on my bass since you made the pickguard!

Ethan - I don't hear the hofner anywhere on Abbey Road because the bass sounds in tune. On Let it Be it is out of tune in just about every song.

Something - rick with mutes. Or maybe jazz. I lean toward the rick because of the crescendos he does before the runs that go down. The tone here is really close to what he has on "red rose speedway"

It is fun trying to figure it all out! It could almost be anything! The only song that is definite I think is "here comes the sun".

Again, Paul, I am on cloud 9 after reading what you said about my album!

soundmasterg · Post by **soundmasterg** » Sun Jul 17, 2005 10:51 am

I've always thought most of the Abbey Road stuff was the Ric or Jazz, with the exception of Maxwell's, which sounds like the Hofner to me. If you listen to the sound of Maxwell's in the Let it Be movie, it sounds the same on the released version as in there, and he was using the Hofner in the Let it Be movie.

jingle_jangle · Post by **jingle_jangle** » Sun Jul 17, 2005 10:58 am

John--when I see the **** that sells in the millions, and hear stuff like yours that obviously has thought and feeling and chops in it, I get pretty darned frustrated.

But that's the nature of our surfacey, celebrity-worshiping "culture".

ozover50 · Post by **ozover50** » Sun Jul 17, 2005 11:29 am

How does one get hold of a copy of your CD, John? Not forgetting I'm a zillion miles away, of course!!

revolver323 · Post by **revolver323** » Sun Jul 17, 2005 11:32 am

My memory fails and i don't have the CD handy, but I seem to recall Paul's bass being out of tune on the "She's So Heavy" lick in "I Want You." That'd be Hofner. However, listen to "Bluebird" from BOTR -- Paul's E string is flat through the whole thing, and that was his Rick as far as we know. But then again, the acoustic guitars also are out of tune on that song, especially on the descending lick just before the final chorus. I always figured he wanted the guitars that way to gibe it that "home brewed" sound. Can't figure that about the bass, though.

jingle_jangle · Post by **jingle_jangle** » Sun Jul 17, 2005 11:51 am

Aitch, you can go onto John's website

www.johnashfieldmusic.com.

There's info there on ordering and 3 sample songs from the CD that you can download. You'll immediately notice that they're great for singing and playing along with!

johnashfield · Post by **johnashfield** » Sun Jul 17, 2005 11:55 am

Hey Howard, you can also go to

http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/johnashfield2

There are samples there and stuff!

Thanks again Paul!

johnashfield · Post by **johnashfield** » Sun Jul 17, 2005 12:00 pm

Dave - I am going to listen to Abbey Road this afternoon. It is possible that "she's so heavy" is the hofner. I've been wrong before. I do know the part you are talking about.

BOTR was not the rick! It was an upside down jazz bass, of all things! The pics of him in africa show him playing a righty jazz with a sponge under the strings in front of the bridge. There are pics of him with other guitars, but just that jazz. Usually whenever the rick was around he'd be posing with it, or playing it, but not here. Which leads me to believe it was back in England.

The sponge would account for the out of tune quality because the pressure of the sponge changes the intonation slightly. I had this issue using the built in mut on the rics when I was recording a tune this year.

beefandbones · Post by **beefandbones** » Sun Jul 17, 2005 12:04 pm

Well, my ears aren't quite pitch perfect, so I couldn't say whether the Hofner is precisely in tune on the Let it Be cuts, but intonation isn't always the only reason a bass might be out of tune. Could just be slightly out of tune. I know he later complained about the intonation on that bass and had to have it fixed, but he was definitely using it during the LIB sessions and afterward (The Ballad of John and Yoko) so it was around the studio.

I have a Hofner 500/2 reissue (the Club bass) which can sound a lot like each of those songs, especially MSH, but of course, that doesn't prove anything...

I forgot about the mutes on the Rick - that could make sense on Something. Hadn't thought of that...

I think Paul used the Jazz on BOTR... The only pictures I've seen of him playing bass during those sessions show him holding the Jazz bass.