Jigster Posted October 26, 2010 Share Posted October 26, 2010 wondering how much it's worth, if it's the original one he used, and if any one in the audience is daft enough to make a swipe for it!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EssentialTension Posted October 26, 2010 Share Posted October 26, 2010 [quote name='Jigster' post='1001812' date='Oct 26 2010, 10:11 PM']wondering how much it's worth, if it's the original one he used, and if any one in the audience is daft enough to make a swipe for it!![/quote] McCartney's Hofners (there were two of them) have got to be the most famous basses in the world, easily beating the Funk Machine and the Bass of Doom because he's so much better known than Jamerson or Pastorius. Half a million easily, probably more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yorks5stringer Posted October 26, 2010 Share Posted October 26, 2010 [quote name='Jigster' post='1001812' date='Oct 26 2010, 10:11 PM']wondering how much it's worth, if it's the original one he used, and [b]if any one in the audience is daft enough to make a swipe for it[/b]!![/quote] If anyone did try to swipe it I guess there would be a band on the run.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EssentialTension Posted October 26, 2010 Share Posted October 26, 2010 [quote name='yorks5stringer' post='1001906' date='Oct 26 2010, 11:47 PM']If anyone did try to swipe it I guess there would be a band on the run....[/quote] Not if they left by jet .... I'll get our coats. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyTravis Posted October 26, 2010 Share Posted October 26, 2010 Wonder how much Hofner owe those 2 basses?! I owned a 'Cavern' edition (the Hamburg model with the 2 pickups up near the neck) for a few months, and regretted selling it, unique sound. Watched it being played by the lad i sold it to last month, deep thumpy supportive bass. Lot to be said for a pickup near the neck... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
risingson Posted October 27, 2010 Share Posted October 27, 2010 I used a friend's old '67 to do a recording of Live and Let Die a while ago, it sounded absolutely incredible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ingenius Posted October 27, 2010 Share Posted October 27, 2010 contetious handgrenade.... but i thought Maccas bass sound was a bit lame and lost last night. I was listening through the hi-fi and it just didnt seem to cut through the other instruments enough. Am not doubting his tallent... just something missing in the low end!! regards Keith M Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Jack Posted October 27, 2010 Share Posted October 27, 2010 [quote name='ingenius' post='1002009' date='Oct 27 2010, 08:23 AM']contetious handgrenade.... but i thought Maccas bass sound was a bit lame and lost last night. I was listening through the hi-fi and it just didnt seem to cut through the other instruments enough. Am not doubting his tallent... just something missing in the low end!! regards Keith M[/quote] I didn't watch it, but your description sounds about right. Macca plays a 1963 500/1, mine is a 1964 - the only significant difference is that mine has a one-piece back. Played live, a 1950's technology shortscale with flatwounds is never going to "cut through" anything. If you watch any live footage of The Beatles in their early days Macca's sound is more woolly thump than penetrating melody. That wonderful sound we all associate with Macca's Hofner is courtesy of studio recordings under the control of George Martin. It's a real sound, and I can (pretty much) replicate it, as can anyone with a genuine 60's Hofner, but you'll struggle to hear it when played live. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
risingson Posted October 27, 2010 Share Posted October 27, 2010 [quote name='Happy Jack' post='1002064' date='Oct 27 2010, 09:28 AM']I didn't watch it, but your description sounds about right. Macca plays a 1963 500/1, mine is a 1964 - the only significant difference is that mine has a one-piece back. Played live, a 1950's technology shortscale with flatwounds is never going to "cut through" anything. If you watch any live footage of The Beatles in their early days Macca's sound is more woolly thump than penetrating melody. That wonderful sound we all associate with Macca's Hofner is courtesy of studio recordings under the control of George Martin. It's a real sound, and I can (pretty much) replicate it, as can anyone with a genuine 60's Hofner, but you'll struggle to hear it when played live.