Description
Geddy Lee of Rush is one of the greatest bass players of all time. He’s inspired and influenced many professional players such as Les Claypool of Primus, Tim Commerford of Rage Against The Machine, John Myung of Dream Theater & Mark Stoermer of the Killers, just to name a few. Don’t discount the many trios jamming in the basement pretending to be Rush. Not an easy thing to play the part of Geddy Lee especially when trying to replicate keyboards, vocals and most of all the incredible playing and sound of his jazz bass heard on the majority recordings throughout Rush’s legendary career. Enter Tom Brantley….
Tom Brantley has been rewinding pickups since 1996 when he began working with Lindy Fralin. He quickly learned the common rewinds such as Fender and Gibson products then expanded what they accepted for repair into the deep reaches of the guitar world. His reputation has grown within the repair community and with professional guitar players as one of the most competent and dependable pickup repair sources available.
A few years back, Tom was contacted by Geddy Lee’s bass tech John “Skully” McIntosh. “Skully called me one day and said he needed a Jazz Bass pickup rewound. I can’t recall when I found out it was for Geddy but I was really excited and honored that he chose me to handle the rewind in his #1 1972 Jazz Bass. I performed the work and he and Geddy were really happy to have it back to it’s original tone. He is very particular about his pickups and wanted his other basses to sound more like his number one too.” Tom did such a great job that he wound a set of pickups for his #2 bass as well.
“Tom does an amazing job restoring my older Fender pickups to their former glory and beyond: and his custom winds continue to give me that great sound I love from my Fender basses” – Geddy Lee
Features
- Capture that famous “growl”
- Wired to same specs as in Geddy’s #1 1972 Jazz Bass
- Alnico V Magnets
- Black/White cloth wire
- Each pickup set is signed by Tom Brantley
- Includes mounting screws and pickup height foam
- 7.2-7.5k Neck @ 72°
- 7.8-8.1k Bridge @ 72°
The ohm readings above are approximate. Temperature, method, and material variance may change them.
Item shown: Geddy Lee 4 String Jazz Bass Pickup Set
Model #: TB-GEDJB-SET
UPC: 617353798623
2112miked –
Being a huge RUSH/Geddy fan and a bassist in a RUSH tribute (2112 For The Love Of RUSH), my drummer Sam A, forwarded a message from Kevin S at SOLO Guitars that he had these Geddy wound pickups. After talking with Kevin about them and Skully (Ged’s tech) had talked extensively on the quality of this product, I decided to purchase and install them in my USA Geddy Lee Jazz.
I was hesitant due to my reluctance to modify anything original, especially anything RUSH. Figuring the Fender stock P/U’s are going to be the best as they can be for this model of Jazz bass, replacing them with a product un heard of by me was a leap of faith. I noticed right away the clarity change in the higher register, the D and G string where previously I’ve had a hard time getting some oomph, clean sounding and responsive.
Very happy with these and a definite upgrade to the bass, hey…if Geddy uses these by Tom Brantley then I guess good for this Schlep to use them Nyuk Nyuk Nyuk.
kenmcpheebass –
Installed these pickups in my 04 Geddy Lee Jazz.
They sound fantastic definitely a worth while up grade to any bass.
You can get that Geddy growl and punch and there is a little bump in the mids (to me).
For the cost of regular aftermarket PUs you can get Geddy Lee Approved pickups from the great staff at Solomusic.
vincepellegrini –
Installed these in my Japan Geddy Lee Signature. Originally was considering a set of actives JS, or the Seymour Duncan Quarter Pounder’s.
The staff at Solo recommended these, and I’m thankful they did. Easy as pie to install.
Incredible tones from these pickups, it’s like a brand new bass.
Thanks Guys!!!
Joseph Yankanich (verified buyer) –
I installed these pickups on my 2019 MIM Geddy Lee in a word amazing. Don’t get me wrong the original pick ups sounded great however these Brantley s are over the top.Add to that the amazing service provided by Solo this upgrade was a no brainer. Thanks Solo cheers …Joe
Nic Pfaffinger (verified buyer) –
Wow,,, these PUPs are one of the best upgrades ever! The price is right in line with other brands I was considering, but seriously, PUPs wound by Geddy’s guy, come on , these were made for the Geddy Signature Bass. I agree with Joseph, the stock PUPs were great, but damn these Tom Brantleys growl baby! I really can’t stress enough how happy I am that I bought these little beauties, they are everything I was hoping for and more.
Super easy to swap out if you know how to solder, a great product at a great price, fantastic customer service from Solo Guitars, you really can’t go wrong with these PUPs.
bacara1138 (verified buyer) –
Bought to replace stock pickups in a Fender classic series 70’s Jazz Bass. The stocks weren’t bad but they lacked clarity and bite. After reading several reviews decided to go with the Tom Brantley pickups to see if they could liven up the tone. Must say they completely live up to the hype. they gave me both the clarity and zing that i was looking for, but don’t lose any of the more subtle tone that I liked about the stock pickups. These are a must buy for sure.
Taras Babiuk (verified buyer) –
Put these into a custom build. Love the clarity and depth, without bottom end being muddy or top end being piercing. Awesome pickups. No regrets. Also nice to support a smaller producer, Tom was very helpful with email inquiry.
Dan Lafleur (verified buyer) –
Can someone indicated the existing p/u’s on Geddy Lee USA jazz bass if these p/u”s are the same
Snyguy (verified buyer) –
These pickups are the very best I have ever played. I’ve tried a lot of really good pickups but these are exceptionally great.
Andy Skuse (verified buyer) –
I installed the Tom Brantley Geddy Lee Jazz Bass pickup set into a Squier 70’s Classic Vibe Jazz bass. The original stock pickups sounded pretty decent, but I wondered what difference the Geddy Lee pickup set could make. I instantly noticed the difference. As I had hoped, there was more bottom end punch, but most importantly they produced that mid-range growl and bite that Geddy is famous for. I even rolled off the Volume knob for the bridge pickup and played Limelight and boom, there was “that” sound for that song. For reference, I plug into an MXR Bass compressor, then a Geddy Lee MP40 pedal to shape the sound. These pickups completed my tone chase!
zazbox2008 (verified buyer) –
Nice update for my Fender Geddy Lee Jazz bass! More output compared to stock pickups. The lows are more present and defined, the highs are clearer and the mids growl!
tim.g.mclaughlin (verified buyer) –
I can’t say much more that the others haven’t already said. I installed them on my 2022 MIM fender jazz and there is a definite improvement in tone. “More oomph” is the only way to describe it. They’re surprisingly loud compared to the old ones but not in a bad way.
Kono (verified buyer) –
Didn’t even get these for playing rush songs (although I’ve always enjoyed played yyz to break ppl’s brains lol), I got them just because they’re just… better than fenders pickups. I mostly play slapply stuff, and even with fenders garbage USA Elite preamp, these pickups sound absurd. The mid tones are so salty I can taste em. Next is to change the pre amp to tone capsule to get rid of the horrible treble control. Bass does not need a treble pot. Bass, Low mid, and high mid. The high mid just handles the treble inherently but you get way more tonal control. If you get these pups. Ditch the stock preamp to really make them shine. Btw I’m using these on 18V, and sweet baby Jesus on a T. rex they sound tasty.
avanzoest (verified buyer) –
If you really want an huge improvement to your Jazzbass-sound in terms of clarity, responsiveness, a full spectrum of frequencies and punch: buy and install the Tom Hartley Geddy Lee pickups. You’ ll smile for the rest of your bassplaying years. Definitively the best jazz-pickups for rock style playing available on the market. Go and get ‘m!