Geddy Leeing up my tone. Advice?

[fireincairo]

Ok, I've got an old Tokai '62 J/P clone from the 80s. It's got a nice J bridge pickup. I'm running that into a decent pedalboard with a bass big muff, RC boost, Behringer Multieffect stomper, Digitech Digidelay, and EH Octave Multiplexer. That is run straight down the throat of a 120 watt tube Peavey Butcher head which runs into an Avatar 2x12 cab and then to an Avatar 4x10 cab.

What are some tips/tricks to copping Geddy's tone from say Fly By Night to Moving Pictures?

 

[fireincairo]

I can do a lot of tonal tweaking with the RC boost. The only limiting factor with that is that there's no mid control. I should be trying to accentuate some mids, huh?

 

[ABH_bassist]

the majority of geddy's tone comes from his fingers. im sure others will chime in on the specifics of this.

 

[ksandvik]

the majority of geddy's tone comes from his fingers. im sure others will chime in on the specifics of this.

Yep, especially *strong* fingers.

 

[fireincairo]

Oh, yeah, I see what you mean. I just attacked the strings like a psycho and a li'l Geddy leaped out from them.

 

[ABH_bassist]

yea man there you go

 

[ksandvik]

yea man there you go

Glad to hear this instead of asking for a specific pedal or amp/cab setup. 80% of bass sound comes from the fingers, indirectly from the creative mind.

 

[king_xanadu]

some light (and i mean very light) gauge strings will help a bit

 

[rarbass]

some light (and i mean very light) gauge strings will help a bit

+1, I started using light gauge simply for this reason and it really helped. Light gauge with a lot of attack with your plucking hand.

 

[FenderP]

some light (and i mean very light) gauge strings will help a bit

I did Geddy's tone just fine with my P (or variations of it) with my thick RS77LE flats and high action. But getting yourself some Rotosound strings will certainly help since Geddy generally used them.

 

[JimmyM]

Threads like this truly warm my heart...the guy wants to cop another guy's tone, someone says play like the other guy, guy plays like the other guy and it works. Absolutely it's all in the fingers. Geddy's tone has undergone changes over the years, but when he plays, there's no mistaking him.

 

[bikeplate]

Hi

Geddy's tone has changed many times. His style is his style. Are you doing a tribute band or something like that? Early stuff was a Rick bass. Treble heavy. Some Fender Jazz. After that, Steinbergers and Wal basses. His tone is a bit more distorted than the average joe, also. Also, a bit of chorus one some of the older stuff.

If you like the older stuff, get a Rick and some dirt going on.
Much more important to study his technique. That will get you in the ballpark. Good luck. He's a legend and not easy to copy

Rob

 

[Jeff Scott]

What are some tips/tricks to copping Geddy's tone from say Fly By Night to Moving Pictures?

Start with an early '70s 4001 and go from there. You will notice that his tone changes over the years with the different basses he used, Steinberger, Wal, Jazz Bass, etc., so start with the correct source for the era you are interested in.

 

[Geddyfleaharris]

Get a Sansamp RBI or RPM. After doing some recording and using headrooms over the last month or so the Geddy crunch comes through loud and clear. I use a Ric and I don't use fingers but the crunch and grind from the Sansamp scream Geddy.

 

[BassJunkie730]

Cut off Geddy's hands and the wrist and have them grafted onto the top of your wrists.

That way you can cop the "geddy tone" whenever you want and then flip them off like folded mittens when you need to sound like yourself

the frankenstien approach works every time!

 

[SteveC]

Aggressive attack, roundwound strings, a Geddy Lee Jazz, an RBI, an Avalon U5.
Start at the beginning of the list and work left...it's free at first.

 

[KPAX]

Oh here we go again. Like Geddy's style, technique, feel and attack hadn't occurred to the guy asking the question.

I don't get these snobby answers but then, we don't love the same things.

To the origional question, Fly By Night to Moving Pictures puts you solidly in Rickenbacker land so unfortunately, to get that tone I think you'll have to get a Rick. But don't tell all these all-origional purists that you did so. You can tell Geddy Lee without fear of condemnation because by his own admission he was WAY into Chris Squire back then. Just don't tell the elites on TB.

the majority of geddy's tone comes from his fingers. im sure others will chime in on the specifics of this.
__________________
I love penis.

 

[Snakeman1066]

get a Sansamp RPM and or RBI....when i set my RBI just right and adjust my 3 band pre-amp just right (of Treble) on my Traben Obsession i get a perfect Geddy tone (ala A Farewell to Kings) but i have to really dig at the strings...

I have noticed in quite a few mags lately Tech 21 is really pushing Geddy and the RPM as the secret to his tone

and good luck

 

[tZer]

Cut off Geddy's hands and the wrist and have them grafted onto the top of your wrists.

That way you can cop the "geddy tone" whenever you want and then flip them off like folded mittens when you need to sound like yourself

the frankenstien approach works every time!

Wow - that's a disturbing image!

But what an excellent X-Man that would make, huh?

Bass Chameleon, ATTACK!!!

 

[Craig_S]

Start with an early '70s 4001 and go from there. You will notice that his tone changes over the years with the different basses he used, Steinberger, Wal, Jazz Bass, etc., so start with the correct source for the era you are interested in.

His best tone came from a '73, maple neck, Jazz with Rotosound Swing Bass 66s. I saw his tech, with his hands full of new strings, at a show.

Geddy plays hard. His technique is more like slapping the strings with his plucking fingers. This is where the bulk of his tone comes from. His basic sound, from the Jazz, seems to be from leaning on the neck pickup more than the bridge. After that, you add a couple of SansAmp RPMs, Avalon tube compressors...

I get a pretty reasonable Geddy sound out of the MXR M-80 (yes, really). After I added the SansAmp Programmable into the mix, ahead of the MXR, it got even better. You cannot forget, though, the very first thing is having a bass that is capable of that sort of a sound. You can't get it from every bass. My MusicMan won't do it and my P-Basses only gets so close. The Jazz is the only one that will do it (of my basses).