Helter Skelter- The Beatles (Bass Cover) Squier Bass VI

Here's John Lennon's bass part for Helter Skelter- warts and all!

John played his Fender Bass VI six string bass guitar on this track. It's unclear which amp he used, either a Vox Foundation or a Fender Bassman

I'm using my 1965 Fender Bassman amp, mic'd up with a Neumann TLM-103. The Bass Guitar is a Squier Classic Vibe Bass VI, strung with flatwound strings

The last take of Helter Skelter was the one they chose for the White Album, and you can tell they were wired. Ringo famously shouts at the end 'I've got blisters on my fingers!' And John's bass line was very sloppy and inconsistent. I've tried my best to make this a note-for-note cover and attempted to recreate most of John's 'mistakes'. A major part of his isolated track is that the low E string is very sharp

He alternated between down-only picking and up-down alternate picking. At 1:01 he picks up and down and does a ska-like swing groove. At 2:26 he ends the doubled guitar riff on the chorus with G- F sharp- E- D- C sharp- A- B E, instead of the normal riff. 2:31 is the most blatent error, where he hits an E note very late. I personally love this little mistake! At 2:50, right before the breakdown he hits an A note early instead of an E

The breakdown part at 2:52 is just guitar feedback and noise. Then the song picks back up again at 3:04, where the bass fades in. You'll see I hit a bass note that doesn't make a sound until the fade in. He strokes an awesome intentional PLUNK upwards on the D-A-E strings at 3:06 then goes into a heavy riff on Low E that awkwardly jumps to E on the A string 7th fret. 3:12 he slides from D sharp to E instead of natural D. Around 3:29 he slows down, maybe from fatigue (it being the final take of many) then hits fast high E notes at 3:33. Playing a pentatonic riff coming out of the fast high E's he hits an open A note accidentally

I'll be doing a guitar cover of this song soon! This one was difficult to recreate so apologies for not making a video for a few weeks

Gear Used:
2022 Squier Classic Vibe Bass VI (sunburst)
La Bella 767-6F Flatwound Bass VI Strings .026-095
1965 Fender Bassman (with original cab and original Oxford 12t6 12" speakers)- I'm on the bass channel with the deep switch UP
Neumann TLM-103

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#helterskelter #thebeatles #basscover

[portagenial]

John's bass playing is sloppy and raw, and maybe it doesn't work on some songs, but in this it gives it such a punk feeling, it's the best for this song

[JacobKMusics]

FINALLY! A Bass VI cover of this song, and one that does it justice!

[elirosen]

Incredible! I honestly don't care how many mistakes Lennon made on the recording. I feel it contributes a great deal to the overall quality of the song.

[watmun]

John's bass playing style just works perfectly here. It's so raw and immature.

[Rsi-murn]

ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE!! Never seen such an accurate bass cover of helter skelter in my entire life. As a life long Beatles fan who has wanted to hear this baseline clearly, this is simply fantastic work

[PunkMarioBros]

My respect for John has just gone up even more for him coming up with this when he is a GUITARIST!!!

[jeffkahl]

This bass line is so proto punk! Absolutely killer job!

[DRguitar]

Duuude you nailed this. Johns playing style on this song is so distinct. Awesome job!

[brianfurry]

A lot of people are negative of John's bass playing but I this this sounds cool as hell. It's fairly rudementary, but that's what makes it sound unique. He doesn"t play like Paul and probably didn't want to. Just saying...

[OwenKufta]

It’s crazy how John did on Helter Skelter when you considered what happened on the long and winding road

[isaiah.fabela]

completely nailed the tone and all the little riffs. Idk how tf John came up with this. To hard for my brain to process. Congrats Sam!

[bullseyecello]

Finally someone who uses a Fender VI for this bass cover Nice job

[Alxvndro]

Wish it came out this clear on the album! Doing this song justice. So good, so many people are dismissive of this song but you highlight all the best parts of it.

[NatePhilipsMusic]

Sounds great. Interesting to hear an isolated part like this. Well done as always!

[jwardbass]

You even dressed up like him!!! I love that farty sound he got on the original recording but you matched him, mistakes and all perfectly!

[CallsignRedKale]

Finally, someone who covered it up with the one-of-a-kind 6 strings bass !

[joshgoldstein]

"I'm an artist, and if you give me a tuba, I'll bring you something out of it." - John Lennon

He sure as hell did with the bass on this one. Great cover mate.

[htomao]

You even nailed the white pajamas look

[Watermellyy]

And I love how you still included some of your own mistakes in there. It fees alot more genuine

[marcbolan]

Nicely done and John’s bass fitted the sound of the track.