I love the Rickenbacker bass sounds but I think we all have to agree, there's the Chris Squire Rickenbacker bass sound and then there's all the rest of the Ricky players out there. Chris was such a unique player. Even Geddy Lee said that when he got his first 4001 he was disappointed that it sounded nothing like Chris Squire.
barkbustin -- Geddy playing Roundabout at Yes' RRHoF induction must've been the very definition of bitter-sweet. I really think he should've played his Rick though. From what I heard, originally Steve was going to play bass on Roundabout, but I'm Geddy lobbied hard to get the gig. Perfect choice, and Rush were the perfect choice for the hosts. Although, I'm sure Dream Theater would've been glad to do it. JP said the band's goal was to be the metal Yes.
@@davep8221 i find it super cool that Rush would wait all night to get Yes tickets, then years later, Dream Theater met while in line for Rush tickets. The universe in balance.
Richie, i am 62 and a bass player, Chris Squire has been my favorite since i 1st seen him do the fragile tour, i Have seen Yes in concert 17 times, your band does the best copies of Yes tunes I ever heard, Love your tone, it is spot on, Keep rocking, you are a fantastic bassist!!1 God Bless JD
I saw the last three tours of Yes with Chris Squire still around, and he always had his Classic mix of Amps . . . . 2, Ampeg SVT 8-10 cabs 1, Marshall 4-12 cab 1, Custom made 2-15 cab In 2013' I was in the 3rd row right in front of Squire's rig at a smaller venue and got the full sound from his Amps !!!! Just Fantastic !! Still so sad R.I.P
@@nickavenoso7851 I saw your reply and watched the video again. That growl is awesome and to me sounds like a giant clever thwacking a hanging side of beef! Gave me goosebumps just like the first time I watched it.
Right on Brother!! Chris Squire best darn bass player in the galaxy imo RIP. He added such an incredible dimension to YES music with his musicianship, sound, and singing!!
Great bit of Bass Geekery Richie. I met Chris Squire in 1975 on the Relayer tour - he'd been a hero of mine since The Yes Album blew mw away in 1971. Shook his hand and went home a happy boy. Jon Anderson came from my home town. Loving your Yes covers. PS - I got a Ricky myself and have always been 'high in the mix' as a Bass player.
it's not just that he was so good, but the whole sound that chris squire brought about is just so heavy and sick, it just grabs hold of me whenever i hear it, your rendition sounds pretty close to my ears, it must be a lot of fun to do
Amazing job. I was really glad to see Chris Squire again before he passed. And what a show. Close to the Edge in reverse and Fragile and a bunch of hits. So awesome.
Absolutely outstanding playing and doing Chris proud I met Yes several times in their hey day and git and album dedication on Tormato for my loyalty to the band after show at Wembley 78 Chris's bass tech came up to me and had clipped his bass strings from his Rickenbacker that he played the show with still have them treasured x
Hey dude! I also play the bass in a Yes tribute band. You got an amazing tone and it's suuper awesome from you to share your setup! Congratulations/Thank you for that!
Richie, you're a great teacher, and player. There is a natural sense of generosity, and kindness about everything I've watched so far. Wish you lived on the West Coast... It would be fun to shred!!!
Awesome amount of modern day knowledge of todays tools to get the right tones! Rock on bro! To think Chris worked though basic tools back in the day to get his various tones, makes you appreciate his skills even more! By the way, EVERY riff you just laid down here gave me a semi. X
I just got my 4003!!! I can’t wait for it to arrive. I am very excited and your video just made me even more happy! I will have unbelievable tones with Ric-O-Sound and my Kemper !!!!
Nice. Thanks, Richie. I remember asking Dave Meros of Spock's Beard how he got his Ric tone. His reply: Don't be afraid of distortion! But yeah, emulating the Ric sound on a Fender is of course what Geddy Lee was doing for the past 25 years. But to me the same thing happened for you: it sounded sorta choked off. The Ric just has a broader and fuller sonic spectrum, at least to my ears. Also, I've heard that many recording engineers absolutely loathe Rickenbackers. I understand why, but to me there's just no substitute.