[/quote] I can't see McCartney putting up with a mediocre live sound from his rig and basses, he'll have the best techs available that I'm sure will have looked at his Hofners. Whilst I've not seen last night's show yet all the other live footage I've seen from him his sound has been mostly very good indeed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wombatboter Posted October 27, 2010 Share Posted October 27, 2010 I watched the show last night (pretty obvious that there's a re-edition of "Band on the Run" coming out shortly since he played two songs from that album) and I wasn't too enthousiastic about his bass-sound..couldn't really cut through. I share the feeling about good engineers succeeding in making it sound "fat". The difference between Macca and the next bass-player in "Later.." was huge..suddenly you could feel and hear bass. Good performance though from Macca..he sounds a bit "ropy" every now and then but now it was really rockish.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jigster Posted October 27, 2010 Author Share Posted October 27, 2010 yep i also struggled to hear his bass, thought it might be the new TV, but clearly not. loved the black keys btw, BUT, and odd to say it, didn't like the addition of bass and keys, their sound on first two albums is mind blowing with just guitar and drums. Assuming it's the idea that their sound has to develop, but i liked it just the way it was thanks very much Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niceguyhomer Posted October 27, 2010 Share Posted October 27, 2010 I actually twanged the strings of Macca's violin bass when I was a young boy in the 60's. He lived opposite me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lojo Posted October 27, 2010 Share Posted October 27, 2010 I wonder what his reasons for using it last night where, Id have love to see him playing the Ric as he was doing the wings stuff Re: cutting through, there was a ton of rack stuff there, was he running his bass though anything, surely that stuff was not all vocals? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keeponehandloose Posted October 27, 2010 Share Posted October 27, 2010 I remember reading somewhere that one of the reasons he got that fat recorded sound was the use of a 5" speaker used as a mic.Somehow it was wired to act as a microphone and placed in front of the cab,dont know if this is possible but its a good story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toddy Posted October 27, 2010 Share Posted October 27, 2010 Re the opening thread,,, knew one turned up in doncaster years ago,, managed to find the article,, [url="http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Long+and+winding+road+of+Paul%27s+guitar%3b+THE+DAILY+MAIL+SOLVES+30-YEAR...-a0111319228"]http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Long+and+win......-a0111319228[/url] not an original hamburg bass, but a gold plated one given to a 22 yr old macca by Hofner... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hobbayne Posted October 27, 2010 Share Posted October 27, 2010 [quote name='keeponehandloose' post='1002914' date='Oct 27 2010, 07:43 PM']I remember reading somewhere that one of the reasons he got that fat recorded sound was the use of a 5" speaker used as a mic.Somehow it was wired to act as a microphone and placed in front of the cab,dont know if this is possible but its a good story.[/quote] And a true one! Cut and pasted from Wiki... "'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. "To get the loud bass sound, 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." I had the chance to visit Abbey Road studios a few years back All that history and I was surprised how small it was! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keeponehandloose Posted October 27, 2010 Share Posted October 27, 2010 [quote name='Hobbayne' post='1002929' date='Oct 27 2010, 07:53 PM']And a true one! Cut and pasted from Wiki... "'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. "To get the loud bass sound, 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." I had the chance to visit Abbey Road studios a few years back All that history and I was surprised how small it was! [/quote] So how exactly would that work? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZMech Posted October 27, 2010 Share Posted October 27, 2010 [quote name='EssentialTension' post='1001893' date='Oct 26 2010, 11:29 PM']McCartney's Hofners (there were two of them) have got to be the most famous basses in the world, easily beating the Funk Machine and the Bass of Doom because he's so much better known than Jamerson or Pastorius. Half a million easily, probably more.