Crockettsonny84

I know Ive done quite a few things that ruined my reputation on here. But I do support newbies to stringed instruments, especially bass (cause thats pretty much all Ive played for the past 7 years). But Im with ^him^ and Ill put down $20 as well just so you can find a new bass. If I could reacquire my precision bass from my friend I would send it to you free of charge. Good Luck!

Im looking for a gold varitone rotary switch dial indicator plate. I remember seeing them a while ago on allparts or somewhere like that. Anyone know where I can find them?

I thought the same thing, but purple?

I was searching around for P/W tour photos when I came across this:

 

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c174/Crockettsonny84/Rush1979.png

 

Apparently, Alex has been using even more odd guitars. From what I understand, he borrowed one of Kim Mitchell's strats. This one in purple

Alright, no one has any opinions whatsoever? I take it that no one has actually took the time to listen or feels that "Its just another kid trying to be Geddy."

 

You did well!!! I really like your Signature, looks marvelous

A few days ago I stumbled upon my old bass multi effects processor. After a little tweaking and hours of playing I finally came up with a more consistent sounding tone that, IMO, is as close as Ill ever get to a "Geddy Lee" tone. Ive been playing for over 5 years now and never have I been so amazed that in a few short days that Id get a good tone like this.

 

Opinions may differ, but Ive tried hard and true. Countless interviews, listening, playing, all that good stuff. I do realize what Geddy was getting at on his interview back in 2007 saying that the tone is in your hands, playing aggressively, etc... So, I started wailing on the strings and it gave me a much wider perspective on technique. More so about setup as well.

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c174/Crockettsonny84/Effects.jpg

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c174/Crockettsonny84/Audigy.jpg

 

I used both my Fender Jazz an Precision Basses. Both with maple necks and no mods besides the Badass II on the Precision. The neck on the Precision is from a Hondo Explorer copy, but I went with it because I didnt have the money for the neck and the only alternative was the Fretless neck that came with it. I also used a Boss BE-5B Multi Effects pedal with plenty of drive, a bit of compression, and the 10-band EQ with extra gain. Ran it stereo into the Creative Audigy break out box.

 

Here are the Videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNp3IaqsH54

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acqDAQorFJw

 

 

 

If anyone doesnt feel that I didnt do well, give me some tips on how I could improve. Just dont give me slander. I woke up first thing and didnt even warm up, so my precision of the rhythms are very spotty, but the point is visible. Thanks!

 

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c174/Crockettsonny84/Basses-1.jpg

I need the Master Volume/Tone moved around and the pickup selector on the lower horn. Its also hard finding the HSS config in this fashion

Anyone know where I can get a customized Mirror Pickguard for "The Camera Eye" Strat (DEW to most of you).

Well, since my last post here Ive changed a few things. I have:

 

2 Lifeson Stratocasters in black and red

 

1 Gibson Les Paul Custom in fireburst

 

1 1979 Gibson Howard Roberts Fusion brown sunburst

 

1 Epiphone ES-345 DOT (My own personal custom job) in black

 

2 Fender Jazz Basses in lake placid blue and white

 

1 Fender Precision Bass in Red

 

1 1975 Rickenbacker 4001 in jetglo

 

and a custom Dreadnought Acoustic/Electric Bass

 

My Amplifiers are:

 

1 Ampeg 8 x 10 driven by an eden head

 

2 Hiwatt Custom 100 cabinets driven by a peavey 120 keyboard head

 

1 Holmes 15w practice

 

1 Lab Series L5 Guitar amplifier

 

I have a large pedalboard, but I dont really want to spend the time listing everything there.

QUOTE (SignatureAurora75 @ May 26 2009, 02:06 AM)

I've read interviews here and there with Alex, and he has stated that he usually doesn't get rid of his guitars. Although, he did say he gave a few to charity. I'm sure he has held on to that old Great White that he used around HYF time. The neck on it broke during a hand off to his guitar tech but I know he got a new neck for it. Shortly afterwards he switched over to PRS. I miss the Great White! I really wish he would bring that out again in the future. A lot of people say they don't like the guitar sound of that time (HYF, Presto). Those are my favorite guitar sounding albums. They blame the Signature Guitars solely for that unique sound, but most of them don't realize it's not just the guitars that created that sound, but added effects. The sound is mostly generated by the Gallien Krueger amps. I own two Signature guitars, one is an Aurora that is active and just like Alex's, (however mine is the curved top second generation). I love the pearl white color. The other is an earlier flat top Oracle. They both sound and play just lovely.

