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Questions About Geddy Lee's Rickenbacker

rarbass

rarbass

Jul 3, 2008
1,156
47
#1
Alright so I just bought the new Rush Snakes & Arrows Live DVD and I absolutely love it. I also went to the concert (twice!) for this very show and I LOVED the concert.

For one of the encores, A Passage to Bangkok, Geddy uses his old Rickenbacker. This raises a few questions in my mind that I haven't found via searching Google or Talkbass yet.

First of all, does anyone know why Geddy doesn't use this bass anymore? It's been QUITE a few years since he last played it life, as far as I'm aware. I think it's been at least since before he started using the Steinberger.

Second, does anyone know which tracks he used the Rickenbacker on? I know there are several on Moving Pictures of course, but some of them were Fender Jazz as well, so I'm curious which is which.

Anyone who knows this information or can provide a link, it would be GREATLY appreciated as I'm very curious!
 
#2
Geddy has said in interviews that he wanted a bigger, beasty bottom end that the Ric wasnt providing, so he moved on to other basses. He eventually went back to the Jazz and has been there ever since. He used the Rick on most of the earlier albums before Moving Pictures, but as far as I know, Tom Sawyer was the Jazz, Red Barchetta was the Ric and the rest..I dont know.

And, I was at the show this past summer in philly and I thought his tone with the Ric sounded better than the main jazz! One of the reasons I just bought a Ric recently lol
 
#3
I think his sound now is the best its ever been. Ive seen him live w/ the Ric, Steinberger, Wal, and the Fender... and the Jazz bass sounds the best for covering everything, imo. I really liked the sound he got from the Wal- but it really suited the 80's stuff they did when he used it. The Ric is a bit trebly for me but it still was nice to see and hear it on Bangkok for a change :) I dont think its all that different sounding on the S&A dvd- I thought it sounded a bit lighter at the show as well...
 
#4
When I first saw A Show of Hands and knew he was using the Wal (though I didn't know it was a Wal bass back then as I wasn't as interested) I liked the bass he was using, but now I look back and I prefer the Jazz/Ric tone.

I must say, I went to the show this past summer AND the summer before. The sound at the venue of the more recent concert wasn't as good, bu when I saw them the summer before last, and when they started playing A Passage to Bangkok, the difference between the Ric and the Jazz was QUITE clear, the Ric sounded a LOT better, imo. I have nothing against his Jazz sound at all, it sounds amazing, but with the amazing tone he got out of the Ric, I'm surprised he doesn't use it more.
 
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#5
Hamrhed said:
I think his sound now is the best its ever been. Ive seen him live w/ the Ric, Steinberger, Wal, and the Fender... and the Jazz bass sounds the best for covering everything, imo. I really liked the sound he got from the Wal- but it really suited the 80's stuff they did when he used it. The Ric is a bit trebly for me but it still was nice to see and hear it on Bangkok for a change :) I dont think its all that different sounding on the S&A dvd- I thought it sounded a bit lighter at the show as well...
Click to expand...

Well.... now keep in mind GL is my all-time greatest influence and the reason I play bass but.... I think his current sound is the worst of all the different ones he's had over the years.

And, going by what he has said in all his interviews, the sound he found most unsatisfying was the one I liked the most - his Wal/Steinberger sound.

I grew up on his early Rick/jazz sound (and bought/played ricks for years trying to capture it), but when I first listened to grace under pressure up through, like, power windows, my jaw just dropped. I hadn't really ever heard a bass played like that with that kind of sound and was just amazed.

His current kind of distorted sound I kind of dont care for at all - I like the clear distinct sound of the wal/steinberger.

In fact, in one of my bands I got to play the singer's steinberger for a while and it was just absolutely unbelievable live - I could just touch it and it had whack for days and days......

I don't have one because I dislike it for other reasons but I remember thinking at the time "whoa I sound kind of like geddy. sure wish I could play like him.."
:bassist:
LS
 
#7
...not only went 'back to a jazz' but back to his own very old jazz which he said he rediscovered after not touching it for many years, as having more bottom end than all his other axes.
Moving pictures?... I remember being told by someone 'in the know' (maybe Alex's son) that he played his jazz on the whole album. Geddy even spoke to how "you can make almost any bass sound like 'that' in the studio" when asked about his classic ric sound.
 
#8
I have heard that he has said the Ric is just too heavy to play for a 3 hour show. I also believe (by listening carefully) that he used the '72 Jazz bass on all of Moving Pictures with the exception of "The Camera Eye", which you can clearly hear is indeed the Ric.

