What amps is Alex Lifeson using? Pics.

[Aristocat]

Sloppy or tight on a given night, Rush was the the best show I've ever seen (Time Machine Tour).

 

[Red_Label]

Sloppy or tight on a given night, Rush was the the best show I've ever seen (Time Machine Tour).

Saw them at Red Rocks on the first night for that tour. Alex was pretty sloppy. Heard that the second night there was better. But no biggie, if I want to watch "tight" and "perfect" I'll watch Petrucci or something. But Rush has always been my favorite band and Alex is just a unique, great player. There are few guys in rock who would be cooler to hang with than Alex.

 

[Heritage Softail]

Lerxst is the cool guy that can make fun of himself and enjoy the joke. Got nothing to prove, done it all twice. I like how Rush is the anti-rock star douche bag.

After you put out 2112, Hemispheres, Moving Pictures... Everything else is just a different flavor of ice cream.

 

[311splawndude]

After you put out 2112, Hemispheres, Moving Pictures... Everything else is just a different flavor of ice cream.

+1


But yeah I'm pretty curious on this new rig

 

[Kevin11]

Huge Rush / Lifeson fan here...thanks for posting this!

Read recently that he used a Marshall quite a bit on the new album along with some H&K, Bogner and a few other things thrown in to the mix. Wonder if it was a Marshall or this Lerxt 'Marshall'? Hope we can get some details on it soon. Really digging a lot of the tones on the new one, much better than their last few albums.

Looks like a big departure from the live amp setup he'd been using. I'm guessing he's using the MK V for cleans only, since the graphic EQ is flat, and the Lerxt as his core dry tone with the H&K added in as-needed for color (fx, boost, etc). It also appears he pulled the TC G-Force and is relying solely on the Axe Fx now. Unless the TC is in another rack maybe.

It'd be nice to see him go back to using actual cabs live too instead of just relying on the Palmer speaker sim. Even iso cabs. He was running a combination of H&K cabs and Palmer for a while, but I think he dropped the cabs from the mix altogether on the last leg of the Time Machine tour. I know it's the "way of the future" but the Palmer seems to squish things too much to my ears...takes a lot of the balls out of the tone.

I'm still looking forward to the show and hearing his new rig later this month, regardless of how the guitars are getting to FOH.

 

[Aristocat]

Sloppy or tight on a given night, Rush was the the best show I've ever seen (Time Machine Tour).

Saw them at Red Rocks on the first night for that tour. Alex was pretty sloppy. Heard that the second night there was better. But no biggie, if I want to watch "tight" and "perfect" I'll watch Petrucci or something. But Rush has always been my favorite band and Alex is just a unique, great player. There are few guys in rock who would be cooler to hang with than Alex.

Great night for me. Free tickets for me and my girlfriend (curtsy of my old bassist) and a 27 song set with encores. All of 2112 and Hemispheres. I wanted Geddy's "Rash" shirt though and they weren't selling it at the merch section of the Garden.

 

[BYTOR]

Great night for me. Free tickets for me and my girlfriend (curtsy of my old bassist) and a 27 song set with encores. All of 2112 and Hemispheres. I wanted Geddy's "Rash" shirt though and they weren't selling it at the merch section of the Garden.

All of 2112 & Hemispheres??? You must have been smoking some strong shit if you think you heard them play complete versions of these!!!

 

[Heritage Softail]

Great night for me. Free tickets for me and my girlfriend (curtsy of my old bassist) and a 27 song set with encores. All of 2112 and Hemispheres. I wanted Geddy's "Rash" shirt though and they weren't selling it at the merch section of the Garden.

All of 2112 & Hemispheres??? You must have been smoking some strong shit if you think you heard them play complete versions of these!!!

His first stop was in Bogata, before the concert!

 

[polaris20]

Perhaps it's been posted, but Alex is using Apple Macbook Pros with Mainstage, running Guitar Rig 5 for some of the album tones from the new one. He's got two, presumably for redundancy.

He's not using any speakers; all Palmer PDI-03. Interestingly, while he is using AFX's, they're only for effects as well as an acoustic impulse for his piezos.

This is all from the most recent GP mag that I got yesterday.

 

[n4085b]

Big fan of Alex's as well. I've got Guitar Rig3 and hate it! But this guy compares GR5 and TH2 and to me they sound pretty good for blasting around in the bedroom/basement. Obviously Alex has figured out how to use them effectively on the big stage.

 

[BYTOR]

His first stop was in Bogata, before the concert!

Yup! Them natives obviously "passed along a sample of their yield" to him before the show!!

 

[snowdog]

Lifeson is on the latest Guitar Player cover story. It didn't say who made those Lerxst amps, but it did mention that a 50w Jubilee is the main distortion sound on the last album.....and he even found a use for a Mesa MKV- clean sounds.

 

[polaris20]

Big fan of Alex's as well. I've got Guitar Rig3 and hate it! But this guy compares GR5 and TH2 and to me they sound pretty good for blasting around in the bedroom/basement. Obviously Alex has figured out how to use them effectively on the big stage.

I'd recommend giving GR5 a try. There's a pretty significant difference between even 4 and 5, let alone 3 and 5.

 

[scary groove]

I thought they were using rotisserie chicken ovens where proper mic placement is critical:

Or if that was Geddy's rig, then Alex is using the Maytag washers and dryers:

 

[legend71]

Saw them last week. Too many new songs. Audience was pretty bored I thought. Glad I did not pay. I know they can do what they want, but the it was by far the lamest Rush show I have seen. Light show as exceptional though I will say. Alex is a craftsman, but he hasn't written a thing in years that has moved me.

 

[Red_Label]

Saw them last week. Too many new songs. Audience was pretty bored I thought. Glad I did not pay. I know they can do what they want, but the it was by far the lamest Rush show I have seen. Light show as exceptional though I will say. Alex is a craftsman, but he hasn't written a thing in years that has moved me.

I debated driving down to see them again this year, glad that I decided not to. I haven't dug any of their new stuff since Counterparts and Vapor Trails. I bought the latest one on the day it came out and just listened to it yet again last night to see if there was something I could grab onto, and all I can stand is tracks 6,8, and 12. Mostly 8 (The Wreckers). Can't stand a single tune off of Snakes & Arrows.

I'll always be a huge Rush fan, but if their catalog started post-1980s, that would be the case. Some nice morsels and tidbits in there, but no complete album that does it for me MP or Signals... Maybe Grace.

At any rate, I'm glad they're still out there doing their thing regardless. Their hiatus from '97 to 2002 was pretty "scary" for me.

 

[hthomas]

be on the lookout for PG's november issue!

 

[squank]

Alex is playing a PRS amp here in this studio version of YYZ.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqnBvGp4KXQ

 

[boardwlk17]

Alex is using mojotone amps built by steve snyder of mojotone there based on 2553, 2550 marshall silver jubilees

 

[steveatmojotone]

Hey guys its Steve Snyder from Mojotone. I wanted to give you a heads up on the Alex Lifeson LERXST Omega Amp. This amp will be available for purchase by the end of the year. It will be the same handwired version that Alex is currently using on tour. We'll also be offering a custom, tall 4x12 cabinet modeled after the one Alex used on Clockwork Angles. We hope to have more information on a release date and pricing soon.

If you have any questions about the amps or interested in ordering one, feel free to send me an email: steve@mojotone.com