I believe recording engineers don’t like Rics because they have a tendency to be noisey due to the single coil pickups. I personally love to record Ric basses, they have so much “note” in their midrange
@@jackrose8056 My past issues with engineers was that they insisted on running a Ric through the desk instead of mic-ing speakers, which from what I've heard is really the best way to record them. Going through the desk can result in the noise you're referring to, plus if it's recorded too cleanly you can also get "clank" from the string action.
Very cool, Richie. You have a great knowledge of the parts Squire played, facility on the instrument, and the grasp for modern digital processing to simulate the sound he got with analog equipment 50 (YIKES!) years ago. The section of your post demonstrating the sound with basses other than the Ric were of personal interest. I was also impressed with your command of the Sound Chaser lick, which I think is one of Squire’s best, and one I have yet to attempt. I’d be curious to hear you discuss an approach to a live performance situation, and if you would use software or pedals, etc. to get the Fish-o-sound. Geek on, man.
So many bassists from the 1970's were so awesome ... Chris Squire, Geddy Lee, Geezer Butler, John Entwistle, Lemmy, Paul McCartney. Now I have to try to figure out how to do something similar on my POD Go with a single signal chain.
This brings back memories, I used to play bass in a band that covered some Yes songs. I had the 4003 with the "Rick-O-Sound" double outputs, I used the same Rotosound strings as you, and I had a Morley bass wah pedal. Man, I miss that bass, I regret selling it sooo much! Young and stupid, I still kick myself over that! I used a GallienKruger bass head with a couple of EV 15" cabs, two 4x10" Gauss cabs, and a Jands power amp preamp set up to get that stereo sound. It was punchy without sounding thin.
I actually think Chris Squire said in either his rig rundown video or a 90s master class video that's floating around that he only runs his effects through the bridge pickup, so right on there.
Excellent! Now... how about Steve Howe? (Howe about?) Specifically, I would die for a Helix version of his tone on Yessongs. It's so damn ballsy, one of the best-recorded guitar tones of all time (IMO). There's something about the reverb or live bounce that makes it so exciting. Plus it's some of his best playing.. so aggressive and confident, 'Yours is No Disgrace' being one of the better examples. Keep at it Richie; we love it!
Thank you! I too love Chris Squier's sound, and have come pretty close with my Fender J-Bass. Use an original Line 6 Bass Pod, for the thick, fat, compressed sound going in. Then "in the box" I've been taking an aux send from the bass channel and running that through a small vitual overdriven guitar amp. It's worked pretty well, I guess, since other musicians have assumed I was using a Rickenbacker. But you have really nailed the sound. I think I'm relying too much on overdriving the small amp, and would get more what I'm looking for with EQ and compression. I'm glad you did one with the J-Bass, now I'm inspired. Thanks again, you rock.
Brilliant! I have long wondered how dealt with your Ric 4001 with the Helix, here you have answered so many latent questions on how you created some the sound we hear on the amazing Band Geek covers of Yes! Thanks Richie, great job! So many over-do the attempt to create Squire-type sound, you have kept it much cleaner and brilliantly apply compressors to allow the "clean" sound to come alive 'a la Squire' -- certainly works well with the vintage Ric! Keeping the neck P/U separate is really makes a difference, regardless of filter harmonics and drivers you choose to use. BTW, I love how you are willing to wear the musician and engineer hats separately ... it really makes it easier to understand where you are comin' from and goin' to on this journey -- you shift perspectives without muddying the big picture. Very cool indeed!
I'm a guitar player, and though I have filled in on bass here and there, I don't think a lot about bass. But that slightly distorted Rick bass tone has got to be the most incredible bass tone of all time. Geddy obviously began his career obsessing over it.
Saw Yes live in Dublin in 2001 - the boink sound of the bass was incredible; better than I imagined. And this is in a venue known to swallow bass sounds.