IMHO his best live sound was on the Different Stages CD, wherein he was still using a backline (Trace Elliots).

:bassist:
 
#9
lijazz said:
I have heard that he has said the Ric is just too heavy to play for a 3 hour show. I also believe (by listening carefully) that he used the '72 Jazz bass on all of Moving Pictures with the exception of "The Camera Eye", which you can clearly hear is indeed the Ric.

IMHO his best live sound was on the Different Stages CD, wherein he was still using a backline (Trace Elliots).

:bassist:
Click to expand...

He has said specifically that at least Red Barchetta was the Ric.

+1 about the backline though, I love his sound through the Trace's, and the GK's to a lesser extent :)
 
#10
superfunk47 said:
He has said specifically that at least Red Barchetta was the Ric.

+1 about the backline though, I love his sound through the Trace's, and the GK's to a lesser extent :)
Click to expand...

Geddy Lee has influenced more than any other bassist, however I am inclined to believe he may have misspoken when he said that at least RB was the Ric...he also has stated that Limelight is the Ric, but my ear tells me that all of MP is the Jazz w/ exception of TCE.

But, this is my opinion after all, and I could be wrong...just my ears doing the talking. Anyone else have any opinion on this?
 
#12
lijazz said:
I have heard that he has said the Ric is just too heavy to play for a 3 hour show. I also believe (by listening carefully) that he used the '72 Jazz bass on all of Moving Pictures with the exception of "The Camera Eye", which you can clearly hear is indeed the Ric.

IMHO his best live sound was on the Different Stages CD, wherein he was still using a backline (Trace Elliots).

:bassist:
Click to expand...

A Ric is less in weight than a Jazz or possibly equal ...

Geddy just prefers the Jazz ... He has quite a few of them ... I can relate ... I am a long time Ric player and these days I am really liking the my jazz basses ...
 
#15
EagleMoon said:
Obviously he's never played one of the Fender Geddy copies then, those things can be beastly heavy. :D
Click to expand...

Agreed on the weight issue...I played a GL model and it was much heavier than th e'08 MIA J bass, which is what I eventualy purchased. Changed to DR High Beams and going through an Ampeg BA115 it is pretty darn close to the brightness of the GL tone....and it is noticeably lighter than the GL model....however I still swear I could have read somewhere that he (GL) thought the Ric was too heavy...I had a 1981 4003 model in red Burst years ago, but honestly I cannot remember how it fares in weight to the new J Bass I have.
 
#16
Interesting posts....

There is or was a vid on youtube where Geddy talks about what songs on Moving Pictures were the Jazz and what songs were the Ricky.

Geddy also said one of the reasons behind the steinberger was due to it's compact size. Geddy also thought the wall a great bass and the foks at wall were awesome, but the bass was lacking something.

As to my opinion on his tone, I don't think the band has ever sounded better live than the last tour, and I think his tone on the RIO DVD is the Holy Grail of sound and his best ever. And that was with no soundcheck!

As to using the Rick on the last tour for Road To Bangkok, it was like a trip down memory lane! That old bass sounds as great today as it ever did!

However, I think the Rick sounded subdued and weak in the mix as compared to the Jazz. But I wonder if the Rick was just run through the same setup as the Jazz or was the board EQ'd for the Rick?

I love the sound of a Rickenbacker, especially on Rush's earlier stuff, but for me the Jazz is the bass, and their sound now is the sound.

This issue is debated over and over again by Rush and Geddy fans on the rush forum....it is a lot of fun to see, every time!
 
#17
I have to agree, their overall sound now is FANTASTIC!! Without question. I do like Geddy's old Ric tone as well though, as heard on Exit Stage Left. That tone or his current tone have to be my favourites but their OVERALL sound is the best now it's ever been, at least in my opinion.
 
#19
Geddys tech who has his own megathread on here has said they dont change anything when he changes basses live. Same setup, same settings. I just traded my Geddy Jazz (which I loved) for a Ric 4003 (plus cash difference mind you!) and I can tell you, I didnt think either one was heavy. I guess playing an old Guild for 20 years made anything else feel light.

The Jazz, IMO, was very nice and I got good tones from it. It just didnt hit me in the gut the way I would have wanted. The Ric so far is giving me that (but truth be told, i wouldnt have traded the Geddy if I didnt get a good deal, and probably will buy another one at some point)

There is a video where Geddy talks about the basses on MP...you can find it on Bass Player's site or youtube Im sure. And, IMO, the Wal was my favorite Geddy tone bar none. I would chuck all my basses into a fire if I could have one, and already warned the wife that someday I will ($8K or not)
 

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