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Questions About Geddy Lee's Rickenbacker

#61
To add to the confusion is the fact that on studio videos Geddy often uses the opposite bass that he actually used to record the song.

The video for Tom Sawyer is the Ric but the audio track is the jazz. The opposite is true for Limelight.

I still say YYZ was recorded with the jazz.

What makes this whole thing difficult is Geddy makes the jazz sound like a Ric on Moving Pictures and other cds.
 
#62
ProfGumby said:
Geddy also said one of the reasons behind the steinberger was due to it's compact size.
Click to expand...

Extra trinket:
Geddy had also stated that at the time he was using the steinberger, he was playing the keys and synths more, kept him from slamming a headstock into them while playing live.
 
#63
Ric5 said:
To add to the confusion is the fact that on studio videos Geddy often uses the opposite bass that he actually used to record the song.

The video for Tom Sawyer is the Ric but the audio track is the jazz. The opposite is true for Limelight.

I still say YYZ was recorded with the jazz.

What makes this whole thing difficult is Geddy makes the jazz sound like a Ric on Moving Pictures and other cds.
Click to expand...

Really?! Why would he do that? lol that just makes it MORE difficult!

Alembicplyr said:
Extra trinket:
Geddy had also stated that at the time he was using the steinberger, he was playing the keys and synths more, kept him from slamming a headstock into them while playing live.
Click to expand...

Yeah this is true, which I think worked out for him. Not a huge fan of that sound myself, however.
 
#64
Obviously he's never played one of the Fender Geddy copies then, those things can be beastly heavy.
Click to expand...

He may not be playing the copies but he had a neck off his signature model put on his old '72 for the S&A Tour (you can even see the signature on the back of the headstock in the S&A DVD). Apparently original necks don't last forever. :smug:

And since he's, well, Geddy, I think he could probably get whatever he wants put on his basses. The fact that he chose the slim neck of (shock!) his signature, has gotta tell you that he probably really likes the feel of that bass. And like a number of people have commented, he has often talked about the great low-end of his '72. In one interview I've seen he's even heard saying he's never found that much low-end in any other Fender.

So to answer the original question, it seems that he just likes playing his Fenders. Let's be honest, the Ric was really just a way to be like Chris Squire who, at the time he purchased the Ric, was his great idol. :bassist:
 
#71
Invalid Link Removed

Here's an interview I found. It says that Geddy did indeed stop using the Rickenbacker due to its weight, or at least that's one of the reasons. He also says how he really disliked the sound of the Steinberger back then. Decent interview, it's fairly recent.

I guess I answered my own thread LOL
 
#73
here is an excerpt from the above linked interview "bq: And you're still using your stone age Rickenbacker bass?

Geddy Lee: Yes, because it's requested by the fans. Over the years I was asked again and again why I'm not playing the Ricky anymore. Therefore, I decided to grant him a guest role at the end of one song (laughs). The Ricky is really heavy and therefore tough to play, so that I needed the body of Arnold Schwarzenegger if I wanted to use it all the time."
I decided to play bass in 1977 when I was turned on to the 1st rush album, wn
hen I heard the working man... well that was it, I researched geddy and his equipment, and purchased same, the same model ric bass, sunn amps etc.. let me tell you this the pre 77 ric basses were heavy as lead.., those that disagree either have a later model, or they are just plain wrong.
 
#74
Yeah that's why I linked it, thanks I should have quoted it myself.

I assume they've made the newer ones much lighter? I wonder why Geddy doesn't try one. Well I guess it's because he's happy with the Fender Jazz for many reasons nowadays.
 
#77
rarisgod said:
I own mostly light basses, but I've carried my friend's Jazz bass, and it's the heaviest bass I've ever carried.
So are Ric's heavier or just in the old days?
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Rics top out around 10lbs... compare that to any jazz made after 1974 and the Ric will be a feather in comparison...I have had many of both....the Rics are lighter by far....the ones made before 74 hardly weigh much either....less than 10lbs.....Jeff???? how about that old 68 you used to have?
 
#78
Jaymi said:
Rics top out around 10lbs... compare that to any jazz made after 1974 and the Ric will be a feather in comparison...I have had many of both....the Rics are lighter by far....the ones made before 74 hardly weigh much either....less than 10lbs.....Jeff???? how about that old 68 you used to have?
Click to expand...

The old 68 4001 was really light ... I could wear it all day long ... But my lightest Ric ever was this one ...

4004ci5-0044.jpg


I have 13 basses right now they are all between 9 and 10 pounds ... all of my Rics and jazz basses weigh 10 ... the lighter basses are the ones that don't resonate as well in my collection.

Also the lightest ones are either basswood or oil finished basses. Rics are all maple which is a heavy wood but they are also thinner than a jazz bass so that makes them lighter. Those factors seem to even out to make them weigh about the same.
 

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