How to get my bass sound like this
 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TfyoYRYY8M

Ok, I know I need a rickenbacker. But can I get any tips on getting similar tone to this?

Greetings

A lot of tone comes from your attack and fretting. It helps to know how the bassist in that band approaches playing. Then I'd say play around with your amp settings. How it was recorded has something to do with it too. Direct? Mic'ed? Combination? Type of strings...

To get a certain sound takes a fair amount of research. Then it is up to you to try to get in that headspace.

IMHO

technique > amp settings > gear

Geddy Lee is a great example. He sounds the same regardless of what bass he is playing or what amp he is playing through. It boils down to the player.

I was 100% sure that someone gonna mention about the attack etc. Well, I kinda did my best I could say. I tried to do it much like Steve DiGiorgio. really i tried to copy his style of playing + some of mine personal style. I use floating thub technique and I really try to get pretty hard attack from fingers. What about fretting? I don't know what I can say about it.
I use Ibanez gsr 200 so that's the worst sounding thing ever. I use same Rotosound strings. I can't say if it was recorded directly or with microphone

Any bass would sound like that if you loosened up the strings until they're flubby and played with some overdrive.

Any sound engineer would completely disagree with you here. Any half-experienced musician can easily tell the difference between the Ric-Wal-Fender sounds that Geddy is famous for

They do not sound the same

How much pressure do you use? Do you have a soft touch or are you absolutly hammering it? Attack does have a lot to do with it. You have to approach the playing style like the one you are trying to replicate.

And I dont mean gripping the neck like a lifeline. I mean how you fret...pressure, and where you fret. Sometimes, for example, playing the second octave E on the A string instead of the D string. The tone is different in each position.

Tone-wise, yes, you are correct, they all sound different. But what I think he means is that Geddy's overall playing style has the same approach no matter what bass he plays. Geddy would sound like Geddy on a $200.00 Squier or his $6,000.00 Wal.

And that's exactly what I do. Usually second octave I use the upper string. About fretting. When quick changes on frets I dont smash it but I also dont touch it gently. Something beetween. When not too much I usually hammer it hardly but again not too hard.

He was responding to OP's question "But can I get any tips on getting similar TONE to this?"

Yes Geddy sounds like Geddy but his tone is COMPLETELY different with each bass....

That doesn't sound like a Rick to me ... it sounds like an active bass with round wounds ... also a lot of that tone is in the fingers of the player ... also that is an amp with plenty of overhead and no distortion and the mids sound scooped ...

I have a bad habit of not understanding things...:D

Well, trust me, that's def. a 4001 Rick. You can check on his site. Amp is probably SVT classic, thats all info I can get

Tone can change a lot depending on where you play. Near the bridge, near the neck, inbetween?? Lots of different sound from that too. It's an entire package....bass, strings, amp, settings, technique and a good understanding of how to dial that all in. It takes time.

In between

Doesn't sound like anything except a downtuned Ric with rounds played with a pick and an SVT with the gain turned up. My .02

Over play the string until goes out of tune and bottoms out.
See title "Death - Suicide Machine"... perfect.

Hey there. This was played with fingers.

Anyways what do you guys think of that record I posted on the top of the post?

Ah, sounded like a pick to me at first. I only listened to like 5 seconds of it. Wasn't exactly a fan of the music or the tone.

No biggie, been guilty of that myself lots of times :-(