What are the "sweet" eq frequencies on a Ric?

brentsimons · Post by **brentsimons** » Sat Sep 27, 2003 9:49 am

Hi Guys,
To get that Geddy Lee/Chris Squire sound.What eq frequencies do you boost or cut? I'm getting close by turning down the neck pickup.But I still haven't got there.Im using Rotosound strings,a Bass Pod and a GK 400RB Mark IV.Any ideas would be great.

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Sat Sep 27, 2003 10:33 am

there are a lot of variables ... 1st you have the strings ... then you have 2 vols and 2 tones on your bass ... then Geddy and Chris use effects and tone shaping preamps ... then you have your amp ... then you have speaker cabs ... then do you run line out or mike a cabinet ... then what kind of pa do you have ... and what eq setting is on your pa and what kind of speakers does the pa use ....

Also how do you play your bass ... what kind of pick ... what kind of finger attack ....

you see there is no simple answer saying "turn up the treble"

I use a line 6 pod and I usually model the acoustic 360 amp with distortion ... bass on 7 mid 3 treble 7 .... then I go into an ampeg b2r with 4 x 10's ... bass 7 to 10 ... ultra mid 7 ... treble 5 to 7 ... for the EQ I boost low and high mids ... for playing I use a fat pick and also do a Geddy Lee hammer on thing ...

Also I used to always Run my Rics wide open both volumes and both tones on 10 all the time ... Nos I run the mid pickup at 10 and the tone 6 to 10 the neck pickup at 7 and the tone 5 to 10

gothbin · Post by **gothbin** » Sat Sep 27, 2003 11:43 am

I don't think the brand of strings don't matter much, as does the kind of strings( ie flat/roundwounds). Chris Squire used to use Marshall Bass Plexi's or Major's. Anyway the kind of overdriven tubeamp. In Geddy Lee's case it's a lot more difficult. He's more of mystery man on his sounds, but he's known for using Avalon Pre's, GK amps &cabs and sometimes in the mid 80's Trace Elliott. Both Geddy and Chris used Eventide FX's units.

Personally I get this sort of sounds by using a Reverend Drivetrain Overdrive at moderate settings, before my Eden WT-300 and 4 x10 & 2x 10 cabs. The Reverend Drivetrain remains the low end well compared to TS-9 and compareble fx's.

In the end it's up to your ears, and both Chris and Geddy sound different, as one plays with- and the other without a pick.

As far as my amp goes: I run the EQ flat, and use both pick-ups with the tone aprox. halfway and the neck pick-up backed up a little bit.

Well it's hard to immitate, but keeps you off the street LOL. Bassy greetings from the Netherlands.

Robin aka Gothbin.

rictified · Post by **rictified** » Sat Sep 27, 2003 6:22 pm

Marshall Majors had two channels, one was very bassy with treble cut and the other one was very trebly with bass cut, there wasn't a normal sounding channel in it, at least not mine. Squire must have used the treble channel and he plays with a pick right next to the bridge, and he used Rotosound strings correct? That combination while not guaranteeing a sound like Squire has, will give you a very trebly tone. IMHO Rotosound Swing bass 66 are a big part of his sound as is his playing between the horseshoe and the bridge with a pick. And playing a Marshall Major very loud will give you a bit of distortion also, although they were actually a pretty clean sounding amp.
I think that Geddy Lee early on at least, really favored the treble pickup, and he had a 72 4001 which have really tinny sounding treble pickups because of the cap in it, much tinnier than later 4001's with caps, the same with Squire I would imagine (I mean the cap). I do not know for certain anything I have written about Geddy Lee, but is an educated guess because of my experience trying to get as many different sounds out of these basses as possible. In the end as you probably know, it is how you play it that really determines your sound. I think that the Squire sound would be a lot easier to obtain because his early stuff doesn't sound like he used as many effects on a lot of their songs, actually the same with early Rush though. And I think both of these guys really played hard.

jmh · Post by **jmh** » Sat Sep 27, 2003 7:37 pm

On my Ampeg B50-R, I cut the mids completely, bass on full, and treble on about 7, with both pickups on. This is also pretty good for an Entwistle sound.

paul_yan · Post by **paul_yan** » Sun Sep 28, 2003 2:57 am

My understanding is that Chris Squire has a unique picking technique that only the very tip of his Heavy Herco pick protrudes from his thumb and index finger and his thumb actually hits the strings as well along with the pick to get kind of a chorus/harmonics effect.
He also gets his overdriven sound by cranking up Marshall Super Bass 100W amps, at least in the '70s.

According to Chris' site (www.chrissquire.com),
Chris' current stage setup includes a Marshall 100 watt Super Bass Amp and Marshall 4 X12 cabinet, two SVT-2 pro heads and two 8x10 SVT-810e cabinets, which sit behind him on stage (left).

The bass pedals are amplified by an SWR SM-500 head driving an Energy 2x15 cabinet, which is located under the drum riser.

paul_yan · Post by **paul_yan** » Sun Sep 28, 2003 3:02 am

And of course, this:

paul_yan · Post by **paul_yan** » Sun Sep 28, 2003 3:12 am

Here's a '70s live show snap of how he held the pick.

cheyenne · Post by **cheyenne** » Sun Sep 28, 2003 4:01 am

I read somewhere that Geddy Lee also preferred 15" speakers. As far as Squire goes, he alternates picking above and below the horseshoe, depending on the type of attack he wants. As far as the bass, I saw Squire in Dayton back in the early '90's he played his vintage rick all night, but came out for the encore and played roundabout with a signature model. I was close enough I could see his name on the pickguard, It sounded good but much thinner sounding than his original. It was one of those things that no one else probably noticed but to me it was like night and day......,,,Anyway, what im trying to say is I think its the person and the bass. I really dont think that no two ricks sound alike.

rickcrazy · Post by **rickcrazy** » Sun Sep 28, 2003 4:12 am

'...no two Ricks sound alike.'
I'm inclined to agree.

brentsimons · Post by **brentsimons** » Sun Sep 28, 2003 4:42 am

Thanks Guys for all the info>but doing a little "deep" editing on my Pod I think I finally found MY sound! Using the parametric eq on the Pod I boosted the frequencies around 400hz and added a little at 3k with my GK head and using an Ampeg SVT model through my Ampeg b-15T speaker.This sounds like Geddy meets Chris Squire meets Dave the bassist from Spocks Beard.Thanks for all your help.
B

mortivan · Post by **mortivan** » Sun Sep 28, 2003 8:14 am

This sounds like Geddy meets Chris Squire meets Dave the bassist from Spocks Beard.

That must be heavenly!