Bless the modern internet for being able to provide us stuff like this.
If you ever wanted to hear the raw sound of Geddy’s bass on YYZ, just watch the video below and check it out.
A common point of debate is whether Geddy used both a Fender Jazz and a Rickenbacker on this song. Most Rush fans agree that the song is 100% Fender Jazz, and that a Rick was only used in videos just because it was thought that particular bass looked cooler.
Do you agree this is true? Or do you think there’s some Rick in YYZ?
Also, just in case you didn’t know what YYZ means, it’s the airport code for Toronto Pearson International Airport.
Jazz bass all the way!
Pure, pristine and Classic Ged´s Fender Jazz Sound. Even in the solos…No Doubt 100% Fender Jazz
Perhaps some in the layered track…
Sounds like a Rick…there is some layering going on. Perhaps he is using both…primarily sounds like a Rick
Nope, he used a Ric all the way. The Jazz bass is a new thing. And i was a 4003, not a 4001.
New thing? Not quite. Hemispheres and ‘Waves were all Jazz Bass. Ric looked cooler.
Sounds just like my 4003. Although, for some reason, the actual performance of the bass line sounds sloppier in places than I recall.
RICK. You can hear the hollow sound of the body and the extreme articulation because this bass is all maple (neck and body)
This is a Jazz bass with some beefed up J-Bass pickup that might be special made. There is a double tracked J-Bass section, but other than some overdrive it is J-Bass all the way through
Unquestionably a Ric. Ric attack/growl and Jazz attack/growl are quite distinctive sounding.
Geddy himself said he played his ’72 Jazz for Permanent Waves and Moving Pictures. It totally sounds like a Rickenbacker. But it’s mostly his playing style that makes him sound the way he does. 🙂
sounds like a fender jazz bass to me
Pretty sure he used the Fender on YYZ every-time I saw them live…
Jazz. Jazz. Jazz.
Definitely a Jazz.
it’s a Rick w/J pu’s.., or a J w/Ric pu’s. FOR SURE!
J-Bass…
It was recorded on a Ric; he didn’t switch to the Jazz ’til the late ’80’s, after using Sonus and Wal for a while, as well as the Steinberger from Grace Under Pressure
Who cares what kind of bass it is. The notes don’t seem to mind which bass it’s coming from. Geddy’s fingers do all the talking.
Jazz, with some overdrive and a little chorus
Jazz Bass, low action, lots of fret buzz and he is hitting it hard!! I have a a few set up that way and nothing else is quite like it! GEDDY!!! No one can write better music that requires technical proficiency and yet, it still rocks…RUSH
You’re deaf if you think this is a Jazz Bass. It’s plainly a Ric with the neck pick-up dialled back, tonnes of compression and some chorus. Staggered people blindly think this is a Jazz Bass, it sounds absolutely nothing like one…