Time machine bass

[hughes&kettner]

i have read a few things/rumors here and there about geddy's bass used on the time machine tour. is it just an aged custom shop?

has he given a formal interview at all where he tells about it?

any help here is appreciated.

[2112Oracle]

I think he changed the faceplate on it, and changed up the neck to fit with the new faceplate.

 

That's what I believe, anyways. Hope that helped a little.

[shaun3701]

so it's not his signature Jazz Bass? He's been using that live since Counterparts I think.

[Ted Barchetta]

I think it's his old Jazz bass with a new neck (something about the old one crapping out on him), and a new pick guard for fun I guess.

 

It sounds and looks fantastic. I really like the combination.

[hughes&kettner]

that's kind of the same stuff i heard before..doesn't make sense though...guitars like that only get better with age when cared for...

which you know his are.

i can't see him just swapping out the neck unless an elephant sat on it...

[1-0-0-1-0-0-1]

QUOTE (Ted Barchetta @ Nov 8 2010, 12:41 AM)

I think it's his old Jazz bass with a new neck (something about the old one crapping out on him), and a new pick guard for fun I guess.

Pretty sure that's correct.

[Babycat]

QUOTE (1-0-0-1-0-0-1 @ Nov 8 2010, 03:48 AM)

QUOTE (Ted Barchetta @ Nov 8 2010, 12:41 AM) I think it's his old Jazz bass with a new neck (something about the old one crapping out on him), and a new pick guard for fun I guess. Pretty sure that's correct. My word, but it's a beauty...

[Mr. Krinkle]

Geddy used the old 1972 Jass Bass body (same one that he has had since the late 70's) and installed a new neck made for him by Fender's custom shop and he opted for a pearl pickguard instead of his old three-ply white/black/white pickguard.

NOTHING changed on the body. Same pickups, same road wear (that increases year after year) same Badass II bridge, same straplocks, same everything.

 

The neck is new and the pickguard is new. That is all.

[Tarkus406]

He's still got the same body which is most important because it houses the tasty vintage electronics. I don't know if Ged could give up his baby. Just change it up a bit. Like I did with my Corian pickguard.

[Mr. Krinkle]

QUOTE (Tarkus406 @ Nov 8 2010, 01:38 PM)

He's still got the same body which is most important because it houses the tasty vintage electronics. I don't know if Ged could give up his baby. Just change it up a bit. Like I did with my Corian pickguard.

Or wire it for stereo so then he could use both the Jazz Bass and Rickenbacker live.

 

The Rickenbacker sounded OK when he used it for A Passage To Bangkok on the S&A tour, but not being in stereo limits the amount of tone control you can have. That's why his Rick sounded so good when he used it from like day one through the Signals tour.

 

He had a stereo rig.

 

 

And if you think a Fender Jazz Bass sounds good using just the standard mono output (and it sounds incredible) then hearing it in stereo is whole other thing.

 

You really cant tell how good it really sounds in my vid of Freewill due to the degeneration in audio with youtube, but believe me, it's incredible.

 

I wish Geddy would pursue this.

[Rushchick10]

QUOTE (Mr. Krinkle @ Nov 8 2010, 09:41 AM)

Geddy used the old 1972 Jass Bass body (same one that he has had since the late 70's) and installed a new neck made for him by Fender's custom shop and he opted for a pearl pickguard instead of his old three-ply white/black/white pickguard. NOTHING changed on the body. Same pickups, same road wear (that increases year after year) same Badass II bridge, same straplocks, same everything. The neck is new and the pickguard is new. That is all.

Actually, I think Geddy had the neck replaced a couple tours ago. So, the neck that was on his Jazz this last tour was even newer. Still sounds killer, though. I love that bass!

[Ted Barchetta]

QUOTE (Mr. Krinkle @ Nov 8 2010, 11:13 AM)

