Geddy Lee's Rick Tone

jps · Post by **jps** » Thu Feb 02, 2006 3:49 pm

There is a great GL interview from the June '80 issue of guitar Player, where he describes his gear up to that point. The early years were Traynors amps, then he got a Sunn 2000S sometime around '72 (he discovered Rotoound strings at that time also) with two 2-15 cabinets with EV SRO speakers, which he used up till about '78. He still used the Sunn after that time but added two Ampeg V4B cabinets and a SVT head for running stereo with the neck pickup going through the Ampeg and the bridge PU to the 2000S. He said that he kept all the controls on the 4001 up full and cranked the treble on the amps, the low end was DI'ed to the PA with the high end cabs mic'ed. Geddy does mention that he had upgraded to a Ashley preamps and BGW 750 power amps by the time of the interview. As to effects, he only occasionally used a Boss chorus or the sound engineers would add a bit of digital delay or harmonizer.

In the interview Geddy says that he has his Precision, 4001, 4080 and 4080/12, a 4002 that he added a BadAss bridge to (are you reading this Ted?!), a 3001 and a recently acquired '69 or '70 Jazz Bass.

kcole4001 · Post by **kcole4001** » Thu Feb 02, 2006 4:01 pm

"Limelight" is the holy grail of tone for me!

I've never had any luck with distortion pedals of any kind, for bass, that is. I guess I like my basses set up pretty hot, since I have to use the active input of my amp to avoid clipping my channel in the PA board. It's a Mackie, & when they're clipping, they're REALLY clipping! Also, Rick pups seem to be quite hot on their own.

Just the amp overdrive is all I can get a satisfying sound out of.

There's an identical amp on ebay I've got a bid on. I'd love to get it to use the Ric-O-Sound unit, which is on it's way to me right now.
One amp & a 4X10 cab for the neck pup, & the other amp with my effects chain & a 2X10 cab for the bridge pup.
It'll be interesting.

I know Jeff dislikes the ROS, but since he uses the pod he probably couldn't use ROS anyway.
Pods are a completely different virtual world of their own. No doubt more versatile, & definitely more portable

I'm just saying that no one way is THE right way!
Anyone curious about the pod sounds should check out Jeff's site. He's got some great stuff on there.

geddeeee · Post by **geddeeee** » Thu Feb 02, 2006 4:29 pm

It's great that everyone has different ways and equipment to get the sound they want. Ric-o-sound is definitely the way to go for me. The seperation you can get is awesome. I've also had problems with distortion effects. The sound seems a bit too clinical. I prefer the amps and the parametrics to do the work for me. I play hard and that can be a problem, especially when the the E string clicks off the fingerboard. Different people will obviously get different results.
It's good to see that Rick owners care so much about their basses and tone, that they're willing to put the time in to get exactly what they're looking for. Respect to everyone. Brilliant forum.

scottpro1969 · Post by **scottpro1969** » Thu Feb 02, 2006 4:37 pm

"Different hearts, beat on different strings"....

clankchris · Post by **clankchris** » Thu Feb 02, 2006 5:23 pm

clankchris · Post by **clankchris** » Thu Feb 02, 2006 5:25 pm

I always liked the Geddy tone, ...but my influence on a Rick was Paul D'Amour, who consequently played a 4001CS(maybe Chris Squire was one of his bass heroes?)...

I think the tone he got on Tool's "Undertow" was awesome, and I think it all started with Chris Squire's grindy tones from Yes..

It took me a long time to come to this conclusion, because I discovered these facts later on, and was never happy with my tone on my Aria Pro bass...I switched pups and electronics twice, from Barts to EMGs, and that was a bit better....but I never could replicate the tones Paul got..

I google searched for information on him one day, and found out he used a 4001 Chris Squire edition Rick....then I searched out Chris Squire...listened to Chris Squire, and then found out my favorite Geddy/Rush tones, like Closer to the Heart, and Red Barchetta also used the same brand of bass too....

I was history from there.

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Thu Feb 02, 2006 5:35 pm

I have played with 2 guitarists who played stereo ... both times the stereo thing took away more than it added ... plus when you plug one bass into 2 amps it will usually buzzes ... what makes a whole lot more sense is to have 2 mono outputs ... or like Geddy does now 3 mono outputs ... or play through one amp and run a direct signal and mike the cab then eq them differently and mix them together or put one mike close and one a few feet away ... there are many ways to skin a cat ...

also notice that Geddy gets a Geddy sound with different basses and different amps ...

but I still prefer when he plays a Ric into an ampeg ...

sinisterick · Post by **sinisterick** » Thu Feb 02, 2006 6:03 pm

I love the clean sound he's getting these days with those washing machines.

