Then you will need Geddy's body and brain. Even if you had Geddy's bass you wouldn't get his tone... so you might as well develop your own.
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I want Geddy lee's tone...
- Thread starter Josh Emmons
- Start date
Absolute truth. I saw Rush for the seventh or eight time over the summer (I took my ten year old daughter, her first concert and she is an up and coming drummer who worships Peart, knows all the lyrics to ByTor, and plays her ass off... Who knew fatherhood could be this much fun)
After on song, a roadie walked out and helped Geddy switch basses. The first bass was cutting in out during the previous song (Freewill). Gremlins... it happens. After strapping on the second one, he played a short riff to test it. It went full force over the sound system without Alex or Neil playing. It was VERY treble heavy, almost unpleasant. "Jangley" would apply. Very bright. In the mix of the next song (Earthshine?) it sounded fantastic. By itself, not so much.
Lesson learned? EQ. Don't be afraid to experiment with extreme settings
Also, for what it is worth, if you play in a five piece classic rock cover band... that type of tone may not fit in with the band. I think aggressive overdriven bass is best enjoyed in a smaller group- a three piece. Look at Rush, The Who (3+ Roger), Kings X, ELP, and so on. Even Yes only had one guitar.
For comparison, check out some early Gov't Mule with Allen Woody on bass. His bass isn't 'as bright as Geddy's, is just as aggressive, and is just as awesome as Geddy's. Geddy uses fingers, Woody uses a pick. I have been trying for years, and continue to enjoy failing, to copy Woody's tone.
Enough of my rant. I
All the time I see people posting "Geddy Lee always had the same tone" and "Geddy Lee gets the same tone out of any bass"
and I'm like .. Wut? No!
Which period of Rush's career do you most like the tone?
His original tone was P Bass, Played hard. But he soon changed to a Ric for the second album right through to about 1980 when he started recording with Jazz basses. At this time it becomes confusing as to which bass he uses becasue there is so much "effect" (sansamp - probably) on the tone.
Then the Steinberger and especially the Wal .. well that was a MILLION miles from his classic tones.
Yep!
My personal favorite was the tone on "moving pictures" and the two albums before it. When I was growing up, this was the sound I wanted. I frankly don't like the tone as much on Rush's later albums.
To get close to that tone, it was indeed very fresh roundwounds on a J bass that helped me. I also experimented with one of these for a while, and must say, it really got me in the ballpark!
http://www.amptone.com/scholzpowersoak.htm
These days, maybe a sansamp and a really good compressor, combined with a real hard almost pick-like attack.
A lot of people are saying play hard, but I think that's slightly inaccurate. Light roundwounds with low action played consistently with lots of string to fret contact is more like it. Also sansamp all the way. You can get his sound on any kind of bass from a Rick, to a p-bass or a jazz bass.
Become Geddy Lee. Trust me, as a gigantic Rush fanatic, a rock bassist, and a tone nut, you CAN'T get Geddy Lee's tone unless you're him or play exactly like him. You'll get so darn close with a good Ric, set to dual amp with one being very clean and glassy, the other being coated with overdrive, treble-saturated. Throw in some contour. Or a Jazz with a Badass II, a Sansamp, etc. You'll get very close like that, but you will still not sound just like Geddy. Sorry.
wow...Not trying to be smart, sansamp has been around since 1989, I made a mistake and thought maybe it was around even earlier. I'm SO sorry.
My point is from around 1980 onward Geddy Piled on the "drive" to the extent it became difficult to tell the difference between the Ric and the Jazz - on the album moving pictures where BOTH basses feature.
One of many examples of his tone "changing."
I've tried, and failed. No getting it perfectly. Play with a pretty hard attack, with a set of Rotos, with either of the above bass/amp/effect packages and you'll get really close.
Ric5
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- Jan 29, 2008
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I'm intrigued and impressed, Ric5. Have you a way of doing different mixes on the spot (besides the adjusting faders on the Rolls), or is the intent to run the same mix all the while?
Agreed, and in the Thread Russ Ryan was in he also gave the sansamp settings and specifics. ALSO - Geddy's bass has an issue with the bridge pickup and it's output is reduced. I believe Russ said the winding is broken. I am not advocating that but I have found that playing with the neck pickup at full and the bridge pickup about 3/4 gives a nice growly tone compared to both pups full on.
Geddy also plays with his tone control all the way up where it is nice and trebely and clanky too.
Then dig in and beat it like it owes you money....
Well, I'm pretty happy with my sound.....
http://www.youtube.com/v/p2TOi4MvoOI?fs=1&hl=en_US
http://www.youtube.com/v/DC8Ght20i7I?fs=1&hl=en_US
Invalid Link Removed
n the album moving pictures where BOTH basses feature.
As I was reading this thread I kept waiting for somebody to point this out!
Moving Pictures was both. It's well documented that Tom Sawyer was recorded with the Jazz. Not sure on the others. Alternatively if you listen to Signals I'd say it's very easy to hear the Steinberger but any non-Steinbergers are the Ric.
I will openly admit I don't like most of the music from the Wal era though there are a few exceptions; but listen to Passage to Bangkok on the Snakes and Arrows Tour Live album. It's so friggin Ric and OMG did that bass sound great. It is so dark and I think it sounded amazingly like Exit...Stage Left but remember that is the Sans/TraceElliot speakerless rig. But Geddy is Geddy and he sounds like him pretty much no matter what.
On another note I had a Ric for a while and I got a sound that made me "smile" in a Geddy sort of way using the Tube amp model on Korg Pandora's box (the red bass model).
My 2 cents for what it's worth.
Playing hard is pretty essential. I saw this last Rush tour and you could see the strings bending upward from his right hand.
I love the Counterparts album and I got close to his tone (Stick it Out, I think) by playing a stock '74 Jazz (maple board) through an old Sunn Model T head with Eden cab (10's). The only problem was that I had a runaway 6550 tube that was about to blow; man that sounded awesome. I guess it's true what they say; a tube amp sounds best when it's about to blow (or catch on fire)! lol
T
I love the Counterparts album and I got close to his tone (Stick it Out, I think) by playing a stock '74 Jazz (maple board) through an old Sunn Model T head with Eden cab (10's). The only problem was that I had a runaway 6550 tube that was about to blow; man that sounded awesome. I guess it's true what they say; a tube amp sounds best when it's about to blow (or catch on fire)! lol
T
I agree, Getty has a great sound! I've gotten that tone at different times when I wasn't looking for it. An over driven Pbass (a 67) worked best for me at the time. A tube amp will definitly get you there to, but remember, Getty did most of that sound in a studio. Live sound is different, and live concerts that you see have been edited too, so you need to find what works for you. A Sansamp DI is a good source also, as I've heard a lot of good things about those as far as getting the drive your looking for. As others have said on this site, and as a 40 year veteran, you need to find your own sound. Good Luck
Exactly! Not sure why that one poster felt the need to correct me and say that Geddy plays with a light touch!
+1 IMO, Geddy's tone isn't especially hard to recreate. I played for many years with a very similar tone. My best recreation was with a 'boutique bass" (Ken Lawrence) going into an SWR Interstellar Overdrive driven pretty hard, then into an Eden WT550 into then an Eden 410 cab. Point being, that I think there are many formulas for achieving his tone. The main ingredient are lots of overdrive, round wound strings, and you need to hit the strings really hard.
What always amazes me most is that I can only recreate his sound by playing with a pick and hitting the strings very hard and abruptly. Geddy gets it with one finger!
