Macca's zero fret mod

[March Hare]

Gang,

Has anyone ever been able to nail down when McCartney had the zero fret put on the RM1999? In a couple of the narratives of folks at Ric who worked on it, they indicated it was there when they got it. It looks to be visible in a couple of pics from the Venus & Mars time period, and in some pics from the Red Rose-era period, as well. Any ideas?

curious,
March Hare

[congerz83]

Where do you see the zero-fret during the Red Rose Speedway era?

[March Hare]

It's visible here:

That's Henry's strap and ES, and Denny's arm.

[March Hare]

A bit clearer in this one, from August 1, 1972, KB Hallen, Copenhagen:

[congerz83]

I gotta say... I'm impressed. I thought I was well versed on info about that bass. Great find. That's clearly before the trip to Rickenbacker. The old horseshoe pickup & surround are clearly visible.

For a guy who modified his C64S to attempt the most accurate copy possible, you blindsided me. Again, great find!

[jps]

Excellent! A nice, clear shot of the old horseshoe surround.

[Wiker]

Not as clear, but these are supposed to be from the RAM sessions.
Also interesting that the horns are still intact.

[pag]

And the big chip out of the lower bout of the scratchplate is there.
Great attention to detail guys.
I am always curious to know what happened to the original parts once the later mods were done.
Did they end up in a parts bin at the factory?
For all we know someone out there could have a bass with Maccas original tailpiece on it.

[March Hare]

Rick/Jeff/Geir/Pete,

Yeah, thanks. I'd been kinda thinking about this since I got my own 4001C64S over the summer, and I got interested in really trying to be empirical about the 'when' piece: when did the various mods and changes take place? I have to say, it's interesting, the extent to which people appear to believe some things for which there is no evidence; the idea of the bass being returned to Ric during the recording of the 'White Album' being but one example.

But the question remains, still, when was the zero fret mod done? There is a pic in the deluxe, Paul McCartney Archive collection, bound version of McCartney, that shows the zero fret in place, as well. That puts it before Ram, even. I'm working on trying to date the pic in the book... it was probably taken by Linda, but I haven't sussed that bit yet. If you have the book, or access to it, it has a lot of great pics, in much nicer resolution than I could post, too.

My hypothesis is that the white-ish replacement nut and the zero fret mod are part and parcel. If you read Dale Fortune's (he worked on the bass at Ric) description of the zero fret and the nut,

"The zero fret on Paul's was mounted on a piece of Rosewood with a new top nut behind it. It was held in place with small screws that went into the peghead near the truss rod cover... The top nut was replaced because someone took the original one, drilled a hole in it and put it on their key chain as a trophy. Dick Burke had me cut a new one which looked just like the original one... It was only in my hands for about 5 minutes."

... and how it was all held in place, the idea that they were done at the same time begins to make sense.

cheers,
March Hare

[glking14]

The zero fret looks like it's there in the I am the walrus scene in MMT. Couldn't tell on All you need is Love,need higher resolution

[RobW]

About that picture, does anyone know if the pickup switch on the lefty 4001 is wired the same as the right-handed? So "down" on the lefty is the neck pickup same as "up" on the right?

[Maccaguy]

The zero fret looks like it's there in the I am the walrus scene in MMT. Couldn't tell on All you need is Love,need higher resolution

From the Hey Bulldog session and no zero fret.


July 1969, Abbey Road sessions. A new white nut, but to my eyes, no zero fret.

[bottom4]

Great pic. That's a new one for me...

[glking14]

Looks like 0 fret is there.

[antipodean]

On the Abbey road pic, the angle could be hiding the zero fret, and the slots in the nut a very deep....