CygnusGal

Yes, I mean the Ampeg SVT (now done with the 350-CL or some such other digital modeling). SVT is the holy grail tube head http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ampeg_SVT/). - a solid tone that wouldn't fade over time (like my solid-state SWR head used to). A pretty sweet sounding head, but you can dial that tone into a lot of other amps these days. 350W is plenty of bass (depending on the room) and I was always plugged into the board (PA) to give presence out front. It is a different world today.

You're correct, the tone is not far off and I didn't really hear it until I saw it which defied my understanding which caused me to really open my ears (which developed as bass player ears).

Yes, two truss rods do make the neck more stable, if you can set it up correctly (not as simple as a Fender) although two truss rods means twice the number of parts to expand/compress with temperature changes (pretty common) and stabilize after a neck adjust (far less common). Like I said, killer if you can get it (Chris Squire, Geddy), no so much if you can't. I always found Rics fussy, and could get a good tone from a J-bass with a minimum of effort.

Just my opinions.

Thanks for keeping me honest.

Excellent post, SlyJeff. I agree completely. No BU2B2, no WTW. I think without WTW, the Anarchist endures (unresolved by WTW and thereby no Garden). Protagonist wouldn't have survived the Wreckers and would have ended up exactly like the protagonist of 2112, dead by his own hand. The whole album unravels without BU2B2 intact and placed exactly where it is on the album. (imo)

Very sly, SlyJeff...

Thanks HowItIs back to you.

Kind of like Bravado (we will pay the price, but we will not count the cost - one of Neil's more beautiful lines, imo) Yes, I like this discussion very much and the last several posters have been very good.

Some things I noticed today:

"Will there be world enough and time for me to sing that song" (not my song, that song) "A voice that's been silent for so long" (never has sung any song, or at least not in a very long time).

As noted previously by Pedro, @ around 3:24 (...seeking blind through flesh and bone), Neil goes dah-dah-dah-dah (what do you lack?). The next line is "find the blood inside this stone". The Anarchist - hard as stone, dares you to find blood.

The Anarchist says "I plan my vengeance on my own - and I was always alone" Does he mean vengeance planned by only by himself or vengeance planned on his own people (I believe the latter).

I note a *huge* bomb of anger explodes at ~5:08 (start of Alex's solo) - huge bass pedal.

I suppose we'll have to wait for the book to find the origins of his anger (orphaned?, early promise that somehow died?). Other than when he's introduced, throws around clockwork detonators and that he likes going to carnivals, we don't know a whole lot about The Anarchist. We know what he says, but as I've stated previously, I don't believe him. He's disconnected from himself and what he thinks he "lacks", he really envies, and what he sees as a malevolent "cage" ultimately will be what saves the protagonist. The protagonist is overwhelmed by The Anarchist (as is most of the album - on the cover) and feels his effects through out his life, until the revelation of BU2B2, the resolution of Wish Them Well and the ultimate conclusion of The Garden.

In that regard, The Anarchist could be a metaphor for the evil in the world one sees when coming of age, but still lacking the maturity to know what it actually means (there are evil people in the world but I was BU2B so I couldn't be rooked by them - not me...).

I remember when I was in my 20s and 30s and thought that way, too. We've all had (or will have Wreckers in our lives).

I think it was a very thought provoking post. Whether I agree or not isn't relevant. It has prompted input from a broad spectrum of folks to give input some on each side. And we are all talking about !

Please keep up the good work and don't get discouraged because some folks don't agree with you. You're making people think and should be commended.

Thanks, Sticklight. Beautiful tone! Like manna from heaven. Thank you, Geddy!

This is a total dork-fest. I love it! I can finally talk about Rush non-stop and everyone isn't telling me to shut up....yet

And to answer Del, distortion is driven mostly from the amp/effects in the bass world. Traditionally, bass is usually not distorted with effect. It can get rather muddy and flabby. I have heard some great use of light reverb and a slight tremolo, I've heard gating and flanging, and I've heard a really cool "fuzz" bass and all-sorts of other bizarre stuff (check out Rage Against The Machine, George Clinton, Me'Shell Ndegocello). Effects are typically used sparingly in the bass world. Typical bass knobs would be volume, tone, front/back pickup sweep (back being meatier, front being crisper).

if I could make the sound of the end MalNar sliding note in this post, I would...

I agree - and I'm not too far behind you at 25 years. My Voltaire is rusty too and I should dust off my copy and re-read it (like I did with the Song of Roland - not that Voltaire wrote that work - years ago after finishing Elric/Stormbringer saga). Very timely.

I think it is one of the parts of the album you can take at face value. The song is very direct. In the fullness of time, its the only return that you expect. Love. Respect. So hard to earn, so easily burned.

Nice posts, HowItIs and FindingIt

Touche! Neil Young. Good catch.

