Rush – Hold Your Fire

Geddy Lee recorded Power Windows, Hold Your Fire and Presto with the Wal MK 1. There are tons of pictures of Geddy with his black Wal Mk 1 from this era

Geddy started playing an L2 right before the Signals Tour, where he went on to record Grace Under Pressure with it. He then switched to the XL2 around 1985, and only used it live during the Power Windows Tour (photo). The last time Geddy used a Steinberger bass was in 1987 on the Hold Your Fire Tour.

Many people mistake the XL2 for the L2 and assume he only owned 1 Steinberger, this is false. In fact he owned 3 Steinberger's, a black L2, a black XL2 and a white XL2. The difference between the L2 and the XL2 basses are slight. The XL2 was an improved version of the L2, such as the face plate bolts being positioned on the back of the bass and a different "headpiece" that only allowed double ball end strings. In his Big Book Of Bass he only mentions the black XL2.

(Photo from the Power Windows Tour, Rosemont Horizon - Rosemont, Illinois March 21, 1986)

Geddy used S900 samplers on Hold Your Fire and Presto tours.

Geddy used a QX1 on Power Windows tour and a pair of them on Hold Your Fire tour.

In the Rush "Hold Your Fire" tour book, Geddy Lee is documented using the Roland D-550 synthesizer.

Geddy Lee used the Roland MKS-80 Super Jupiter during Rush's "Hold Your Fire" tour, as noted in the tour book available on Power Windows.

"I always stuck with my 335, but at the beginning of this tour I got a Howard Roberts Fusion that I love, it's a great guitar. I use that for 'Hemispheres,' 'Tom Sawyer,' 'Camera Eye' and the medley at the end of the night. It's the dark guitar with the single cutaway - it looks like an oversized hollow-body Les Paul, which is basically what it is, it's a hybrid of the Howard Roberts and a Les Paul. It's a hollow-body guitar but it has a maple spur that runs down the center of the body so it's got the weight and density yet it has the acoustic qualities, like at a lower volume setting it's nice and clear, not fat and undefined like the Les Paul usually is. The back pickup is one of the hot Gibson pickups and the other one has a certain coiling to it that's a little more toppy, which you can use in that front, rhythm position."

According to Julien's Auction Site, "The Signature Auroras were used in studio by Alex Lifeson during the production of Hold Your Fire (Anthem, 1987) and popularized by him on stage during the subsequent tour."

In this interview with Guitarworld, Alex talked about his gear on previous albums. He mentions a 100W Marshall JCM 800 he used on " Power Windows" and " Hold Your Fire" albums.

The amp setup was a couple of Dean Markley 2x12 combos, two Marshall 2x12 combos, two Marshall 100-watt JCM800 heads and two 4x12 cabinets.

I had gotten rid of all my Hiwatts and the Dean Markleys and was using primarily Marshalls again. I used 2x12 combos as well as the JCM800.

The bottom preamp as seen in this Gallien-Krueger ad with Alex Lifeson. It was used on the "Hold Your Fire" tour.

The top preamp as seen in this Gallien-Krueger ad with Alex Lifeson. It was used on the "Hold Your Fire" tour.

The tour to support 1987’s Hold Your Fire saw another changing of the guard, kit wise. Sparing no expense, Peart lined up several different drum sets side by side and test-drove them all. Eventually he chose a Ludwig Super Classic set finished in an opalescent white, with some sparkles “and just a little pink mixed in.” The company made some concert toms, including adorable 6″ x 5.5″ and 8″ x 5.5″ sizes, but Peart opted for double-headed drums all the way around when push came to shove. The sizes: 6″ x 9″, 8″ x 9″, 10″ x 9″, 12″ x 8″, 13″ x 9″, and 15″ x 12″ rack toms, with an 18″ x 16″ floor tom.