Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

From rotosound.com: "Tru Bass 88 (Black Nylon Flatwound) - Most famously heard on the Beatles album ‘Abbey Road’.

I vaguely remember a pic of the Hofner with black strings, but I'm not sure. Did he ever use them? On what bass? Which songs? Was it on the Fender Jazz? The Hofner? Couldn't be the Ric.

Either way, great strings.

Paul does have black strings on the Hofner in "Let It Be." I don't know if it ha sever been proved that they are Rotos. LaBella also made nylon tape wound strings at the time.

La Bella still make black nylon tapewound strings - and in a specific "Beatle bass" length, what's more.
I'm by no means an expert, but I always had the impression Abbey Road was the Rickenbacker - and it seems to me I've seen photos where that appeared to have black tapewound strings...

I always thought nylon tapewounds were a bit too "thunky." for my tastes. The stock Rickenbacker flats that shipped with basses in the 1960s and early '70s were actually pretty nice but were usually thrown away because Chris Squire rolled out Swing Bass strings on his Rick. Today, I think something like Thomastik Infeld Jazz Flats would sound great on a Rick if you're looking for a McCartney sound. What bass Paul used on Abbey Road gets plenty of mileage over on TalkBass and has been kicked around here as well. Personally,I think he used both on the Hofner and the Rick. I vote for Hofner on "She's So Heavy," Rick on "Here Comes the Sun."

revolver323 wrote:Personally,I think he used both on the Hofner and the Rick. I vote for Hofner on "She's So Heavy," Rick on "Here Comes the Sun."

Don't forget the Jazz!

We don't want to get into another "What bass did Paul on what song?" do we?

The black nylons were only on the Hofner, during "LIB".

I've got a set that I intend to put on my 4005 someday. Used them before on it, very nice.