Rush's Al Villa Strangiato... what a blast to play!

Baird6869 · #1 05-08-2009, 08:36 AM

My bandmates are all closet Rush fans (we all were huge fans in the 80's) and we decided to learn La Villa just for fun. Our singer plays Bush's Glycerine solo (without the band) with a guitar, so we figured, screw you, we are playing something without YOU!

Anyways, it is a great song to learn. Cool time signature changes, really neat bass line and best of all, it really isn't that difficult compared to YYZ or many other Rush songs.

I think we are going to gig this tune!

P.S. I always thought Russ Ryan (Ged's bass tech) was blowing smoke when he said GL's '73 Jazz has both PU and tone at 10.

Know what? When I dime the controls on MY '73 Jazz (same ss GL's - black with maple neck and black binding) through an Ampeg SVT... it sounds EXACTLY like the originally recorded version (tone, not technique!).

73jbass · #2 05-10-2009, 10:36 AM

A Prog band I was in back on 01 played La Villa instead of YYZ,mostly because everybody else played YYZ.We had to do something a little different. I played a 73 Jazz identical to yours,through a Pearce BC-1 preamp,and it pretty much nailed the Geddy tone from that era.

Bassman316 · #3 05-10-2009, 10:44 AM

I remember learning La Villa a while back, and thinking how it was easier than I thought it was going to be to learn it. It really is a blast to play. All I need is a set of Taurus pedals for the quite part in the middle and I'm set.

Blake Bass · #4 05-10-2009, 10:47 AM

Played it back in the 80's it's a fun tune.

rfclef · #5 05-10-2009, 08:13 PM

I think I went to school with Al Strangiato...

73jbass · #6 05-10-2009, 08:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bassman316

I remember learning La Villa a while back, and thinking how it was easier than I thought it was going to be to learn it. It really is a blast to play. All I need is a set of Taurus pedals for the quite part in the middle and I'm set.

Get a set of Roland PK-5 pedals,and a good sound module.I use an Alesis S4 Plus with my pedals.The Alesis has lots of good sounds for the Rush stuff,even the Tom Sawyer filter sweep.

southernrocker · #7 05-10-2009, 08:31 PM

I get ged's tone with a fender 70s jazz, which I've moddified. His sound is all in the hands. I play very hard because in my first band, I had to match a half stack with a 50 watt peavy.

It's all in the hands, baby!