Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I was wondering how other people set the EQ on a Ric to get as close to Geddy's sound. All tone controls fully open? Much treble?

Depends on your rig. First use roundwound strings, have your bass set up for relativly low action. Roll back your neck pickup volume just slightly, maybe roll back the high end on the bridge pickup a little, boost the mids slightly, add some distortion.(Geds tone is all about distortion). Then go for it. Although, what I hear through my rig and my settings may not be what you want. I play through a Carvin RL1000 with Ampeg 4/10's.

Bottom line: experiment. Geddy's exact tone is a result of I believe, at least 3 maybe 4 different signals Clean, distorted, direct, miked, ect,,,ect,,, I think he uses a Sansamp in there someplace.

Im more of a Squire fan, there's quite a few Geddy fans here that will probably chime in with some better direction.

Use LaBella James Jamerson flatwounds and a '60s Ampeg B15!

Oh, you mean THAT Geddy? see above.

Like Scott said ... rounds, low action, distortion ...

I set my tone controls in the 4-6 range depending on volume and the room I am playing in ...

in the old days Geddy used Ric-o-sound and ampeg ... these days he uses a sans amp and has 3 signals ... one clean, one boosted bass, and one with distortion ... but you can get a Geddy sound with just a mono signal ... he also experimented with various basses and effects ... but he always sounds like Geddy ... part of the sound is his aggressive attack on the bass ... if you want a Geddy sound you have to be comfortable with distortion and fret buzz ... if you prefer the fundamental then get an eb0 bass strung with flats ...

Geddy can get a pick sound without a pick ... that is talented fingers ...

Which album?

Roundwound + Ric + Sansamp and it's pretty easy to get in the ballpark.

On top of all of the signal splitting and boosting, Geddy plays hard. You have to dig in with your finger tips to get his tone. He has said that he lets his nails grow a bit longer on his right hand. That is how he gets that pick sound.

This is how I do it:

1) Use steel roundwounds (Geddy uses RS66's, but I use DR hi-beams and they're just fine)

2) Play REALLY HARD right over or just behind the neck pickup, and don't worry about fret buzz, noise, anything that goes with it. Just hit the strings with a lot of force.

3) Use light distortion, either with a nice pedal or your amp. The only thing I have to say is simply turning up the volume until it distorts naturally won't work for this sound.

4) I have a Genz Benz combo amp, and my settings for Geddy sound (and, actually, for everything I play) stay like this: Bass-3/4, Treble-3/4, Mid-all the way up, Mid Freq-3/4, Gain-1/4.

I hope that helps. I use those settings for everything, and then just alter where I play on the bass and whether I'm using distortion or not.

I too grow my nails longer on my picking hand for the same purpose.

Playing hard is important! That's how I always got a good John Wetton sound. And with Wetton it wasn't always distortion either... just that clang you get when you pluck hard.

Of course with Geddy.. he has his Rick sound, and his Jazz sound. Did he ever even use the Rick in the studio? I thought I had read it was just live and he used a Jazz in the recordings.

I'm no Rush expert though...

Here's something some of you might find amusing... I was recording a track over the weekend, and wanted a Rick type of bass sound (and I have no Ricks in playing condition...) so I used the neck pickup on my 5 string (which is an EMG 40P), and ran it through a QuadraFuzz plugin which I tweaked to have a Rick-ish sound... (I also played almost entirely on the low E string with a pick... and the strings are a little old, but it gave it a nice chugging sound.)

http://www.david-schwab.com/music/new_track.mp3

Don't worry about EQ settings...just slam your genitals in a door.

Ooops, sorry...shoulda read this thread more carefully. I thought you were talking about his voice...

the first couple of albums Ged used the p-bass ... then he played a Ric for several ... then he started using the jazz and Ric ... then the steinberger ... then the wal ... and these days he is using the jazz again ... the best was the Ric ...

Wow... I forgot about all those basses he used! I always wanted a Wal and a Steinberger...

He used the P bass for their first album and noise during "By-Tor". When Neil joined he started using a Rick. He used the Rick from 'Fly By Night' to 'Signals'. The Jazz popped up on 'Permanent Waves' with "The Spirit Of Radio" and "Entre Nous". On 'Moving Pictures' it was on everything except "The Camera Eye" and "Red Barchetta". On 'Signals' it was "Digital Man" and "New World Man". He used the Steinberger for one album: 'Grace Under Pressure' and used Peter Collins' Wal for 'Power Windows'. The PoW tour saw the Steinberger though. 'Hold Your Fire' and 'Presto' got the use of Geddy's black Wal. 'Roll the Bones' got the use of Geddy new red Wal with "Dreamline" and "Neurotica " being played on the black Wal. 'Counterparts' had the jazz return and that's all he used from then to now.

He shoulda stayed with the Rick.. his sound on "A Farewell To Kings" is one of the best bass sounds I've ever heard.

I'd kill fer a Wal. Now, who to kill?

Well not literally.. but I really want one. That is one of the other best bass sounds I've heard.. hehe.