Alex Lifeson - Guitar Equipment

Guitar Equipment

In Rush's early career, Lifeson used a Gibson ES-335 for the first tour, and in 1976 bought a 1974 Gibson Les Paul; he used those two guitars until the late 1970s. He had a Fender Stratocaster with a Bill Lawrence humbucker and Floyd Rose vibrato bridge as backup "and for a different sound." For the A Farewell to Kings sessions, Lifeson began using a Gibson EDS-1275 for songs like "Xanadu" and his main guitar became a white Gibson ES-355. During this period Lifeson used Hiwatt amplifiers. He played a twelve-string Gibson B-45 on songs like "Closer to the Heart."

From 1980 to 1986, Lifeson used four identically modified Stratocasters, all of them equipped with the Floyd Rose bridge. As a joke, he called these Hentor Sportscasters – a made-up name inspired by Peter Henderson's name, who was the producer of Grace Under Pressure. He also played a Gibson Howard Roberts Fusion. By 1987, Lifeson switched to Signature guitars (Canadian-made) which, while "awful to play—very uncomfortable--...had a particular sound I liked." Lifeson primarily used PRS guitars during the recording of Roll The Bones in 1990/1991. The last few years, he said in 2011, he has "used Gibson almost exclusively. There's nothing like having a low-slung Les Paul over my shoulder" In early 2011, Gibson introduced the "Alex Lifeson Axcess", a guitar specially designed for him. These are custom made Les Pauls with Floyd Rose systems on both of them. He mentioned the process taking two years to design a perfect guitar. He used these two custom Les Pauls on the Time Machine Tour. These guitars are also available through Gibson, in a viceroy Brown or Crimson color. Lifeson used these two guitars heavily on the tour.

In 2005, Hughes & Kettner introduced an Alex Lifeson signature series amplifier; Alex donates his royalties from the sale of these signature models to UNICEF.

In 2012, Lifeson abandoned his signature Triamps in favor for custom-built Omega Silver Jubilee clones and Mesa/Boogie Mark V heads. He still uses the Hughes & Kettner Coreblades.

For effects, Lifeson is known to use chorus, phase shifting, and flanging. Throughout his career, he has used well-known pedals such as the Electro-Harmonix Electric Mistress flanger, the BOSS CE-1 chorus, the Dunlop crybaby wah, among others .