While countless bass players have switched to guitar after going solo, Paul McCartney continues to play a Hofner 500 Violin Bass, the same type he played in The Beatles – and at least one legendary producer is happy he does.
Rick Rubin says when it comes to bass players, he thinks Paul McCartney outplays them all.
“I thought about how everything I’ve seen, Beatles-related, is either about the songwriting or Beatlemania,” Rubin said. “Paul McCartney the bass player – or Paul McCartney the musician, because he plays everything – that’s a little story told. You just think of him as Beatle Paul, yet in my opinion, he is the best of all bass players. He’s number one.”
Rubin got to know McCartney while making the docuseries McCartney 3, 2, 1 for Hulu.