QUOTE (Tarkus406 @ Nov 8 2010, 01:38 PM) He's still got the same body which is most important because it houses the tasty vintage electronics. I don't know if Ged could give up his baby. Just change it up a bit. Like I did with my Corian pickguard. Or wire it for stereo so then he could use both the Jazz Bass and Rickenbacker live.   The Rickenbacker sounded OK when he used it for A Passage To Bangkok on the S&A tour, but not being in stereo limits the amount of tone control you can have. That's why his Rick sounded so good when he used it from like day one through the Signals tour.   He had a stereo rig.     And if you think a Fender Jazz Bass sounds good using just the standard mono output (and it sounds incredible) then hearing it in stereo is whole other thing.   You really cant tell how good it really sounds in my vid of Freewill due to the degeneration in audio with youtube, but believe me, it's incredible.   I wish Geddy would pursue this. While I do agree about how much better a Jazz in Stereo sounds; I think Ged's vintage Jazz bass is totally tonally unique. His tone on YYZ is all Jazz; all mono. I read somewhere that the neck pickup had some sort of short and it changed the output of it. It caused the bass to have it's unique, raunchier than usual tone. Sort of like his Ric.   He should experiment with one of Fender's Signature series basses and rewire it in stereo; His '72 Jazz is too sacred.

[Rushchick10]

QUOTE (Ted Barchetta @ Nov 8 2010, 04:53 PM)

QUOTE (Mr. Krinkle @ Nov 8 2010, 11:13 AM) QUOTE (Tarkus406 @ Nov 8 2010, 01:38 PM) He's still got the same body which is most important because it houses the tasty vintage electronics. I don't know if Ged could give up his baby. Just change it up a bit. Like I did with my Corian pickguard. Or wire it for stereo so then he could use both the Jazz Bass and Rickenbacker live.   The Rickenbacker sounded OK when he used it for A Passage To Bangkok on the S&A tour, but not being in stereo limits the amount of tone control you can have. That's why his Rick sounded so good when he used it from like day one through the Signals tour.   He had a stereo rig.     And if you think a Fender Jazz Bass sounds good using just the standard mono output (and it sounds incredible) then hearing it in stereo is whole other thing.   You really cant tell how good it really sounds in my vid of Freewill due to the degeneration in audio with youtube, but believe me, it's incredible.   I wish Geddy would pursue this. While I do agree about how much better a Jazz in Stereo sounds; I think Ged's vintage Jazz bass is totally tonally unique. His tone on YYZ is all Jazz; all mono. I read somewhere that the neck pickup had some sort of short and it changed the output of it. It caused the bass to have it's unique, raunchier than usual tone. Sort of like his Ric.   He should experiment with one of Fender's Signature series basses and rewire it in stereo; His '72 Jazz is too sacred. Agreed!

[Solitudeix]

It did sound good live whatever it was.

 

He really had a big, thick and raw sound this time out.

 

The heaviness was a treat.

 

 

[Mr. Krinkle]

QUOTE (Rushchick10 @ Nov 8 2010, 03:04 PM)

Actually, I think Geddy had the neck replaced a couple tours ago. So, the neck that was on his Jazz this last tour was even newer. Still sounds killer, though. I love that bass!

You are correct!!

 

He replaced the old 72' neck with one from his signature bass model for the S&A tour.

I think he recorded S&A with the old neck, but not sure right now.

[shaun3701]

QUOTE (Solitudeix @ Nov 8 2010, 05:56 PM)

It did sound good live whatever it was. He really had a big, thick and raw sound this time out. The heaviness was a treat.

I think that's because of the new amps he's using, not anything to do with changes to his bass.

[Mr. Krinkle]

QUOTE (Rushchick10 @ Nov 8 2010, 05:10 PM)

