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Geddy's bass tone
- Thread starter rickenbaker
- Start date
Hey Steve! Just had to say that 3 octave Wal looks like a real freakasaurus! I bet it sounds amazing as well. How many were made as prototypes? Just that one?
Sorry for the Hijack, resume the tread....
BTW, I am not a big "Vintage" fan either. That is not to say if Geddy ever sold his Ric, that I wouldn't buy it.....
Hey Steve! Just had to say that 3 octave Wal looks like a real freakasaurus! I bet it sounds amazing as well. How many were made as prototypes? Just that one?
Sorry for the Hijack, resume the tread....
BTW, I am not a big "Vintage" fan either. That is not to say if Geddy ever sold his Ric, that I wouldn't buy it.....
There were two 3-octave fretless Wals made. One was the prototype made with the burled redwood. The other has a quilted maple top and back. They are VERY unique sounding instruments. But the prototype (redwood) was near perfection in terms of construction. I actually bought the redwood from a company in Oregon. I own both of them and tend to use them both equally. But the redwood prototype is a truly special instrument. If I can find a pic of the quilted maple one, I will upload it here.
Steve Chesney
Ric5
Inactive
- Jan 29, 2008
- 29,772
- 30,452
- Disclosures
- I like 5, 8, 10, and 12 string basses
My old 68 4001 was very light ... and my 98 4004ci is very light as well my 4003 basses are more medium weight ... my 2030 ans 2020 basses are quite heavy ...
I like a light bass but quite often the heavier bass will resonate and sustain better ... but not always ...
Here is the second three octave Wal I had Pete make.
Attachments
Those are beautiful, Steve. Pete surely has crafted some striking basses over the years.
I have to admit I too found myself wondering if Geddy had ever given his Wals another shot with a heavier gauge of string (especially the red MKII, which seemed a little more bottomy to begin with). I've tried Funkmaster strings on another bass, and they did the same thing they did to Geddy's Wals...lots of twang and not much bottom. Mind you, for all I know Geddy may have tried heavier strings on the Wals before switching back to the Jazz on CP and perhaps he still didn't find the Wals' tone to be what he wanted at that point.
At any rate, I think backing off on the distortion on his Jazz sound has been a major improvement and that it sounds fantastic on S&A.
I have to admit I too found myself wondering if Geddy had ever given his Wals another shot with a heavier gauge of string (especially the red MKII, which seemed a little more bottomy to begin with). I've tried Funkmaster strings on another bass, and they did the same thing they did to Geddy's Wals...lots of twang and not much bottom. Mind you, for all I know Geddy may have tried heavier strings on the Wals before switching back to the Jazz on CP and perhaps he still didn't find the Wals' tone to be what he wanted at that point.
At any rate, I think backing off on the distortion on his Jazz sound has been a major improvement and that it sounds fantastic on S&A.
To my knowledge, Geddy has never tried that. Or at least he has never approached Pete with making the adjustments required to accommodate thicker strings (new nut, etc). It is a little trickier than it sounds and should be done by a luthier or a knowledgeable tech. As much as I LOVE Wals, they have some quirks that I don't like. Their necks do not like to be disturbed. Switching to a heavier gauge would require many adjustments over a period of time as the neck settles with the new tension. Interestingly, Pete Stevens never liked the thinner strings on Wals. That was an Ian Waller thing. Geddy liked the thinner strings at the time because they suited his style at the time (Territories, Marathon). However, as his style changed, I could see the thinner strings having an inability to translate Geddy's intention in terms of a bassline. He has kind of a "flamenco" slap style now that would not sound as effective on a Wal with 30-90 string gauges. However, 45-105's? That might be a whole different ballgame.
Steve Chesney
I don't know why it is, but I just love the sound of light strings! Not just playing wise, but all the guys who used them...Mark King, Geddy, Wooten, Manring....they just sound so articulate and fresh!
Personally, I LOVE Geddy's Wal tone. Every note is heard. Manring has always been a favorite of mine. In fact, the 3-octave fretless Wals were loosely based on Manring's 3-octave fretless from Zon. That being said, Wals with the thicker strings just BOOM! They retain the articulate freshness, with a much more present bottom end. I use 40-100's, which are a good compromise between the 30-90 and 45-105.
Steve Chesney
Sorry! The best 15 pounds I ever spent. Superbowl halftime so I have a few minutes to post. Always enjoy time off in the UK. London is expensive as crap, but so much to see and enjoy. I've been there many times and always have a great time!
Shh.. you're giving away all our secrets!
