About Geddy Lee's Bass Technique

[cyberfrenzy]

Do you know what makes Geddy's bass parts sound so cool? I mean he is a terrific (and my fav) bass player, but I'm not able to emulate the bass sounds he is making... (I'm just a bass starter though) I'd like to know if there's something about his technique that makes sounds that can just as easily be classified as foreground music as background music....

(Geddy's just one of those musicians who prove that bass isn't a backseat instrument)

 

[Mutant Corn]

A lot of it is his rig...it probably costs more than most cars.

 

[JustOpenYourMind]

He plays a lot of songs by flicking his index back and forth over the strings he uses his finger nail as a pick to get that sound.

 

[paganjack]

yeah, the right rig setup helps. that or matching your preamp settings to his (high-ish gain, less bass, more treble) helps. at least when i want to sound like him, i use my effects processor as a starting point, with a preamp and compressor setup like that. then rip your fingers up as hard as possible over your neck pickup.

 

[GianGian]

His tone is due mostly to his equipment. He also plays mostly over the neck pick up and he plays very hard.

 

[jsingles]

then rip your fingers up as hard as possible over your neck pickup.

+1

 

[john_g]

His tone is due mostly to his equipment. He also plays mostly over the neck pick up and he plays very hard.

Huh?

No it isnt. His tone comes primarily from his hands and he has several different techniques/playing styles that make up his sound. Rig is a distant 2nd. One of his most prominent techniques is the flamenco-like strumming with his finger back and forth on the strings. He does alot of that these days. He does play hard but I havent seen him play primarily over the neck pick up, he is all over.

 

[bigtexashonk]

I have found that Rotosoud strings and a hard hitting agressive plucking attack does more than any amp/effect combination.

 

[cyberfrenzy]

Huh?

No it isnt. His tone comes primarily from his hands and he has several different techniques/playing styles that make up his sound. Rig is a distant 2nd. One of his most prominent techniques is the flamenco-like strumming with his finger back and forth on the strings. He does alot of that these days. He does play hard but I havent seen him play primarily over the neck pick up, he is all over.

Could you suggest a means to learn this technique, like a good book that explains the technique properly? Thanks

 

[ster]

One thing that adds to his unique sound it when he was younger the very top of his middle finger on his right hand got chopped off and his fingernail grew back much thicker.

 

[MODNY]

what does geddy's rig consist of?

 

[GianGian]

what does geddy's rig consist of?

From rush.com:

FENDER JAZZ BASS CIRCA 1972
FENDER JAZZ BASSES CIRCA 1996 (CUSTOM SHOP)
FENDER "GEDDY LEE" MODEL JAZZ BASS
FENDER "JACO PASTORIUS" JAZZ BASS FRETTED
FENDER "JACO PASTORIUS" JAZZ BASS FRETLESS
AVALON U5 TUBE DIRECT BOXES
SANSAMP R.P.M. BASS PREAMPS BY TECH 21
PALMER PDI 05 SPEAKER SIMULATORS
TRACE ELLIOT QUATRA–VR POWER AMPS
SAMPSON UR-50 WIRELESS

 

[lambro]

Huh?

No it isnt. His tone comes primarily from his hands and he has several different techniques/playing styles that make up his sound. Rig is a distant 2nd. One of his most prominent techniques is the flamenco-like strumming with his finger back and forth on the strings. He does alot of that these days. He does play hard but I havent seen him play primarily over the neck pick up, he is all over.

+1 thanks JG,

its incredible how many people who simply do not know what they are talking about post something as ridiculous as geddy getting his tone out of his rig...if you haven't figured out that the tone is in your hands people, move on, there aint nothing for you in bass land

 

[GianGian]

+1 thanks JG,

its incredible how many people who simply do not know what they are talking about post something as ridiculous as geddy getting his tone out of his rig...if you haven't figured out that the tone is in your hands people, move on, there aint nothing for you in bass land

I know what I am talking about. Try watching some old videos and show me where he does the flamenco thing. He doesn't. You can also teach how to make a rickenbacker sound like a precision or a jazz with your hands. You must be quite special really, there is probably a lot for you on the bass land.

