Geddy Lee's Rick setup

6025 · Post by **6025** » Fri Jan 05, 2001 9:23 am

Anyone know what Geddy Lee's 4001 Rick setup was? Did he keep the stock pickups, or did he have them changed? I'm really getting back into Rush again, particularly the older (pre-Moving Pictures) stuff where Geddy predominently used a 4001. I love Geddy's basslines coupled with that unique Rick sound.

J_Blakey · Post by **J_Blakey** » Fri Jan 05, 2001 4:21 pm

I cant tell you about his pickup/string preferences but I can tell you that I am fairly certain that he used two different 4001 JG's. In some footage of early Rush, it appears that the forward pickup is closer to the neck than on later songs. Try the tape.. Chronicles.
Also.. with respect to his sound, he recorded with three tracks for bass... 1 clean, the next with more low end.. and the third with overdrive. I believe the overdrive would be increased on solos.

Bassman_4080 · Post by **Bassman_4080** » Wed Jan 10, 2001 11:35 pm

He also replaced the factory bridges with Leo Quan Badass Bass II bridges on all his Ricks. I'm not sure about the doublenecks, but I'm fairly certain he made the switch on those, too. He did this to increase the overall sustain of the guitars. He also used (2) Furman PQ-3 parametric EQ's into a BGW 750 amp with classic SVT cabinet during the late 70's and early '80's tours, and typically went combination direct and mic'ed amps in the studio, with a healthy dose of API 550B EQ's and tube compression (a la Cygnus X-1 on AFTK- talk about compression!!). He typically played Rotosound strings- couldn't tell you the guage- heavy though- he had the tip of his right hand index finger almost amputated as a younger lad- but from everything I've read (and I'm a certifiable Rush-nut, so I've read quite a bit!!) that's the jist of it. He also 'occassionally' used a chorus, like at the end of 'La Villa Strangiato' on Hemispheres, and in 'Jacobs Ladder', on PW. Check out any old concert tour programs- they listed all their gear in those. I've not heard the distortion/fuzz thing before seeing some posts on this site- I've never tried it to get that sound- never really thought about it in all honesty (never really needed to for that matter). I'll have to give it a go.

Keep on!!

lucien · Post by **lucien** » Sat Jan 13, 2001 6:06 pm

I'm a die-hard Geddy Lee fan myself, so I should probably know the answer to this question, but I don't: Why did he eventually stop playing his ricks? And what did he do with them - does he still have them all or did he get rid of them? Tell you what, I'd take that black 4080 off his hands if he didn't want it anymore.

He does sound really clean with that Wal bass, but his jazz bass on his solo album sounds very rick-ish. I'm curious as to why he never plays ricks anymore...

Even Chris Squire (I"m a fan of him too) doesn't seem to play his as much as before, although I haven't kept track of him lately.

Inquiring minds want to know.

LS

4003_Seagreen · Post by **4003_Seagreen** » Sun Jan 14, 2001 8:09 pm

The Camera Eye website has an article on Geddy's Rickenbackers here

Good info on the history of Geddy's 4001 and 4080.

Bassman4080 · Post by **Bassman4080** » Mon Jan 15, 2001 8:21 pm

I got curious again myself, so I did some digging, and found some old concert programs from the late '70's and early 80's, and Geddy also used Ashly preamps into the aforementioned BGW-750B amps. As for not playing them much anymore, my guess is, play them for 10 years plus (or more)- straight (or 20 years plus, in either of their cases) and eventually you need something else for dinner, if you take my meaning. Both of those guys put the Rick basses on the map, with good reason, and I can't say I blame them for looking for something different eventually. But Ged's Jazz still sounds like a Rick- always has- thankfully- that's one of the reasons I like his new solo record. But, as their creative juices flow, my guess is they felt like they did all they could with those instruments and felt it was time for a change. Creative types, being somewhat 'off' to begin with (ourselves included, most likely) tend to do some sta-range things sometimes. But at least we have their history to listen back to!!

In fact, I think I may just go load up Hemispheres...

lucien_s · Post by **lucien_s** » Tue Jan 16, 2001 1:45 pm

Well... I'll admit that, back when I was a practicing musician, I started to want to try something different myself. All I had were my old 4001 and 4003s and those were my main instruments. In fact, at one point, I grew to hate the rick when playing live. Looking back, that was partly because of my amps (they were shhhhhittttyyyy... these old Sun things that sounded terrible no matter whan you plugged into them), and partly because I wasn't a very good player at the time. I played a borrowed Steinberger (the plastic one) for a while and really got to liking the clear sound of it.

These days, I only play for my own enjoyment and am actually a much better player than I was back then. I've found myself craving a rick again, so went and bought one the other day

. I've also discovered a rick sounds the way I like it most when played through an SWR amp. If I ever were to play in a band again, I'd probably sell my other two basses (G&L L2000, washburn 6-string) and buy an SWR with the money and stick with my 4003 as my main instrument again.

Hell, I may do that anyway

.

LS

admin · Post by **admin** » Tue Jan 16, 2001 7:53 pm

There are some photos of Geddy Lee with a number of his Rickenbackers here.

J_Blakey · Post by **J_Blakey** » Thu Jan 25, 2001 11:19 pm

I believe it was a Barnes and Noble interview with Geddy... where I heard the thing about using three inputs (one with distortion/overdrive) while recording.

