Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Was sitting around, doing my taxes and listening to the LP (genuine vinyl too!) which might have been called EMI Studios. I know it's been said that Macca played a J Bass on certain White Album cuts. But AR sounds pretty 4001-ish. Was he still dabbling in other brands at the end or was it Rick from Come Together until The End?

Supposedly both the Jazz and the Hofner are on the LP. I'm pretty sure I read that Golden Slumbers is the Jazz and I Want You is the Hoffy.

There are photo's from the Come Together sessions around the internet. Paul is playing his Rick during those sessions.

Golden Slumbers is supposedly George on bass, and its definitely a Jazz.

Cool. I'm not an expert, and maybe upon listening I get 'em confused. What's the sound on Silver Hammer? The Hofner or the Rick?

My guess is the Ric on Maxwell. Too clean and focused to be the Hofner.

As stated in another thread here, the latest issue of Bass Player says Paul used the Ric on "Something." I'm still not convinced that -- according to the transcription of the bass line in BP -- he tuned the E string down to D, then played that low D only once. There's also been some discussion here about "She's So Heavy." I vote for the Hofner, but it's very hard to tell. Geoff Emerick's book was no help at all.

The tone on Maxwell is very similar to the tone on Silly Love Songs so I vote Ric on that one.

What about Octapus' Garden?

To me Maxwell's sounds just like the sound he got in the Let It Be film when they were practicing that song in there, and you'll notice he was using the Hofner there.

I've always thought that I Want You (She's So Heavy) was the 4001 or a Jazz bass myself.

Whatever he was playing, it sounds more or less consistent on that LP to me.

Maxwell's Silver hamer could be the Bass VI. It really sounds more like when George was playing bass in the movie.

My gut feeling on I want You is a Hofner, my other guess would be a Rick.

Paul did say he would play the Hofner like it was a guitar, whereas with a "real" bass he would sit down and play more like bass. My best guess would be the Hofner on IWY.

I'm not sure what "like a guitar" and "real bass" means. If he meant playing up high is like guitar then that's counter to what really happened with his playing in the Beatles. He didn't start playing up high until he got the Ric. It's been mentioned here before that the Hofner would go out of tune when he played up high due to improper intonation. Apparently that was fixed in later years at Manny's or Mandolin Bros in New York (somebody provide correct info here on that). This is the primary reason many people feel he played the Ric on I Want You since the high parts are in tune.

Yes, I was going to mention the out of tune thing too, but you beat me to it. I think he had the Hofner fixed in the late 70's or early 80's, but before that it would play out of tune above about the 5th fret from all reports.

Greg, the Beatle Bass' bridge is free movable, so the better word for 'fixed' is probably 'adjusted'. This shows how little the Beatles (and Mal Evans)knew about their hardware...