Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Just like to say, this is a great forum with some great info.

On the subject of Geddy's rick tone. I hear a lot of discussion about distortion. I don't think this is strictly true. If you listen carefully to Exit Stage Left... you can hear the intrinsic tone of the rick. This is due to Ged's use of a Furman parametric eq to 'pull' out a lot of hidden frequencies. This gives the characteristic bark and grind that the great man is known for. Distortion just adds noise, when you really want the punch and clank of the rick. Anyone with a parametric eq should spend a bit of time experimenting with the mid and high mid frequencies...
The rick'o'sound helps as well to seperate the sound, giving it the huge rick signature sound.
Anyone with a capless 4003, should try putting the cap back in. It really helps if that is the sound you are after, otherwise you will spend unnecessary time screwing around with the eq.

Anyway, enough from me... Rickenbacker basses are the holy grail of rock bass........

Geddy uses distortion ... but not too much ... the secret is a little goes a long way ... a good bass sound for has distortion and compression ... some players get it from old tube amps ... I get it from the line 6 bass pod ... these days Geddy uses the sans amp ... he runs 3 signals into the board ... one signal is normal, one has extra bass, and one has distortion ... the sound man blends all three and Geddy uses no bass amp ... I prefer his sound with a 4001 into an ampeg amp ... supposedly Geddy has a 4003 which he has used for recording ... but I can't confirm that as being true ... I don't think he used distortion with the wal bass ...

I think that the term "distortion" is sometimes confused with "growl". I know Geddy uses distortion with his jazz bass, he has to. Getting the right amount of growl is difficult on the fender. I agree with you that compression helps. You just don't need the distortion with the Rick. Plugged into an Ampeg or other decent valve amp is the way to go. I tend to not use any effects if possible. I find the parametrics combined with the tube harmonics gives me all the Geddy clank, growl and grind I need. I put the cap back into my Rick 4003 'cos I spent months trying to get rid of the boomy sound that I was experiencing with the cap-less setup. 3 cheers for Rickenbacker releasing the 'vintage' tone setup on the new 4003's.

the very first thing I always did to my 4001 basses was remove that awful bass cut capacitor ... it was necessary for a 60s bass with 60s pickups using 60s amps ... but with a modern amp and a 4003 you can get an old 4001 sound by setting the eq properly ... the second thing I love to do to Ric basses is remove the ric-o-sound ... my third favorite thing to remove is the mechanical mute ...

my 4003 basses without the cap, without ric-o-sound, and without the mute all get a Geddy clank sound just fine ... plus they get a modern sound as well ...

for me the secrets to getting the Geddy tone are:

1 - low action
2 - round wound strings
3 - distortion and compression
4 - aggressive attack and playing style
5 - a Ric bass

I found the perfect sound wasn't actually distortion per se, but the natural break up of a tube amp, where it's just starting to really drive. I can come close with the preamp pushed up to about 3/4 on my SWR solid state head.

It's just starting to get some grit, but my bandmates (who are quite fussy regarding sound quality) still compliment me on how clean it sounds.
I think they're really referring to the clarity of the Rick itself. They also prefer my 4000 over my 4001 for clarity, plus there's more fret buzz from the 4001 (which they don't like).
I do tend to play quite aggressively, & of course I use rounds.

I also get a lot of that characteristic Rick sound when sliding notes up the neck. That really accentuates the growl. I love that sound!

hey, since we're on the cap topic: does the Chris Squire 4001CS have the cap or not???? thanks.

k-

"I found the perfect sound wasn't actually distortion per se, but the natural break up of a tube amp, where it's just starting to really drive."

I was just gonna say, Geddy seems to have overdrive going, rather than distortion. I've had distortion work very well for his Jazz-bass tone, but with a Ric, overdrive and playing really hard tends to work best, I find. And yeah, you want lots of mids.

Right on about the tube break up. Couldn't find the right words. Distortion is an overused term. I prefer the cap-less sound 'cos each pick up is contributing different frequencies to the overall sound. I also like the rickosound feature. I seem to be able to get a better sound that way. I use the outputs into 2 parametric eq's then into 1 amp. this way I don't break my back humping two rigs about. With the cap, I can get proper treble and bass seperation and frequency control.

I've heard alot about the loss of output from the bridge pickup. There isn't any loss of level, it just seems that way because the bass frequencies are missing. That's what the neck pickup is for, blend in the neck pickup and Holy Mother of God, what a sound!!! If I wanted two equal pickups, I would buy a Fender. Missing the point I think.

Nice to see so many Rick owners exchanging views and idea's. Check out other bass forums.... Yawn... zzzzzzz! Ha ha.

His sound changed a little when he went from using the Ashley SC40 preamps to the Furman PQ-3, think of his 'Freewill' sound, then his 'Subdivisions' sound. A little different.

Jeff wrote: I don't think he used distortion with the wal bass ...

The Wal was recorded clean, most of the time in the control room itself....at times a small GK amp was used in the chain.

All of the 4001v63, 4001c64, and 4001cs basses that I have played did not have the bass cut capacitor ...

for me a 4003 sounds best without the capacitor ... I turn all of the knobs wide open and then back the neck volume off to 7 or 8. This gives the 4003 a nice single coil growl ... with the capacitor installed you need to run the neck pickup full ...

And I would consider overdrive, tube breakup, speaker breakup, and distortion all the same thing ... they are all types of distortion ... I prefer a clean amp with plenty of overhead and good speakers that can handle plenty of power and then run my bass pod into it for distortion that I can get and control at any volume ... that way I can get my sound playing quietly in the basement or playing loud with a band ... also to keep from pushing my amp too hard I mike it with an sm57 into a big PA ...

It also has to do with the ricks tonal qualitys as well . As we all know Ricks are as different as snow flakes or finger prints . There are certain ones that have the geddy tone right out of the box and some that need a little help . I feel Geddys tone has subtly changed with every different bass he has used . As well as amp rigs . I know early on he used alot of SVT's live . I have found that The rick SVT setup has pretty much the early Rush tone he used right out of the box. It also really depends on the usual rick traits . Pickup output , The resonance of the wood, action . It all makes a difference.

I agree with you. The fact that every Rick has it's own character is one of the reasons I like playing them. Other basses seem sterile in comparison.
And that tone... Aaaaahhh!!!

I have no idea how to get his sound, I love it to death though. Best... bass sound.. ever! Period! He makes the bass sound alive and up front, not a background band instrument. He give it ballsy low end, and the right amount of high end to compete with the guitar. When I think of a bass line to any song I get Geddy's sound. Makes every song so much better.

I know what you mean. Every time I watch the Exit Stage Left vid and hear the clanking bass intro to 'Limelight', all the hairs on my body stand on end. And I must have seen it thousands of times. Absolute genius. The rest of the band 'ain't bad either. Ha ha.

I get goose bumps from AFTK's album and song especially during the guitar solo from the the title.