ghunter said:A quick note from a long-time Rush fan (I'm Canadian, eh!) and Rickenbacker fan/owner: the Ric 12-strings have staggered perpendicular heads so you can't easily tell if it's a 6 or 12 just by looking at the visible tuning pegs. You can get a closer look on [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]. I haven't seen/used the "new" 12-string headstock like the one there, but my "old" 360/12 looks exactly the same from a tuning peg perspective.
Back to the thread...
I do like the Ric era where they were defining that huge vintage epic sound so popular at the time, but he also moved to the Steinberger at a good time, too. I think that the sharper, thinner tone from that was more suited to the faster, more intense music around the time of Grace Under Pressure and Signals (Moving Pictures perhaps being a transitional album?). They were becoming a more modern band at the time and the vintage Ric tone probably wouldn't have added as much to the overall sound they were after. At the same time, Alex Lifeson was changing his guitar style with more effects, and Neil Peart's lyrics were definitely moving them into the modern world very quickly.
At the same time, I'm glad he moved off the Steinberger pretty quickly as their music changed again and I seem to remember him flipping between a Jazz Bass and a Wal in the late 80's for that great warm, round tone. I think they really found their own sound in that period and were completely content to forge new ground and not just try to go with the flow as they had in the past. Hey, I guess that's what multiple gold & platinum albums does for you. Perhaps that's when Geddy really started to find his own sound and realized that he could lead instead of follow?
I have to admit that I didn't really follow them much after Presto, but the recent 30th anniversary stuff I've seen on TV recently has been amazing. More an evolution of the tone he had with Presto than a radical switch, but has he ever perfected it! I noted that he didn't even have a wall of amps behind him like Alex did.
One of the few people that most Canadians are proud of on the world's stage. Hopefully his goodness makes up for all the evil that Celine Dion has spread
I agree with everything you said 100%,.. except about Celine.. I'm generally not a fan or female ballad vocals, but she's hands down the best female voice I've ever heard. Don't be ashamed of her, or Brian Adams.. they're all great musicians, and all inferior to Rush which is the most under rated bad to ever survive 30+ years..
himself.
