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Geddy Lee & Chris Squire sound

Rotosound Swing Bass...bass open up full, tone all the way treble...Tube Amp...bass all the way up, mid all the way down, treble all the way up.

that should get you in the general direction
 
Mike in Chicago said:
Rotosound Swing Bass...bass open up full, tone all the way treble...Tube Amp...bass all the way up, mid all the way down, treble all the way up.

that should get you in the general direction

Hmmm, I'm not sure, I can't say Chris tone is the typical scooped tone. His tone is quite deceiving as he is so dynamic with his style and where he plays and which pup configuration he have. In addition he uses 2 amps. The Rickenbacker is such a different animal if you choose only the bridge pup or only the neck pup. Chris can have very warm tone such as on You by my side, or typical Squire tone such as on heart of the sunrise, which is not scooped.
 
zon6c-f said:
Don't know if Geddy used it, but Squire used tremolo on a few songs. Intro to Starship trooper comes to mind. Flanging at the end. JPJ used it on "Good Times-Bad Times".

Sometimes, Squire's fuzz was so subkle as to sound more like "distortion".

Yes he use tremolo on starship trooper, and some other effects as flanger/ chorus / envelope on albums such as Tormato. I think he use phaser as well on Tempus Fugit
He do have a distortion pedal, it is this Malekko Brass master.
 
Hydromantic said:
Well, I have "Close To The Edge" in mind or songs on Tales From Topographic Oceans or their cover of "America" for example.

But maybe the fuzz I'm talking about is the od on his Marshall you're talking about actually ;)

Do you get good results for this overdrive sound with Amplitube?

Quite good results. I wish I had 2 iPads, using my Rick O sound I could run one iPad with the Ampeg the other with the Marshall. :)
 
The only thing I'm not convinced is Yes without Chris. Luckily he is on every Yes album. David I think do excellent job, in studio or live. They sound like yes. Wakeman, he is on and off Yes all the time.
Btw it is Wakeman who said once: Yes is like a bus, somebody goes off somebody goes on the bus. But Yes always had strong musicians on board, and always the right people for th eight time."
Smart said, and actually Yes in a nutshell.
 
Charlzm said:
I have a Line 6 Variax bass and a Line 6 BassPOD XT Live. There are settings for both the Rush "Tom Sawyer" sound and the Yes "Roundabout" tone in the Pod (which can control the bass model on the Variax). I don't have them here at work for reference, but if nobody else follows up on it before I get home tonight, I can post specific bass/amp/effect settings that Line 6 represents as close facsimiles.

I've tried these settings on the bassPod XT pro. I'm not sure how close they are. I didn't like so much the factory settings.
I didn't have my Geddy or my Rick back then. Maybe on a Variax you will get close. I think the PodFarm will get you closer as you can dual amp there. Same goes to Amplitube PC version. Of course the best will be owning the real amps...
When I get a hold on an Ampeg I'll try it with the Marshall of my guitar player. He have a JCM2000 which we removed 2 tubes from it, thus reducing it from 100w to 50w, as he wants to obtain distortion from the power section in normal volumes.
 
I get a great Geddy Rick-O-Sound out of my Gibson Thunderbird.

Here are the EQ settings I use..

Contour: Full On
Boost and Hi Boost: Full on
Low Cut: Off
Treble: 12 O'clock
Hi Mid: 4 O'clock
Low Mid: Full On
Bass: 11 O'clock

Alot of the tone also comes from Ernie Ball Slinky's

Hope I helped.
 
I've been intrigued and influenced by both Chris and Geddy's tone for years, so I'm digging this post. I read, and agree, that a great deal of tone comes from the attack - obviously. I think I read somewhere, and saw it posted her again, that Chris uses a pick and his thumb to double pluck the string. Geddy's tone IMHO is all about him digging in on his Jazz or Ric.

I can't comment on Chris's gear (old or new) because I'm not sure what he plays. Whatever he plays, the person that has come closest, again IMHO, is Dave Meros from Spock's Beard. What ever he does I think he's nailed it!

Geddy's tone has changed a great deal, to my ears, over the last few years. Tech 21 preamps showed up around Vapor Trails, I think, and I thought his tone on that album was too heavy. The albums that followed were more mellow, but still had that Geddy Lee edge to them. Below is a link that describes where that sound is today and how he achieves it (at least for live sound).

Bottom line for me is that I gave up a long time ago trying to copy the sound and ventured out to find my own. I think that Geddy and Chris might be doing the same thing themselves, even after all these years.

Invalid Link Removed
 
May I give you the bottom line? I am not going to read all the pages of this thread. But can only say that these players, Geddy and Chris, will get their sound regardless of their amps or instruments. Squire has said in interviews that he got most of his tone from his neck toaster. So. Geddy sounds like Geddy whether he is using his Ric or his Fender. Go figure.

Why not forget about them and come up with your own signature sound? Find a compromise. Find what you want, and go with it.

Frankly, I can't believe that anyone is still trying to copy someone else's tone. I may believe this for someone who is in a garage band and only a teen. But no one else.

Sorry for the hard line.
 
DLaunder said:
I've been intrigued and influenced by both Chris and Geddy's tone for years, so I'm digging this post. I read, and agree, that a great deal of tone comes from the attack - obviously. I think I read somewhere, and saw it posted her again, that Chris uses a pick and his thumb to double pluck the string. Geddy's tone IMHO is all about him digging in on his Jazz or Ric.

I can't comment on Chris's gear (old or new) because I'm not sure what he plays. Whatever he plays, the person that has come closest, again IMHO, is Dave Meros from Spock's Beard. What ever he does I think he's nailed it!

Geddy's tone has changed a great deal, to my ears, over the last few years. Tech 21 preamps showed up around Vapor Trails, I think, and I thought his tone on that album was too heavy. The albums that followed were more mellow, but still had that Geddy Lee edge to them. Below is a link that describes where that sound is today and how he achieves it (at least for live sound).

Bottom line for me is that I gave up a long time ago trying to copy the sound and ventured out to find my own. I think that Geddy and Chris might be doing the same thing themselves, even after all these years.

Invalid Link Removed

Check Miguel Falcao on youtube, he is the re incarnation of Chris. Dave Meros tone is an other example of great tone, Rick tone. his Rick is quite moded with the addition of two jazz pups. His recent bass is a Rick look alike made bass with 4 jazz pups in positions which cover both 4001 and 70 jazz basses.
Chris indeed gets his tone regardless what he plays. It is his Herco plex 75 pick and his picking technique. But of all the basses he use, his signature tone is at best on his Rick or the Mouridian.
Geddy's tone on moving pictures is quite interesting as it is so hard to hear what is the jazz and what is the Rick. The tone he have today with his jazz is heavier and less like his old Rick tone, but still raw and very Geddy. His Orange AD200 heads do add some warmth to the sansamp tone.
 
May I give you the bottom line? I am not going to read all the pages of this thread. But can only say that these players, Geddy and Chris, will get their sound regardless of their amps or instruments. Squire has said in interviews that he got most of his tone from his neck toaster. So. Geddy sounds like Geddy whether he is using his Ric or his Fender. Go figure.

Why not forget about them and come up with your own signature sound? Find a compromise. Find what you want, and go with it.

Frankly, I can't believe that anyone is still trying to copy someone else's tone. I may believe this for someone who is in a garage band and only a teen. But no one else.

Sorry for the hard line.

+1, kind of where I was heading with my long winded post. But having said that, I don't think that there is anything wrong with incorporating elements of other bassists sounds in something that is uniquely your own. To do that I think you need to explore getting to those tones on your own.
 

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