Rush guitar sounds on a Lexicon PCM80! (mp3 clip)

[DigitalMan85]

Made this a few months ago using the Glide>Hall algorithm on the Lexicon PCM80, which is great for emulating analog chorus! (flangers too—it really gets that "Loft" texture on the right settings :) ). I was working on modeling the sound of the TC 1210, and on certain settings I noticed it sounded like some 80s Rush sounds, so I did some further tweaking and came up with this, adding some diffused delays along the way (to get closer to those analog delays, like the Yamaha E1010):

 

Lexicon PCM80 Rush Sounds

 

(headphones/stereo are a must! ;) )

 

I originally got a Boss DC-2 Dimension chorus pedal for these kind of sounds, but as I started getting more processors and learned how to program them, I needed something that would get closer to these sounds at line level, post-preamp. So far, I've really liked the PCM80 and the (MUCH cheaper) Lexicon MX200, whose chorus algorithm is likely based off the PCM80 (the MPX100/110's was, so I'm assuming this one is as well). The MX200 is really a great all-in-one Rush chorus/flanger solution, I've found out—it can do the chorus AND the flanger sounds if you know how to tweak it (there's a trick—use shallow detune instead of flangers! ;) ). The MX300/400 would be even better for these, since you can choose the chorus waveforms (triangle works best!) and get access to some other settings too that aren't on the MX200.

 

There are some older Lexicon units that might work well for this too—the LXP-15 II comes to mind, since it has a similar "glide delays" algorithm (one, it should be noted, that's not on the first version of the LXP-15).

 

Just thought I'd "shine a light" on these, so to speak, since Lexicon only seems to get attention for its reverb and delays! But there's so much more...the flangers on here are even more impressive, to me, than the chorus—just rich and "syrupy." Definitely covers Alex's flanger sounds, and even gets close to Dann Huff's sound on the guitar solo in "Place In This World."

 

If anybody has an MX200 and wants to try some of my settings for that, I still have an MX-Edit file with all my presets saved on it. Let me know!

Edited November 9, 2014 by DigitalMan85

[Fred Star]

. Edited October 30, 2015 by Fred Star

[CygnusX-1Bk2]

I have an MPX-1 and an LXP-15 in my rack but they hardly get powered up. For a long time the PCM series were the killer stuff to have. I was lucky enough to use the 960L which was there last big hardware box for surround reverb. Amazing sounding. Everything is pretty much available as plugins from them now. Love Lexicon.

[DigitalMan85]

I have an MPX-1 and an LXP-15 in my rack but they hardly get powered up.

 

I got an MPX-1 last year and I've made some nice "Rushy" things on that as well, particularly with the Aerosol chorus algorithm (which does a great job at getting a "stereo CE-1" type of sound—there's some waveform manipulation stuff you can do here that gets the sinewave closer to the old CE-1 waveform than the PCM80's). The detune is spectacular in this unit, even better than the PCM's for the "EVH" kind of thing. Couldn't live without either one of these boxes anymore :) If you've still got it and you want some presets, let me know and I'll hook you up.

 

 

For a long time the PCM series were the killer stuff to have.

 

Still are, people just don't know it! And they never seem to do the most important thing, which is PROGRAMMING it :) (I know it's difficult, but...that's the only way you can unlock its powers!)

 

I was lucky enough to use the 960L which was there last big hardware box for surround reverb. Amazing sounding. Everything is pretty much available as plugins from them now. Love Lexicon.

 

Yeah, I wish that were true about the plugins ;) The plugins they have put out sound pretty good, but they'll never approach what the rack units offer if they keep going the way they have, especially if you want to have the type of "exotic" interactions between FX & reverb the way the PCM80 & 81 were so great at doing....