QUOTE (BassLik @ May 10 2009, 08:19 PM)

thanks for all your help guys, hey has anyone here done any collaboration on doing a rush tune?, i run pro tools and play bass/moog pedals, would like to do a song with some guys or gas and maybe put it up on someones site so people can take a gander?

I played saxophone for 6 years in high school and in middle school for the marching band. I was never very prominent in playing, but I have a friend who is going to college to become a professional saxophonist. He's got an original 1935 Conn saxophone in silver (not sure on the actual material, but it is silver) with new pads, new cork on the neck and some kind of frequensator mouthpiece. Its a genuine beauty, Ill give it that

QUOTE (Grand Designs @ Apr 12 2009, 05:19 PM)

QUOTE (Crockettsonny84 @ Apr 12 2009, 03:45 PM) QUOTE (CygnusX-1Bk2 @ Mar 17 2009, 08:32 PM) QUOTE (ozzy85 @ Mar 16 2009, 04:48 PM) A Jazz bass doesn't have as much serious low end thump as some other basses.  Part of it has to do with the inline pickups, kinda like a Fender Stratocaster... A bass with the Fender Precision style pickups will kick out a more deep bass sound... This makes no sense. I think you mean a "Single Coil" pickup as opposed to "inline." A Precision pickup is a split coil pickup. The split design reduces hum, like a humbucker. The position of the pickup on the body (and the pickup windings) determine the sonic quality. A bridge position pickup (on any instrument) will always be brighter sounding because the harmonic activity is concentrated near the bridge and the nut, thus the "neck" position pickups will be warmer and rounder. A P bass has no bridge pickup. Roll off the volume on a J's bridge pickup and voila... instant P bass tone. Exactly. If you play any songs that were recorded with a Precision Bass, it is really easy to mask the tone by turning off the bridge pickup completely. If you turn off the neck pickup and turn the bridge full on, you'll get a Music Man stingray esque sound. When both the pickups are full on with full tone, the sound isnt as muddy as the neck pickup but isnt as bitey as the bridge pickup; thus, a sort of half/half sound comes into play. This sound is the "quintessential" Jazz Bass sound. IMO, I find that if you put the Bridge pickup full on and turn down the neck pickup 1/4 turn, you can get a pretty good Rickenbacker sort of sound with the top end bite while retaining a good amount of low end. If you take the Bridge pickup and turn it down 1/4 turn and leave the Neck pickup at full you can get a more defined Precision Bass tone without the overdriven muddiness. Keep it that way and turn down the tone, voila! you have a good mid-70's Jazz Tone that can be used in virtually any of the records of that era I find the jazz basses to sound their best with the neck pickup on full, and the bridge pickup off completely. Regardless of what everyone else says, my ears tell me that's how Geddy's been running his with all neck pickup since at least the R30 time frame - not with both pickups at full volume. If he uses any bridge pickup at all, it's just a little. If you watch Geddy play, he plays directly over the neck pickup about 90% of the time. That tells me that the neck pickup is the driving element of his bass sound.   I would like to try wiring a jazz bass in stereo just to see how it would sound. Has anyone else tried this? go to talkbass and look at the thread where Russ Ryan discusses Geddy's setup. He states that Ged has both pickups on at all times, except when called for he will roll off the neck pickup as necessary. I can understand where you are coming from, and I speculated the same thing as well. Ive played to some R30 footage and compared; IMO they sound similar, but it doesnt have the bite of the treble pickup.

QUOTE (CygnusX-1Bk2 @ Mar 17 2009, 08:32 PM)

