Geddy Finally Came Home!

[Dr. Cheese]

I have been playing along with classic song “Glide,” by Pleasure, and I noticed something Marcus Miller mentioned years ago. He said he did not slap over the fingerboard to avoid overtones. I noticed that heavy slapping on this E string produces overtones and I have to really watch accidentally hitting the E with other fingers. That said, slapped correctly, this bass sounds fantastic.Not surprisingly, a slight smiley face set up on the amp eq really perked the slap tone too. I think this bass is the kind of bass that exposes sloppy technique more than others, and that is a good thing.

 

[cholyoke]

Beautiful bass. Glad to see it finally made it home!

 

[74hc]

If you only adjusted it once thirty years, why change it? It is worth much more than the MIM neck.

Good question. With the MIM neck, I adjust the truss rod every time I changed string brands a couples over a month, or about once a year without changing. With the original neck with heel adjustment, I think I adjusted once in comparison.

 

[Dluxe]

My '71 Jazz is sans pickguard and it's very easy to adjust.

 

[Dr. Cheese]

Here is a video I made of me covering Glide last night. I suppose my next goal will be to upgrade my recording and editing capacity in 2021. On a side note: I spent over an hour practicing and recording Glide on my Fender and my Carvin. My wrist was sore and still tired today. I guess I don’t slap enough!

 

[Dr. Cheese]

I am glad that I did not get that Tony Franklin fretless. It’s not that the Tony Franklin isn’t a fabulous bass, it’s that it is simply nice to have a high quality fretted four string, especially a nice, passive Jazz Bass for what it offers tonally and the joy of B string liberation when I want it.

 

[MdC64]

I highly recommend the GrooveTech tools as listed at the bottom of this page.

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

I use the Cheater (since it is likely going to be a minor adjustment) and I don't have to remove anything. Works great and won't mess up the metal of the truss rod head.

Congrats on (finally) bringing the Geddy home! It's a fantastic bass.

Just ordered the Cheater. I looked at the Stew Mac tool as well, but the Cheater looked like it will fit the exposed part of the screw better. Thanks for the recommendation.

 

[SteveC]

I am too old to let good basses go. This may very well be my last new bass ever. I know folks don’t believe, but I am just in different place now than my first seven or eight years on TalkBass.

I believe you. We are not that dissimilar. I certainly went through a stage of buying and selling and trying. I am in a different place now. I have gear I love and works for any gig I’ll ever have. I have a little amp GAS which is odd for me. But that should pass.

 

[Dr. Cheese]

I believe you. We are not that dissimilar. I certainly went through a stage of buying and selling and trying. I am in a different place now. I have gear I love and works for any gig I’ll ever have. I have a little amp GAS which is odd for me. But that should pass.

I have some amp GAS too but my gig, church, is gone and the church bought the TC Electronic amp I recommended. I would like a nicer home amp, but it is not something I have to do soon.

As for basses, I would like to narrow it down to my Pedulla, Carvin, and Fender.

 

[SteveC]

I’ve got my 3 Roscoe’s that pretty much cover any gig for me. I also have my G&L JB-2 for if I want that sound, but I find myself going away from “jazz” tones these days. Loving the new P with flats. Used my fretless 5 at church, and the fretted 5 is still an amazing bass.

I like my Genzler combo, and it has always been enough as I mostly play DI/IEM type gigs, but I have been lusting after a Bergantino Forté HP and a Berg cab of some kind - HG410 or NXT212. Way overkill for jazz combo or singer songwriter gig, but the presence of a large cab (even at 1/4 volume) and all in one of the head (compressor, LPF, drive) is tempting.

 

[munnkyboy]

I have it as well
- I got a pickguard with the cutout so I don’t need to remove the neck
The Best Jazz Bass I’ve ever owned - just the best - id buy one in every color !!!

 

[Gary Stevens]

Shouldn't have to take the neck all the way off, at worst you just need to back out the bolts a bit and rock it up. Probably will need to get the pickguard out of the way, though, since those three plys do generally get in the way.

 

[Gary Stevens]

As a side comment, I am baffled by Fender's method of slacking strings and unscrewing the neck to tweak the truss rod. As much as I love all things Fender, this seems to be a design flaw. A simple solution is to drill a 1" hole 1/2" deep (forstner bit) into the body at the end of neck for truss rod access without the need to unscrew anything.

