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John Paul Jones vs Geddy Lee


McSeven

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Compare and Contrast. This is really a hard thing to debate. I just picked them for fun. Both made major contributions to Rock and thier bands. What is the differece in your mind between the two.

JPJ funky and soulfull. He really knows how to stay in the pocket and it seems like he and Bonzo have a chemistry like they are the second dynamic dou of Led Zeppelin. Without them. LZ to me is more basic. There is a bounce to his bass even when he is with TCV.

Geddy Lee almost plays his bass like an electric guitar and he seems more in the pocket with Alex Liefson than Neil Peret. Its almost like GL plays his bass guitar like a race car in a Formula 1 mode. I guess that when GL got older he became less blusey. GL's bass has a very machine gune percision to it.

Anyways what do you find the difference between the two best bassest in Hard Rock?

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John Paul Jones plays like a rhythm bass player. Yeah, there are lead runs, but they exist in tandem with the other half of the rhythm section.

Geddy Lee plays like a lead bass player. Just as you said, McSeven, like an electric guitarist.

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I find Jones to be much more subtle, but if you isolate the bass track it is amazing how much complexity there is within that subtlety.

Give this a listen:

Unlike Geddy, Jones made the music better without drawing too much attention to himself - but if you stop and listen to what he was doing in the background, it is mind blowing.

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Seeing as Jones is my favorite bassist of all time, obviously, it's JPJ. It probably helps that I'm a a bassist myself. If I were a guitarist, on the other hand, I'd probably like Lee better. 'Cuz, like everyone else said Geddy Lee plays the bass like it's the lead instrument, which, in Rush's music, it definitely is. Lifeson is the rhythm section. Lol.

That being said, it's not to say that Jones isn't as talented. Some of his stuff is really complex and amazing, as someone above me said...The Lemon Song is an obvious example. But he has some other amazing stuff if you listen close enough. Travelling Riverside Blues, for one. I Can't Quit You, Baby is subtle but really cool. Hey, Hey What Can I Do?, Over the Hills...Ramble On, the list goes on...

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All things considered Jones is one of the best all around musicians in the world. Geddy Lee is not my cup of tea but I certainly respect his accomplishments and great talent but he isn't in the same league as Jones imo. Not many people are.

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Compare and Contrast. This is really a hard thing to debate. I just picked them for fun. Both made major contributions to Rock and thier bands. What is the differece in your mind between the two.

Anyways what do you find the difference between the two best bassest in Hard Rock?

You're inquiring about the best bassists, but giving extra points for contributions and being a multi-instrumentalist. That's not fair to Geddy!

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You're inquiring about the best bassists, but giving extra points for contributions and being a multi-instrumentalist. That's not fair to Geddy!

Well Geddy Lee is too. Geddy plays Bass, 6 and 12 String Guitar, Classical Guitar, Keyboards, Taurus Pedals and sings lead...

He and John Paul Jones are very similiar imo.. Both are incredible and if you could get to play with either one, you'd be doing alright...

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Well Geddy Lee is too. Geddy plays Bass, 6 and 12 String Guitar, Classical Guitar, Keyboards, Taurus Pedals and sings lead...

He and John Paul Jones are very similiar imo.. Both are incredible and if you could get to play with either one, you'd be doing alright...

Right said... Maybe one of the fundamental differences beween the two is that Jonesy got his inspiration from Motown ace James Jamerson and Geddy was heavily influenced by Chris Squire. Although I can only digest Rush by small doses I must admit seeing this super serious Candian progrocker in front of à giant chicken grill rather than a stack of mesa boogies, makers me LOL

Jonesy and Geddy share a healthy dose of humour I must say!

Edited by duckman
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JPJ all the way. He plays bass and keyboard as well as several other instruments. Geddy Lee is a good bassist and can sing very well, but I personally feel that John is more musically experienced and has more ability. He has more of a range than geddy. Besides, this is the Led Zeppelin forum and no one's going to reply saying that Geddy is a better bassist. ;)

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He has more of a range than geddy. Besides, this is the Led Zeppelin forum and no one's going to reply saying that Geddy is a better bassist. ;)

I'm pretty sure that wasn't the actual question McSeven was posing. He was asking what the difference is between the two.

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I think the main difference is that whereas JPJ is JPJ, Geddy just wanted to be him.

Geddy is a frontman, JPJ is the very opposite. Geddy's bass playing has a tone that maybe I've only heard from Entwisle or Squire, JPJ's is more blues traditional and bouncy. I'm not aware of Geddy playing mandolin or church type organ. I wish Geddy would be more like JPJ and keep his mouth shut - I'd probably buy their stuff if they had a different singer.

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I think Gedster is a virtiouso of the bass where as JPJ is more musical if that makes sense, both worked well for their respective bands, JPJ underpins the song in Zep creating wonderful little melodies of their own, a good sense of melody where as Geddy on say the early stuff of Rush excites me with his flash runs like on YYZ etc.

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