Paul and the Höfner Beatle Bass

[JakeK]

I've been wanting to know about Paul McCartney and his Höfner Beatle basses. This is what I have on the two basses so far:

We all know the "Cavern" model was his first ("Beatles Gear" assumes it was a '61 model), and around the time of "She Loves You" (maybe even a little before that) Paul taped the neck pickup because it was falling out of place. He retired it from the road when he got his second (and most famous) Beatle bass arrived on the scene, but in '64, the '61 got a complete makeover, and became his backup bass until the August '65 tour. The bass was seen again in the "Revolution" promo film, and was his backup bass during the "Get Back"/"Let It Be" sessions, and was stolen shortly afterward.

The second Beatle bass' year of production confuses me. Höfner's '62 reissue of the bass is supposed to be a dead-on reissue of Paul's famous bass, but "Beatles Gear" says it was a '63 model. Anyway, we all know this was Paul's main bass in the studio from "With the Beatles"-"Help!", and his main stage bass from '63 til the last show in '66. He retired the bass for many years, only to use it again for "Get Back"/"Let It Be" as well as "Abbey Road". Since the '80s, it's become his main bass (his only bass, I think) for recording and stage work.

It always boggled me why Paul chose the '61 for the Revolution film. Why didn't he choose the '63? I know why he couldn't use the 4001S, mostly because it was still in "Magical Mystery Tour" paintwork. The Fender Jazz, as he stated, made him want to sit and play more.

I can guess why Paul used the '63 for stage work in '66 as well as "Get Back"/"Let It Be". Probably because people (guitar collectors or not) expected to see him playing the '63, and since "Get Back"/"Let It Be" was originally supposed to be a live show, Paul wanted to get the feel of his Höfner again.

Anyhow, the Höfner Beatle bass is a cool little bass with a lot of history. I would like to know a little about the bass, how they play, and if they can get a huge sound.

[wolfgang]

As far as I know the second Höfner bass was first used for "This Boy" and
"I want to hold you hand".
The new toy was pretty loud in the mix of This Boy and was used for the little signature lick
played (probably) with the treble pickup setting on. This was an edit piece and was hence not used for the German version "Komm gib mir deine Hand", where it was played on a guitar (probalby by George).

The Höfner basses have a really nice deep bass sound on the "bass" tone-setting because of a very well chosen treble-cut-filter circuity.

Wolfgang

[peewee]

I have two, Jake, -- a Vintage 62 and a Vintage 63 -- and the best way to describe the tone of them is to say they sound like a string bass was big cojones! The best way to reproduce Macca's tone is with the neck pup only and w/o the bass boost or "solo" switch. When the "solo" switch is engaged, it adds a bit of "woofiness" to the tone and takes away some of the clarity. Most of the time, I use a pick with the side of the palm of my right hand slightly muting the strings near the front of the bridge. Both of mine play great and for me, being somewhat vertically challenged, the shorter scale is a perfect fit. Of the two, the Vintage 62 is my favorite and sounds most like McCartney's bass. I love these instruments!

[jps]

IIRC, Paul keeps the Solo switch engaged. Most of the time I use just the neck pickup, usually by rolling the volume control down on the bridge pickup instead of using the pickup switches; the tone is more powerful with greater midrange detail allowing it to cut through a mix better.

What differences do you find between the V62 and V63 versions, Mike?

[peewee]

J,

From what I read a few months back, Macca used the solo very little, which surprised me. I used to use the solo setting exclusively until I read this.... I'm trying to remember where that came from but am drawing a blank at the moment. Once I switched off the solo and tweaked the preamp of my rig to resemble more of a Bassman type tone, I was able to closely replicate a lot of those tones; YMMV.

The differences between the two models are really kind of small but I think that the biggest difference are the tone woods. By that, I mean that my V62 has very little figure to the maple and that the overall tone of the guitar is more focused and woody sounding. OTOH, the maple of the V63 is highly figured and the guitar is a bit darker sounding. I've also experienced this with Les Pauls and those that were a bit less figured seemed to produce a more open and focused tone as opposed to those that were very flamed. Both of the basses are set up exactly the same and both have the stock flats on them.

The other differences are neck construction and profile. The V62 has a 2 piece maple neck and is just a hair chunkier in girth where the V63 has the 3 piece neck -- two pieces of maple with a beech center -- and is slimmer; almost like a J-Bass in feel. They're both very comfortable and the difference is barely noticeable, but I prefer the overall feel of the V62's neck -- it just fits in my hand better and I also prefer a clubby neck on a guitar.