QUOTE (Ted Barchetta @ Nov 8 2010, 04:53 PM) QUOTE (Mr. Krinkle @ Nov 8 2010, 11:13 AM) QUOTE (Tarkus406 @ Nov 8 2010, 01:38 PM) He's still got the same body which is most important because it houses the tasty vintage electronics. I don't know if Ged could give up his baby. Just change it up a bit. Like I did with my Corian pickguard. Or wire it for stereo so then he could use both the Jazz Bass and Rickenbacker live.   The Rickenbacker sounded OK when he used it for A Passage To Bangkok on the S&A tour, but not being in stereo limits the amount of tone control you can have. That's why his Rick sounded so good when he used it from like day one through the Signals tour.   He had a stereo rig.     And if you think a Fender Jazz Bass sounds good using just the standard mono output (and it sounds incredible) then hearing it in stereo is whole other thing.   You really cant tell how good it really sounds in my vid of Freewill due to the degeneration in audio with youtube, but believe me, it's incredible.   I wish Geddy would pursue this. While I do agree about how much better a Jazz in Stereo sounds; I think Ged's vintage Jazz bass is totally tonally unique. His tone on YYZ is all Jazz; all mono. I read somewhere that the neck pickup had some sort of short and it changed the output of it. It caused the bass to have it's unique, raunchier than usual tone. Sort of like his Ric.   He should experiment with one of Fender's Signature series basses and rewire it in stereo; His '72 Jazz is too sacred. Agreed! The wire that is 'loose' wouldn't even be touched in the process of wiring it in stereo.   I don't believe that story about the loose wire anyway. My Jazz in mono sounds like the YYZ track too. It's just how you approach playing the bass to coax the sound out of it. If Geddy's bass had a 'loose' wire in it for so long, there's no way that it would have kept working all of these years. Geddy dosen't just stand there on stage. The shock vibrations that bass endures night after night with Geddy jumping four feet into the air after each performance of Limelight and all the rest of the abuse that bass takes on the tour would surley make that 'loose' wire even 'looser'.   Geddy does have his neck pickup a bit higher than normal on that bass and that is a big part of his 'unique' Jazz Bass tone. When you use more of the neck pickup the tone gets more growly, like it is on Vapor Trails and the Rio live dvd and cd. It even sounds closer to the sound of a P-Bass than a Jazz Bass. Even more like a P-Bass than that bass sounded on the Moving Pictures album. If you were to listen to the tracks from Moving Pictures...there's those isolated tracks that were floating around for awhile...you would find that there is a ton of compression on his tracks. Theres a lot more to the sound of Geddy's bass than some folklore tales of a 'loose' wire.

[Mr. Krinkle]

QUOTE (shaun3701 @ Nov 8 2010, 06:41 PM)

QUOTE (Solitudeix @ Nov 8 2010, 05:56 PM) It did sound good live whatever it was. He really had a big, thick and raw sound this time out. The heaviness was a treat. I think that's because of the new amps he's using, not anything to do with changes to his bass. He replaced the neck with another maple neck. Unless the neck sepocket isn't tight and there's not much difference in the wood density of the new neck, then the bass would sound very close to the original. The pearl inlays have no effect on the sound. It would probably take putting a recorded track of that bass with the new neck and then comparing it to something with the old one, preferably playing the same song with all the amp controls and recording levels set the same, and then playing back the tracks using software to compare sounds.....   Probably not going to happen.

[Solitudeix]

QUOTE (shaun3701 @ Nov 8 2010, 06:41 PM)

QUOTE (Solitudeix @ Nov 8 2010, 05:56 PM) It did sound good live whatever it was. He really had a big, thick and raw sound this time out. The heaviness was a treat. I think that's because of the new amps he's using, not anything to do with changes to his bass. Perhaps.   I suppose I don't really care about what made it sound that way.   I should have said "on a side note". But if a change in the bass makes a change in the tone, then it would logically factor into the overall sound and it could change the verdict in my mind.

[Rushchick10]

Personally, I think Geddy's bass tone is amazing! What ever it is, leave it, will ya?!

 

[Mr. Krinkle]

QUOTE (Rushchick10 @ Nov 9 2010, 12:34 AM)

Personally, I think Geddy's bass tone is amazing! What ever it is, leave it, will ya?!

Dn't worry, I won't touch it.

 

He did sound better with his Rickenbacker on the Permanent Waves tour.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[IChoseFreeWill]

How many guitars and basses are taken on each tour?

 

How about spare parts for the drum set? And keyboards? And anything else?

[Mr. Krinkle]

QUOTE (IChoseFreeWill @ Nov 9 2010, 07:42 AM)

How many guitars and basses are taken on each tour?

Geddy's S&A tour lineup. Remove the Rickenbacker 4001 for the Time Machine tour.....

http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll215/TPesch2112/Basses.jpg

 

Alex's electric guitars for the Time Machine tour.....

http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll215/TPesch2112/IMG_1336.jpg

Edited November 9, 2010 by Mr. Krinkle

[IChoseFreeWill]

How do y'all find pics of these? Are they published for everyone online? Are you on the crew?

 

Does Alex play the acoustic guitar on every tour? The acoustic intro to Closer to the Heart on the Time Machine tour was MAGNIFICENT.

[Ted Barchetta]

QUOTE (Mr. Krinkle @ Nov 9 2010, 06:14 AM)

Alex's electric guitars for the Time Machine tour..... http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll215/TPesch2112/IMG_1336.jpg

Ahh...the lone Fender in a sea of Gibson.

 

Love that Tele.