Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Someone once told me the hofner Beatle bass was meant to be a LINK between a acoustic bass and a bass guitar, thus the extra low end and deeper sound. I use mine a lot in recording, and it will naturally stick out of a mix better if you play most things in 2nd position (higher up the neck). It can also sound muddy as hell on the low end. I usually end up cutting a lot of low end when I mix it.

Jerry I think you put your finger on the whole 60's style of electric bass playing and why people played up an octave instead of playing the lower notes, it became a style because you had to do it live to be heard. Hofners can be muddy down low but Rics and Fenders aren't and people played them up high also. It takes much less power from an amp to play 2nd position E as compared to low E. I actually really like that style and use it frequently in pop music. If you played loud during the 60's with your typical 50 watt Fender Bassman your bottom octave was softer and softer the lower you went. I was playing through a borrowed Silvertone twin Twelve, haha!

.....upon further review:

I think I have to re-think my statement on his picking technique. I can't really see anywhere that he used alternate picking techniques on ANY of his Beatle stuff....I DO notice that he picks really fast , just on the downstroke on most of the faster songs....unbelievably clear crisp tones for picking that fast!! Any of the dvd's that I've watched attest to this....

This may be new for some and old for others. Either way some interesting stuff here - enjoy!

http://abbeyrd.best.vwh.net/paulbass.htm

I have often heard that the Hofner was build to sound like a stand up bass too.

The scale is way too short for it to sound like an upright. There are no electric basses that I know of that can thump like an upright.

I've heard the uprights are pretty hard on the fingers Bob.....any thoughts on that? Maybe we should hook up Brian with one...

Yeah, I have a blister on my 4th finger on my fretting hand as I write, it seems to come and go. I definitely have much thicker callouses now. When I first started my whole body was tired and sore at the end of night, felt like I had been chopping wood and my fingertips felt like raw hamburger. Of course most people start gradually playing a little bit at first, I played it the whole night every time in one certain band which I play a lot in. Got me in shape quickly though. They are a lot of fun once you get used to them. I wish Rickenbacker would make horseshoe pickups again for them, something that would pickup in all axis's equally.
Who's Brian Chris? haha! I went back and didn't see the name.

Make that my third finger, thumbs aren't fingers.

Brian Crisman.....He's responsible for this:

Looks like Rickenbacker abuse to me! He should be ashamed of himself getting all that nasty red all over that pretty blue.

No he should be ashamed for having those foreign pickups in there, especially in an Azureglo.

I don't know about the other songs during the Super Bowl Half Time Show, but Paul was using alternating picking during Get Back.

I dunno if this is still relevant and i dunno if it sheds any light but I play Sir Paul in a Beatle tribute band and I read "Alot" of stuff to find his techniques into playing and sound. One of the things i found is that his hand is always close to the strings to "Half dampen" them. It gives a more "Bom bom bom" sort of noise, especially for recording. Also he started using the hammer on for the start of the note making it more laid back. On alternate picking he does use it in Get Back aswell as the hammer on technique.