[DavyR]

The SOLO/RHYTHM switch on a Hofner bass is only a volume cut in the RHYTHM position. It does not add or cut low end. However, being that the electronics are a bit strange maybe it does affect the tone very very slightly at higher volumes?

[servant]

...It always boggled me why Paul chose the '61 for the Revolution film. Why didn't he choose the '63?

I'm thinking it is because he wanted to use the "mute" near the bridge to muffle the sustain on the strings:

...

I don't know what that is... A rolled up wash cloth?
He may have experimented with that on the '63 but couldn't get the sound he was looking for because there was a pickup in the way.

My son did that on his Sting Ray bass (with some packing foam) when we played Fortunate Son.

[wolfgang]

The Rhythm-position lowers the output volume a bit but also decouples (electronically, and as a side effect) the pickups from the cable capacitance. This makes the sound a bit smoother.
But this makes almost no difference in sound when the "Bass" position is used.
As far as I know, Mccarney uses the Hofner more or less exclusively in the "Bass" position,
that means: only the neck pu is in use and a bass boost (or better "treble cut") is engaged.
The very low end is even more boosted by setting the bass volume knob a little lower than
full-up (this works only in the "Bass" position).
Wolfgang

[peewee]

After pouring through literally tens of pages of pics on the 'net, I've come to the conclusion that it most likely depends on which song is being played that determines whether the "solo" or "rhythm" setting is used. I've found evidence of him using both from as early as the Sullivan Show appearance -- clearly in the "rhythm" setting in one pic -- and as recent as this current tour from video of the Letterman show appearance.

Here are a couple links to those that best show the settings -

With "rhythm" selected:

http://mos.musicradar.com/images/featur ... 530-85.jpg

http://www.iangarrott.com/Paul%20McCartney.jpg


With "solo" selected:

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_eWSpnVtWzwE/S ... ture-1.jpg

[DavyR]

It would be fair to say that the 1961 Hofner with the 2 PUs towards the neck should produce more low end than the 1962/1963 Hofner and that since the electronics in these Hofners are passive, low end and high end can only be subtracted and can not be added.

That rag on the Hofner bass in the Revolution video is something else. Shows that the Beatles, with the help of technicians, did work to get a good sound or the right sound. Talk about trying to add more thump to an already thumpy bass with thumpy flatwound strings. LOL!

[peewee]

It would be fair to say that the 1961 Hofner with the 2 PUs towards the neck should produce more low end than the 1962/1963 Hofner and that since the electronics in these Hofners are passive, low end and high end can only be subtracted and can not be added.

That rag on the Hofner bass in the Revolution video is something else. Shows that the Beatles, with the help of technicians, did work to get a good sound or the right sound. Talk about trying to add more thump to an already thumpy bass with thumpy flatwound strings. LOL!

Right on, Davy!

[deaconblues]

Only the vocals were live in the Revolution video, so it didn't really matter what Paul played. My guess is that he was just digging his restored bass.

[wolfgang]

Dean,
wow, this IS the solution! Why his first Höfner in the video?
My guess:
The bass part of Revolution is a typical old fashioned Skiffle bass part.

Paul took his retired first bass, installed a heavy damper and played a One String Upright Skiffle Bass part
Immitating a Skiffle Bass.
I'm sure, he used it for the record, too.

Wolfgang

[jps]

Earlier this year Ian interviewed Paul's technician and the video clearly showed that there was tape or something blocking the switches from moving, with the neck pickup selected only and the S/R switch blocked in the Solo position. Even the recent Bass Player issue with Paul on the cover showed this. Anyone have a good block diagram of the electronics?

[DavyR]

It sure sounds like the 1961 on the record. A big fat distorted thump! Why would McCartney purposely switch basses for the video anyway?

Anyway, here's a diagram:
http://www.vintagehofner.co.uk/vintageh ... wire1.html

What a brilliant piece of work, except for the solo/rhythm switch. It appears that by disconnecting it one would get more volume since a tad of output is being grounded out even in the solo position where both resistors are engaged.
Correct me if I'm wrong. The bridge pickup is in the bottom of the schemetic. When the bottom switch is pushed down into the BASS ON position the bridge PU is disconnected while at the same time a fixed cap is engaged to bleed off high-end, just like a tone control withf a pot turned all the way up. When the top switch is pushed down into the TREBLE ON position the neck PU is disconnected while at the same time an in-line cap to cut low-end is not bypassed. The in-line low-end cut cap is bypassed and the high-end bleed cap is not engaged when both switchs are set in the up position, i.e., full output from both PUs with no tone caps active.