Alex Lifeson

Which guitars did you use on Rush's first LP, Rush?

I used the 335 and a rented Rickenbacker 12-string. That's it for guitars. I played them through my Marshall 50 with a 4-12 cabinet, and I used a Maestro phase shifter, a Cry Baby wah-wah, and an Echoplex.

Many of your songs have either a phased or a chorus effect.

I like both sounds. Ever since A Farewell To Kings I've used a Roland Boss Chorus. I liked the Maestro phaser as opposed to, say, MXR Phase 90s or 100s; it was a little more subtle than the MXR phase lines. But after I heard the Chorus, I loved it and decided to incorporate it into my music. Hemispheres and Permanent Waves have a lot of Chorus -almost every song has Chorus, since with a three-piece band it tends to widen the guitar sound.

Which guitars did you use on Rush's first LP, Rush?

AL: I used the 335 and a rented Rickenbacker 12-string. That's it for guitars. I played them through my Marshall 50 with a 4-12 cabinet, and I used a Maestro phase shifter, a Cry Baby wah-wah, and an Echoplex.

Many of your songs have either a phased or a chorus effect.

AL:I like both sounds. Ever since A Farewell To Kings I've used a Roland Boss Chorus. I liked the Maestro phaser as opposed to, say, MXR Phase 90s or 100s; it was a little more subtle than the MXR phase lines. But after I heard the Chorus, I loved it and decided to incorporate it into my music. Hemispheres and Permanent Waves have a lot of Chorus -almost every song has Chorus, since with a three-piece band it tends to widen the guitar sound.

Source: Guitar Player Magazine, June 1980.

Used live for the "The Anarchist" solo, as listed in this October 8, 2012 Premier Guitar interview.

Effects

Electro-Harmonix Big Muff (for “The Anarchist” solo), MXR Flanger, MXR analog delay, Boss Flanger, Electro-Harmonix Memory Man, Boss Compressor Three Fractal Audio Axe-Fx IIs, TC Electronic 1210 Spatial Expander + Stereo Chorus/Flanger, two Apple 2.6 GHz MacBook Pros running Apple MainStage UAD plug-ins and Native Instruments Guitar Rig 5, two Universal Audio Apollo QUAD audio interfaces, Jim Dunlop Cry Baby Rack Module wah

At 7:08 in this "Rig Rundown" with Premier Guitar, we're shown Alex's Cry Baby rack effect, which runs into his Mesa Boogie amp switch.

At 8:46 in this "Rig Rundown" with Premier Guitar we're shown a still frame of a VT Valve Tube Head Switcher.

The Maestro Parametric Eq was added . Note that it isn't part of the pedalboard, (later, recording Moving Pictures, his pedalboard is shown larger)

Here's the reference in June 1980's Guitar Player cover story.

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.

You are credited on all your LPs since A Farewell To Kings as using bass synthesizer pedals. What are those?

They're Moog Taurus bass pedals, and they have an effective range of two octaves. I use them a lot on "Xanadu" [A Farewell To Kings] where I play harmony to Geddy's bass pedal line, and on "La Villa Strangiato" [Hemispheres]. Most of the time I'll play the lower end while Geddy takes the high, melodic parts.

Which guitars do you take on the road with you?

The electrics I have are the 355, the 345, the Stratocaster, and my white Gibson double-neck. My acoustics are the Epiphone C-60 classical and the Gibson Dove. I also have a Roland GR-500, but I don't use it much. I'm not really keen on it.

Farewill To Kings tour 1978

Tapco rack EQ is below Tapco rack reverb unit, in between (the left of) the Hiwatt stacks, and the Roland Space Echos on the far left.

Here's the European tour equipment list from 1978

Alex Lifeson

Gibson Les Paul, Gibson Custom double-neck 6/12-string, Gibson 355, Fender Stratocaster, Gibson Dove acoustic, Epiphone C060 classic, Gibson B45 acoustic, 3 Barcus Berry studio pre-amps, 4 Hiwatt 100 watt amplifiers and cabinets, 2 Fender Twin Reverbs, Roland Boss Chorus, Roland Space Echo, Maestro Phase Shifter, 3 Cry-Baby wah-wah pedals, 2 Morley volume pedals, 2 Maestro parametric filters, Electro-Harmonix power boost, Moog Taurus bass pedals, Tapco graphic equalizer, Tapco reverb unit.

Here's a link to the original page.

http://www.2112.net/powerwindows/transcripts/19780400beatinstrumental.htm#equipment

At 7:32 of this "Rig Rundown" with Premier Guitar, Rush's Alex Lifeson's tech Scott Appleton mentions their use of the GRX4.

Alex Lifeson used the Morley VOL Volume Pedal during performances from the mid-1970s through the early 1980s, as documented in a Getty Images photo from the Redferns collection.

Video captures from the Taylor Hawkins tribute concert shows Alex Lifeson using the Fractal FM9, apparently for effects only (he’s plugged direct into an amp).

In this diagram on the official Line6 website of Alex’s gear rig for the Moving Pictures tour, a MXR Micro Amp is shown as the first pedal in his signal chain.

The official Line6 website provides a detailed diagram of Alex Lifeson's gear setup for the Moving Pictures tour, which confirms that the MXR M104 Distortion+ pedal was used as the second pedal in his signal chain. This serves as direct evidence of Lifeson's use of the pedal during this period.

Alex Lifeson uses the Mesa/Boogie V Twin preamp pedal in the Test for Echo tour (1996) , as documented on the Mesa Boogie Legacy website.

In an interview with Guitar World, guitarist Alex Lifeson confirmed that he used the Electro-Harmonix Electric Mistress Flanger/Filter Matrix on the Rush song "Spirit of Radio." He stated, "The flanger on that song was an Electro-Harmonix Electric Mistress, which I still have."