Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I used to use Line6 stuff, then of course the amazing GT6B...

... Now I use nothing but the Zoom 708II... a small, cheap unit... but my goodness it does everything.

While we're on the sound question, does anyone know what amp(s) CS used in the 70's heydays ? I have an old book of Yes sheetmusic with a narrative in it saying he used a Sunn Coliseum lead head. Is that logical when there was a Sunn Coliseum bass head out there ?

In the '70s he did use Sunn Coliseum Lead amps, and Marshall amps, too.

Chris Squire got the Chris Squire sound with a lot of different equipment ...

Yes, but the old SS Sunn lead heads lend themselves to that sound when they are pushed.

This is a great thread.

To build on Bob's and Brian's most recent posts here - your live tone choices definitely depend on the mix you find yourself in. I am currently in essentially a 3-piece, so it is not as hard to be heard in the mix. In '99, I played in a cover band in Oklahoma City that had two loud guitarists and did a lot of heavy stuff - Nine Inch Nails, Metallica, etc., and it was tougher to fit in the mix.

I guess the main point is that whatever you sound like at rehearsal, you can just about guarantee that it will be different in a club full of sweaty bodies, at twice the volume....

I've used the Zoom BFX708 and its a nice durable unit. Our drummer slid his throne back and ended up with one leg right smack on the display panel. We played through a couple of songs before he realized what had happened. All it did was put a dent in the plastic lense.

Yes Dean, every night, every club is a whole new ball game, most of the time the tones just need to be tweaked a bit, but you never know. One of the many reasons I usually use a whole SVT rig at all my gigs is that it's sound is very consistant from room to room compared to many smaller amps.

My band rehearses at the same volume we gig ... we use small amps and keep the stage volume down ... but we run into a big pa and turn that up as needed ...

back to the Geddy sound ... here's a good test ... can you get a good Geddy sound with just the bass and no amp? yep that's where it all starts ... get a good sound with just your bass then get a decent amp to reproduce that sound sound from your bass and you are most of the way there to the Geddy sound ...

I can get the Geddy sound with a tuba and a sansamp.

That's funny as I can get the Geddy sound with a kazoo and an octave divider!

but can you belch the entire alphabet?

Hmm. I've got an Octaver. Where's my kazoo...?

Maybe I can't Jeff, but my kids dig it when I try!

Great thread guys, enjoying all of it. Other great players who get that Ric sound are Meros and Camp (from Spocks Beard and Renaissance). I wonder if the sound is totally their own, or they tried to imitate someone else.