QUOTE (ozzy85 @ Mar 16 2009, 04:48 PM) A Jazz bass doesn't have as much serious low end thump as some other basses.  Part of it has to do with the inline pickups, kinda like a Fender Stratocaster... A bass with the Fender Precision style pickups will kick out a more deep bass sound... This makes no sense. I think you mean a "Single Coil" pickup as opposed to "inline." A Precision pickup is a split coil pickup. The split design reduces hum, like a humbucker. The position of the pickup on the body (and the pickup windings) determine the sonic quality. A bridge position pickup (on any instrument) will always be brighter sounding because the harmonic activity is concentrated near the bridge and the nut, thus the "neck" position pickups will be warmer and rounder. A P bass has no bridge pickup. Roll off the volume on a J's bridge pickup and voila... instant P bass tone. Exactly. If you play any songs that were recorded with a Precision Bass, it is really easy to mask the tone by turning off the bridge pickup completely. If you turn off the neck pickup and turn the bridge full on, you'll get a Music Man stingray esque sound. When both the pickups are full on with full tone, the sound isnt as muddy as the neck pickup but isnt as bitey as the bridge pickup; thus, a sort of half/half sound comes into play. This sound is the "quintessential" Jazz Bass sound. IMO, I find that if you put the Bridge pickup full on and turn down the neck pickup 1/4 turn, you can get a pretty good Rickenbacker sort of sound with the top end bite while retaining a good amount of low end. If you take the Bridge pickup and turn it down 1/4 turn and leave the Neck pickup at full you can get a more defined Precision Bass tone without the overdriven muddiness. Keep it that way and turn down the tone, voila! you have a good mid-70's Jazz Tone that can be used in virtually any of the records of that era

By the way, if you want to build your own Lifeson strat, these are great references. Most of the pictures of his guitars are when he's holding them and you cant get a clear view of what you need done to them.

 

EDIT: For those who dont know, the jack plate is supposed to be flipped upside down. Like I said, it's all I had to work with

These are the three lifeson strats from the early 80's (Permanent Waves/Moving Pictures era), plus a Howard Roberts Fusion if it was the size of a Les Paul. Enjoy!

 

 

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c174/Crockettsonny84/LifesonStratWhite.jpg

 

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c174/Crockettsonny84/LifesonStratRedOrig.jpg

 

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c174/Crockettsonny84/LifesonStratBlackorig.jpg

 

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c174/Crockettsonny84/HRFLesPaul.jpg

 

I spent at least 45 minutes on each, trying to get the wood right, the colors, control locations, etc... I studied all the pictures and worked with what I had. If you want to build your own guitar, look up Kisekae in Google and it should come up. You need to register; completely free

QUOTE (spitball @ Feb 26 2009, 02:50 PM)

QUOTE (Crockettsonny84 @ Jan 28 2009, 06:15 PM) Well, I was doing some reading and came up with some points hee. He got the black 345 to replace the sunburst one which was given to a guy on the road crew for his birthday.  He used the 345 as a backup for his strat which by this time (ca.1980) was being seen regularly to play By-tor and the snow dog.  Alex complained about how much he's not used to Fenders mainly because the original neck on the strat was Maple and that it didnt balance right with him, he had to get used to it.  So, he had to use the 345 on songs like By-Tor and the Spirit of Radio to leave the fender out of some of the shows to avoid trainwrecks.      The Pyramid guitar was custom made for him by the Pyramid company of Michigan in 1977 at the same time he got the sunburst 345, the Roland Guitar Synth, and the 1275 Doubleneck.  He used the Roland exclusively for Hemispheres Book II because of the atmosphere of the song.  The Pyramid was used exclusively for Jacob's Ladder, and the 345 was used for Circumstances.  He didnt like the Roland because it was too intricate for practical use and still has it at his home studio.  The Pyramid guitar was a great guitar according to him, nothing much else after that.  Im really curious now as to what he did with all the other guitars hes had.  He had that tobacco 335, the Black ES 369 which has NEVER been seen, except for those publicity photos in 1981.  He also had a standard SG supposedly around that time, probably for back up. I also forgot to mention, but this holds a good key point to alex's sound.  Alex always does amp miking, he uses it for a stereo signal hard left and hard right.  The middle is reserved for solos that way the outer right/left can hold the rhythm.  Also, he didnt like to do DI with his instruments, they always had to do it last minute or to fill something in.  Back in the late 70's early 80s, Alex did all his DI stuff on the Howard Roberts or the Strat if need be. Great stuff...I'm into Alex's backup/less-used guitars from those days too.   I did once see a picture of Alex on stage with the ES-369. Years ago...and not since. He must have used it once or twice on the 1980 tour, and at least one picture was taken.   I had also read about the sunburst ES-345 being given away as a gift. I have only seen it being played (played a lot, actually) on the Hemispheres tour. The black ES-345 I have seen several pictures of from 1979-1980. And it is the guitar used for the Tom Sawyer solo...see the Le Studio video! Oh, and let's not forget the cameo appearance of the black 345 in the video for "The Pass", 1989/90.   There are at least two Pyramid guitars...a striped brown one and a white one which someone on this forum posted pictures of (Hemi tour) in the "cool pics" thread.   I have also seen stage pics of the black Strat with maple neck on the web, but I can find none now. One was definitely 1980.   The (original) late 60's ES-335 is still in his collection...I have seen a picture of him in the studio with it...within the last 3 or 4 years...probably S&A timeframe.   My own 335 is a '67 model, kind of similar to Alex's. It gets this incredible bluesy and jazzy vibe, but not quite as much of a compressed rock vibe. I can easily get "Caress of Steel" tone from it, but Permanent Waves, for example, not soo easily...maybe its the amplification, but maybe it's no coincidence that my guitar most closely resembles his 60's ES-335 in tone as well as looks.   PS - Crockett...what does "DI" stand for?     http://home.att.net/~njsignals/es335/67es33511.jpg PS - Crockett...what does "DI" stand for?   DI=Direct Input. Geddy uses the Sansamp now for his new setup (new=7 years)

