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Geddy's bass tone

#81
I got the Rush gig through Alex' former guitar tech, Jimmy Johnson. We knew each other but had never toured together. I had just recently finished a Scorpions tour late 1996. I was actually thinking of getting out of the touring thing and working in the Film biz in Toronto. Some of my best friends are Film Union members and have always tried to get me in.

Jimmy called me around February / March of 97 and asked if I was interested in the teching job for Ged. I at first turned it down! He than called me the next day and finally convinced me to take it. Best move I ever did. This was for the second leg of the Test For Echo tour. His previous tech had other commitments, hence I got the call.


jgroh said:
Russ,

How did you come to work with Rush? And, how can I get on that train?

:bassist:
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#82
Since working with Ged, he has never broken a string. I change strings on his main 72 jazz every show. The other basses he plays for one song I will change them about 2 or 3 shows depending on if it was a hot night and he sweated quite a bit and killed the strings. I always set intonation every time I put a new set on. A lot of people think that if you use the same brand and gauge you shouldn't have to.
WRONG! Strings are very inconsistent in their windings and this affects intonation. You don't know how many brand new strings I throw away because they are dead, vibrate poorly, etc. This is happens to most string manufactures.
We get them free so I have the luxury to do this. I realize most of you guys have to pay for them and this gets expensive.
Once again, my two cents worth.


Amplexus said:
Russ, thanks for sharing your experience with us, it's been really interesting to read.

With as hard as Geddy hits the strings, does he every break one? And how often do you change them?

Thanks!
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#83
Russ Ryan said:
Strings are very inconsistent in their windings and this affects intonation. You don't know how many brand new strings I throw away because they are dead, vibrate poorly, etc. This is happens to most string manufactures.
We get them free so I have the luxury to do this. I realize most of you guys have to pay for them and this gets expensive.
Once again, my two cents worth.
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Even with my limited amount of string changing I've noticed this. I always write a polite letter to the company and ask for a new set. I've never had a company not send me a new set.

Like I said, I write a polite letter. My last experience was with a set of ROTO flats. 37 bucks and two of the strings were crap right out of the package. I don't get mad, poop happens. How are they to know a string is bad? It's not like they can string it up and test it.
 
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#84
Russ Ryan said:
Naw! You should hear me play Ged's bass... talk about sucking!
No offense, if you wave, I will only wave back if you are blonde, female, with really large....
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Thats not true Russ! :D You waved at me in the intermission at the Oslo gig when i waved, and im a big, male guy! with dark hair and no ....'s!

Btw, ask the band if next time they come back to norway, they either play a different venue, and make sure the chairs aint going fan formation out from the stage, or remove all chairs from the floor :p

Who am i kidding, you wont do that :p
 
#85
Hi Guy's,

I just realized after reading some of the posts I have done, my spelling and grammar is atrocious. I just discovered there is a spell check feature. I'm really new to this so please bare with me. I just write and fire it off.
Us Roadies are not as lame as I'm portraying!

Thanks
 
#86
Regarding the stability of the Rickenbacker neck: agreed. I've had the same one for 34+ years with very few adjustments needed. "Set it and forget it." Very different from Fenders, etc. I had a good luthier do some work on it at one point. He was amazed at the thickness of the fingerboard and commented that this probably contributed to the stability of the neck -- together with the fact that it's a neck-through. I have no idea if those are "correct" ideas but that was his take on it.
 
#87
Russ Ryan said:
Hi Guy's,

I just realized after reading some of the posts I have done, my spelling and grammar is atrocious. I just discovered there is a spell check feature. I'm really new to this so please bare with me. I just write and fire it off.
Us Roadies are not as lame as I'm portraying!

Thanks
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See, I was thinking about that, and well, I figured, heck the dude is a roadie, and a bass roadie at that. Well, at least your not a drum roadie.:p
 
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#89
Hey man, glad to hear that. It's good to see they are taking care of these things. You summed it well. Poop happens. Wow, 37 bucks? I am obviously showing my ignorance here. Like I said, I have worked for artists for many years that have string endorsements so I have no idea what they really cost in stores. I honestly didn't know they cost that much. Ouch.


glwanabe said:
Even with my limited amount of string changing I've noticed this. I always write a polite letter to the company and ask for a new set. I've never had a company not send me a new set.

