Which Bass on Nowhere Man?

[beefandbones]

Yeah, it really illustrates the influence of the player and the engineer on the tone of the instrument if we can't always tell a short-scale hollow-body bass with humbuckers from a longer-scale neck-though solid-body bass with single coils. Those basses ought to be immediately identifiable by the sound! It would be difficult find two basses with less in common.

As I recall, memory being fallible, Michelle is the only Rubber Soul song for which Paul has specifically mentioned using the Rickenbacker, and it came late in the sessions. Unless we find some evidence that Paul used the Rickenbacker throughout the Rubber Soul sessions, I suppose we'll always speculate about which bass was used on which song.

This is my take. Norman Smith tended to be consistent in his recording methods, meaning that he seems to have used the same methods and microphones for an instrument throughout the sessions for an album. It seems unlikely that he would have altered his methods if Paul were to bring in a different instrument during the sessions. We know that Michelle is the Rickenbacker. To my ears, Michelle and Nowhere Man do not have similar bass sounds, which, to me, indicates a change of instrument, a change in the style of the player (fingers v. pick?), or both. I'm not saying that it's definitively not the Rickenbacker on Nowhere Man, since I wasn't there, but that bass sure sounds a lot like my Hofner 500/2 Club bass and other Hofners I've played.

It's interesting how our ears can hear different qualities in a sound, isn't it?

Mark, what leads you to conclude that there's a lot of Rickenbacker action on Rubber Soul? Not meaning to be argumentative, just curious. I find that I no matter how much I read about the Beatles, there's always something I've missed or someone that knows more about something than I do.

[DavyR]

I'm new to the forum. Hello! Great thing you've got going here.

I hear ye 'ol Hofner on "Nowhere Man". The bass notes are bouncy and quick with not much sustian, elements of a Hofner with flats and not a RIC with flats, especially played midway up the neck. The higher notes are a bit distorted and some high notes have a tad of "quick" string buzz. What might be deceiving for John Lennon said that on Rubber Soul "we learned how to get more bass". Probably he meant low end. But still the bass guitar is fuller on this album and one might tend to conclude it's the RIC.

Also, I'll have to find the video of the interview, but I absolutely remember McCartney claiming that "Rain" and "Paperback Writer" were both the Hofner. Yikes!

[ric340JG]

According to this website, it's the Hofner.

http://oldies.about.com/od/thebeatlesso ... ereman.htm

[craig55]

The first bass Hall tried to give to Paul was a righty!
That is why Paul did not accept it.
A mistake that was confirmed many times by John Hall.

[JakeK]

Here's the songs of "Rubber Soul" and relavent singles/outtakes, and which bass I think Paul used:

Drive My Car - Ric 4001S
Norweigan Wood - Höfner 500/1
You Won't See Me - Ric 4001S
Nowhere Man - Höfner 500/1
Think for Yourself - Ric 4001S
The Word - Ric 4001S
Michelle - Höfner 500/1
What Goes On - Ric 4001S
Girl - Ric 4001S
I'm Looking Through You - Höfner 500/1
In My Life - Ric 4001S
Wait - Höfner 500/1
If I Needed Someone - Höfner 500/1
Run for Your Life - Höfner 500/1
12-Bar Original - Ric 4001S
We Can Work It Out - Höfner 500/1
Day Tripper - Höfner 500/1

[peewee]

I also believe it was the H500/1 on this track. My Vintage '62 and Vintage '63 basses totally capture the tone on the recording. When I owned my 4001C64, it came pretty close but nowhere near what I get with the Hofners. I'd also concur with Davy's tonal assessment in this matter. You've big ears, man.