 

[BassKraz]

After a ridiculously long layaway, I finally took my American Geddy Lee Fender Jazz home. It is great, but the fact I have to take the neck off to adjust the neck (just like a vintage Seventies Jazz,) is a pain in the butt because it could use a little tweak. Still, I am very happy because I have wanted a Seventies style Jazz since the actual Seventies. I will never forget when Bootsy’s RubberBand opened for Parliament, and Bootsy had a pretty white Jazz because his original Space Bass had been stolen. I remember War’s original bassist, B.B. Dickerson, on stage with a Jazz, and I remember the guy from Spain in Heatwave who had a Seventies Jazz too. Ironically, the one time I saw Larry Graham, he had an Alembic. Of course, the greatest bassist of my generation, Marcus Miller, rocked a Seventies Jazz, and his Fender is his number one till this day. The funny thing is that I always loved the Geddy Lee Signature Jazz much more than the Marcus Miller. I almost bought a CIJ Geddy about fifteen years ago. That said, I am a pretty big Geddy Lee fan too. I would like to unload my Music Man SUB5, but I may keep it since no one is biting in the classifieds. My Geddy is my four and my Pedulla and my Carvin are my fives.

About 3 yrs ago, I took my Geddy Lee bass into my luthier and he very skillfully created a beautifully perfect truss rod access at the bass of the neck that looks like any factory made truss access. The best 60.00 I could have spent. Of course he's very skilled, in fact part of his resume is he used to tour as a luthier for the Lionel Richie Band When I get a chance in the next couple days I'll try and upload a pic.

 

[Dr. Cheese]

As a side comment, I am baffled by Fender's method of slacking strings and unscrewing the neck to tweak the truss rod. As much as I love all things Fender, this seems to be a design flaw. A simple solution is to drill a 1" hole 1/2" deep (forstner bit) into the body at the end of neck for truss rod access without the need to unscrew anything.

Let me say again, all non-vintage reproduction Fenders have easily accessed trussrod. My bass is a reproduction of a 1972 Jazz Bass.

 

[BassKraz]

Here is a little more thumb wok. I love the tone!

Here's the after market truss access that my luthier did on my Geddy Lee. Perfect!

 

[Afterimage289]

After a ridiculously long layaway, I finally took my American Geddy Lee Fender Jazz home. It is great, but the fact I have to take the neck off to adjust the neck (just like a vintage Seventies Jazz,) is a pain in the butt because it could use a little tweak. Still, I am very happy because I have wanted a Seventies style Jazz since the actual Seventies. I will never forget when Bootsy’s RubberBand opened for Parliament, and Bootsy had a pretty white Jazz because his original Space Bass had been stolen. I remember War’s original bassist, B.B. Dickerson, on stage with a Jazz, and I remember the guy from Spain in Heatwave who had a Seventies Jazz too. Ironically, the one time I saw Larry Graham, he had an Alembic. Of course, the greatest bassist of my generation, Marcus Miller, rocked a Seventies Jazz, and his Fender is his number one till this day. The funny thing is that I always loved the Geddy Lee Signature Jazz much more than the Marcus Miller. I almost bought a CIJ Geddy about fifteen years ago. That said, I am a pretty big Geddy Lee fan too. I would like to unload my Music Man SUB5, but I may keep it since no one is biting in the classifieds. My Geddy is my four and my Pedulla and my Carvin are my fives.

I've had my CIJ Geddy bass since 2003. It's still my #1. I was excited to hear about the American Geddy basses, but, when I played one, I was instantly disappointed with the neck profile change.

 

[Dr. Cheese]

I've had my CIJ Geddy bass since 2003. It's still my #1. I was excited to hear about the American Geddy basses, but, when I played one, I was instantly disappointed with the neck profile change.

It is modeled after a bass different from the one he found in Kalamazoo.

 

[iguigd]

After a ridiculously long layaway, I finally took my American Geddy Lee Fender Jazz home. It is great, but the fact I have to take the neck off to adjust the neck (just like a vintage Seventies Jazz,) is a pain in the butt because it could use a little tweak. Still, I am very happy because I have wanted a Seventies style Jazz since the actual Seventies. I will never forget when Bootsy’s RubberBand opened for Parliament, and Bootsy had a pretty white Jazz because his original Space Bass had been stolen. I remember War’s original bassist, B.B. Dickerson, on stage with a Jazz, and I remember the guy from Spain in Heatwave who had a Seventies Jazz too. Ironically, the one time I saw Larry Graham, he had an Alembic. Of course, the greatest bassist of my generation, Marcus Miller, rocked a Seventies Jazz, and his Fender is his number one till this day. The funny thing is that I always loved the Geddy Lee Signature Jazz much more than the Marcus Miller. I almost bought a CIJ Geddy about fifteen years ago. That said, I am a pretty big Geddy Lee fan too. I would like to unload my Music Man SUB5, but I may keep it since no one is biting in the classifieds. My Geddy is my four and my Pedulla and my Carvin are my fives.

That's why I changed to Lakland, they put a large slot in the body where the neck meets, I can tweak anytime in seconds.

 

[JoshS]

It is modeled after a bass different from the one he found in Kalamazoo.

Interesting to know. I was under the impression it was the same pawnshop bass, but many years, mods, and necks (!) later.