Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Does anybody have any idea what settings (knobs, pickup-switch) Paul used with his Rick. Did it vary over the years? I know i'm an idiot to ask such a complicated question.

He rolled back on the tone on both pickups greatly and used flatwound strings and a pick. That's all I can conclude with. The bass on his amp was mostly bass and hardly any treble.

JakeK wrote:He rolled back on the tone on both pickups greatly and used flatwound strings and a pick. That's all I can conclude with. The bass on his amp was mostly bass and hardly any treble.

Disagree! Paul's bass sound was punchy as hell and you wouldn't get that with rolled-off tone. His sound is a mixture of flatwound strings, pick attack, heavy tube compression. I got my closest approximation of Paul's tone using the bridge pickup of my 4003 (a modern higain) and Thomastik-Infeld Jazz Flats.

This page talks about McCartney's preferences.

viewtopic.php?f=7&t=351687&view=unread#unread

JB, I saw/heard/read somewhere that Paul rolled back on the tone. Just heresay.

It's amazing how close heresay is to heresy.

But I too, read somewhere (on this very forum, I believe) that Macca rolled back only on the treble tone just a bit, and ran the rest full tilt. And if you listen to '66-'67-era material (check Sgt. Pepper's opening, etc., and tracks like Baby You're a Rich Man), you just can't get that tone and HUGE bottom end with the treble P/U only. Well, in my mind. YRMV.

FretlessOnly wrote:And if you listen to '66-'67-era material (check Sgt. Pepper's opening, etc., and tracks like Baby You're a Rich Man), you just can't get that tone and HUGE bottom end with the treble P/U only. Well, in my mind. YRMV.

Especially not on Paul's bass, which most likely had the bass cut cap. Neck pickup, on the other hand...