I do not understand the context. Noob (I presume, newbie)?

To the forum, certainly. I have fewer than 30 posts and others in here are in the 5-digits - I'm a baby to the culture of "The Rush Forum".

To the band? Hardly. I didn't get dragged to the shows on my signature; I've bought every album since Signals on the day it was released (HYF was a tough one for me, but I bought it anyway).

I bought a bass guitar and learned how to play it (pretty darn well, too) because of Geddy and was ignorant enough to think that if I could play Tom Sawyer (I can), I could play anything (I can't). I worship the tone of Geddy's bass, his lyricism and his chops. I wanted a Rickenbacker 4001 forever (until I played one...more props to Geddy) and chased that throaty tone for a long time.

Then, I met a very talented bass player at university who could play Rush! OMG! He gave me some rudimentary lessons (don't suck) and I spent the next several years learning and listening and playing. Years later, we caught up and he told a story of how he was doing a recording and wanted to get a tone like Geddy. The producer (no small egg) laughed and said you have to *play* like that.

Years ago, I read an interview that had been using Fender basses since the 60s. With the money they got from Mercury/Moon, they bought gear - Alex got his sunburst Les Paul and Geddy his Ric 4001. The original instruments never went away. He used them in the studio for parts. New stuff always and exclusively onstage (I have no Rush posters without a Ric and only learned of the J- bass through the Le Studio videos - TS has a Ric, Limelight and Vital Signs J-bass - just watched the videos to confirm). I was confused. Ric/J-bass, what was I hearing? That was back in the dark ages before the "internets" (sic).

I persisted through Geddy's L2 days, the Wal bass, understood the Hentor the Barbarian joke (the neck was too long). Some recordings were made with the new gear, some with the old. He always used the new stuff live. Finally with CP, all the new bass stuff fell by the wayside (now onto the amps....). He went back to J-bass exclusively - Fender even designed a custom one for him.

BTW, does anybody know what year Geddy bought his J-bass at the pawn shop in Kalamazoo, MI?

Noob? No, dues we're paid a long, long time ago, thank you very much.

I presume no slight was intended by the noob comment, so none is taken.

Thank you that is very sweet of you. I'm so sorry about your mother (circumstances sound similar to mine).

Rush always seem to be so timely in their music in my life. It truly is the soundtrack of my life. Much, much better than Dr. Phil (and don't get me started about Dr. Drew), I agree!

Thanks and to you too.

Perhaps Geddy changed that. He is known to work with Neil so he can sing things more easily. He is pretty busy up there.

I don't know for sure, but can speculate...

Fender Precision and/or Jazz bass with an Ampeg SVT 350 head is the gold standard for bass players (this bass player, at least). P- bass is heavy and not very ergonomic (like playing a brick) but it sounds really, really good. P- bass has a C shaped neck so you have to work harder (i.e. stretch more) and square corners and no cut aways make it heavy to hold for a few hours. A J- bass has a D shaped neck. J- bass are lighter (cut away at back to sit more comfortably and at the top front so its easier on the forearm with rounded edges reduce weight making it easier to carry around for a few hours) and the D- shaped neck makes for a lighter, faster touch from my experience.

Rics are heavy and fussy, even in their single neck incarnations. Stereo output with a trebley sound and they are very distinct (Chris Squire, Roger Glover, for example). Dual truss rods in the neck makes them unstable (imo). When they are on, they play and sound like nothing else. When they're out, they're out by a mile and sound weird with terrible intonation.

J- bass is rock solid, smooth to play and has a consistent tone. J- bass will never let you down and 100 years from now, I would bet that the P- / J- basses continue to define the low-end gold standard.

I'm curious (off-topic) where amplification is heading since the tube-based SVT350 and the stack it drove is now replaced by a Sans amp, a light-weight yet heavy sounding "bar", digital shaping or just straight into the board.

Just my opinions, and I have gazillions...

I agree. I think this album is much deeper than we what we're seeing at face value. And it is not a coincidence, at least I don't think it is. I think CA is the culmination of Rush - the best of everything they have ever done distilled into 66+ minutes; Plus the bonus of tying it all in to an overall "concept" album scheme which is another nod to their roots.

I hope it stands the test of time and I believe it will.

I don't see any cape trailing you, so I don't think you're being the captain.

Wish they had an emoticon for one hand turned upward in the air like a claw while saying "Spock..."

Agreed. Great time to be a Rush fan.

Reviewing the liner notes, I do see bass pedal listed as a credit to Geddy (duh).

And, I think I can answer my own post (poor form though it may be).

Tom Sawyer (duh). The one that started it all with the chord that started it all for me. I just listened to it and it is as heavy as heavy is.

Two "duhs" on a single post. Consider it a stream of conscience moment. Looks like I picked a bad day to stop sniffing glue.

It is still monsterously heavy though.