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Thu Feb 02, 2006 8:18 pm

ya the spin cycle is awesome ...

to get a ric sound out of a jazz bass neck vol = 10, bridge vol = 5-7, and tone 5-10 ... and round wound strings, low action, and some sort of distortion and an aggressive attack ... and seymour duncan 1/4 pound jazz pickups help too ...

bobcat · Post by **bobcat** » Thu Feb 02, 2006 9:07 pm

My favorite Ric bass sound is Geddy on the song "A Farewell to Kings". Second is Chris Squire on "Siberian Khatru". Third is Geddy again on "Subdivisions". Then Chris on "Sound Chaser". Then Geddy once again tied with himself for the tracks "Red Barchetta" and "The Camera Eye". And coming right after him, it's Chris Squire, once again with "Ritual - Nous Somme Du Soleil" . . . and it goes back and forth until somewhere down the line, we get to Paul McCartney on "A Day in the Life" and Dave Meros on "At the End of the Day".

Yeah, the sound that Geddy got was not only the reason I initially got into Rush, but also the reason I found out what a Rickenbacker was. I always thought McCartney played the Hofner, and I'd never heard any Yes other than "Owner of a Lonely Heart" . . . and then, that magical week when, on the radio, I heard "Fly By Night", and then the next day "Closer to the Heart", and the next "Freewill", and the next "Subdivisions" . . . oh the memories! Hehehehe . . .

anoukane · Post by **anoukane** » Fri Feb 03, 2006 10:38 pm

I think Geddy uses much chorus on Moving Pictures. At least on YYZ and Vital Signs.
Anyway I sold my Stingray5 and I ordered a Lakland DJ5, I wonder if i'll get close to Geddys jazz sound.

Anyway i would like a ric-o-sound. I think Geddy's tone on Exit stage left is the best. Very bassy, but still that famous growl.

Ive Rush in Rio and his sound is very different there. Has anyone seen R30? How do you like his sound there?

jon · Post by **jon** » Fri Feb 03, 2006 11:23 pm

True, in fact almost everything on the MP tour sounds like it's got a subtle bit of chorus on it. YYZ has lots. The bass sound on ESL is fantastic - if you could hear Alex a bit more on that album (and it had the whole set) it would be perfect.

On R30, the whole band sounds better than it does on the Rio recording, although I'd say the Rio performance is better. As for Geddy's tone on R30, there's a bit more definition to the bottom end and a bit less fuzzy rattle (it's a bit over the top on Rio). I'm not sure how much of this is down to it being a better recording in the first place (you know the Rio story) and how much is a deliberate change of tone. Also, the sound guy plays around with the mix of those 3 different routings Geddy has, depending on the venue. Given Rio was at a huge stadium, perhaps he upped the thin distorted channel to try and get the bass to cut through...

As for the distortion/ no distortion debate, in my opinion, tube harmonics, drive, overdrive, distortion & fuzz are all forms of distortion - just varying degrees. Geddy definitely uses a form of distortion. You need that low action & agressive style too, to really get the tone.

keb · Post by **keb** » Sat Feb 04, 2006 2:19 am

That chorus-like sound on Moving Pictures was probably a Loft delay unit. I read just the other day in (I think) last month's Bass Player where Geddy said that Paul Northfield (Rush's engineer at that time) would take Geddy's signal and run it through a Loft unit and pan it so to give Geddy's tone that "wide" sound.

It's a trick I've done myself many times in the past: have the dry signal panned hard left and the 100% wet delay signal panned hard right (you have to use a pretty short delay time, with no repeats) to get a "wide"-sounding tone. It's not quite like a chorus, since there's no frequency modulation going on, but it's a nice 3D-ish sound.

bobcat · Post by **bobcat** » Sat Feb 04, 2006 11:42 am

Every time I listen to "Exit . . . Stage Left", I always have two thoughts. One is that the bass sounds amazing, and the other is that, in general, the mix is horrible on the whole album. People always talk about how great-sounding it is, but really, the whole thing is so muddy sounding . . . I dunno, it just feels so weak or something. The guitars are too quiet, the drums all blend together (and the cymbals aren't clear enough, which is bad because Neil uses a LOT of short cymbal taps) . . . Geddy's voice is kinda lost in the mix . . . I think the only things they mixed right were the bass and the keys . . . and it's a pity too because the set is such a great one. It just doesn't feel "lively" at all.

geddeeee · Post by **geddeeee** » Sat Feb 04, 2006 11:52 am

My version of Exit.. Stage Left sounds superb. The guitar could be louder I suppose. Apart from that, everything sounds great. Drums and cymbals punchy and crisp. Bass is absolutely fantastic. Geddy helped with the production, maybe he got greedy and thought it was a solo effort? Either way, at least I get to hear the greatest ever bassist playing the greatest ever bass guitar. He really is at the top of his game...
Everyone hears different things I suppose. I bought my copy in England. Maybe the weather helps with the sound, Hahahaha!!!