J.Blakey · Post by **J.Blakey** » Sun Jan 28, 2001 9:12 am

wasn't Barnes and Noble interview... I'll try to find it...it was a phone-in interview.

Did Geddy play (at least) two different 4001 JG's?
It looks to me that in earlier tapes the bass pickup is closer to the neck.

Bassman_4080 · Post by **Bassman_4080** » Sun Jan 28, 2001 11:50 pm

He had a bunch of them, actually- and most times he had his 'primaries' refinished before each new tour, due to the beating they took. I've seen pics with 7 or 8 4001's off stage ready to go when needed. Oddly enough, in a lot of the pics there are white ones, fireglo, etc..- but in all the shows I've been to I've only ever seen him once with a non-jetglo 4001- way back on the Farewell to Kings tour in '78- and only for one song (I can't remember which). Don't know the story there. WOuld be interesting to find out, though. What I heard about the distortion channel was during the recording of Counterparts- he drug an old amp of some vintage out of the trash- literally- and threw it together and ended up using it on that record, along with a SansAmp unit, which has some great subtle overdrive built into it- that's all I've heard. But, if you raise the treble pickup just to the point where it touches the strings with a heavy right hand, and compress the living H out of it (just to get rid of the poppy transients)- that's one way to get that growl- not real good on the pickups, but another way to get it pretty easily.

Bassman_4080 · Post by **Bassman_4080** » Sun Jan 28, 2001 11:58 pm

What I'd really like to know about is the two outputs he used on his doublenecks- I 'think', from all I've gathered, that he had the outputs wired seperately, so that each neck had a discreet output- I've read where Geddy was playing the top (bass) and Alex the bottom (guitar) at the same time!! I have a 4080/12 and it's wired for single output mono/ROS with an insert cable- but I think I may end up rewiring it for discreet outputs as well- that may make it easier than switching both the necks AND a footswitch at the same time onstage. I've only used it a couple times live- not exactly the kind of thing to just leave sitting about during a break between sets at the local watering hole, y'know? (besides, that thing is HEAVY!!)

lucien_s · Post by **lucien_s** » Mon Jan 29, 2001 4:47 pm

That trick of raising the pickup is what I used on my old 4001 to help get a good growl. My amps were these old ****** Sun amps that were always overdriving anyway, and it would clip the pops out pretty nicely. I had also had it refretted at one point with these high, very fat frets, which added a little to the clankyness.

But it was all the sanding I did when I refinished it (didn't like JG at the time and wanted a clear finish) that had the biggest change in the tone. I inadvertantly sanded off a lot of wood from the neck trying to get the old finish off. I had to go to lighter strings, in fact because the neck was no longer strong enough to hold up under the strings I was using.

But it gave a very good Chris Squire clank/growl after that, to the point that the rest of the band really noticed the difference.....

If I'd ever gotten famous, Rickenbacker would probably have had to issue a special 4001LS....

BTW, to be honest, I prefer the slightly deader sound of my new 4003, because the notes are a little clearer.

LS

Bassman_4080 · Post by **Bassman_4080** » Mon Jan 29, 2001 10:36 pm

It also makes a hyooge difference if you play with a pick or with your fingers. I'm a finger guy, although I use a pick when the song calls for it (or if the engineer wears me down enough- 'too muddy and clanky- use a damn PICK!!'). Trouble is, also as a guitar player, it can throw off my guitar flat-picking a bit (not so's you'd notice, however!!). I grow my nails a bit to get more attack and top-end, and that's a great combination for me (my wife says otherwise, because I'm constantly using up her files!!). I 'studied' (read: spent all my time trying to emulate) Geddy Lee's playing style, and find that a LOT of his overall tone comes from HOW he plays, not just 'what' he plays. CS, too- he has a very particular way he holds the pick across the strings to get his sound- check out the Drama record- very indicitive of his overall technique. Also one of his 'cleanest' sounding recordings IMHO (besides the newer stuff). Thoughts?

lucien_s · Post by **lucien_s** » Thu Feb 01, 2001 5:03 pm

You can get a clear sound with fingers, but it takes a lot more work than with a pick (which is why I wish I could play with a pick). Pick players sound awsome on the 4001/3....

What I've finally come around to after years and years of fighting for a clean sound is plucking more towards the bridge, and always over the pickup. So, on my basses, the bridge pickup has to be in exactly the right place for me to get a clear sound.

There were only two store-bought basses ever produced with the pickup located in precisely the right place for me: the Music Man Stingray and the Rick 4001/3. I don't like the Stingray, because the neck is too wide and the strings too far apart. My G&L L2000's bridge pickup is just about right, but a little too far back (an L1500 would probably be about right) and the strings are a bit too far apart at the bridge.

I'm not good enough of a player to justify thousands of bucks for a custom built bass with proper pickup position, so I never messed with that.

The Rick's bridge pickup is placed just right, and the strings are just the right spacing at the bridge end. So, the rick is my main bass; I can get a decently clean sound out of it most of the time using just the bridge pickup.

I can get clearer notes out of the G&L (because of its awsome tonal range and it's being fretless), but it's playability isn't as good as the Rick for me.

LS