Its main problem is in the inaccuracy of the tuning when you get up the neck a bit. I like it a lot – you play a lot faster, very easily. Obviously, my big influence was bass, but John and George had the guitars and, even though they weren’t as good as, say, Fenders or Gibsons, they had a great, distinctive sound. “I think that Höfner was one of the first companies with any decent instruments, not only the Violin Bass, but also their guitars. But the violin shape was symmetrical, so it didn’t look quite as stupid as some of the others did – for instance, when their cutaways were on the upside. Every guitar I ever used had to be right-handed, because back then, they didn’t make special left-handers, so I used to turn them upside down. “To tell you the truth, it was because I was left-handed. McCartney bought his first Höfner – a violin-shaped hollowbody instrument in a shaded brown finish, with pickups in the neck and middle positions and a 30-inch, short scale length – on one of The Beatles’ early trips to Hamburg. Originally a rhythm guitarist and occasional pianist, Paul assumed the role of bassist when Stuart Sutcliffe quit The Beatles in mid 1961 to pursue an art career. The one he now uses is the same one from the last Beatles tour, with the original setlist still Sellotaped to the side! He is, of course, the man synonymous with the Höfner 500/1 Violin Bass and it was his recent songwriting collaborator, Elvis Costello, who encouraged Macca to bring his trademark instrument out of retirement when they were working on Costello’s Spike album. Yet McCartney’s contributions to the bass guitar – and of course, popular music – are truly outstanding. Often! Probably every time I’ve done a bass part.” A few years ago, when asked if he ever had doubts about his playing, Macca replied: “Definitely. It was a title bestowed on him almost habitually throughout the 60s and 70s… but in the 90s? McCartney typically shies away from such tributes. In 1991, exactly 30 years after becoming a bass player through necessity, Paul McCartney was honoured with Rolling Stone magazine’s Best Bassist Of The Year award. This interview was originally published in our September 1993 issue.
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