Alex Lifeson

As seen in this Gallien-Krueger ad. This amp was used on the "Power Windows" album.

For Hemisphere's Lifeson says "The Boss Chorus unit had just come out at that time, but I think I used a Roland JC-120 for the chorus sound here. Hemispheres was the first of many ‘chorus’ albums.”

In this interview with Guitarworld, Alex talked about his gear on previous albums. He mentions a 50W Marshall he used on " Fly by Night" and " 2112" albums.

I was using a Gibson ES-335 then, and I had a Fender Twin and a Marshall 50-watt with a single 4x12 cabinet. An Echoplex was my only effect.

I used the ES-335 again and a Strat, which I borrowed for the session; I couldn’t afford one at the time. I used a Marshall 50-watt and the Fender Twin as well.

used on Hemispheres album, and live slightly before, afterwards. Two heads power 2 bottom cabinets, a 3rd head for the Leslie rotating speaker cabinet (under the Tapco Reverb and EQ to the left of the Hiwatt stacks) and a 4th head is the spare.

From the 1979 Hemispheres tour book:

Alex Lifeson

My amplifiers are three Hiwatt 100's spread over four 4x12 Hiwatt cabinets and one Leslie cabinet, with one spare amplifier and two spare cabinets. A Fender J.B.L. Twin Reverb is used for primary p.a. miking.

My guitars are one each Gibson ES335, Gibson ES355, Gibson Les Paul Standard, Gibson Custom Double-Neck, custom built Pyramid, Fender Stratocaster, Roland Guitar Synthesizer, Gibson Dove, Gibson J-55, Gibson B45-12, Gibson C-60 classical, and a Ramirez classical. I also play a set of Moog Taurus pedals.

The effects I use are three Rolands 301 Space Echo's, one Roland chorus, an Electric Mistress, a Morley volume pedal, a Cry Baby Wah Wah, a Maestro parametric filter, Ashley pre-amps for the acoustic guitars, and a custom build effects board designed by L.B., and built by Steele-Power Supply.

Here's the link to the original article

http://www.2112.net/powerwindows/main/HEMtourbook.htm

There's a ton of info in his 1980 Guitar Player cover interview...

http://www.2112.net/powerwindows/transcripts/19800600guitarplayer.htm

In this article by Reverb, it is explained that Alex used Marshall Club & Country combos.

Amps would be a combination of Marshall Club & Country combos and powerful Hiwatt full stacks.

At 0:20 in this video on Alex Lifeson's gear, one can clearly see a Mark V below a Silver Jubilee Clone. At 1:02 the technician explains that the Lerxst Silver Jubilee Clones are Alex's dirty sound, while the Mark V is Alex's clean sound.

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.

In this interview by Guitarworld, Alex explains that he used two Marshall 30th Anniversary models with cabs.

I used primarily Marshalls—50-watt and 100-watt JCM800 heads and two 30th Anniversary models—with four cabinets: two vintage 4x12s and two 1950 cabinets with Celestion 25-watt speakers.

In this interview by Premier Guitar, Alex talks about his pre-H&K Amps. He mentions a Marshall 2553 Jubilee.

Alex, you’ve been a pretty stalwart Hughes & Kettner guy for a while now. Did you use them again for this album? Lifeson: No, I didn’t. I made a change this year. I used a Marshall Silver Jubilee 2553. It’s a 25-/50-watt amp from the ’80s. I also used one of the new Mesa/Boogie Mark Five heads—it’s got, like, nine amps in it. I loved the way that sounded for all the clean stuff. I also had a 50-watt Marshall, Marshall 2x12 combos that I got way back in the ’80s, a Bogner, and other stuff.

At 9:28 in this "Rig Rundown" with Premier Guitar, Rush's Alex Lifeson's tech Scott Appleton shows us a Hughes & Kettner Coreblade which he says "“has its own built in effects, so this is kind of what Alex likes to call the third man on stage amp or the icing on the cake amp."

While this pic shows Alex adjusting his Advanced Audio Designs Digital delay(s) there's 4 there... (they replaced the Roland Space Echos), the front panel of a silver faced Twin is seen below the Hi-watt head.

Also seen in this pic is the Leslie rotating speaker cabinet that is below the delays (and the two, as yet unknown, mystery rack gear)

Here's the quote from the June 1980 interview:

What is your current onstage amplifier setup?

I'm using two Hiwatts; I have one 100-watt head driving two cabinets on my side of the stage, and another 100-watt head driving one cabinet on stage left-Geddy's side. He uses that as a monitor, and you can't even hear it out in the house. I also have a Fender Twin Reverb I use to get a clean, almost direct sound, and then I'm driving my Leslie with another Hiwatt head. In addition I have two Maestro parametric filters-one on my Hiwatt, and the other on the Leslie-and I use an Electro-Harmonix Electric Mistress flanger, a Roland Boss Chorus, an Advanced Audio Designs [3890 Stewart Rd., Eugene, OR 97402] digital delay, a Morley volume pedal, and a Cry Baby wah-wah

In this interview with Guitarworld, Alex talked about his gear on previous albums. He mentions a Peavey 5150 he used on Counterparts.

I used a Peavey 5150 and a 100-watt Marshall JCM800. I had a [Roland] JC-120 as well that I used for some clean things, but primarily everything was done on the Peavey and the Marshall.

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

At 9:15 in this "Rig Rundown" with Premier Guitar, Rush's Alex Lifeson's tech Scott Appleton mentions Alex's signature edition of the MK II amp head. Scott mentions that this is a dry amplifier that does not have any effects running through it at all.

At 0:58, the tech explains the signal path of Alex's rig and mentions "The Lerxst head, which is Alex's dirty sound."

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

In this article by Reverb, it is explained that Alex used JCM 900 Dual Reverbs on " Counterparts" and " Tests For Echo" albums.

" The solid-state amps would stick around for the one-two pop punch of Presto and Roll the Bones before Marshall amps were reintroduced in the form of the gain-happy JCM900 Dual Reverb on Counterparts and Test For Echo. The band’s huge sound would be heard on the drop-D tuned “Stick It Out” and the furious driving chords of “Time and Motion.""

"Rig Rundown" with Premier Guitar, Rush's Alex Lifeson's tech Scott Appleton shows us one of Alex's amp heads which is a TriAmp MK II (shown in the top right). This particular amps is where all the effects run through. Scott also mentions that they run everything through this rig in mono audio.

Alex Lifeson used Hughes and Kettner Custom Rush Time Machine Tour Cabinets, designed in Toronto, during the Rush "Time Machine Tour" in 2011. This is discussed in a gear interview available on HarmonyCentral's YouTube channel.

"I use two Alex Lifeson Model Hughes & Kettner TriAmps as my main stereo sound," says Lifeson. "In two of my monitors, there's a 15ms delay between the two TriAmps so I can get a left and right sound, leaving the middle monitor open for vocals, drums, and bass. I use two Hughes & Kettner Switchblades for peripheral sounds. They'll have various effects on them, and they'll be panned hard left and right, and I kick in those two amps to create the presence of another instrument." -- Alex

At 4:45 you can see Alex Lifeson with a Marshall MX412A - 240W 4x12" Angled Extension Cabinet.

According to Guitar Lobby, Alex used 1965 Fender Super Reverb.