Beatle Bass

AcornHouse

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When I've listened to isolated bass from those recordings, the Hofner always sounded like crud.
 

walrus

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I actually think he's got that underpriced...

walrus
 

fronobulax

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I recognize that it is iconic but the Hofners never did anything for me. I'm with mavuser - spend the money on a Starfire.
 

dreadnut

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You guys are major Guild-o-philes, LOL. I would prefer a Starfire too, but this 51-year-old Hofner is a pretty cool relic nonetheless. Especially in minty condition from the original owner.
 

fronobulax

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You guys are major Guild-o-philes, LOL. I would prefer a Starfire too, but this 51-year-old Hofner is a pretty cool relic nonetheless. Especially in minty condition from the original owner.

Hehe. Ignoring the sound, the scale is shorter than a Starfire which means it was awkward for me to play, sliding switches are harder to use than toggles, I had a hard time playing one seated and the owner had lots of stories about how hard it was to find and change strings. As long as I am playing for my own enjoyment I did not enjoy the ones I played ;-)
 

gilded

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Hehe....the scale is shorter than a Starfire which means it was awkward for me to play...... ;-)

Frono, what do you think the difference is in scale length between a Beatle Bass and a Starfire Bass?
 

mavuser

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im not sure what the scale is on a Beatle bass but the Gibson EB-1 (and EB-1 reissue) and EB-2 are 30.5 like a Starfire. id get those before the Beatle bass as well. McCartney's sounded great, I will concede. But if you are not in a Beatles cover band, or not otherwise just in love with playing that thing...i'd get a Starfire
 

richardp69

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I know little to nothing about bass guitar or most everything else for that matter so I certainly can't make any judgement. However, from a "coolness factor" I like it, I like it a lot. I will say that I think Sir Paul lays down some wicked sweet bass lines. In fact, I often find myself listening mostly to his bass lines on old Beatles tunes and that's a bit unusual for me anyway.
 

mavuser

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it's not going to sound like Paul unless you play it left-handed!

I asked a very highly regarded bass player once for one single tip on how to best learn to play bass, that person told me "listen to James Jamerson and Paul McCartney. and copy what they are doing"
 

fronobulax

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Frono, what do you think the difference is in scale length between a Beatle Bass and a Starfire Bass?

I've seen 30" and 29" quoted. I didn't measure. The half inch was enough that the muscle memory got it wrong for me. Don't judge me. We live in a world where guitarists claim they can feel the difference of 1/16 " in nut width :)
 

twocorgis

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When I've listened to isolated bass from those recordings, the Hofner always sounded like crud.

Couldn't agree more! I heard McCartney himself once called it a "fishbox with strings".
 

jp

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I'm going to be the contrarian on this one. I really like Hofners a lot. I have a mid-60s Hofner Club bass that gets the same sound as a violin bass, and I love it to death.

I really dig how different the resonance and attack is on it, and the woody thump works with a lot of different kinds of music. I've found it a competent substitute for upright with country, R&B, funk, and rock styles. I mostly like how unique it sounds from the standard P- or J-bass, just like a Starfire or Gibson EB differs from the regular solid body sound. I don't feel it's better or worse than other basses -- just singular and unique.
 

adorshki

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I'm going to be the contrarian on this one. I really like Hofners a lot. I have a mid-60s Hofner Club bass that gets the same sound as a violin bass, and I love it to death.
I really dig how different the resonance and attack is on it, and the woody thump works with a lot of different kinds of music. I've found it a competent substitute for upright with country, R&B, funk, and rock styles. I mostly like how unique it sounds from the standard P- or J-bass, just like a Starfire or Gibson EB differs from the regular solid body sound. I don't feel it's better or worse than other basses -- just singular and unique.

After a couple of the previous comments I found myself trying to remember if there were any Paul licks from the Hofner era that I really liked, compared to the sound after he got the Rickenbacker that premiered on "Paperback Writer".
Then I remembered the live version of "Daytripper" on Tokyo '66.
He could make that Hofner boom pretty good when he wanted to, and maybe "under the right circumstances"?
"Rain" is another one.
I don't know what he used on that but it was recorded during the same 4-day stretch as "Writer".
 

walrus

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Right, the live recordings like "Hollywood Bowl" would show the sound of the Hofner pretty well.

Just some trivia, his original reasons for buying that particular bass was it's very light weight, and he (and the other Beatles) liked how it looked "symmetrical", i.e. neither an obvious lefty or righty bass. Of course, then it became his "trademark", and he always played a Hofner live in The Beatles. Still plays one now!

But The Beatles in general were not "gear freaks", except maybe George. They had no "guitar techs" or anyone like that. You can count the number of different guitars Lennon played on one hand, same with McCartney's different basses. But as Al said, McCartney could make the Hofner do what he wanted, within it's technical limitations.

There's a great scene in the "Imagine" film where Lennon complains that his Epiphone Casino is getting to be unplayable. No surprise considering how much he used it and the beating it took. But when you see that scene, you say to yourself, "So then get a new guitar, John!". Right? He's got the money!

walrus
 

Antney

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I was under the impression that paul used his Rick on most recordings
 

adorshki

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I was under the impression that Paul used his Rick on most recordings
Well, post "Paperback Writer" I'd believe it:
"Paperback Writer" is marked by the boosted bass guitar sound throughout, partly in response to John Lennon demanding to know why the bass on a certain Wilson Pickett record far exceeded the bass on any Beatles records.[11] This changed with the "Paperback Writer" single.
"'Paperback Writer' was the first time the bass sound had been heard in all its excitement," said Beatles' engineer Geoff Emerick in Mark Lewisohn's book The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions. "Paul played a different bass, a Rickenbacker. Then we boosted it further by using a loudspeaker as a microphone. We positioned it directly in front of the bass speaker and the moving diaphragm of the second speaker made the electric current."[11] Further, McCartney's playing was more melodic and busy than on previous tracks.
[12]

And he uses it in the "Magical Mystery Tour" movie, but it looks like he pulled the Hofner back out for the "Let It Be' sessions, which only makes sense given the "back to the roots" intent of the sessions.

He had at least one Fender, too. If I remember the story correctly they sent him a lefty in '66 I think it was:
SMG_Paul_McCartney_Fender_Bass.jpg

(correction: now have newer info it was in '68,which ties in with reported use on the Beatles)
Interesting discussions about what used and when, here:
https://www.talkbass.com/threads/paul-mccartney-and-his-basses.856808/
 
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