When did McCartney sand off the points on the "horns?"

[daveman]

I think it was just part of the DIY, natural-wood aesthetic of the time (which was an evolution from the decorative hippie aesthetic). Paul was into design. It was his bass; he could personalize it, paint it, un-paint it, & do whatever his fancy suggested. (Plus he was high.)

[wim]

Interesting question.
Did anyone ever think about asking McCartney himself?

*maybe he wanted the bass to look less pointy?
*maybe he wanted to annoy the RIC people by creating a demand for ugly 4001s basses (which actually seemed to have worked)?
*maybe the wood splintered and he decided to remove it all?
*maybe he felt like ruining a nice bass just because he could?
*maybe he actually likes that look (OMG)
*...

[simer4001]

He has experimented with a lot of different looks. Zero fret, no zero fret. Horseshoe , no horseshoe. He has been messing with the 4001 since 1967.

[12stringbassist]

I'll go with back problems and bass weight.

[Grey]

Saying it was to reduce weight seems like a vain attempt to give the "mod" some kind of purpose beyond "he felt like it" and admitting it wasen't the best idea. If you wanted to reduce the weight on the bass, sanding off a few inches of wood is not where i'd start looking.

[johnallg]

Obviously it is the way he wanted it at the time. We all do that to our basses, make them the way we want them.

[jps]

Obviously it is the way he wanted it at the time. We all do that to our basses, make them the way we want them.

[atomic_punk]

Let's move on to the Red Wings sticker on his Texan. Why?

[simer4001]

The original sanding was to remove the trippy psych paint job from '67 (times had changed). I am sure that this was only the front of the body that was done. This would have left him with a 'natural' finish on the front with the original '65 Fireglo everywhere else.

He obviously decided to make the whole thing 'natural' one day on the farm. Depending on what type of sander he used (my guess is a rectangular belt style job), removing the finish from the edges inside the horns would necessitate sacrificing the pointy bits to gain access. It would be pretty impossible to do those inside edges with that kind of tool without losing some wood on the way in.

I think the Magical Mystery Tour paint came off, because it was already flaking off. It was just spray paint. The back of the body was painted white while the neck remained fireglo. It was all stripped down during LET IT BE. As for why he shavedthehorns, who knows?

[sloop_john_b]

Let's move on to the Red Wings sticker on his Texan. Why?

Wings, his band!

[Grey]

I think the Magical Mystery Tour paint came off, because it was already flaking off. It was just spray paint. The back of the body was painted white while the neck remained fireglo. It was all stripped down during LET IT BE. As for why he shavedthehorns, who knows?

I'm taking Shaved Horns for a band name.

[kiramdear]

Horns still have their points while working on RAM.

[bartyclue]

I think the Magical Mystery Tour paint came off, because it was already flaking off. It was just spray paint. The back of the body was painted white while the neck remained fireglo. It was all stripped down during LET IT BE. As for why he shavedthehorns, who knows?

I'm taking Shaved Horns for a band name.

Awesome!

[jwilli]

Did McCartney really ever say that he had a bad back? Or was he saying that the Rick felt heavy compared to the Hofner?

[artisan4]

Aren't they called 'cutaways', not 'horns'?

Horns are what you get when you mess with the bull.

The bass looked best in Fireglo, for sure.

Jimmy McCulloch=best guitarist he ever had.