It’s been over three years since Rush played the final show of their 40th anniversary tour at The Forum in Los Angeles, California.

By all accounts, that set could very well end up being the last of the Canadian trio’s career - guitarist Alex Lifeson himself admitting that after 50 years they had “no plans to tour or record anymore” and were “basically done”.

Today, bassist/singer/keyboardist Geddy Lee finds himself in London to promote his latest venture - Geddy Lee’s Big Beautiful Book Of Bass, which encompasses the instrument itself as well as the players that came to define it - more on that later.

I have no idea what it will be, now that the book is done, I need some time to get to know myself again as a player and see what I feel like creating

“Basically, in my time since that show, I’m up to this book…” says the progressive-rock visionary.

“I haven’t done anything musical that I would care to share yet because I’ve mainly been focusing on this - which was and is a labour of love for me. To be honest, right now I have no plans to do anything, but I probably will do something eventually. I have no idea what it will be; now that the book is done, I need some time to get to know myself again as a player and see what I feel like creating.”

The new tome examines over 200 of the instruments from his personal collection built during the golden age of 1950 to the mid-'70s. Instead of feeling pressured to release new music, he decided to keep busy documenting his love for low-end in other ways - looking further into why certain basses brought that extra magic into the heart of many a classic recording.

His approach was a painstakingly academic one. Over time, with the help of trusted tech John ‘Skully’ McIntosh, Geddy went as far as acquiring a Jazz Bass from every since its 1960 inception through to 1972 to learn more about those historic years for the Fender factory - bearing in mind the company was sold by Leo Fender to CBS (Columbia Broadcasting Systems) on January 5th 1965 for 13 million dollars.

So what does that say about the Ontario-born veteran sat opposite MusicRadar, looking remarkably younger than his 65 years...

“I don’t know what that says [about me],” laughs Geddy. “Maybe that I’m a crazy man?! I had the ‘72 Jazz Bass I bought from a pawn shop in the late-'70s. I didn’t use it much until the Moving Pictures album when I had a problem getting the right tone for Tom Sawyer, and that thing gave me the perfect sound instantly.

“Fast-forward to recording the Counterparts album with Kevin Shirley, where he basically told me I was playing Fender through SVTs because that was the sound he heard. He wasn’t interested in my Wals or solid-state amps; he wanted to go back to basics. I gave it a try reluctantly and we got this great sound… I never looked back.”

Trying to find a replacement for that perfect-sounding ‘72 Jazz, however, wasn’t easy, and instigated the need to find out why. Learning why certain basses sounded great compared with other models from the same year rose in priority in the Rush co-founder’s list of agendas, along with debunking the myths around pre-CBS production in both wood and coil.

“Those questions led to the 40-plus Jazz basses I have in my collection,” says Geddy. “We A/Bd them regularly and there’s no question: there is a difference between pre-CBS and CBS. Though it’s fairly subtle, when you’re into it that deep, you hear all those nuances.

There’s magic involved in the great instruments: a perfect storm of ingredients like the age of the wood or how the pickups are wound to make it what it is

“There’s magic involved in the great instruments: a perfect storm of ingredients like the age of the wood or how the pickups are wound to make it what it is. That nerdy side exists in everything I become fascinated with, from baseball to wine to travel and photography.

“It’s like looking at a certain vintage of wine from a region… why does it taste like that? Same with basses. Why was ‘62 supposedly the best year for Jazz Basses, and was it really the best year?”

Of course, Jazz Basses aren’t the only instruments to be found in the Big Beautiful Book Of Bass’ hallowed pages. There are pink paisley Telecaster basses, Precisions, Gibson Thunderbirds, Höfners, plus offerings from luthiers including Antonio Wandr Pioli, Dan Armstrong or Tony Zemaitis - alongside interviews with John Paul Jones, Adam Clayton, Robert Trujillo, Bill Wyman and more.

“It was a new venture for me, the whole coffee table thing,” continues Geddy, describing his experience much like the learning curve documented in the book.

(Image credit: Fin Costello/Redferns/Getty)

“My editor told me the first manuscript was the longest they’d ever received. We had to cut it back. I easily could have done two volumes but didn’t want to put people to sleep! There was so much to say mainly because when I first started playing, I put the blinders on to a certain degree…”

In what sense, we ask?

“In that I stayed away from Gibson because they didn’t have the twang I needed. I stayed away from Höfner because I felt they didn’t have the power I needed. All I wanted to do is create an identifiable sound that people could tell was me, so to be honest I came to variety late in life.

“Looking at these brands 40 years later after establishing my own sound opened a world of wonder. Plugging in an EB-2 having never played one was like, ‘Holy shit! The bottom-end coming out of this thing is unreal!’

“I used to make fun out of my friends Pete Way [UFO] and Pete Watts [Mott The Hoople] for using T-Birds back when we toured together. I thought they were unwieldy instruments and now I’d say they’re totally crushing. I used them for two songs on the last tour because there’s a midrange that cuts through yet stays out of the way of the guitars. They’re louder without being louder, which I love because I like the bass loud, haha!”

Here, the Rush legend looks back and tells MusicRadar about the 10 bassists who have blown his mind over the years…

Geddy Lee's Big Beautiful Book of Bass is available now from Harper Collins. Rush's Hemispheres 40th anniversary deluxe edition is out now.