Like I said, I write a polite letter. My last experience was with a set of ROTO flats. 37 bucks and two of the strings were crap right out of the package. I don't get mad, poop happens. How are they to know a string is bad? It's not like they can string it up and test it.
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#90
Hey Russ, great for you to be on here and not getting frustrated with our constant fanboy-esque questions ;)

Can I ask what drove Ged to use the rig he does today and how it came about? Was it just trial and error or did he have a specific sound he wanted and that was the best way to achieve it?

All the best.
 
#92
BigSwami said:
Ding ding ding, we have a winner. That bass is compressed to near-death. Learn how to work a compressor/limiter and anyone can have that sound.
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If that is true, then all of Geddy's basses would sound exactly alike. So while you can get close, certain instruments just have a unique voice to them. However, I'm of the opinion, that putting custom wound pickups in a bass can get you closer than post production eq.
 
#94
Man. Reading this thread is making me want to go out and pick up a bass again!

Thank you for answering a lingering question I've always had in regards to Ged possibly using a Stingray. Another question I've had, (and if this sounds dated, I've dated myself), but once I played Blue Steels, I never looked back. It would appear that Ged is very set in terms of his strings, yet I would be curious you and/or Ged even look into using the steel's.
 
#97
Ged's a Roto guy. He as used different strings in the past but that was before me. He likes the way they sound and feel. I have used the Blue Steels with other artists. It comes down to this:
The artist has an endorsement with whatever company and I have to deal with that. Whether I like the string brand is now of no real importance to me.
Please don't get me wrong. I may sound harsh but everybody has a certain playing style and sound. What may work for a certain person, another person might think 100% opposite!
There are so many different types of strings out there. I mean different metal composites in their construction. They all have a different feel and react differently with pick-ups and believe it or not, a persons sweat! I know it's easy for me to say, as I can pretty much get any string free, if you have the financial resources, experiment.

Long story, sorry about this!


Draconator said:
Man. Reading this thread is making me want to go out and pick up a bass again!

Thank you for answering a lingering question I've always had in regards to Ged possibly using a Stingray. Another question I've had, (and if this sounds dated, I've dated myself), but once I played Blue Steels, I never looked back. It would appear that Ged is very set in terms of his strings, yet I would be curious you and/or Ged even look into using the steel's.
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#99
Russ,

Did you have to drastically change any of the settings in Geddy's signal chain when he was playing the Jaco? For example, did it need more bottom end or boosts in the mids or anything like that? Does he play that one live? (sorry, I dont know, I missed the first leg of the tour but will be there when you guys come around to Hershey PA on the second leg) How does that one sound live?
 
#100
There is absolutely NO change of settings in Ged's rig for any bass. The settings are basically set-up during the beginning of a tour rehearsal using his main 72 bass and stays that way for every other bass he may use. There will be slight differences from each bass and the wireless transmitters used.
Yes, even though you may use the same model of wireless transmitters, they can and usually sound slightly different from one to another. These slight changes are dealt with with the sound engineers. They are mostly concerned with signal levels They want to maintain consistent volume levels. It much easier for them to do this as with today's digital technology.

If a bass sounds different from his main 72, well, it sounds different. It is not eq'ed to sound like his main one, etc. They understand this. It's no different if a guy uses a Les Paul for most of the set but switches to a Strat for one song. He uses the Strat for obvious reasons.

I am probably rambling more than you want to know. I just want to give a little background on how we deal with this. I don't know how much this info helps.

I was just thinking the other day how much I wish I had this access to this kind of info when I was a kid learning guitar and about gear.
Hey, I'm just glad to pass on any info I have. I can't say it's always correct but to my experience, it works for me!

jgroh said:
Russ,

Did you have to drastically change any of the settings in Geddy's signal chain when he was playing the Jaco? For example, did it need more bottom end or boosts in the mids or anything like that? Does he play that one live? (sorry, I dont know, I missed the first leg of the tour but will be there when you guys come around to Hershey PA on the second leg) How does that one sound live?
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