Geddy Lee’s bass sound is a combination of five channels, which represent various aspects of an entire bass sound, and run from clean to distorted-beyond-all-reason. The two main components of his sound are an Avalon DI and a Palmer DI. The Avalon is warm with a punchy midrange, and the Palmer is super clear with an extended low end. The last three channels are all distorted to one degree or another. There’s an instantiation of Eleven dialed up to sound like an old Fender Bassman—slightly distorted, but not crazy. There’s a SansAmp, which is more distorted and further down in the mix. Then there’s an Orange amp, which we run off to a bass cab backstage and throw another Palmer PDI-03 on. It’s cranked wide open and is preposterously distorted. It sits in the back of the bass mix. All of this gets sub-grouped, compressed, and run into an instantiation of Waves API 550A EQ.

I love the old Rush music.

Final Rush Rehearsals—Geddy Helps Fine-Tune His Own Sound | Avid