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Alex's Guitars (Spoiler)


PariahDog

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I just caught the amazing Rush show in Phoenix last Friday, and saw that Alex has returned to Gibson guitars with a vengeance (as others have noticed). He played at least four different Les Pauls plus a white ES-335. I'm pretty sure that he didn't play a single PRS guitar the entire night. unsure.gif

 

Here are the all the Les Pauls that I remember:

1. Les Paul Standard, Honeyburst or Light Cherrybust, flame-maple top, trapezoid inlays, Floyd Rose tremolo, piezo pickups wub.gif

2. Les Paul Standard, Goldtop, hardtail bridge

3. Les Paul Standard, Tobacco Sunburst, with (I think) Floyd Rose and piezo

4. Les Paul Standard, Cherry Sunburst, mahogany top, hardtail bridge

 

My favorite is #1, which he used for most of the first set.

 

http://www.rushisaband.com/graphics/ti/full/811.jpg

 

Does anyone else think this would make a great Alex Lifeson signature Les Paul? I would love to have a Paul like this, with the trem and piezo system. 1022.gif Maybe they could even add some subtle Rush reference, like the Starman logo on the truss rod cover?

 

 

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QUOTE (PariahDog @ Jul 30 2007, 03:32 PM)
I just caught the amazing Rush show in Phoenix last Friday, and saw that Alex has returned to Gibson guitars with a vengeance (as others have noticed).  He played at least four different Les Pauls plus a white ES-335.  I'm pretty sure that he didn't play a single PRS guitar the entire night.  unsure.gif

My favorite is #1, which he used for most of the first set.

http://www.rushisaband.com/graphics/ti/full/811.jpg

That's his new guitar. It is absolutely gorgeous, and it sounded beautiful. That took the place of the black LP he was using as his main tremolo-equipped guitar.

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He was still using the black Custom when I saw them. Man, that is one sweet axe.

 

Yeah, a Alex signature model LP would be awesome. I'm a die hard Gibson guy, so I'd have to buy one.

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QUOTE (PariahDog @ Jul 30 2007, 02:32 PM)
I'm pretty sure that he didn't play a single PRS guitar the entire night. unsure.gif

Well, opening night, he played a grey PRS on the song Mission... has he since retired that axe???

 

Guess I will find out in 12 days (Dallas)...

 

BTW, that new Les Paul looks sweet! cool.gif

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QUOTE (rushbass @ Jul 30 2007, 07:38 PM)
QUOTE (PariahDog @ Jul 30 2007, 02:32 PM)
I'm pretty sure that he didn't play a single PRS guitar the entire night.  unsure.gif

Well, opening night, he played a grey PRS on the song Mission... has he since retired that axe???

 

Guess I will find out in 12 days (Dallas)...

 

BTW, that new Les Paul looks sweet! cool.gif

Yep, he didn't use the PRS at all in Vegas. I'm pretty sure he used the black LP Custom for "Mission."

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Yeah, the guitar pictured above is the new main guitar and possibly the nicest guitar I have ever seen or heard. The inlay is absolutely stunningly beautiful.

The black Custom is the one he used on previous tours for 2112 but has a Kahler whammy on it now and is still tuned to standard D tuning. It is different from the black Standard that has been replaced by the Honeyburst. The Black one had more of a sheen than the Custom, which is a bit more worn looking. In Seattle, LA and Vegas he has only used Gibson electric. Technically the Garrisons are Gibsons too now that Gibson owns them.

 

Between the Wheels was the Custom, as was Circumstances. He used the Honeyburst on Dreamline.

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Here's a (pretty low quality) clip from the Florida show, showing what looks to be a PRS during "Mission"....so he must've switched it up mid-tour.

 

Youtube Mission

 

By the way, you can FF to around the 3:35 mark for the solo where you can see the guitar on the big screen.

 

My editorial comment (keeping in mind I'm the furthest thing from a music techie you can find, so this is more about aesthetics from the perspective of a relatively casual music fan)....

 

I like Mission better on a Strat or PRS, i just doesn't seem like a Gibson sort of tune. BTW too, but especially Mission.

