Geddy's bass tone

[Russ Ryan]

Thanks! I'll send our tech the link.

Hey Russ...check here, there's one for $575...
http://www.sonicflux.com/

 

[Baird6869]

Russ,

Was that you standing with Geddy sidestage before he went on at the Foo Fighters concert in Toronto on Saturday? I had front row side stage and it was amazing to see Rush join the drummer of the Foos in Rush's (and my) hometown!

 

[Russ Ryan]

Yep, that was me. That show was a lot of fun. The band and crew were great to us! Geddy was joking in the dressing room after how Rush had never played YYZ so fast!

Russ,

Was that you standing with Geddy sidestage before he went on at the Foo Fighters concert in Toronto on Saturday? I had front row side stage and it was amazing to see Rush join the drummer of the Foos in Rush's (and my) hometown!

 

[Baird6869]

Yep, that was me. That show was a lot of fun. The band and crew were great to us! Geddy was joking in the dressing room after how Rush had never played YYZ so fast!

It was a great show and it was cool to see Geddy stick around side stage having a couple of beers (thought he was a Burgundy drinker!) chatting to the opening bands for an hour or so after he finished playing YYZ. Looks like he was having fun.

I knew something might be up when I saw a black Fender Geddy Jazz on Nate's bass rack knowing Nate plays Laklands and older Fenders. I could see the little Geddy signature on the back of the headstock (from about 30 feet).

God, what a friggin' bass geek I am.

 

[jonfiredaman02]

Hey Russ I was wondering, for that show did Geddy and Alex use their own rigs? They sound pretty similar to how they normally sound I thought but I couldn't really tell from the crappy youtube video

 

[Jeremy5000]

Thanks so much for the time here Russ, really loving it.

I’d love to hear your expert opinion on something.
I’ve found that it’s difficult to mike a bass cabinet live and therefore I try to get my sound as I like it with the bass and preamp and just use the power amp/cabinet in my rig as a “monitor” going direct from the preamp to the board. I’m even thinking of using a JBL PA cab for my rig so I can hear it as close as it will come through a PA.
Would you suggest this approach even though I’m not using speaker simulators?

And one other question – if there is any comparison at all, is it possible to describe the tone of the GL signature basses to the real deal?

 

[Russ Ryan]

I was able to use Ged's rig for the Foo's show. Alex used the Foo's gear which was a Mesa Boogie but I'm not sure which model amp he used. All we brought for Alex was his own guitar, obviously, and a TC Electronics delay pedal.

Hey Russ I was wondering, for that show did Geddy and Alex use their own rigs? They sound pretty similar to how they normally sound I thought but I couldn't really tell from the crappy youtube video

 

[Russ Ryan]

That question is so open-ended! There are so many variables I would need to know to possibly help you out.
If you don't mind, give me more detailed info.
First, get a bass sound from your rig that you are happy with. Rule #1!!!

Everything else can be dealt with. I need more info to make any kind of comment.

Thanks so much for the time here Russ, really loving it.

I’d love to hear your expert opinion on something.
I’ve found that it’s difficult to mike a bass cabinet live and therefore I try to get my sound as I like it with the bass and preamp and just use the power amp/cabinet in my rig as a “monitor” going direct from the preamp to the board. I’m even thinking of using a JBL PA cab for my rig so I can hear it as close as it will come through a PA.
Would you suggest this approach even though I’m not using speaker simulators?

And one other question – if there is any comparison at all, is it possible to describe the tone of the GL signature basses to the real deal?

 

[StringThing]

Here's the scoop on Geddy
Strings. I know he liked them light. He has stretched his tendons over the years. If he had heavier stings, he would have pulled his hand off! He plays hard on light gauge. where he played, right hand location is important, so move it to "Find" his sound. Don't even think of a pick.

His neck is important, maple. rosewood won't do it. The Geddy Jazz bass (with a Pickup upgrade?) probably the best is a good start.

from EQ magazine, sept 2007;
Recording wise his signal chain is 3 DIs to avoid Phase. A tech 21 Sans Amp, a Palmer speaker simulator and a Martech MSS-01 Bass DI. they all go to a Neve 1081 Preamp and perhaps a Universal Audio LA-2 compressor.

He uses a Fender 1972 Jazz bass and they say the sound is all in his hands.

 

[Russ Ryan]

Interesting about Ged using the Martech. I was the there for the whole recording of Snakes & Arrows and I did not see a Martech being used. Mind you, the engineer could of set it up without me knowing, but we used the Avalon for his D.I. sound, as far as I know. I will talk to the engineer and ask him.
Thanks for this!