Thank you so much for making this available! I just received my Helix today, and I have wanted to replicate the Squire tone for years...nay!...decades! "Heart of the Sunrise" is one of my regular "workout" songs, and I need a "project" to get me familiar with this remarkable machine.
Love your channel. I'm around the same age as you and have so many of the same tastes in music. I even own almost all the same instruments you do as well. I live in Queens NY near by to you and have come to your store a few times in the past. I also have been a big part of my local music store Albertos Music in Queens. Albertos is another mom and pop music store in nyc I'm pretty sure your dad has heard of it. Chris Squire is also my favorite bass player of all time and I play bass for a rock/metal band from Staten Island "Pist.On". We practice out there close by to your dad's store. So happy to see your massive sucess online. It's well deserved. You, your dad's store and your family are wonderful people with a great reputation amoung musicians in nyc. It's so great to see you have all this sucess. I really enjoy seeing another Rickenacker fanatic like myself as well. I also play a vintage early 70s Rickenacker 4001 bass and own a vintage Rickenacker 325 ala John Lennon. I also mod my instruments a ton and love Brian May. I own so much of the same gear as you and have many of the same musical interests It's freaky. People have made jokes about how weirdly similar we are. That's why I love your channel and content so much. I hope you continue to blow up online. Your my favorite youtube channel. Love your music and band as well and you and your dad are such wonderful people. I wish you the absolute best of luck !
Great job with the sounds. Great that you got that distortion element working in their. It really is a crucial part of the Chris sound. And...you sound more like Chris than either of the players touring with Yes.
Glad I found your channel. I’m not a bassist, just a huge yes fan, and guitar player. Love the tones. I think I’ve seen the band in their more original configurations of Howe, Anderson, Wakeman, Squier, White, Rabin, and Moraz, maybe ten times. Looking forward to hearing more. Thanks! RIP Mr. Squier, truly one of the best.
Richie, thanks for all you do for the Helix community and music in general. As a Helix user I find your videos are very helpful, entertaining and they're much appreciated!
Thanks Richie, for sharing the settings. I've been a big fan of Yes since the early 70s. I played bass in a band, and would try to get as close to this sound as possible. I figured the strings had a lot to do with it, but new bass strings were expensive for a high school kid. We went to see Yes in Kansas City on their tour right after the release of Relayer. We walked into the auditorium early in the afternoon to see where our seats were, and Chris Squire walked up on the stage and played a few riffs to check on the set-up. We were the only other people in the auditorium. When he finished, he walked right past us, obviously open for interaction. All we could manage was a dumbfounded smile, and "Hi." Ah, missed opportunities due to adolescent insecurities. I was immediately irritated that I hadn't said anything to one of my heroes. By the way, I have always liked Rick Wakeman, but I was blown away by Patrick Moraz at that concert.
I always thought of YES as Chris Squire's Band, the one he put together to showcase his talent, and all the musicians he played with in YES recognized his talent _and were happy_ to build songs around his sonic dominance of the final product. They were smart to do so...
I noticed you played a riff from 'On The Silent Wings of Freedom,' one of my favourite YES tunes. I truly wish you could get Band Geek to do that whole song.
Excellent video. I bought my 4001 in '74 and still have and enjoy it. CS was my inspiration and you have done a great job in unpacking the tone secrets. I would only add one thing, which I don't think you mentioned in the video - you have to play really hard to force the strings to hit the frets - you do it very well but I'm not sure you actually mentioned the playing style aspect of the CS tone.
Richie, Thank you for you so much for presenting this. I’ve been searching over the years for a group of musicians who (beyond the actual members of Yes) understand their music and can present an in depth study of the sounds and techniques they’ve used over the years. It’s fantastic to actually see you playing these parts! You and your band mates have done an incredible job of the covers you’ve done, love watching them. Your wife’s voice is incredible! Could you talk little bit about Chris’s use of base peddles, I know he had them for years on stage and I can hear their usage predominately on the album “Yessongs” Sometimes it’s hard to distinguish wether it’s him or Rick creating the sound.
