How can I come close to Geddy's Lee's tone? - Page 2

hitman9696 · #21 02-21-2005, 05:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Perfect-Tommy

MWAH HA HA HA HA HA HA

Seriously... no one else found this crazy...

But one has to wonder if having a washer in your rig would be enough to turn it up to 11....

haha, ur right, it is hilarious

... Gotta love their sense of humour... I wonder if they are real dryers though... Maybe it's just a box with a small engines that turns the inside, and of course inside the body of a real washer... For the last tour, Geddy added a vending machine too

To comment on his flammenco-style fingering, I basically love it... It sounds amazing, and looks cool doing it too! ... I've been slowly practicing it... What's good about it also is that it allows you to play faster, since you're basically picking with your fingers... (I would one day love to stop playing with a pick. I do so only for the speed).

There hasn't been a Geddy Lee tone that I haven't liked, really... All his tones are unique, and amazing in their own way... His tones are always designed specifically to his style of play... Since he uses this new technique we've been talking about, the latest j-bas one suits him perfectly...

MacheteJames · #22 02-21-2005, 09:53 PM

I've got a DeArmond Pilot Deluxe 5 that I used to play all the time, and I actually managed to nail the Geddy tone at one point. The Pilot is able to imitate a Fender Jazz pretty well with the pickup pan set in the middle, so the potential to get the tone definitely does exist with that instrument.

How'd I do it, you ask? Here was my setup

DeArmond Pilot Deluxe 5 with low action
fresh DR SS Hi-Beam strings
Avatar 2x10 cabinet
SWR 1x15 cabinet w/ replacement Eminence speaker
BBE Bmax preamp w/ mid boost at 700hz, compression engaged and set at 7 o'clock

I own a Sansamp, but somehow I was able to get the tone without using it. I think most of it came from playing brand new strings on a bass with real low action (that gives you a lot of the "clank" sound that you need to get a tone like that) with a lot of attack through an amp with tons of mids.

Red Wonder · #23 02-22-2005, 08:06 AM

Geddy ^#@%^$g LEE!

genderblind · #24 02-22-2005, 10:52 PM

Tom Sawyer and Limelight involve the use of a really fat - sounding studio compressor, maybe it's time for producer Terry Brown to join this thread!!!
I played a friend's old Ibanez Mc 924 Musician through my Trace Hexavalve last week, and there was the Moving Pictures tone by accident.

Bottom Feeder · #25 03-01-2005, 02:21 PM

I used to play in a sorta Rush tribute band in the late 80's. I always had trouble really nailing the tone. It seemed I was trying for too much overdrive. I now find that turning down the neck p/u and playing closer to the bridge will get a snappier sound. But don't use too much highs. He has a very round mid/low mid which is punchy, but not peaked. Use Rotosounds. I get pretty good 2112 era sound from my GK 400RB, but can get good drive with my SVT. Course I also play a Ric and a Fender Jazz. Confused? I come across the sound nearly by accident now, make a small tweak, and have trouble getting it back again. Damn!

Listen to how Geddy and Neil play off of and with each other. Geddy's sound can be very percussive. It's almost like his bass is a sonic continuation of Peart's hits. (Or Neil's drum hits are the beginning of Geddy's string strike). Tough to explain. Their timing is impeccable. IMHO alot of the sonic aspect can be attributed to the tightness of the rythym section. They really become one in a band that is anything but a lock-in groove band.

Clay

The_Ryst · #26 03-06-2005, 11:19 AM

Hey guys. I'm considering getting this Sans Amp I've heard so much about, but I'm concerned, can it give me his sound from The Trees in teh beginning? I'm a new Rush fan and all I own is The Anthology and a friend left The Spirit of Radio here, so...

SteveC · #27 03-06-2005, 12:30 PM

I couldn't find the site, but there's one that lists all of Geddy's gear throughout the years.

Currently, he uses a Jazz bass into an Avalon U5, SansAmp RBI and a Palmer Speaker Emulator. Mix well and you have Geddy's tone.

burk48237 · #28 03-06-2005, 01:04 PM

Well first you have to get castrated,then you train for years with the Vienna Boys choir........ Oh, you mean his bass tone,oops,my bad!!

The_Ryst · #29 03-06-2005, 04:22 PM

Hey, I actually like his singing. Then again I like Dream Theater's singer and Queensryche, both singers everyone hates

DavePlaysBass · #30 03-09-2005, 07:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The_Ryst

Hey guys. I'm considering getting this Sans Amp I've heard so much about, but I'm concerned, can it give me his sound from The Trees in teh beginning? ...

If I am hearing things right in my head, the beginning of The Trees is a flanger.

