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I WANT THAT GEDDY LEE TONE !!!

mb94952

mb94952

Endorsing Artist : SFARZO STRINGS
Inactive
Supporting Member
Apr 16, 2007
9,437
8,453
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Petaluma, California 94952
www.reverbnation.com
#1
HELP ME !!!

I HAVE A SPECTOR EURO REBOP WITH TWO JAZZ PICKUPS. THEY ARE DIMARZIO'S WITH AN AGUILAR OL-P PREAMP. IT'S NOISY, AND FRANKLY, I DON'T LIKE IT. I DON'T HAVE THE TONAL FREEDOM I GET FROM MY PEAVEY CIRRUS. I LIKE HAVING BOOST AND CUT.

SHOULD I CHANGE THE PICKUPS TO BARTOLINI'S, OR EMG, ETC, AND KEEP THE AGUILAR OL-P, OR LEAVE THE DIMARZIO'S AND GET AN EMG BQC PREAMP ??

I WANT TONE LIKE GEDDY, JACO, ETC. YOU GET THE PICTURE... YOU KNOW, THAT WARM GROWL !!

ANY ADVICE ???????? :help:
 
#4
I don't think Geddy's sound is very easy to emulate. He get's a lot of his crunch from the sansamp bass driver but also does a lot of EQing. I'm sure some other folks know more about other specifics of his rig that might help you out a little more.

In general I'm not so sure pickups are going to get you the Geddy tone unless you want the 80's Wal sound.
 
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#5
MuzikMan said:
Warm growl comes from passive pups IMO. I like Antiquities. It's hard for me to explain but they just seem to bark back at you. This is something I have never been able to achieve with EMGs and believe me I've tried.

Go passive dude!
Click to expand...

progrockbass said:
Well you can do what I did and buy the Geddy Lee Bass and the Jaco Bass...
Click to expand...

+1 I have the Geddy and have a hard time NOT having growl (not that I dont not never want it...uh..yeah)
 
#7
Geddy's recent tone is a complex combination of aggressive playing style, a modded 70's jazz bass (with very low action), splitting the signal into twin Sansamps RBIs (or RPMs), one for distorted trebly sound and the other clean with lots of bass to compensate, twin Avalon preamps, twin Palmer cab simulators and the ocasional chorus. He's changed gear a lot throughout the years, and the only constant ingredient is his playing style IMO. I've made a small tour of Rush tribute gigs, and manage to accomplish a very credible bass sound with a friend's Line6 X3 live pedalboard. Using the "dual tone" feature made a new patch replicating Geddy's rig with the equivalent models on each channel. Turns out this particular pedal have Sansamp and Avalon sims, and lots of speaker sims (chose the Ampeg 8x10 without the amp sim for bassy sound, Orange cab for the trebly sound, Neumann mic). Using the independent dual outputs seemed like Geddy's rig on a bag.
 
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#8
As a huge fan of Geddy I was chasing his tone for a long time in my earlier bass playing days and can hopefully help you out.

You are going to want (in order):
1) Aggressive technique
2) Jazz bass or similar bass
3) Roto 66's

Or, alternatively:
1) The Geddy Lee Jazz Bass (and/or)
2) Sansamp Tech 21 Bass DI

90%+ percent of his tone comes from his fingers and his play style; he can pick up any bass and sound like Geddy. His playing is very aggressive and that is where alot of his growl/sound comes from. His technique is somewhat unorthodox and has changed over time but has been consistently aggressive. Currently, he employs alot of flamenco strumming which I would hold off on learning until you get better at emulating his aggressive technique. It takes time to perfect an aggressive playing style to be consistent; find out how much power you need to get the sound you want and endlessly practice it. This is going to be the toughest part so be patient. It can help to grow out the nails on your plucking fingers slightly to help achieve his pic-like tone.

Moving on to equipment, to get close to his tone I'd start with a Jazz bass or a comparable bass. While the 70's pickup spacing is preferred for it's added growl/attitude it is not necessary. I'd go with the same strings Geddy uses, Rotosound Swing Bass 66's or something similar. Dialing in the tone on the J Bass takes some finesse but shouldn't be all that difficult.

