Alex Lifeson's archives

Alex Lifeson’s 2010 Amp Rig

Posted by admin in Wednesday, July 14th 2010   
Topics: Alex Lifeson, H&K    
1 Comment 938 views

Below are two recent vids posted by German amp company Hughes & Kettner going over Alex Lifeson’s 2010 Time Machine tour Rush rig. In brief, he’s running

Are Lessons A Waste of Friggin’ Time?

Posted by admin in Wednesday, March 17th 2010   
Topics: Ace Frehley, Alex Lifeson, Brian May/Queen, Jimmy Page/Zep, Rants    
7 Comments 509 views

Are music lessons/instruction vastly overrated? I’m thinking they are. I’ve read over the years how people “should” read music, know all the notes on the fretboard by name and all that stuff, but really? Does that really help you become a better musician with your own style? Or does it hurt….
I got thinking about this [...]

Alex Lifeson’s Snakes and Arrows Gear

Posted by admin in Monday, March 8th 2010   
Topics: Alex Lifeson, Celestion speakers, Dunlop/Cry Baby, H&K, Les Paul, TC Electronic    
3 Comments 1,124 views

I’m a Rush fan, particularly since I came of guitar age during the Permanent Waves and Moving Pictures era, still two of my favorite albums. I did fall away from Rush a bit over the years as they got more into synths and Alex Lifeson got more into washy, ultra-chorused, ambient sounds instead of riffs.
But [...]

Alex Lifeson: Composing Solos, Rig Mainstays

Posted by admin in Tuesday, December 22nd 2009   
Topics: Alex Lifeson, H&K, TC Electronic    
No Comment 552 views

I happened on a fairly recent interview with Alex Lifeson from Canadian Musician magazine a while back, then forgot about it. Found it again, so here are the interesting parts, all quotes are Alex’s:
Composing Solos
“I want it to be part of the song – I don’t want it to be just an exercise in notes. [...]

Alex Lifeson’s Permanent Waves Gear

Posted by admin in Thursday, July 23rd 2009   
Topics: Alex Lifeson, Electro-Harmonix, Eventide, Gibson, Hiwatt, Marshall, Mesa/Boogie, Strat    
No Comment 2,742 views

Vid: ‘The Spirit of Radio Lesson’ from Alex

Even though I played in bands that copped multiple tunes off Rush’s Moving Pictures album, my favorite Rush album is Permanent Waves. The band was just on fire for that recording. Lots of energy, great parts, great arrangements that are complex yet understandable.
Did I say great?

Alex Lifeson on Going Back to Les Pauls

Posted by admin in Monday, April 6th 2009   
Topics: Alex Lifeson, Les Paul, PRS, Telecaster    
No Comment 1,509 views

The folks at PremierGuitar.com recently had a good interview with Alex Lifeson, who after using Les Pauls back in the early days of Rush (Alex is a huge Jimmy Page fan), went to Gibson ES-355s, then did the super strat thing for a while, then played PRSs and now is sporting a sweet-looking Les Paul [...]

How To Get Hand Tone?

Posted by admin in Thursday, October 30th 2008   
Topics: Alex Lifeson, Billy Gibbons, Edward Van Halen, Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page/Zep, Stevie Ray Vaughan    
No Comment 532 views

I just read an article on Gibson.com about Stevie Ray’s tone. The headline starts with these words: Myth Busters. I assume that’s because the overall point of the piece is that Stevie’s gear wasn’t cut and dried, particularly on the amp side, so his tone being a direct function of his equipment is a [...]