Dave

lowendblues · #31 03-13-2005, 05:28 PM

Geddy started out with a Fender Precision bass which alot of people mistake for the Rickenbacker 4001 tone he is most noted for. He played Ricks through the '70's and in my opinion peaked with his tone with the Exit Stage Left effort. Geddy will always be noted for his Rickenbacker 4001 growl.

jeffgnr90 · #32 02-06-2013, 07:05 PM

I think I've nailed his tone..kinda. idk how it sits in a mix but I can say for sure in a weekend or two. here's what I used..

Acoustic b600h into 2 Acoustic b410's
Gain 1:00/Vol. whatever it needs to be at/Freq. 2:00/40hz 2:00/120hz 2:00/350hz 1:00/800hz 2:00/2k 1:00/5k 3:00

Squier VM jazz bass w/Model J pickups
Rotosound Swing Jazz strings
Digitech RP80
Compressor setting 2/noise gate setting 5/modulation phaser setting 1/EQ flat
Sansamp BDDI Deluxe
drive full on/bass 11:00/treble 12:00/presence full off/blend 9:30/lvl. 11:30

There's a Boss OC3 in the fx chain which i wasn't using but if you were to add it to the sound I would go for Poly mode/Octave 2 full off/Octave 1 9:00/lvl. 3:00

Sooo there you have it. Nice and detailed, hope it helps. I imagine I'll probably come back to it tomorrow and think it needs tweeking. The sound itself reminds me of Ged's Moving Pictures tone. YYZ and The Camera Eye to be specific. Of course low action and right hand technique are also required to get his tone.

dStar · #33 02-18-2013, 11:24 PM

Here's how you get his tone:

Oh, and you need his fingers...

TigerInATrance · #34 02-18-2013, 11:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hitman9696

How can I come close to Geddy's Lee's tone?

Climb the rope ladder and sit on one of the arrays at a show. You can't get any closer than that without becoming energy and flowing through his electronics.

DigitalMan · #35 02-19-2013, 02:46 PM

Given that the OP mentioned Geddy's current live sound, here's the lowdown.

The newest element of Geddy's tone is BY FAR the Orange AD200 amps he has added to the rig. Assuming you don't want to drop $3000 or more to add one to your sound (including a load box and another speaker sim), then the best thing to do is to get a modeler such as Amplitube and figure out a way to add it to your setup.

You will not nail a Clockwork Angels tone without Orange. Even with a modeler it's a tough thing since Geddy swapped out the tubes to get more shimmer.

Having said all that, no matter what you do, you'll need a blend of clean and OD sounds to emulate any Geddy tone. Since he uses a ton of different preamps I'll tell you what I believe each is doing to his tone:

- Avalon U5: This preamp forms the basis of his clean sound. It is very modern, transparent and rubbery sounding (assuming your pickups aren't setup too high). Play over the neck pickup to get a warm tone (Think: Leave that thing Alone). Play over the bridge for more attack.

- Sansamp RPM: Heavy OD sound. In the pic somewhere earlier in this thread you can likely see the settings. Drive is nearly at noon. This sound is lower in the mix than you might think.

- Palmer speaker emulator: Adds bottom and some speaker breakup. This is an artifact of running direct to a PA I think. Probably sounds great. Probably won't need this if you're running a regular rig.

- Orange AD200: This is the tubey and shimmery goodness of the tone. Definitely the signature part of the CA album and current tour.

- Fender Bassman emulator: The FOH adds some of this to his live sound. No idea why.

So that's the basics. Three main sounds to deal with, clean and transparent, OD with grit, and Tube warmth.

As a side note, many of the clips I hear of people comping Geddy's tone go too far with treble and distortion, and tend to lack the warmth. Don't try to setup for Geddy tone using old strings or you will get something too harsh and brittle.

Blue_Whistle88 · #36 02-19-2013, 09:20 PM

Dig in hard and have your action slightly on the low side, to accentuate the string noise. The way he plucks is a big park of his "sound", and it just comes from really man-handling the instrument and pinching/pulling the strings hard, rather than hitting them (a la Alex Webster). Having a Jazz bass helps a lot, but failing that any bass with a neck and bridge pickup can do the trick, though single-coils will get you closer than humbuckers.

He also has some dirt in his tone all the time, courtesy of some overdrive on his bridge pickup. I'm assuming you can't run two separate output signals, one from each pickup, so you'll have to turn up your treble on the bass to accentuate the treble as it hits the overdrive pedal. Might also pay to turn the bass up on the pedal (not your bass), to simulate the added low end at the source (i.e. before it hits the amp).

Amp-wise, keep it flat, but don't boost low-mids cause Geddy doesn't have much of them in his tone. So either cut them, or boost lows and high-mids.