[/quote] well i'd be extremely suprised if it went for more than hendrix's guitar. considering how many people would say 'what? mccarney played bass?' I'd be shocked if it's worth over £100k Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squire5 Posted October 27, 2010 Share Posted October 27, 2010 (edited) Keeponehandloose,the output from the second speaker would be fed into the recording console,instead of miking or DI'ing the bass amp.Speakers work like microphones,only in reverse,so a speaker placed in front of another speaker would act like a mike.I would have thought that the bigger the 2nd speaker,the bigger would be the frequency range,hence the punchier sound on 'Paperback Writer' and others. Edited October 27, 2010 by squire5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LukeFRC Posted October 27, 2010 Share Posted October 27, 2010 the air waves from the speaker move the cone of the recording speaker this moves a magnet in a coil (or vise-versa) which then induces a current in the wire- viola! a microphone. Unscrew the top off a SM58 and you will see something that looks a wee bit like a very small speaker... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doctor J Posted October 27, 2010 Share Posted October 27, 2010 The same way as any dynamic microphone, just bigger. It's common enough these days. So many people were taking an NS10 speaker and using it as a mic on bass drums that Yamaha made the subkick, which is really just an NS10 speaker in a drum shell. Used on bass and bass drums, because it's a bigger surface it doesn't move as quickly and doesn't really pick up high end, a big fat low end is your reward. [url="http://usa.yamaha.com/products/musical-instruments/drums/accessories/lowfreq/skrm-100sfv/?mode=model"]http://usa.yamaha.com/products/musical-ins...sfv/?mode=model[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EssentialTension Posted October 27, 2010 Share Posted October 27, 2010 [quote name='Zach' post='1003020' date='Oct 27 2010, 09:12 PM']well i'd be extremely suprised if it went for more than hendrix's guitar. considering how many people would say 'what? mccarney played bass?' I'd be shocked if it's worth over £100k[/quote] Well, I've no idea really what it would fetch at auction - it was merely a rough guess and there'd only be one way to find out exactly how much - but whether people know McCartney played bass is of no relevance here; it's not really even relevant that it is a bass. All that matters is that it is the most iconic of all Beatles instruments with absolutely clear and straightforward provenance. I wouldn't be at all surprised to find that the real thing is in a vault somewhere and what we see him playing is one of several 'copies' for touring. Here's a [url="http://www.skinnerinc.com/asp/fullCatalogue.asp?salelot=2333++++++31+&refno=++669887"]1958/1963 Gibson Explorer which sold at Skinner's auction house in New York for $611,000 in October 2006[/url] - it didn't even belong to anyone famous: Here's [url="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/celebritynews/2684648/Scorched-Jimi-Hendrix-guitar-sells-for-280000.html"]one of several Stratocasters burned by Hendrix[/url] - it sold for £280,000 in 2008: I can't see that £500,000 for McCartney's Hofner is so unlikely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Jack Posted October 28, 2010 Share Posted October 28, 2010 [quote name='EssentialTension' post='1003223' date='Oct 28 2010, 12:06 AM']Here's [url="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/celebritynews/2684648/Scorched-Jimi-Hendrix-guitar-sells-for-280000.html"]one of several Stratocasters burned by Hendrix[/url] - it sold for £280,000 in 2008: [/quote] Burned? Call that [i][b]burned[/b][/i]? Huh! That barely qualifies as relic'd these days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EssentialTension Posted October 28, 2010 Share Posted October 28, 2010 [quote name='Happy Jack' post='1003322' date='Oct 28 2010, 08:27 AM']Burned? Call that [i][b]burned[/b][/i]? Huh! That barely qualifies as relic'd these days. [/quote] True, but how much would the Beatle bass fetch at auction? - IYHO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noelk27 Posted October 28, 2010 Share Posted October 28, 2010 (edited) [quote name='wombatboter' post='1002325' date='Oct 27 2010, 12:37 PM']The difference between Macca and the next bass-player in "Later.." was huge..suddenly you could feel and hear bass.[/quote] And the next guy was playing a lovely Aria Pro II SB900. Actually, it was a great show for vintage basses, as the third bass up was an old Fender Mustang. Edited October 28, 2010 by noelk27 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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