Paperback Writer- The Beatles (Guitar Cover)

I'm using the new ‪@aclamguitars‬ Doctor Robert V3 pedal to nail Paul's lead crunch tone!

Paperback Writer was released as a single in 1966, with Rain as its b-side. It was recorded on April 13th and 14th, 1966 at EMI Studios

Paul played the lead guitar riff on his Epiphone Casino, with John playing rhythm guitar on his Gretsch 6120. There were many overdubs that were later scrapped, but a brief lead guitar overdub (George on his Gibson SG) is heard at the end of the verses

There is a popular theory that Paul downtuned his guitar to DGCFAD for this song, as he had done on Yesterday and other tracks. But I can confirm this is NOT the case for Paperback Writer. If you listen to takes 1 and 2 from the 2022 Revolver box set, Paul plays light strums in the intro. When he releases his left hand, the open strings are heard. You can clearly hear open D, G and B strings ringing out, which confirms he is in STANDARD tuning

It's not 100% clear which amp Paul used to get that famous distortion. He either used a 1964 Fender Blonde Bassman amp cranked, or their new Vox UL7120 amp. The Aclam Dr Robert pedal I'm using is based on the Vox UL series distortion

John played his 1965 Gretsch 6120 guitar into a tremolo-laden amplifier. He either used a Fender Showman or the Vox UL7120 (both of these amps had built-in tremolo)

George's guitar is barely audible, but comes in at the end of each verse. He most likely played on the majority of the song, but these overdubs were mostly scrapped, and some got left in. It's unclear what gear he was using, but he is seen playing a Gibson SG in recording session photos

I'm playing my 2021 Epiphone Casino USA into the Aclam Dr Robert V3, into my 1965 Fender Bassman amp. I engaged the 'Mach Schau' section of the pedal, but turned the MS gain down a bit. Additionally, I engaged the 'low power' white LED mode. This secondary function reduces the overall amount of gain

For John's part, I'm using my 2019 Gretsch 6120 V59. This is a 50's style 6120, as opposed to John's which was a 1960's 'Nashville' model. His was a double-cutaway with fake f holes. Mine is fully-hollow with the single-cutaway. But both have filtertron pickups and are essentially the same guitar. I'm using my Boss TR-2 tremolo pedal into my 1965 Fender Bassman

For George's part, I'm playing my 1970 Gibson SG Special into my 1965 Bassman. I set the amp extremely clean

INTERESTING NOTES:
0:01 This is not audible in the released version, but it is heard on the 2022 Revolver box set outtakes. Paul strums G/C 3355XX, G 3554XX, Am 577555, D7 X545XX
0:06 When Paul releases his left hand on the Am and D7 chords, you can heard open strings ringing out. These open strings are D/G, then B. This CONFIRMS that Paul played in standard tuning. The downtuned theory is a myth
0:26 Paul's slide up from G to C falls short, landing on B5 799XXX
0:33 Paul's pinky stretches further and reaches an F note instead of E
0:44 Paul again stretches his pinky to the 8th fret, an F note
0:47 George's SG doubles Paul's main riff here
1:00 John hits a G chord during Paul's breakdown riff
1:02 Paul hits a B note on the G-string (final note of the breakdown riff)
1:08 John hits the G chord early here
1:12 Paul plays a hammer-on on the 3rd and 5th frets of the A-string, instead of the normal 5th to 7th frets
1:21 Paul plays a variation on the main riff. He doesn't hit the D string, and hammers-on the 3rd to 5th frets of the A-string
1:22 Paul doesn't play the normal pinky-stretching shuffle for this verse. He just plays a G5 chord 355XXX
1:27 Paul releases to a low open E-string here
1:36 Paul rings out two G5 chords, while George's SG returns
1:40 Paul plays a full C chord X3555X, instead of G/C
1:45 Paul again releases to an open B string, like the intro
1:48 Paul continues to play the (no D-string) variation of the main riff for the rest of the song
1:52 John enters here by playing two fast strums on the G chord
2:09 John plays random syncopated G chords here
2:31 I chose to include the take 2 ending of the song. The single version fades out by this point. Paul ends take 2 by sliding up to C5 8-10-10-XXX

MY GEAR:
2021 Epiphone Casino USA Royal Tan (added B7 bigsby)
2019 Gretsch G6120T-59 VS
1970 Gibson SG Special
1965 Fender Bassman
Aclam Doctor Robert V3
Boss TR-2 (Analogman Super Mod)
Neumann TLM-103

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