What are all alex lifesons guitars?!

What are all alex lifesons guitars?

i already kno his gibson sg (gonna get myself one some day)

Alex Lifeson

From “Rush Gear & Gizmos” by Jim Geiger, originally published by The Camera Eye.

You can tell from the insouciant tenor of Alex Lifeson’s gear descriptions in the various tour books that although he is very much a “tech head,” that he doesn’t take it all quite as seriously as the usual Guitar God.

Effects have always played a big part in Alex’s sound, but the main difference in his live sound, over the years, comes mostly from the guitars that he’s used at any given time.

Alex started out with his war-worn Gibson ES-335 and a couple of Marshall stacks. The sound we hear on their first live album however, is a Gibson Les Paul, a guitar that he would return to years later. During the earlier years, Alex also employed a Fender Twin Reverb, onstage, for cleaner sounds.

The effects Alex used, early on consisted of the usual Cry Baby wah pedal, an Echoplex, a phaser, and a Morley volume/echo pedal.

If A Farewell to Kings saw a change in the sound of Rush, then Alex’s was the most pronounced. He added a cherry finished Gibson EDS-1175 doubleneck guitar that was pretty much identical to the one Jimmy Page made famous a few years earlier with Led Zeppelin.

Alex also began to employ a newer effect known as “chorusing” to his sound. The chorus effect takes the incoming signal and splits it into two separate signals, detuning the secondary signal to give the impression of more than one instrument playing, and giving it a spacious, expansive sound. The Electro-Harmonix Electric Mistress flanger was a similar effect, but gives the sound a sweeping tone similar to a jet engine passing overhead.

Alex acquired a white Gibson ES-355, which was given a bit of a custom job with its electronics. This guitar had a lot of warmth and character, and went a long way to further refining Alex’s sound. He also began playing acoustic guitar onstage, utilizing a homemade contraption that would hold his acoustic in place, on a stand, so he wouldn’t have to switch between guitars.

He soon had a white Gibson doubleneck, and a new Roland GR-500 guitar synthesizer. A black Gibson ES-345 would sometimes make it to the stage, as well. He changed amps on the Hemispheres tour to Hiwatt stacks.

If all this new equipment weren’t enough, from this point on, Alex would have a set of Taurus pedals on his side of the stage, joining Geddy in their rather unique musical tap dance.

Alex was clearly going through a transitional phase with his gear on the Permanent Waves tour. His amps consisted of a changing combination of Mesa/Boogie, Marshall, and Hiwatt driving Marshall cabinets, while he added a customized Fender Stratocasters to his live arsenal of guitars.

Alex began using a new Gibson Howard Roberts Fusion guitar onstage for the Moving Pictures tour. The guitar had a dark sunburst finish and looked like a large Les Paul with f-holes in the wings.

He now had a white, black and red Strat, but changed his amps, once again. This time, he was using smaller Marshall “combo” amps. Combo amps are self-contained units with the amp and speakers built together as one unit. Alex would use this equipment for the next few years, and this sound is captured live on their Exit… Stage Left album.

If you have a copy of Rush’s Grace Under Pressure live video, you can see Alex playing a blonde Fender Telecaster on “New World Man.” He would use this guitar live on the next tour, as well.

Late in the Power Windows tour, Alex was introduced to Signature guitars. He had the company build him a few models and began endorsing them.

There is a lot of dissension in regards to Alex’s sound on the Hold Your Fire and Presto tours. Along with these guitars, Alex had switched to solid-state Gallien-Krueger amps. The rather thin sound he used during this time, which can be heard live on A Show of Hands, is not fondly remembered by most Rush fans.

Luckily, the guitars of one Paul Reed Smith came to Alex’s rescue. The guitars were exceptionally made, giving Alex the feel of the Strat with the tone similar to a Les Paul. He has been using these guitars for over ten years now.

Alex added a Gibson Les Paul to the mix on the Counterparts tour and, to many guitarists’ relief, began using Marshall stacks (JCM 800 models) once again.

He continued this setup for the Test For Echo tour, replacing the JCM 800’s with newer 900-series Marshall’s; along with a few different Paul Reed Smith model guitars. Newer effects include the Roland VG-08 effect modeler, along with piezo pickups placed in his guitar. Piezo pickups have a separate, acoustic-like signal that can be used either in conjunction with the regular guitar sound, or simply by themselves.

So while the boys have seemingly returned to their roots as far as equipment goes, there is still a lot of current technology helping to achieve their live show, which remains amazing after all these years.