Paul McCartney – McCartney III
The music gear and equipment used by the artists, producers, engineers, and more involved in the making of the 2020 album McCartney III.
Music from McCartney III
Gear Used On McCartney III
Explore the instruments, equipment, software, and production tools used in the making of Paul McCartney – McCartney III (2020). Click more on each item to see exactly how it was used.
Amplifiers used by Paul McCartney on McCartney III
Paul McCartney used the Marshall MBC410 Bass Cabinet during the recording of the album "London Town," as evidenced by a photo from Maccafan.
Guitars used by Paul McCartney on McCartney III
Semi-Hollowbody Electric Guitars
“Then there was another similar find. When I was going through the guitars I found - well, I knew we had it! - but a 1949 Gibson ES-5 lefty, which again is just so rare. It’s a really weird guitar because I think it’s a precursor to the Switchmaster.”
“It’s got three pickup controls, but only one tone, it doesn’t have the switches in it or anything. We spent a lot of time with it plugged in kind of messing with the controls trying to get the right tone out of the three pickups without any individual tone. But you get a very particular sound, it’s just warm and jazzy. Again, Paul will think ‘I want a nice warm tone’ and that’s the ES-5.”
Effects Pedals used by Paul McCartney on McCartney III
Avg price: $960.42
"For the distorted sound on Slidin’ we reamped the DI signal. There’s a couple of different pedals on that. There’s the Little Big Trees which is by Audio Kitchen. It’s like a little 2.5-watt valve stompbox and it sounds amazing. Then I also put it through an Electro-Harmonix Bass Micro-Synth. So it’s just a mix of that and the clean signal. I think there might have been a bit of Decapitator going on too!”
Avg price: $107.25
The Electro-Harmonix Small Stone EH4800 (Phase Shifter) is shown throughout this video.
Klon Centaur Professional Overdrive
Avg price: $3,821.29
The Klon can be seen throughout this video.
Pete Cornish Passive Play/Mute Switch
In this Reverb interview for McCartney III you can see it on his studio board.
Hofner (Höfner) Time and Again
Here we have a limited edition Time and Again pedal, also made by Hofner. It's an individually handmade all-analog delay that's an important part of Paul McCartney's current pedalboard.
Bass Guitars used by Paul McCartney on McCartney III
Avg price: $3,741.38
Paul McCartney has been using the Höfner 500/1 Bass since acquiring it in 1963, replacing his original 500/1 "Cavern" model. This bass, iconic to McCartney's image, was prominently featured during the "Get Back" sessions. Notably, he removed the pickguard and added a "Bassman" sticker. The bass still has a taped setlist from the 1966 tour, which includes songs like "Rock and Roll," "She's a Woman," "Day Tripper," and "Paperback Writer." This information is supported by a user-uploaded photo.