Geddy's Fender bass tone

[jacklifeson]

Ive played bass for 27 years now, my main gigging basses are my Ric and Steinberger, and I dont like Geddy's live tone anymore. The problem IMHO is that he doesnt use any real amps/cabs for his amplification (ok he used some Orange stuff on the previous tour but it was still mixed in with his DI tones). He needs a wall (pardon the pun) of tube amps and 810 cabs. I have a Sansamp RMP and i found a pic of how he has his setup and its all drive and trebel, I feel I get a much better tone out of it, again IMO. His live tones used to be so good, nowadays I cant stand it. YMMV though.

[New Digital Man]

It's ironic that Geddy's original reason for going over to Fender basses after the Wal years was that he felt he needed a big bottom end to his sound and the Fenders could give that however if you compare his tone with the Wal on Show Of Hands compared to the Fender on DS or R30 then the former wins hands down!

[Miriam of the Lunar Sea]

I'm a Ric chick. I have a 4004 Cheyenne that I'm sure I'll own until I die. The jazz bass is generally a great bass, but everyone and their grandmother plays one. I feel the Ric and the Wal both suit Geddy's very distinct style better.

 

I think Presto was the last record where his bass really sounds fantastic. At least on some of the tracks. I don't care for the production in general on RTB. (except maybe Heresy) And, I think, CP was the start of the Jazz, and a generally less spectacular bass tone.

 

On Clockwork, it sounds like he (or the producer) was going for a more Ric like sound. But, still not the same.

 

Oh --- *smacks forehead* I do know MP was recorded mostly with the Jazz! And it sounds phenomenal. But, I've never heard him duplicate that particular tone again. Too bad he can't get *that* sound live. But I'm sure it has much to do with how it was engineered/produced.