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Re: When did McCartney sand off the points on the "horns?"
Posted: Sat Mar 17, 2012 3:32 pm
by 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.)
Re: When did McCartney sand off the points on the "horns?"
Posted: Sat Mar 17, 2012 5:30 pm
by 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)
*...
Re: When did McCartney sand off the points on the "horns?"
Posted: Sun Mar 18, 2012 7:03 pm
by 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.
Re: When did McCartney sand off the points on the "horns?"
Posted: Fri Mar 23, 2012 7:09 pm
by 12stringbassist
I'll go with back problems and bass weight.
Re: When did McCartney sand off the points on the "horns?"
Posted: Fri Mar 23, 2012 8:26 pm
by 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.
Re: When did McCartney sand off the points on the "horns?"
Posted: Fri Mar 23, 2012 11:21 pm
by 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.
Re: When did McCartney sand off the points on the "horns?"
Posted: Fri Mar 23, 2012 11:28 pm
by jps
johnallg wrote: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.
Re: When did McCartney sand off the points on the "horns?"
Posted: Wed Apr 11, 2012 3:33 pm
by atomic_punk
Let's move on to the Red Wings sticker on his Texan. Why?
Re: When did McCartney sand off the points on the "horns?"
Posted: Wed May 16, 2012 11:56 am
by simer4001
SamBailler wrote: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?
Re: When did McCartney sand off the points on the "horns?"
Posted: Wed May 16, 2012 12:08 pm
by sloop_john_b
atomic_punk wrote:Let's move on to the Red Wings sticker on his Texan. Why?
Wings, his band!
Re: When did McCartney sand off the points on the "horns?"
Posted: Wed May 16, 2012 1:46 pm
by Grey
simer4001 wrote: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.
Re: When did McCartney sand off the points on the "horns?"
Posted: Wed May 16, 2012 2:00 pm
by kiramdear
Horns still have their points while working on RAM.
Re: When did McCartney sand off the points on the "horns?"
Posted: Wed May 16, 2012 5:36 pm
by bartyclue
Grey wrote:simer4001 wrote: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!
Re: When did McCartney sand off the points on the "horns?"
Posted: Wed May 16, 2012 6:53 pm
by 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?
Re: When did McCartney sand off the points on the "horns?"
Posted: Wed May 16, 2012 9:18 pm
by 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.