 

 

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QUOTE (PariahDog @ Jul 30 2007, 02:32 PM)
I just caught the amazing Rush show in Phoenix last Friday, and saw that Alex has returned to Gibson guitars with a vengeance (as others have noticed). He played at least four different Les Pauls plus a white ES-335. I'm pretty sure that he didn't play a single PRS guitar the entire night. unsure.gif

Here are the all the Les Pauls that I remember:
1. Les Paul Standard, Honeyburst or Light Cherrybust, flame-maple top, trapezoid inlays, Floyd Rose tremolo, piezo pickups wub.gif
2. Les Paul Standard, Goldtop, hardtail bridge
3. Les Paul Standard, Tobacco Sunburst, with (I think) Floyd Rose and piezo
4. Les Paul Standard, Cherry Sunburst, mahogany top, hardtail bridge

My favorite is #1, which he used for most of the first set.

http://www.rushisaband.com/graphics/ti/full/811.jpg

Does anyone else think this would make a great Alex Lifeson signature Les Paul? I would love to have a Paul like this, with the trem and piezo system. 1022.gif Maybe they could even add some subtle Rush reference, like the Starman logo on the truss rod cover?

Great great show there in Glendale. I'm not used to seeing a show in that kind of heat and thought I was going to get heat exhaustion.

Luckily they have those overhead fans.

Awesome show.

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QUOTE (Snowdog @ Aug 1 2007, 02:22 PM)
Not to hijack the thread, but I've always wondered: Does Alex get his guitars free of charge from the manufacturer? I would imagine so. Seems like good advertising.

I don't know for 100% certain, but I would bet the farm that it's all free of charge. My friend works for a band that plays clubs and theaters and has only (by rush standards) three studio albums....and pretty much all their stuff is gratis. Alex F-ing Lifeson? Yea, it's gratis I'd hazard a guess.

 

AlexFinal.gif

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QUOTE (PariahDog @ Jul 30 2007, 12:32 PM)
I just caught the amazing Rush show in Phoenix last Friday, and saw that Alex has returned to Gibson guitars with a vengeance (as others have noticed). He played at least four different Les Pauls plus a white ES-335. I'm pretty sure that he didn't play a single PRS guitar the entire night. unsure.gif

Here are the all the Les Pauls that I remember:
1. Les Paul Standard, Honeyburst or Light Cherrybust, flame-maple top, trapezoid inlays, Floyd Rose tremolo, piezo pickups wub.gif
2. Les Paul Standard, Goldtop, hardtail bridge
3. Les Paul Standard, Tobacco Sunburst, with (I think) Floyd Rose and piezo
4. Les Paul Standard, Cherry Sunburst, mahogany top, hardtail bridge

My favorite is #1, which he used for most of the first set.

http://www.rushisaband.com/graphics/ti/full/811.jpg

Does anyone else think this would make a great Alex Lifeson signature Les Paul? I would love to have a Paul like this, with the trem and piezo system. 1022.gif Maybe they could even add some subtle Rush reference, like the Starman logo on the truss rod cover?

is Geddy sporting a ponytail?

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I've seen them twice on this tour, in Pittsburgh and St. Paul. A couple of notes on the new guitars: Alex started the tour leaning on the black Les Paul Custom with Floyd Rose, and later switched to the sunburst Les Paul standard with Floyd Rose. The black one was used at the St. Paul show for Between The Wheels only (E string tuned to low D) and NO PRS were used in St. Paul at all. He played 2 PRS in Pittsburgh, so he definitely started the tour using them for a few songs but later switched to all Gibsons for the sets.

 

Also, there are NO PIEZOs on the Floyd Rose equiped Les Pauls. The Piezos are in some (not all) of the stop-tail Les Paul versions only and were after-market installations. There is also a piezo installed in his Howard Roberts which was open-tuned and used for The Way The Wind Blows only.

 

As for the Floyd Rose equiped Les Pauls, these are completely custom made by Gibson, they are NOT standard Les Pauls with retrofit tremolos added. The neck pitch and pickup angles on these 2 guitars is MUCH less angled than standard Les Pauls, which makes sense for a tremolo on a Les Paul. Hopefully since Gibson now has a pattern for a Les Paul with a neck setup that is optimized for a Floyd Rose, we will see a production version down the road. They'll sell at least one...to me! Although I must say I have the Japanese made Burny version of just such a guitar, and for the money they are incredible.

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