On youtube.com there are a few Beatles videos featuring footage from the Lady Madonna and Hey Bulldog sessions and you can see the bass pretty well in those videos. If I remember correctly...
But Nick, those stills are *very* clear! Thanks for posting those!
Looking at those pictures, the paint job dosen't look as bad. Just the paint all over the pickguard looks likd of sloppy IMHO. Had it been done professionally, it might have looked awesome!
I recently went back to playing a Rickenbacker bass. Its like meeting an old friend again