 

[Alvaro Martín Gómez A.]

He plays a lot of songs by flicking his index back and forth over the strings he uses his finger nail as a pick to get that sound.

Try watching some old videos and show me where he does the flamenco thing. He doesn't.

Exactly. He started using it in the nineties, by the time in which Counterparts was recorded ("Animate" is his first recorded attempt at the technique). So it's another trick from his bag (in which he heavily relies nowadays), but not the source of his signature tone.

 

[john_g]

I know what I am talking about. Try watching some old videos and show me where he does the flamenco thing. He doesn't. You can also teach how to make a rickenbacker sound like a precision or a jazz with your hands. You must be quite special really, there is probably a lot for you on the bass land.

Thanks, my mom always said I was special and thats why I took the short bus to school

If you are saying its his rig that gets his sound you dont know what you are talking about. Like you could play his rig and sound like him. His sound comes from his hands and technique, one of which he uses alot, the flamenco-esque thing. Especially when he is jamming the double stops, like on Animate from Counterparts. His rig is important to his sound, but he could play a Squier through a Peavy TKO80 and still sound like that.

Oh and there is quite a large thread here with his bass tech about how his sound is so similar no matter what he was playing. Yeah, so a Rick has the trebly edge and the Wal sounds, well like a Wal but it all still sounds like Geddy no matter what he is playing.

 

[john_g]

Could you suggest a means to learn this technique, like a good book that explains the technique properly? Thanks

I have never seen anyone else, at least in rock bass, use the technique so I think its just something he experimented around with. I dont think its something that was taught to him or he read in a book (maybe a flamenco player gave him the inspiration, who knows)

He has long said that he was trying to mimic the sound of someone playing with a pick (which is what I do) but without using one (he said it felt unnatural). So if you havent seen him do it, think of using your right index finger to scratch your left hand. The back and forth motion is "kind of" like what he does to the strings.

 

[onlyclave]

If you are saying its his rig that gets his sound you dont know what you are talking about. Like you could play his rig and sound like him. His sound comes from his hands and technique, one of which he uses alot, the flamenco-esque thing. Especially when he is jamming the double stops, like on Animate from Counterparts. His rig is important to his sound, but he could play a Squier through a Peavy TKO80 and still sound like that.

You are 100% correct but equipment purists won't believe you. Geddy Lee sounds like Geddy Lee no matter what he's playing and that has been proven for over 30 years and numerous basses he's played. Don't for a minute think that you can go buy the same gear and make a sound like him. You can't.

 

[john_g]

You are 100% correct but equipment purists won't believe you. Geddy Lee sounds like Geddy Lee no matter what he's playing and that has been proven for over 30 years and numerous basses he's played. Don't for a minute think that you can go buy the same gear and make a sound like him. You can't.

Yeah, really.

Of course, different basses have different tonal qualities. But to say, oh just get a jazz or a rick or a wal and you will sound like him is superficial IMO. The essence of his playing, the thing that makes you go...hey thats Geddy when a new Rush song comes on the radio for the first time, are the tones he makes with his hands. Outside of some very minor tonal differences between basses, his sound stays the same.

Im not big into "its heart, blood, sweat and tears" mumbo-jumbo BS, so I know where people are coming from when they hear, "its in his hands". But its true, the way each person plays is different and unique.

 

[Mesa]

I have never seen anyone else, at least in rock bass, use the technique so I think its just something he experimented around with. I dont think its something that was taught to him or he read in a book (maybe a flamenco player gave him the inspiration, who knows)
.

Got no real horse in this race, but I'm pretty sure Paul McCartney uses that technique as well. Sounds like it in the song "Taxman". Paul also used the technique when playing geetar on "Blackbird".