Bass tone

[CygnusX-1Bk2]

Read my above responses. I used the term routing because the signal is split several times and sent to different devices. It's combination and variations of those things that contribute to his tone.

[rushfanNlv]

Referring to the older Ged bass tone (before the DI stuff) I think that the combination of the Ric basses and TUBES!!!!

 

Most people go the cheap route and get a Solid State amp but tubes are what is going to give you that growl. You overdrive any tube amp and it is going to give you a bit of distortion and that's where the tone comes from. Notice that Ged uses Tube DI boxes now to simulate the same tone.

 

Tubes....that's the secret.

 

 

 

Edited August 16, 2006 by rushfanNlv

[Geddyguy]

Remember to pluck the strings really hard.

[jazzbass]

QUOTE (kylee @ Apr 26 2005, 06:27 PM)

I just posted this on another topic but in the book Rush: Merely Players by Robert Telleria I learned that the wonderful growl you hear is mostly done on Geddy's 1972(I think) Fender Jazz.  Very rare and very expensive.  In many of the videos Geddy is seen playing the Ric just for "effect", but in the studio most of the time, he used the Fender.  He also had his stint with the wonderful Wal basses which have a unique, unmistakeable sound(Sort of like a rubber band).  I believe you can still purchase a Geddy Lee Wal Bass signature(The red one) from their web site but they are very expensive due to incredible build quality.  Fender still makes the Geddy Lee Jazz sig. but this is a cheap Japanese version where as what you want is the superior American made authentic 1972. Also I once owned a RIC 4001 and could never really get the growl I heard in Geddy's playing.

 

Kylee, based on your comments of Japanese made Fender products,

you don't know anything about Fender instruments. Japanese made Fenders are widely considered to be very good instruments. American made Fender products are not the pinnicle of instuments just because they are made in California.

 

I have played lots of Fenders basses. Some were American, some were Mexican, and others were of Japanese origin. The Japanese instuments have been the most consistant in overall build quality. Each instument will have a unique sound, because each piece of wood is different.

 

I currently own two Fender jazz basses. One is a made in mexico Standard jazz. The other is a Geddy Lee sig. Jazz. The Geddy jazz is, to my ears, the best sounding jazz bass I've played. I find nothing lacking in this instument, nor do I think of it as a cheaper version of the real thing. It is a real jazz bass, period. My standard jazz is also a real jazz

bass. It just has a different voice than the Geddy.

 

An important aspect of Geddy jazz basses to be aware of is the pickup spacing. There is a 4" pickup spacing on 70's style jazz basses, as opposed to a 3.5" pickup spacing on standard basses. Geddy's sig bass is based on a 72 model year jazz bass. Fender went back to 3.5" spacing in the early eighties. The pickup spacing gives the bass a clearer top end.

 

 

As far as trying to get Geddys bass tone, you can't! Period. You can only sound like yourself. Can you use his recipe for sound and get somewhat close, sure.

 

First, pick which tone your after. Precision, Rick, Jazz, Steinberger, or Wal. For our purpose lets say it is the Jazz. He has used Rotosound strings for years, RS66. Then you need to decide which amp to he used

who's tone your tyring to copy. On top of that he always ran seperate channels for top end and bottom end. Then those signals were mixed to achieve a specific sound. Sometimes he used more compression, sometimes he ran some chorus, sometimes he ran direct, sometimes......

 

See where we go. It is like a dog chasing his own tail, you'll never get his exact sound. Hell he doesn't get his own exact sound. Just play and be yourself.

 

 

[mortkort]

you can get kinda the sound that Geddy has whit s boss overdrive bass pedal, i know a guy that has one.

 

Here is the pedal:

 

http://www.bossus.com/index.asp?pg=1&tmp=28

 

When you go into the listning page, and listen to natural overdrive. i think you get the sound that Geddy has right there.