Old-Timer's Take on 4003 vs C64S

[Starless]

Kira, thank you for this image:



That brings it all back with avengance. Don't know where the pic was taken, but that is the 'Wings Over America' garb that the band wore during the prior tour of Europe and (obviously) the UK. I was as close to that bass (and the bloke wearing it) as I am to this laptop. Aberdeen Capitol Theatre September 1975? 76?

I didn't have a ticket (capacity 2000 - what chance did anyone have?), so hung around outside the stage door on the morning of the gig along with a couple of other 'chancers'. The trucks rolled up and we offered our services. We were in!

Over 30 years ago, but there was a lot of gear (lasers and everything - a big deal in those days), and it was heavy. Just an endless stream of black cabs wheeled in. Once all inside, one of the 'official' roadies set out chairs towards the front of the stage and delegated me the task of laying masking tape down where the front legs of the chairs were positioned. This was to enable the crew to place the chairs during the performance for the acoustic set (Bluebird, Yesterday etc). I was meticulously ripping off tape and sticking it on the floor to the front and both sides of each chair leg (a 'X' marks the spot would have sufficed, but this was an IMPORTANT job, so I had to do it with some style), when I was aware of some commotion at the back of the stage.

The band had arrived.

Difficult to describe what I felt, Denny Laine is no big deal, but it was definitely Denny Laine, and I really couldn't care less, but seeing Denny Laine meant that somewhere behind him or to the side of him, or even in front of him would be the man everyone was coming to see that night. Funny how the human brain operates. I didn't actually register having seen Paul McCartney even though he was right in front of me, and looking at me, probably wondering who this gawky teenager was bent over the stage with a roll of tape in his hand creating a work of art around his acoustic set chair legs. He walked away and sat at the piano (the house piano - they didn't take their own) and started playing something - to this day I have no idea what he played, but all I can remember is he didn't look at the keys. He was playing something and looking around him and out to the auditorium. It was then he spotted the cleaning ladies and in an instant, the Macca charm kicked in, vamping something fast and egging them on as they danced.

It was at that point that I realised that although I had only seen and heard McCartney playing the piano, the whole band were now actually running through a number (Little Woman Love - I think), and I was still crouched at the front of the stage, frozen to the spot. The rest of the pre-gig time is pretty much a blur, I just have a vague recollection of Linda practising the 'Jet' synth solo over and over again.

I somehow ended up crouching beside the right-hand balcony spot operator, and the show just sped past... although I do remember two ****-ups during the performance: The Long and Winding Road should have had a backdrop painting (of a chair I think) on display, but after McCartney had started singing he motioned to the side of the stage and pointed to the missing backdrop. It sheepishly lowered itself into position as he was singing. Secondly, Macca started Live and Let Die and when he got to "...was an open book..", one of the flash-bangs went off prematurely.

Funny how I only remember what went wrong, whatever went right that night is completely gone.

Sorry, slightly off topic there, but having just aquired THAT bass, even that didn't nudge my memory of the day I was a Wings roadie (before they were famous of course).

Thank you again Kira for that pic.

[pineder]

What about this pic, I though he sanded the LSD paint job off along with the horns...

[kiramdear]

here it is with the paint job

[kiramdear]

and one more...

[kiramdear]

What about this pic, I though he sanded the LSD paint job off along with the horns...

maybe this one is the tea break version

[rickaddict]

The bass was sanded more than once. I'm not the resident Macca bass expert, but I've read it here as told by those much more knowledgeable than I. The first time (photo above) the horns weren't shaved, but the Fireglo was gone. The second time, the horns were rounded. The only photos I've seen of the bass with rounded horns from the 70's also feature the RIC factory mods (improvements) ( ) of hi gain, small surround, new bridge/tail, and pick guard.

[rickaddict]

Okay, devil's advocate - if this is a Macca repro, why the HS and not a high gain??!! With the high gain type suirround, having a HG and not a HS would have made more sense.

Submitted once again for your perusal, sir...This is today's version of the Macca bass, which is what the C64S is supposed to be: (look closely at the pickup...ignore the sticker!)

[rickaddict]

This is Paul's bass as it was for most of the 70's:

[rickaddict]

So you see...When the re-issue horseshoe was installed in the bass (mistake), the 70's surround was retained.

Sorry to be such a supreme tool. It's just who I am!

[johnallg]

Actually. while we're being anal about this much detail ( ), that 70s picture of the naked high gain looks like a barefoot reissue horsey with the big pole magnets. But I realize it can't be as RIC hadn't made them yet.

[kiramdear]

At what point did he reshape the body at the upper "waistline", where his arm would rest while playing? Was it the same time he did the horns

[bassduke49]

Kira, not sure what you mean there. It appears "normal" to me for an S model. If you study pictures (or an actual S bass if you have access to one), the upper waist line is quite rounded (front to back). The lack of binding on the front allows this, and this is one feature that many bassists prefer, as the relatively sharp edge to the bound body can be bothersome (or even painful) to some players. This rounding starts just past the crest of the upper horn, then tapers off to a flat edge by the time it reaches the rear "hip" on the topside. Witness my FG V63:

[kiramdear]

If the "S" series are based on his own (sanded) model(?) wouldn't they have copied that rounding over too? Or are you saying the rounding was original to the series before he worked on it ?
Wait, here's the 4001 C64: I see the front is rounded but I dont know about the bacK. Squared, right? And is this the model as it was first presented to Paul? Did he round off only the back edge, later?

[bassduke49]

OK, I think we have to define the "S Model." I'm speaking of the "S Model" in the sense of the non-deluxe family, to which the 4000, 4001S, 4003S, 4001V63, 4001C64, and 4001C64s belong. ALL of them have the unbound body and neck. All of them have rounded-off edges to the rear of the body (the side that rests against the player). This rear edge is also rounded-off on the deluxe models (4001 and 4003). The front edge (away from the player's body) is squared off to hold the binding on the deluxe models, but for the non-deluxe "S Models," the top front edge is rounded off for player comfort.

Macca's bass was an early 4001S with the unbound body/neck, dot position markers, etc., so it originally had the rounded-off top front edge between the upper horn and the "hip." This is what the 4001C64 represents (as did the 4001V63). When Macca did his sanding thing, he first sanded off the SPLHCB/MMT "psychedelic" paint scheme, then later on (early '70s?) he sanded it again, rounding off the upper and lower horns. The current 4001C64s emulates that shape (the current shape, I suspect). I can't detect from photos of Macca's instrument that any further sanding of the top edge was done.

[kiramdear]

Thanks for filling me in, Paul. I always wondered about the low-down on Macca's butchery. Guess I'm like so many for whom that bass is an object of fascination. Did he modify the controls when he changed pickups (was it twice?)?