Paul's Magical Mystery Bass

sashua · Post by **sashua** » Mon Oct 02, 2006 8:10 pm

Does anyone have a close up or at least a decent picture of the psychedelic Rickenbacker 4001 bass that Paul played om MMT (and was it the same one he used on Sgt. Pepper's)?

I need a few pics if anyone can help. Send to my e-mail in high rez. if you are feeling helpful and generous. Otherwise post here.
Thanks all!
Russ

rickfan60 · Post by **rickfan60** » Mon Oct 02, 2006 8:27 pm

That bass was the 4001S given to him by F.C. Hall in 1964. It did not get much playing time until the studio years, most notably Pepper and Mystery Tour. He later stripped all of the paint off down to the bare wood. A few years after that, he sanded the horns down removing the cresting wave look. That bass was used extensively during the 1976 Wings Over America tour and on many Wings records in 70's. Rickenbacker repaired it for him in '75 or '76 before the WOM tour. At that time they replaced the aging horseshoe pickup and tailpiece with 70's versions of the parts.

atomic_punk · Post by **atomic_punk** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 3:04 am

I think Ronn is the man to help you with that...

marty · Post by **marty** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 3:29 am

There's some pics on this page:

http://www.thecanteen.com/mccartney6.html

bottom4 · Post by **bottom4** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 4:42 am

there's a thread under the beatles forum. Someone on this forum is having Paul W do up the MMT on a C64 - I want to say Dave P but not sure.

Ted, I believe JH actually presented McCartney with the 4001S - but don't hold me to that either

rickfan60 · Post by **rickfan60** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 4:50 am

I don't know who physically handed it to him but JH was only 14 or 15 years old then. It may have been '65 now that I think about it. PM refused it the first time around but accepted it the second time.

bottom4 · Post by **bottom4** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 4:59 am

It's actually Bob S who is having it done

Ted - FWIR it was not accepted in 64 , but was in 65. It thought I read here that it was presented by JH. I too wondered about his age!

leftybass · Post by **leftybass** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 5:02 am

Yep, '65. Got it home and put it to work on RUBBER SOUL.

iamthebassman · Post by **iamthebassman** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 5:38 am

There aren't any good photos I could ever find anyway. Just bits and pieces, no good,clear shots of the whole bass. I mainly used screen captures from the Anthology, from "Hello Goodbye" mostly.
I guess it's time I stripped mine down to the wood as everybody and his dog seems to be painting theirs nowadays.

shamustwin · Post by **shamustwin** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 5:48 am

In the link listed above, the photo of Paul sitting in a studio, anyone notice how low the neck pup sits? It's almost flush with the pg.

iamthebassman · Post by **iamthebassman** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 6:04 am

Well, he never seemed to use it. Most photos I've ever seen of that bass, at least in the Beatles period, shows the switch in the horseshoe position.

teeder · Post by **teeder** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 6:33 am

This has been kicked around quite a bit.
I also see the selector in the down position a lot.
A couple questions always come to mind though.
Didn't the Horseshoe have the cap then? If it is capped, how did he get that deep tone?
Would it be possible that the down position was actually the Toaster? Maybe the wiring harness was a righty flopped around for possibly the first lefty 4001s?

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 7:10 am

"In the link listed above, the photo of Paul sitting in a studio, anyone notice how low the neck pup sits? It's almost flush with the pg."

That's the way a 60s 4001 is ... the neck is thinner ... the surface of the fretboard is closer to the surface of the bass ...

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 7:15 am

Also the "Wings 4001" was the first Ric bass to have what was essentially a 4003 high gain pickup ... a 60s bass with a hot high gain pickup is a truly awesome combination ...

and yes perhaps the toggle on his 4001 was backwards ...

lowendbob · Post by **lowendbob** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 7:25 am

Brian Simer is the one that has the C64 with Paul.