Rush singer Geddy Lee revealed that after he got his first record royalty, his first advance he bought a Rickenbacker 4001 bass. Rush Singer’s revealed recently if he really hates Bono. This bass would be used by such music legends as Lemmy Kilmister of Motörhead, Roger Waters of Pink Floyd, Cliff Burton of Metallica, Geezer Butler of Black Sabbath, Paul McCartney of The Beatles among many others. A Rush member revealed a surgery after a health scare not too long ago. The Rush singer would make the stunning admission as well that he slept with this bass not too long after he got it. He made the remarks in an NPR interview, as transcribed by Alternative Nation. A Rush member was devastated by terrible drummer news yesterday.
Geddy Lee: I saved up my money and bought this Fender precision bass and the guy at the store said: “You should buy the Fender P Bass” because it is a workhorse. It’s sturdy, they sound great, and the sound is also flexible, you can whatever you want with it in regards to tone – which is all true, all true. So I bought this 1968 P Bass. So if you see any pictures of me playing the bars in my early years there is this sunburst P bass in my hands. That was my bass for a long, long time. So when I got my first record royalty, my first advance, in 1974 when we signed with Mercury records, by that time I was a fanatical fan of Chris Squire and he played a Rickenbacker 4001. So my dream bass at that time was to be able to afford a Rickenbacker 4001. With that first advance, I went out and bought a Rickenbacker and that became my number one. I mean, I slept with that thing. That was a huge get for me.
Interviewer: So Chris Squire is another artist that you mentioned. Squire is a great and influential bassist with plenty of moments on Roundabout. Is it at that moment in YES’ career that he was still using a Rickenbacker 4000?
Geddy Lee: Oh yeah, he used a Rickenbacker 4001 S. Squire was one of the first few guys to use one. I think the first track I ever heard from Yes was from an album called: “Time and a Word” and the song was called “No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed,”
