Höfner

But some of that is debated.

So it's really hard to say because he did occasionally go back to the Hofner bass.

He obviously was using the Hofner bass for live shows and things like that here.

But I think reading through all the documentation, I believe the Rickenbacker was used on I'm Looking Through You.

Now, vocals, obviously Paul McCartney, they're double tracked all the way through, but it drops to that single track for the outro of the song.

The instruments that they are using, is this just what they brought with them to the studio? Did they have all the instruments that they had at their fingertips there at the studio that they could pick from and base off what they thought sounded or fit the best? Or did they go in with the intention, I like the sound of this instrument there, I'm going to use this instrument for this recording? This is where everything started changing.

You got to realize up to this point, they're touring.

And so you've got John with his Rickenbacker and George had a Rickenbacker and Paul had his Hofner.

The arrangement went as for John on vocal, rhythm guitar, and on organ.

Paul was on the Hofner bass, a regular bass, and electric piano.

George was on lead guitar and Ringo on drums and tambourine.

This song, John's raspy voice is perfect.

Because there was a slip-up in the rehearsal.

So Paul's bass, that Hofner violin bass, which is a very small body, but a very sort of long neck, the bass caught the curtain-

Oh, right

...

I'm thinking, oh, my God.

I've got Hofner basses, I've got acoustic, I've got piano.

I'm like, what's

going on? But

Yeah, we play music.

Is that a Hofner?

Yeah.

Yeah, I'm, I'm a musician, too.

They played, [laughs] they played all the old ear- early Beatles catalog and...

I mean, they, of course, they were weak in certain ways, but they, they played every part precisely and you could hear them.

And a guy, of course, had a lefty Hofner and he was doing some of the, the Paul-

Yeah

But more than anything, it was kind of, it had that same rush.

'Cause when I saw Paul, he walks out and he has that violin Hofner bass that he'd played on the Ed Sullivan Show, and it was like, "Oh my God, why isn't that in the Smithsonian?" You know? [laughs]

[laughs]

And, and when I walked into the Notre Dame stadium, it was kind of the same feeling of just like, wow.