Geezer Butler

In this article, Geezer Butler says, "Because I saw Jack Bruce play with his fingers, and I said, that’s the way you play bass. After we got the first gigs out of the way, I swapped my Telecaster for my first Fender Precision Bass."

Geezer Butler of Black Sabbath and Heaven & Hell is seen here playing his custom Yamaha BB1024X. Visual differences between his custom and the average series is his Heaven and Hell logo on the 12th fret and the lack of pick-guard.

Maybe looking for some lower tuning and more versatility, Geezer started to use some handmade basses. This white one is a John Birch, very similar to the Rickenbacker El Dorado. The White John Birch handmade bass was using during the "Black Sabbath Vol 4" and "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" tour. There are few details about the logotype. You can see the word "Cocaine" in cocacola style.

In this pic you can spot two of these units in his RIG

“This combination of amp and preamp is the closest I have found to emulate the ‘old school’ sound I had in the 70’s, with its punch and clarity it has the sound of DOOM I love” - Geezer Butler about how Ashdown build his new Rig for The "The END"-Tour.

https://ashdownmusic.com/blogs/news/geezer-butler-ashdown-built-for-the-end-and-beyond

"This is the custom BC Rich bass I only ever played at Live Aid. Signed "Screaming Leaming, '84" on the back of the body." ... "About a question I received on the bass..

The BC Rich switches were on/off active/passive, plus phasing. The bridge had a tremolo arm on it [not in pic]."

https://www.facebook.com/gzrmusic/

Geezer used Laney Supergroup Heads in the early Sabbath Years, as well as Tony Iommi, as you can see in the performance from 1970.

(original vid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yZA4TC_pt4 // was removed)

In this video Geezer can be seen playing his custom Lakland bass.

This photo is taken from the 1980's. Geezer Butler of Black Sabbath and Heaven & Hell was seen many times when he played with Ronnie James Dio with a white BC Rich Eagle Bass. This bass was a cream white which sported a "Enjoy Cocaine" sticker placed by Geezer and designed to look like the "Enjoy Coca-Cola" logo. Oddly enough, shortly after this photo was taken the band fell apart due to drug problems. Go figure.

According to Hartke's website, Geezer Butler uses a Hartke Kilo Bass Amp.

Geezer can be seen in a photo on this site playing an Ampeg Dan Armstrong Lucite Bass.

In this photo, Geezer Butler is seen playing a Rickenbacker 4001 bass guitar.

At the DR Strings booth during Winter NAMM 2013, Geezer Butler endorses the DR Black Beauties Bass String Set.

In the YouTube video "Geezer Butler Bass Rack Rig - 'Know Your Bass Player' (3/3)" by Which Bass, Geezer Butler is shown using the Boss LS-2 Line Selector.

This post on Dunlop's Facebook page reads, "Here's a great clip of Geezer Butler on stage at the Ozzy and Friends show, at Hartwall Arena in Helsinki, Finland last night. Geezer kicks off 'NIB' with his trademark bass solo, using Dunlop's 95Q Cry Baby wah pedal, and it sounds awesome!"

In the YouTube video "Geezer Butler Bass Rack Rig - 'Know Your Bass Player' (3/3)" by Which Bass, Geezer Butler is shown using the MXR MC401 Boost/Line Driver as part of his bass rig.

"The first ever signature Cry Baby Bass Wah is specially designed to retain low end frequencies while allowing an aggressive midrange to cut through the mix."

In this Instagram Post you can see Geezer Butler with his Signature Wah

Geezer Butler has been using the Tycobrahe Parapedal wah pedal since the 1970s, similar to Tony Iommi. During Black Sabbath's reunion in 1998, he switched to the Cry Baby Wah 95Q, as noted in performances like "Bassically/NIB." This is evident in the live performance of "Heaven And Hell - The Sign Of The Southern Cross" from 2007, available on YouTube.

"It got the old Fender sound, except without all the problems I used to have with the Fenders," says Geezer Butler, at 1:00 in this video about his signature EMG pickups.

Geezer Butler is noted for using the Vigier Passion 5-String Bass, as detailed on Vigierguitars' artist page.

Geezer Butler had this JayDee bass made by John Diggins, which can be seen in the music video for Black Sabbath's "A Hard Road." Also, it can be seen in the "top of the tops" appereance, 1978. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Q6gPouusHs

In this Black Sabbath performance, Geezer Butler can be seen playing a 4-String Lakland Jazz Bass. At approximately 7:31 of the video, you can see a faint Lakland logo on the head of the bass. Specifically, this bass model is most probably a 44-60 Lakland, as the Geezer Butler signature Lakland is a P bass and there are only two 4-string J basses of this style in the Lakland website: the 44-60 and the DJ-4, but the DJ-4 has block inlays on the fretboard, and what Geezer uses in the video is a fret inlay which can be found on the 44-60 series. (It's a miracle Geezer used a Jazz instead of a Precision)

In this picture by Geezer Butler posted to his facebook page, he can be seen using his Heavy Leather vegan bass guitar strap.

According to Hartke's website, Geezer Butler uses the AK 410 and 115.

Geezer Butler uses the AK 115 and 410 cabs, according to Hartke's website.

In this video, Geezer Butler talks about his signature EMG bass pickups.

Listed on Geezer's official Ashdown artist page.

Listed on Vigier website. Geezer Butler is said to have 4 Excess basses.

Completed in April 1978 by John Diggins and used by Geezer until 1980. Both bass body and head stock are a laminate of Maple and either Walnut or Rosewood. Pickup were custom made also and possibly known as Superflux. This was available for a short time as a re-issue, apparently no longer.

Butler can be seen playing a Korg Kronos in this video.

In this pic you can spot Geezer playing a Lakland Skyline 5 string