QUOTE (DallasRUSHian @ Mar 5 2009, 08:55 AM)

QUOTE (spitball @ Mar 4 2009, 03:26 PM) OK, I also found the black ES-345 in this clip from the PeW warm-up tour...wish I had this show on DVD!!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BsM6xAGXjQ You see it in the last seconds of a 9 minute video ...and in the first minute. Thanks though!

they will be $1,995. Im going to invest this looks like a once in a lifetime deal

Any pictures of the Black on Maple strat from 79-80? I heard that this guitar after the final generation of modifications (wow, sounds sorta like lyrics maybe?) was put up at the Rock n Roll hall of fame... is this true?

WHOA!!! did Alex acquire another Howard Roberts or what? On the S&A tour gear list it has an HR with a piezo and one with a fishman Tune-o-matic bridge. what the hell!?

Well, I was doing some reading and came up with some points hee.

 

He got the black 345 to replace the sunburst one which was given to a guy on the road crew for his birthday. He used the 345 as a backup for his strat which by this time (ca.1980) was being seen regularly to play By-tor and the snow dog. Alex complained about how much he's not used to Fenders mainly because the original neck on the strat was Maple and that it didnt balance right with him, he had to get used to it. So, he had to use the 345 on songs like By-Tor and the Spirit of Radio to leave the fender out of some of the shows to avoid trainwrecks.

 

The Pyramid guitar was custom made for him by the Pyramid company of Michigan in 1977 at the same time he got the sunburst 345, the Roland Guitar Synth, and the 1275 Doubleneck. He used the Roland exclusively for Hemispheres Book II because of the atmosphere of the song. The Pyramid was used exclusively for Jacob's Ladder, and the 345 was used for Circumstances. He didnt like the Roland because it was too intricate for practical use and still has it at his home studio. The Pyramid guitar was a great guitar according to him, nothing much else after that. Im really curious now as to what he did with all the other guitars hes had. He had that tobacco 335, the Black ES 369 which has NEVER been seen, except for those publicity photos in 1981. He also had a standard SG supposedly around that time, probably for back up.

 

I also forgot to mention, but this holds a good key point to alex's sound. Alex always does amp miking, he uses it for a stereo signal hard left and hard right. The middle is reserved for solos that way the outer right/left can hold the rhythm. Also, he didnt like to do DI with his instruments, they always had to do it last minute or to fill something in. Back in the late 70's early 80s, Alex did all his DI stuff on the Howard Roberts or the Strat if need be.

QUOTE (mortkort @ Jan 28 2009, 05:21 AM)

while we are talking about guitars alex havent used that much, does anyone know anything about the pyramid guitar? http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r113/mortenmat/FC1049_RUSH_6.jpg i know theres a company thats called pyramid but i think they only make strings nowadays, anyone know if they made guitars too? really hard to find anything about those guitars. edit: i found some info about the pyramid guitar i havent seen before Lifeson's pyramid guitar QUOTE Regarding the "Unidentified Les Paul copy" mentioned in the photo caption on page 92 of the September issue, did you not check back on your first cover story/interview with Alex Lifeson back in June 19807 It's the custom-built (by Pyramid Guitars in Detroit, Michigan) solidbody that Alex used for... what!? doesnt have the full article

QUOTE (Cowtothesky @ Jan 27 2009, 06:21 PM)

Didn't he mention in a recent interview that he had a Kahler installed on that guitar in the 80's and didn't like it, so he had a plate put over the holes? It could be a different guitar I am thinking of though. He has so many lol.