Hurry back..
Russ,
I have the Geddy Fender Jazz as my main bass now as well and I would love to hear any of your tips or suggestions on how to deal with the truss rod access and anything else you can think of (if you have them)
I have the Geddy Fender Jazz as my main bass now as well and I would love to hear any of your tips or suggestions on how to deal with the truss rod access and anything else you can think of (if you have them)
Hi Russ...
Many thanks to everyone with the organization for coming to OKC! I'm bringing like 15 excited first-timers with me. :-D
I know you're being flooded right now, but I'm hoping that you can find a couple seconds to help me with a few questions:
1. After the wireless, is the signal split into three parts before or after the Avalon DI?
2. I think I read/saw somewhere that the PDI-05 in your setup attenuates the speaker-level signal sent out from the Quatra VR back to line-level. The PDI-05 doesn't have a load circuit AFAIK, so either a speaker or other external load has to be put on the PDI-05 so so as not to burn it up. How do you handle this?
3. What is the Landmark 600 amp used for?
Many, many thanks in advance for your response and sorry if these questions have been asked before.
Sean
I don't think that a Landmark amp is being used at all.
There are no speakers involved, so no need to attenuate speaker level.
The RPM is a preamp.
There are no speakers involved, so no need to attenuate speaker level.
The RPM is a preamp.
Nope, great post - most revealing about you. You were really lucky to be around and to actually go see these legends of jazz.
Though not a big Rush fan, I really enjoy reading this thread, learning all this inside info, and really appreciate your sharing it with us, Russ.
Excellent Question. Best Superbowl in many years! I made 300 hundred CND, which these days, is more then USD. It gives me money to pay for my internet costs! I will tell you more later.
Guy's I will post, it's all about humor and life. I will still give you info about Ged's Main bass pick-ups, etc
Trust me, I have some time once in awhile to post. I want answer all questions but that involves a lot of writing and I want to make sure I explain everything properly so as not to confuse or COST any of you money because I forgot on detail.
If I have not posted in awhile, like I said, PLEASE remind me.
By the way, you are pretty much on track! I gotta go, being smacked on the head for this.... She's blonde.. okay!
Guy's I will post, it's all about humor and life. I will still give you info about Ged's Main bass pick-ups, etc
Trust me, I have some time once in awhile to post. I want answer all questions but that involves a lot of writing and I want to make sure I explain everything properly so as not to confuse or COST any of you money because I forgot on detail.
If I have not posted in awhile, like I said, PLEASE remind me.
By the way, you are pretty much on track! I gotta go, being smacked on the head for this.... She's blonde.. okay!
Hi Guys,
This is going to be a bit long so bear with me. The Landmark has never been used. It was given to Ged before the start of the Vapor Trails tour along with some cabs, from Tech 21. I threw the amp in the rack thinking he my want to try it. You must remember, this was before Ged decided to switch to "Maytag's" for his backline. I have left it in there as at the time, I didn't need the rack space and as Tech 21 has always been great to me, I thought it might help them with a bit of exposure. That will be coming out out for this tour in 2008. I need the space! Before I go into below, I just want to mention their are many spares for gear mentioned!
Here is the signal routing in detail: This is going to be interesting to explain this properly. We use two Samson UR-5D wireless units. They are single rack mount dual wireless receivers. Each channel has their own dedicated output. Signal routing for hooking up, all of these pieces are unbalanced 1/4" jacks. Audio obviously takes XLR line level outs, from the outboard gear, not the wireless!
The outputs from the Samson's (4 in all) now go to a Kittyhawk Midi Looper. Most of you will probably not be familiar to the Kittyhawk products. I came across Kittyhawk products when I worked for the Scorpions in the 90's. It was, and still may be, a small German company that made loopers, midi switchers, amps, etc. Well made products and a very unique individual, Gundolf, who made these products! I thought they sounded good, worked well and very reliable.
This Kittyhawk, as the name implies, was primarily made to midi switch to different effects. I don't use the midi function, no need. I use it basically as multi-channel "A/B" box, rack-mounted! This unit has six separate channels. I take the separate wireless outputs to each individual channel input on the Kittyhawk. The Kittyhawk has a MAIN OUTPUT, for all channels.
The Kittyhawk has individual switches on the front to turn each channel on and off, as desired. As Ged switches to a different bass, I just hit the corresponding switch on the Kittyhawk to activate that bass. This gives me the luxury to know that as he is playing one bass, I can unplug, tune another bass, without sending any 'popping' noise to to audio as that particular channel of the wireless is muted! This means not having to mute, turn off transmitter, or turn down the output volume of the wireless receiver.
