Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Geddy has said multiple times that he recorded the entirety of "Moving Pictures" with the Jazz EXCEPT for "Red Barchetta" and "The Camera Eye". Either way, it's a brilliant bassline.

My favorite tone, as well. Been trying to get it without resorting to distortion, but I only come fairly close.

I have heard that Geddy used the 4002 on "Losing It".

That is true as well. It's the only song he used it for, I believe. It sounds great.

There is barely any bass in that song at all.. I still play along though. I learned the synth line on my bass.. it's fairly complicated.

I love that song. One of the best on that album.

One of my favorite tones of his was Freewill, especially the break in the middle. One of these days I'll attempt to learn it. I've read that in those days he was using the Ric - O - Sound with the neck pickup going to an Ampeg SVT and the bridge pickup going to an overdriven Sunn 2000S. I have both amps, and have gotten that same tone myself. I think you can get close to the SVT tone with many amps, even with some solid state stuff, but to nail to distorted tone of the Sunn isn't quite as easy. You could get close with a pedal I'm sure though.

If you want to learned the "Free Will" bass solo.. I reccomend (sp?) the solo on 'Different Stages'. That's the one I play. The 'DS' and 'RiR' solos are pretty much the same. I think it's better than the studio version.. but the version on ESL whoops that one's ***. I want to learn that version.

I think "Free Will" on ESL has got to be one of the best. The bass solo is insane. My only complaint: the higher vocals.. sure they kick ***.. but that lack the power of the studio version. When I sing it I have to do it semi-falsetto. The ESL version is total falsetto for me and it sucks.. the album version.. that has power. It more of a scream and less of an airy sound. Great song either way.

I prefer the way Ged and Al sing the chorus on 'DS' and 'RiR'.. the harmony is nice and they sing is a little lower.. it fits the song better, IMHO.

This is a rather old thread but I figured I'd chip in my few cents-

I switched to Rotosound 66 Swing Bass rounds, the real nasty ones, on my '97 4003, run the bridge pickup solo, and hit the strings hard, with my thumb anchored on the pickup surround.
My amp is an Ampeg SVT350H solid state head (Bass at 12 o'clock, mids at 3 o'clock and the treble cranked to 11; and the eq set to look like 2 "Ms") and an Ampeg 410HLF 4x10 cab- for me this gets the Geddy sound real close. We line it direct into the sound board and for me that nails the tone.

The band I am a part of is recording a tongue in cheek tribute to the Prog Rock style of music now, this combination really seems to fit the bill.

With the Neck pickup totally rolled off on the tone knob, up full volume, with a flick of the selector I can get some old Zeppelinesque sounds without changing the amp too much for some or the middle sections.

I should add I run the GAIN to the point where the red light flickers nearly constantly, and only do small adjustments to the volume.
YMMV

http://www.fenderforum.com/userphotos/index.html?recid=25180

Ive got the RBI now, so now im there for 99%. very nice
On my Peavey T-max amp ive to crank the treble all up and on the RBI i can just set it on flat. Funny how pre-amps can so much different from eachother.

to reiterate ...

The majority of the Geddy sound is ...

1 - round wound strings
2 - low action, hard attack, and fret buzz
3 - distortion

adjust the treble, middle, and bass to suit your taste ...

that is the simplified version ...

and of course use a Ric bass for best results ...

I've read that in those days he was using the Ric - O - Sound with the neck pickup going to an Ampeg SVT and the bridge pickup going to an overdriven Sunn 2000S. I have both amps, and have gotten that same tone myself.

That's the same setup I saw Squire use back in the 70's.

I guarantee you Ged could grab our bass, thru our rig, and sound like Geddy. So much of his style and tone is in his attack and his way of playing. Maybe not an EB3 with the mudbucker and a pair of 18's set on "thump", but I think you get my point.

the reason why Geddy started playing Rics is he liked Squire's bass tone ...

to get the Squire tone ...

1 - round wound strings
2 - low action, hard attack, and fret buzz
3 - distortion

adjust the treble, middle, and bass to suit your taste ...

that is the simplified version ...

and of course use a Ric bass for best results ...

"So much of his style and tone is in his attack and his way of playing."

Im sorry, but many people say this, but I think its bull.
His technique isn't that special and hard to copy. At least not for me, maybe I play automatically already a bit like him, so in my eyes its bull.

I disagree. I think that it's, for the most part, very much dependent upon his technique. Geddy didn't, at least initially, do that strumming thing he does now . . . he just kind of hit the strings REALLY FREAKING HARD right by the neck pickup. If you don't do that, it's very difficult to get your bass to sound like his did. If you have your bass set up such that playing hard over the neck pickup makes you sound close to Geddy, moving your hand back to the bridge pickup or playing softer or both makes it sound DRASTICALLY different. Obviously, the attack is giving the sound a LOT of its character. Where you play varies the tone a ton too (especially so on a Ric, I think).

Whether his technique is "special" or "difficult" to learn has nothing to do with how he sounds: it's an irrelevant point. It's just the fact that his technique IS A HUGE PART of how he sounds. If you play very differently (i.e. next to the bridge with a pick on flatwounds and a very clean sound), you'll never get it. The EASIEST way to get Geddy's sound is to play similarly to how he does, especially position-wise and attack-wise. That's why he can get his J-bass to sound VERY CLOSE to the Ric; he plays it the SAME WAY.