Here's the scoop on Geddy
Strings. I know he liked them light. He has stretched his tendons over the years. If he had heavier stings, he would have pulled his hand off! He plays hard on light gauge. where he played, right hand location is important, so move it to "Find" his sound. Don't even think of a pick.

His neck is important, maple. rosewood won't do it. The Geddy Jazz bass (with a Pickup upgrade?) probably the best is a good start.

from EQ magazine, sept 2007;
Recording wise his signal chain is 3 DIs to avoid Phase. A tech 21 Sans Amp, a Palmer speaker simulator and a Martech MSS-01 Bass DI. they all go to a Neve 1081 Preamp and perhaps a Universal Audio LA-2 compressor.

He uses a Fender 1972 Jazz bass and they say the sound is all in his hands.

 

[Dan Ervin]

hey Russ,
shouldn't you be flying "down south" already???

 

[ProfGumby]

hey Russ,
shouldn't you be flying "down south" already???

With those arms? Good luck!

 

[Dan Ervin]

With those arms? Good luck!

I don't care who you are...that there's some funny ****!

 

[BAD RONBO/K.D.]

I REMEMBER RUSS RYAN HAVING LOTS OF POTS AND PANS IN HIS BUNK ON OUR BUS AS HIS INITIATION TO TECH FOR THE KiLLeR DWaRfS,LOL ! TALK ABOUT A CLANGY TONE ! RUSS WAS A GREAT TECH FOR US...OH, AND THEN HE HAD TO DEAL WITH RONBO ! GREAT TO SEE YOU'RE A "WORKING MAN" FOR ONE OF MY HEROES. NOW...WHAT ABOUT THAT '73 4001 HE USED TO GRIND ON ?

 

[Phantasm]

Hey Russ,

I just got back from the New Orleans show, it was great! I noticed that Geddy used a red Jazz bass at one point, and it sounded the best out of all the basses tonight (to my ears, at least.) Can you shed any light on the details of this bass, and how it differs from Geddy's 70s "black jazz?"

 

[Alvaro Martín Gómez A.]

Hey Russ,

I just got back from the New Orleans show, it was great! I noticed that Geddy used a red Jazz bass at one point, and it sounded the best out of all the basses tonight (to my ears, at least.) Can you shed any light on the details of this bass, and how it differs from Geddy's 70s "black jazz?"

Of course, Russ can give us all the information about that bass, but I can tell that it's the red Jazz (with no pickguard) downtuned one full step that geddy uses to play "2112". The altered tuning is the reason why Geddy switches to that instrument for that song. I hope Russ will reply to confirm this and give us further details!

 

[john_g]

Of course, Russ can give us all the information about that bass, but I can tell that it's the red Jazz (with no pickguard) downtuned one full step that geddy uses to play "2112". The altered tuning is the reason why Geddy switches to that instrument for that song. I hope Russ will reply to confirm this and give us further details!

I *think* you are right about the bass but doubt we are going to hear from Russ in a while! The second leg of Rush's tour is underway and Im sure he is busy Some people have all the luck

 

[keb]

Of course, Russ can give us all the information about that bass, but I can tell that it's the red Jazz (with no pickguard) downtuned one full step that geddy uses to play "2112". The altered tuning is the reason why Geddy switches to that instrument for that song. I hope Russ will reply to confirm this and give us further details!

Yep that's pretty much it. It's from the Fender Custom Shop, but that's about all else I know about it myself. I'm guessing that the neck is modeled after the slimmer neck of his original Jazz.

And oh, saw the Houston show a couple nights ago. Just awesome, even better than the first leg's show last year (and that's saying a lot!) Awesome job Russ (and awesome job to the rest of your crewmates as well!)

 

[Mastersonics]

He also used a Jaco Fretless for one of the new songs and it sounded amazing.

Too bad I didn't have a chance to meet you Russ.
(I'm the new distributor of Korg, Marshall and Vox for PR
and been really busy with the deployment here.)

They started the 2nd leg of the Tour in Puerto Rico.
They played for 2 hours and 50 minutes and it was amazing!

Here are a few pics, enjoy!

My buddy in the Henhouse........lol!

The World's #1 drummer drum-set.

enjoying the concert up front!




regards,
Charles

 

[Slaphappy]

Those are amazing pics, Charles...thank you for sharing!

I love that setlist! I noticed there are some mics on stage pointed towards the audience, one can figure from that that they are recording for a live cd or DVD?