Geddy Lee's Rickenbackers

[rickenbrother]

OK, can you guys describe how you go about getting that tone? I've never quite managed to get there...

Well, you'll need a bit of overdrive somewhere in your sound chain. Watch the way Geddy uses his right hand closely. He doesn't just pull the tips of his fingers on his plucking hand off the strings, he whacks into them with the tips of his fingers, A little slightly grown fingernail in there helps as well. You can also do that with a 4004 and get a similar tone. Anyone who says they can't, isn't trying hard enough.

[jps]

Ingredients:
Rickenbacker bass, preferably 4001 from early to mid '70s with .0047 µf cap in place
Good roundwound strings; TI Jazz Rounds, D'Addario XL-220, for example
Well polished calluses on plucking hand fingertips
Ability to hit strings hard with downstrokes using above mentioned fingertips
Good, full range amp/speaker system
Overdrive, from amp or pedal, to taste

Optional ingredient: voice that can successfully compete with scratching fingernails on a chalkboard.

[2112]

Rotosound roundounds, and although that clip of "A Passage to Bangkok" was with the Rickenbacker in mono, I run in stereo and the tone possibilities are so much more.
You have to have a certain amount of the right mids as well. Strike right into the string. I like to think of striking right through it. If you hit 'em hard they will have a more commanding sound.
A lot ofthe EQ should be flat with some spikes in the upper and lower mids, treble about half and not too much boooooming bass. You want to hear more of the crunch.

If you do run in stereo you will be even closer.

[BAD RONBO, KiLLeR DWaRfS]

i play this way too...punching the strings with the finger tips into the bass. this way you get..."punch "! i do this with the pic as well.

[dbriggy]

I just saw Rush last wednesday (25th) at the 02 Arena in London, I have seen them every tour since moving pictures, and they just toured it again, how old do I feel! (not quite as old as them!!!)
I didnt think the sound was up to much in general, and the bass sound was way too distorted (IMHO)
He always seemed to have a cleaner sound with the Rick on the earlier stuff (2112 for example). It then seemed to get more distorted, then Signals it was very clean, was that the Steinberger?
He cycled through about 3 jazzes I think and I was willing him to pull out a 4001 for 'passage' but it never happened!

[2112]

I just saw Rush last wednesday (25th) at the 02 Arena in London, I have seen them every tour since moving pictures, and they just toured it again, how old do I feel! (not quite as old as them!!!)
I didnt think the sound was up to much in general, and the bass sound was way too distorted (IMHO)
He always seemed to have a cleaner sound with the Rick on the earlier stuff (2112 for example). It then seemed to get more distorted, then Signals it was very clean, was that the Steinberger?
He cycled through about 3 jazzes I think and I was willing him to pull out a 4001 for 'passage' but it never happened!

I always remember reading a quote from Geddy saying that his Rickenbacker was sounding too "clunky" with Signals and the tour.

I thought he sounded great on that album and tour.

The Signals album was the Fender Jazz and Rickenbacker 4001.

And it's not that he had a 'cleaner' sound on the earlier stuff, it's that the notes were articulated more and had more bite without the overdrive.

I loved his A Farewell to Kings tone. And the sound on Caress of Steel.

[ricosound]

I believe that Ged's 'main' Ricky (Hemispheres, ESL etc..) is a 1975, modded with Badass bridge and Grover 'wavy' Titans. The Titans were originally stock on a lot of BC Rich basses.
I've got a set of those Grovers, but went back to the normal Titans, as I think they are better.

Geddy has said that his Rick had a particular sound to it, a lot different to other 4001 basses. He seems to be lucky, as his Jazz has a particular sound to it too. Both are 'pawn shop' basses.

Oh, to have money and access to U.S. pawn shops in the 70s.....

I think Clapton's Brownie Strat was a pawn shop deal too. Arguably one of the most valuable collector guitars out there

[s4001]

Ingredients:
Rickenbacker bass, preferably 4001 from early to mid '70s with .0047 µf cap in place
Good roundwound strings; TI Jazz Rounds, D'Addario XL-220, for example
Well polished calluses on plucking hand fingertips
Ability to hit strings hard with downstrokes using above mentioned fingertips
Good, full range amp/speaker system
Overdrive, from amp or pedal, to taste

Optional ingredient: voice that can successfully compete with scratching fingernails on a chalkboard.

If that was all there was to it, I'd be rich and famous by now.

[rickenbrother]

Ingredients:
Rickenbacker bass, preferably 4001 from early to mid '70s with .0047 µf cap in place
Good roundwound strings; TI Jazz Rounds, D'Addario XL-220, for example
Well polished calluses on plucking hand fingertips
Ability to hit strings hard with downstrokes using above mentioned fingertips
Good, full range amp/speaker system
Overdrive, from amp or pedal, to taste

Optional ingredient: voice that can successfully compete with scratching fingernails on a chalkboard.

If that was all there was to it, I'd be rich and famous by now.

Yeah, me too! But Geddy beat us to it!

[jps]

Those are just ingredients, it's what you do with them that can make you R'n'F'® or not.

[BAD RONBO, KiLLeR DWaRfS]

did you just swear ??? lmao !

[jps]

R'n'F'®

Rich n Famous

[songdog]

Watch the way Geddy uses his right hand closely. He doesn't just pull the tips of his fingers on his plucking hand off the strings, he whacks into them with the tips of his fingers,

If you've seen Beyond The Lighted Stage, you might remember at the very beginning he's warming up (playing a F----- J---, I know), and he is just hammering that thing! Not only the whacking with the fingertips, but grabbing the strings and yanking them out and letting them snap back against the frets! It's his sound, and he wasn't even plugged in!

Made me feel better about playing hard

[Ontario_RIC_fan]

Going back to the original question in the thread about the SN's of Geddy's Rickenbackers.. The only one I could find was his Jetglo 3001 - QK 5013

The info was from an earlier thread here on the RRF.


"It was acquired from Rush Tour Manager Howard Ungerleider by me a few years ago. Geddy gave him the bass in 1978. As well as the 3001AG, Rickenbacker presented Geddy with a 3001JG #QK 5013 "

This is not the bass in the picture below (That one is AG/Walnut)... But there was a picture of him playing a JG 3001 in the BEYOND THE LIGHTED STAGE dvd... If some has the DVD perhaps they can get us a screen capture?

[2112]

Now there's one S/N I thought I'd never see.
Cool.