How to get Geddy Lee's overdrive sound with the 2000S???

[glwb]

Hi. I have a question that I have yet to get a full, detailed, and accurate response to. I am a bass player and I love Geddy Lee's 1970's bass sound. I would love to be able to at least get as close as I can to recreating his setup and sound. So far the information I have attained is that he ran his Rickenbacker in stereo with the neck pickup going into an Ampeg SVT and the bridge pickup going into a Sunn 2000S. Each of these amps were running into 2x15" speaker cabinets. I know that he ran the neck pickup into the Ampeg for his clean low-end sound and ran the bridge pickup into the Sunn 2000S for his mid to high-mid overdriven (distortion) sound. From here I am clueless, mainly with the distorted sound. The Sunn 2000S does not specifically have a distortion channel to it. In fact, it only has volume, bass, treble, and contour knobs along with a bassboost switch and polarity switch (I have no idea what that does). None of these features are designed with bass overdrive in mind. What did Geddy do? Did he have some type of pedal boosting the bass signal before going into the amp? Did he just crank the amp to max volume which does not seem reasonable as that would be way too loud for any practical use (at least in a live setting when he's standing right in front of the speaker cabinets). Did he use special tubes in the power section of the Sunn? Any and all information with as much detail as possible would be greatly appreciated. I'm new to the world of Sunn, so do not assume much pertaining to my knowledge of these amps. Thanks! BTW, I've been ridiculed before for not just worrying about creating my own bass sound. I already have my own bass sound when I'm playing in my main band, but when my friends and I get together to jam out some Rush covers or I'm just playing along to a CD, it would be much more enjoyable to have his sound. Thanks again for any help!

[Anonymous]

Maybe he did turn the 2000s up all the way...remember, that back in those days they did not really mic the instruments into a huge, sophisticated PA system. (They didn't have them back then). The brunt of the venue-filling sound came straight off the stage.

[Anonymous]

Ahh, the elusive Geddy Lee distorted bass tone from the 70's. I've spent the last 24 years trying to figure it out and here's what I've come up with. His sound is a constantly changing combination of basses,strings, amps, preamps compresors and Neve recording gear. If, however, you wish to try this at home, I have a few tips. First of all the strings are very important. Try plain steel roundwound rotosounds, I think they're called Swing Bass. These strings are murder on your fingers and frets. They don't hold their tone for long and are expensive. Be sure to have a fresh set for any Rush jamming to insure proper tone ( boiling these strings after they go dead will restore about half the original life they had). Next grow the fingernail on your first two fingers long enough to act as picks. Now play as hard as you can and you will get the desired distorted Geddy tone through almost any amp. Continue until your fingernail breaks, your fingers blister or you snap a string. Repeat.
Would a 2000s help the situation? Yes, as long as you can turn it up. JBL K140 or EV SRO speakers are just as important  and they too must be pushed hard to get this tone we seek. If you want to get the Lee tone at a more tolerable volume, try one of the lower wattage Sunn tube heads like a sorado or 190 with a single 15 speaker cabinet, (You must use a JBL K 140 or EV ). If you're just jamming along to CDs then try the Bass Pod by Line 6, it is a digital preamp that models classic bass amps including the Sunn Coliseum and the SVT. Finally, check out this link to Geddy's gear, its obsesive.
http://www.rush-signals.com/rush/geddy_gear.html

signed, an unemployed bass player in Nashville
PS. If you want to get away from the influence of Geddy, get a P bass with flatwounds and jam along to "The Best Of Sly and the Family Stone". You think I'm kidding....