Richie… I have been using a similar method to get something very much like this result from my bass. Just wanted to let you know that I may have a suggestion for you…I have used Rotosound 40s in the past as well but found that the brightness fades quickly when playing as aggressively as is necessary to make the sound happen. I have switched to Elixir 40-95 which have two benefits… they last incredibly long and stay bright for MUCH longer than Rotos also finger noise is less due to the coating which allows you to reintroduce some of the frequencies that you’re currently cutting to reduce the noise. They are available in all nickel or if you prefer something really close to the output of the rotosounds, you can get them in stainless steel as well. Give them a try if you’re interested and let me know how it works out… it WILL make a difference! Oh yes, and I love the work you put into all the band geeks stuff and a huge congratulations on your work with Jon Anderson… just excellent stuff!!!
Interesting Richie great video. I am gonna buy the Helix Line 6 soon based on this video. That said I have had the Rickenbacker 4001 stereo since the early 1970’s and found the Chris Squire sound back then. The neck pick up went straight into one input of the amp with the pick up tone on full treble capturing that typical signature Rickenbacker tone. The other bridge pick up went into a Maestro Brassmaster fuzz box (the fuzz on treble setting with very little fuzz on the depth of the fuzz box) then linked to a Cry Baby Wha Wha in its treble position then into the other separate input of the amp where the two separated stereo outputs mixed. The amp speakers were 4x12 or 6x10” but never 15” or 18” speakers. Like you said the bridge pick up sounds just tinny and trebley on its own but that is what gives you the Chris Squire grinding gutsy sound when mixed with the neck pick up. There are three eras of Chris Squire sound, Harold Land off 1st album, 2nd sound: Yours is No Disgrace & Roundabout then the third sound Close to the Edge, America & Revealing Science of God. The third version which had a more rattle clunky sound to the Rotosound Swing Bass strings where I found if you add a Electro Harmonics Electric Mistress flanger positioned after the Cry Baby and set on the non swirling setting, this gave a more metallic sound to the bridge pick up. Anyway, as you have kindly shared the Helix Line 6 with us which is a brilliant match to the Chris Squire sound. I share my sound setup before we all had Helix Line 6. The information came from vintage Chris Squire’s 1970’s Melody Maker question time and that is where I got the information from and it sounds great and works well. Apparently Chris Squire sometimes used the Marshall fuzz when using his white Telecaster bass, don’t know if that was an adapted stereo bass?
Born and raised a yes fan! Met the band and will pass the music to my children. My dad raised me on the best music!! Please play some Chris Squire fish out of water!!! Or Drama album!!! Thank you
Thank you so much!This was an awesome tutorial! Not only are you a talented musician, your an excellent teacher in your articulation of making what your doing understandable. Thanks so much for sharing this! G-d Bless!
Very well done many thanks for sharing your secret for the Chris Squire sound. I am more of a CS purest and lucky enough through the years to match pretty much every thing that Chris used.
It’s amazing. Now matter how hard you try, a Jazz sounds like a Jazz, and a Rick sounds like a Rick. BTW I’d be interested to see how this can be accomplished with the technology of the time, like Squire did it.
Lee Pomeroy, who's been playing with ARW, nails Chris' tone, he's using Rickenbackers into a Kemper, modelled using Chris' own amps which he had access to.
Enjoyed this and it brought back memories from my first Ric experience in high school back in the 70s. I see there are others like me/us from the comments below. "Are we not Geeks? We are Castellano!"
I actually thought that the Ric-o-sound worked the same way as the Yamaha Attitude bass (The Sheehan model). Honestly had no idea that you needed a TRS cabel for this feature! Anyways - great video! Gonna give this preset a spin! :)
I get a great Chris Squire tone out of my SansAmp bass driver DI. I use the “Yes Setting” and I play with my fingers and still get that Yes bass tone. I can use any of my basses and the tone doesn’t change enough to matter. BTW I don’t own a Ricky.
Are you talking about the three-button unit? I have that one. The "Yes" setting that you're referring to...is that in the owner's manual with various other "preset' options they list? I don't recall seeing that one but I'll have to go back and check it out.
