Questions About Geddy Lee's Rickenbacker

[Spirit of Ox]

I think Geddy should break out an old P bass again.
Oh and on MP, every track is Jazz bass cept Red Barchetta, Limelight, and Camera Eye.

 

[Ric5]

Geddy has owned a lot of Rics.

This list may not be completely correct but it is close.

He owned:
- 2 jetglo early 70s 4001 basses
- a 3001
- 2 4080 double neck
- a 4002

Also he played a white 4001 on a video ... I think that bass belongs to Alex

And sources at Rickenbacker say he has a 4003

 

[Presto2112]

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!

Moving pictures:
Tom Sawyer-Jazz
Red Barchetta-Ric
YYZ-Jazz
Limelight-Ric
Camera Eye- Ric
witch hunt- hard to tell
Vital signs- Jazz

 

[Ric5]

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 my jazz basses ...

(Hmmm I am quoting myself ... this seems strange)

Anyway that quote was said by me in 2009. In 2012 I am likeing my Ricks better than my Jazz basses.

I would like to see Geddy play the Wal and the Rick on some of Rush's songs.

 

[Ric5]

Moving pictures:
Tom Sawyer-Jazz
Red Barchetta-Ric
YYZ-Jazz
Limelight-Ric
Camera Eye- Ric
witch hunt- hard to tell
Vital signs- Jazz

This seems to be correct.

You can tell the Jazz because it has more treble and more bass than the Ric on Moving Pictures. The Rick seems to have more of a midrange voice on Moving Pictures. But on Permanant Waves the Rick has more treble and bass. Listen to Freewill vs Red Barchetta.

 

[the_hook]

This seems to be correct.

You can tell the Jazz because it has more treble and more bass than the Ric on Moving Pictures. The Rick seems to have more of a midrange voice on Moving Pictures. But on Permanant Waves the Rick has more treble and bass. Listen to Freewill vs Red Barchetta.

I just read an interview with Geddy done in 1980, right when Permanent Waves came out...

"I recently lucked out and found a '69 or 70 Fender Jazz Bass in a pawnshop for an unbelievably low price of $200.00. Some Jazz Basses have chunkier necks, but this one is thin and smooth. It was in beautiful shape, and I just love it. In fact, I used it on about half of Permanent Waves."

And about his early albums and how he used his Ric on stage...

"Rickenbacker 4001. I was a big fan of Chris Squire back then, and he was using one...so I figured if I wanted to try for the type of sound that Squire had, I'd have to get that kind of bass.

Did you still have your Sunn amp?

Yes. And I decided to go stereo onstage, so I bought an extra bass setup: 2 Ampeg V-4B bottoms, and an SVT head. For my low end, I would run the bass pickup through the Ampegs, and the treble went to the Sunn. I would always keep everything full up on my basses-I still do-and just crank up the treble on the amps. I have my low end directly fed into the PA, while the speakers for my high end are miked."

 

[Duke21]

I think Geddy should break out an old P bass again.
Oh and on MP, every track is Jazz bass cept Red Barchetta, Limelight, and Camera Eye.

Geddy moded his P bass to a point that it lost all of its P character, thus "destroyed". He will,have to get e new one.

 

[I<34080]

One 4001 (white plastic around the bridge) was early 70s, neck pick up close to the neck. The other he didn't get until Hemispheres, and the neck pick up was in the new position, so I'm guessing it's a '77. I think he may have sanded the finish off the old one, judging by pictures where there's a MapleGlo looking Ric.

The white 4001 he used the in Fly by Night promo shoot was indeed Alex's. I believe he gave it to Les Claypool.

 

[Duke21]

Obviously he's never played one of the Fender Geddy copies then, those things can be beastly heavy.

Indeed, my Geddy is heavier then my 4003, even though the Ric have heavier neck. Both are awesome, and personally I feel the Ric give more pleasure regarding tone, it is such a dynamical bass, rewards you with this classical Ric bark when you dig inn. But regarding Geddy himself, I like his tone always, no matters what he plays. My favorite live tone is the one on Different Stages live, which is mostly the Jazz. His recent Jazz tone is also great.

 

[tydygy]

I'm surprised that no one has mentioned the Exit...Stage Left video up to this point. His sound is really good on that video.

I know most bands do overdubs on live albums and videos but I don't know how much of that Rush would actually need to do. I haven't seen it in a few years but I think he used a Ric through all the tunes.

I guess it doesn't matter what he plays...he finds his tone.

 

[Snowglo]

Pulling out an archive. Found YT video footage of a Rush concert from 76 with Geddy playing his 4001 with the stock tailpiece before the BA bridge swap.

Cool footage.

Edit: And plays the Teardrop P for the encore tunes.

 

[mmbongo]

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.."

LS

Good Lord man, I could have written this same post myself! Geddy's current Jazz tone is loathsome. I even hesitate to call it 'tone'. It sounds like a digital chainsaw going through a digital modeling amp connected to one of those Kicker truck box speakers from the 90's.

His Wal tone is by far my favorite, and seems to also be when he did his best, most melodic playing. What he has now is just digital flub with no soul.

 

[BrentSimons]

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

When did he use GK's?

For the Test For Echo tour the backline was just for his "on stage" sound. He was already using a combination of DI's back then. The Palmer speaker sim, Sansamp PSA-1 I believe and a Demeter DI. I think he was still using the Trace Elliot GP12SMX hybrid preamp as well.
Brent

 

[JaseyT]

One 4001 (white plastic around the bridge) was early 70s, neck pick up close to the neck. The other he didn't get until Hemispheres, and the neck pick up was in the new position, so I'm guessing it's a '77. I think he may have sanded the finish off the old one, judging by pictures where there's a MapleGlo looking Ric.

The white 4001 he used the in Fly by Night promo shoot was indeed Alex's. I believe he gave it to Les Claypool.

I don't think the mapleglo is his original '74 4001.

 

[JaseyT]

What year was Geddy's 4001 made? Mine is a '75, and it is really heavy. Fortunately, I kinda like the heaviness. Feels solid. Geddy, however, might not, ha ha.

His first was a '74, like mine. He used that from Fly By Night to A Farewell to Kings. His second 4001 was a '77, which appeared on Hemispheres up to Signals.

 

[Btbp]

Just came across this, P-bass live

 

[winterburn69]

Just came across this, P-bass live

According to the list of his R40 tour gear, that's a 1965 P in Burgundy Mist.

His bass tone for the R40 and Time Machine tours were the best he's had in years IMO.

 

[lalo_garcia-maynez]

The best tone is on these two Travis Cinderella Man and a Farewell to kings .

That was a Rickenbacker with a badass 1 bridge . Just killer !
The exit stage left concert is Also amazing .
Hard to improve on that

 

[tim gueguen]

It's funny that in all the years people debated what was used on what track no one seemed to consider that there might be more than one bass used on a single song.