Okay, I'm going to stop here as I want to hear your feedback as I to make I'm making sense to everyone. Don't get me wrong, I HAVE never gone into this much detail in writing! I'm use to giving someone details when they are standing next to the rig. It's a little easier to show then write about.
This is going to be a bit long so bear with me. The Landmark has never been used. It was given to Ged before the start of the Vapor Trails tour along with some cabs, from Tech 21. I threw the amp in the rack thinking he my want to try it. You must remember, this was before Ged decided to switch to "Maytag's" for his backline. I have left it in there as at the time, I didn't need the rack space and as Tech 21 has always been great to me, I thought it might help them with a bit of exposure. That will be coming out out for this tour in 2008. I need the space! Before I go into below, I just want to mention their are many spares for gear mentioned!
Here is the signal routing in detail: This is going to be interesting to explain this properly. We use two Samson UR-5D wireless units. They are single rack mount dual wireless receivers. Each channel has their own dedicated output. Signal routing for hooking up, all of these pieces are unbalanced 1/4" jacks. Audio obviously takes XLR line level outs, from the outboard gear, not the wireless!
The outputs from the Samson's (4 in all) now go to a Kittyhawk Midi Looper. Most of you will probably not be familiar to the Kittyhawk products. I came across Kittyhawk products when I worked for the Scorpions in the 90's. It was, and still may be, a small German company that made loopers, midi switchers, amps, etc. Well made products and a very unique individual, Gundolf, who made these products! I thought they sounded good, worked well and very reliable.
This Kittyhawk, as the name implies, was primarily made to midi switch to different effects. I don't use the midi function, no need. I use it basically as multi-channel "A/B" box, rack-mounted! This unit has six separate channels. I take the separate wireless outputs to each individual channel input on the Kittyhawk. The Kittyhawk has a MAIN OUTPUT, for all channels.
The Kittyhawk has individual switches on the front to turn each channel on and off, as desired. As Ged switches to a different bass, I just hit the corresponding switch on the Kittyhawk to activate that bass. This gives me the luxury to know that as he is playing one bass, I can unplug, tune another bass, without sending any 'popping' noise to to audio as that particular channel of the wireless is muted! This means not having to mute, turn off transmitter, or turn down the output volume of the wireless receiver.
Okay, I'm going to stop here as I want to hear your feedback as I to make I'm making sense to everyone. Don't get me wrong, I HAVE never gone into this much detail in writing! I'm use to giving someone details when they are standing next to the rig. It's a little easier to show then write about.
Hi Russ
I've read this thread from the beginning and this is one of the most fascinating and interesting threads i ever saw. thanks god that we have this Internet and we can meet someone like you who share with us fans, that interesting knowledge with such generosity.
actually, i am new Geddy lee fan. i was always familiar with few rush tracks, and YYZ was one of my favorites, but i didn't pay to much attention to rush music, but before a year and half, I've got an epiphany and i started to get more into rush music with a very rush manner, surprisingly, very close to time when i started to develop a serious GAS for Rickenbacker bass. which i finally got and started to learn how to play a lot of rush stuff. and now i have all their music Cd's and some videos and i consider myself big fan of Geddy. i hope they will come to Israel one day..i heard Geddy have family here..
he should come visit them at holidays..
lot of questions asked so i have only one question: do you also maintain Geddy keyboards? what gear he uses now? does the show have another keyboard player when he plays the bass? maybe hidden? or they have sampled parts? if this is the situation, how does they triggered?
thanks
tomer
I've read this thread from the beginning and this is one of the most fascinating and interesting threads i ever saw. thanks god that we have this Internet and we can meet someone like you who share with us fans, that interesting knowledge with such generosity.
actually, i am new Geddy lee fan. i was always familiar with few rush tracks, and YYZ was one of my favorites, but i didn't pay to much attention to rush music, but before a year and half, I've got an epiphany and i started to get more into rush music with a very rush manner, surprisingly, very close to time when i started to develop a serious GAS for Rickenbacker bass. which i finally got and started to learn how to play a lot of rush stuff. and now i have all their music Cd's and some videos and i consider myself big fan of Geddy. i hope they will come to Israel one day..i heard Geddy have family here..
he should come visit them at holidays..lot of questions asked so i have only one question: do you also maintain Geddy keyboards? what gear he uses now? does the show have another keyboard player when he plays the bass? maybe hidden? or they have sampled parts? if this is the situation, how does they triggered?
thanks
tomer