Now, if you want the easy way, get the GL jazz bass or a Sansamp Tech 21 DI. The GL Jbass responds very well to an aggressive playing style but also gives a nice natural growl that can help you get closer to his tone without having to heavily rework your technique. Same with the Tech 21, it helps give you more of what you're looking for without having to rework your technique. I have a Tech 21 and it does wonders in helping achieve the type of tone you're going for.
 
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#9
Here is what I did.

BASS: Squier vintage modified Jazz bass V (any jazz bass will do. You need a jazz bass) (also, both pups on and tone at max) (also, if you want the moving pictures tone, bridge pup only)
PEDAL: Tech 21 VT bass. (no overdrive, max character, max bass, 3\4 mids, almost max highs.)
AMP: Any amp will do, but you need to boost the bass on the amp.
STRINGS: Any bright set of strings.
TECHNIQUE: Heavy hitting with fingers. Should clank.
EXTRA: you can replace the pedal with a tube DI, but these things are expensive, so get the pedal.

In summary: Both pickups will give you modern Geddy, bridge pickup will give you Jaco, neck pickup will get you 1980 Geddy.
 
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#10
mb94952 said:
HELP ME !!!

I HAVE A SPECTOR EURO REBOP WITH TWO JAZZ PICKUPS. THEY ARE DIMARZIO'S WITH AN AGUILAR OL-P PREAMP. IT'S NOISY, AND FRANKLY, I DON'T LIKE IT. I DON'T HAVE THE TONAL FREEDOM I GET FROM MY PEAVEY CIRRUS. I LIKE HAVING BOOST AND CUT.

SHOULD I CHANGE THE PICKUPS TO BARTOLINI'S, OR EMG, ETC, AND KEEP THE AGUILAR OL-P, OR LEAVE THE DIMARZIO'S AND GET AN EMG BQC PREAMP ??

I WANT TONE LIKE GEDDY, JACO, ETC. YOU GET THE PICTURE... YOU KNOW, THAT WARM GROWL !!

ANY ADVICE ???????? :help:
Click to expand...
The best way to get that Geddy tone is by turning off caps lock.
 
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#12
mb94952 said:
HELP ME !!!

I HAVE A SPECTOR EURO REBOP WITH TWO JAZZ PICKUPS. THEY ARE DIMARZIO'S WITH AN AGUILAR OL-P PREAMP. IT'S NOISY, AND FRANKLY, I DON'T LIKE IT. I DON'T HAVE THE TONAL FREEDOM I GET FROM MY PEAVEY CIRRUS. I LIKE HAVING BOOST AND CUT.

SHOULD I CHANGE THE PICKUPS TO BARTOLINI'S, OR EMG, ETC, AND KEEP THE AGUILAR OL-P, OR LEAVE THE DIMARZIO'S AND GET AN EMG BQC PREAMP ??

I WANT TONE LIKE GEDDY, JACO, ETC. YOU GET THE PICTURE... YOU KNOW, THAT WARM GROWL !!

ANY ADVICE ???????? :help:
Click to expand...
I thought the following YouTube video might help people here understand some of his more recent style choices regarding his plucking technique in relation to his sounds, which is addressed by Geddy himself:
 
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#18
Mvilmany said:
The best way to get that Geddy tone is by turning off caps lock.
Click to expand...
Haha !!! This post is so old. I don't remember writing it. I've learned so much since, including that cap locks mean yelling. I remember writing it thinking it will be easier for people to read if it's in all caps. I was new to computers, too.
 
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#19
FunkHead said:
What's an Aguilar OL-P?
Click to expand...
It's a preamp. I don't remember writing this. It was a long time ago, but since then I've learned that Geddy tone on a budget is easy with a Peavey Foundation, if you don't like Ric necks and don't have the money for a Ric. Otherwise, you can use some overdrive, I guess, like a Sansamp, Darkglass, etc. I just dig in, and get my Geddy on.
 
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#20
mb94952 said:
It's a preamp. I don't remember writing this. It was a long time ago, but since then I've learned that Geddy tone on a budget is easy with a Peavey Foundation, if you don't like Ric necks and don't have the money for a Ric. Otherwise, you can use some overdrive, I guess, like a Sansamp, Darkglass, etc. I just dig in, and get my Geddy on.
Click to expand...
I honestly never heard of it.
 

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