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Rig Rundown - Rush's Alex Lifeson
www.premierguit... PG's Rebecca Dirks is On Location in Chicago, IL, at the United Center where she talks with Rush's Alex Lifeson's tech Scott Appleton about the gear Lifeson is using on Rush's 2011 Time Machine tour. Appleton shows off all Lifeson's gear, including Gibson Les Paul Axcess Alex Lifeson Signature models, a ES-355, a Fender reissue '52 Tele, and two '90s PRS models. Lifeson uses Hughes & Kettner TriAmp MKII Alex Lifeson Signature heads, Steam Punk Statesman 2x12 Cabinets, and a Hughes & Kettner Coreblade.
For more Rig Rundown videos or to view Premier Guitar's COMPLETELY FREE digital edition magazine, be sure to visit www.premierguit...
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The official soundtrack of "Rig Rundown - Rush's Alex Lifeson": - "Aqualung" - Jethro Tull - "Carry On Wayward Son" - Kansas - "Cross Eyed Mary" - Jethro Tull - "Dancing With The Moonlit Knight" - Genesis Rush crew be diggin' the Prog!
@andrewpappas9311
7 жыл бұрын
clinke2007 One iconic Progressive Rock band to another
@ThomasandrewTk
7 жыл бұрын
You forgot the best. Dancing wit the moonlitknite
@ThomasandrewTk
7 жыл бұрын
Oh nvm it wouldnt let me read more omg xD
@MoeSlislack
6 жыл бұрын
I was noticing that too. I love all those songs.
@jonathanwright8802
5 жыл бұрын
Neil actually chooses all of these songs; it's explained in one of his books. Saw them for the last time in 2015; actually, the pre concert music was terrible. Way too many b-list Tull tunes. Yuck.
Alex Lifeson is one of the greatest rock guitarists of ALL TIME. Alex and Rush provided me a lifetime of great joy and wonderful memories while watching, touring and listening to Rush thru-out middle, high school, undergraduate and graduate school, medical school, residency, fellowship all the way till now ( October 2018). My dream has always been one day that I would get to shake the hands of one or all three members of the band thanking them with most gracious appreciation for a lifetime of intense enjoyment and pure happiness. Thank you ALEX, GED AND NEIL.....you guys changed my life forever. Doc David
10:26 - the 'Copy' button on the Axess floorboard is labeled "NO IDIOT STOP", lol
The last note of the Limelight solo is epic enough to be processed by a dedicated head.
He has a separate amp for one note. This is insane
@NoR110011
8 жыл бұрын
Perfection and money
Alex needs a damn traffic cop to route his signal.
@josemenendez4454
4 жыл бұрын
Nothing like Living Color
$20,000 in amp heads alone. Not to mention his custom Steampunk cabinets, and all of his other gear. Ahhh, the life of a rockstar. I must say though, while I preferred when Alex was mostly playing PRS guitars, those LPs with the Floyds are pretty sick. One thing I really admire about Alex, is that his live sound has actually progressed with the times. I saw a Rush "Snakes and Arrows" tour show on TV one day, and he was using distortion tone that one would expect to hear from Adam Jones of Tool.
@nkmcfrln
6 ай бұрын
He was renting guitars and amps before A Farewell to Kings.
@johnnystieferman6527
3 ай бұрын
I’m glad he went back to Gibson there is no others. Glad he shelved the PRS
For everyone who loves the house music in the background: ALL of it is chosen by Neil (this goes back 30 years), and he is a huge Genesis and Jethro Tull fan (as are Geddy and Alex)......so that 'splains it! ps saw them June 23, 2015 in Boston, and 40% of the pre show house music was Tull. Interesting: the first time I heard "Man in the Box" by Alice in Chains was on the Presto Tour, pre-show after Mr. Big played. Thaks Neil!!
@wingnutofcoolness
7 жыл бұрын
And Kansas, apparently .
@TheExiledTexan
6 жыл бұрын
I remember hearing a fair bit of Deep Purple too, during the pre-show on the Time Machine tour. Pleasant surprise, that.
you should totally do a RR of Geddy Lee...
@andrewpappas9311
7 жыл бұрын
d34n1097 They should've
@dvdfrnzwbr
2 жыл бұрын
As far as I know Geddy plays thru the house pa system. That's why you see clothing dryers and chicken rotisseries behind him on stage.
I just saw Tool in Toronto last week with my friends that I play in a band with and they actually brought out Alex for Jambi, none of us were expecting to see him (we were all staring at each other in shock like “Did Maynard actually just say that they were bringing out Alex Lifeson?”) but it was still awesome watching them go from Jambi (which is my buddy who’s our singer’s favourite Tool song) into the solo section of Passage to Bangkok then back to Jambi. Alex is still one of my favourite guitarists and Rush is one of my favourite bands, not to mention a reason why I’m proud to be from Toronto like the guys from Rush
I've watch every single rig rundown and related video in existence, and i think alex lifeson's is the most complicated.
i used to work with scott appleton at mars music in nashville 10 years ago!!! he was neal schons tech for a while and he is an incredible guitar player himself... great guy!!!
Bonus Points for playing 'Selling England By the Pound' at the end.
Alex Lifeson is an Incredible Guitar Player. Really UnderRated ( I.M.O. ) - he absolutely: Rips Live, and is as Accurate as a Swiss Watch. Total Precision every show, every night.
@heathercollins4432
2 жыл бұрын
He's not underrated to guitar players, but I guess he would be to someone who can barely grasp the concept of proper grammar...
@stuartmiller7419
2 жыл бұрын
@@heathercollins4432 How about the needlessly supercilious, such as yourself?
She did a good job. She did what more interviewers should do (but don't) and let the expert talk.
@RByrne
Жыл бұрын
She actually seemed to know what she was talking about, too. They should bring Rebecca back.
So, when you've toured the world 30 years (or was born to a billionaire) you too can have all that in your rig, boys and girls! H&K are nice sounding amps. I used to own a little combo. loved it.
Words you will never hear from Alex's tech; "It's a pretty simple set up".
I like how Jethro Tull's "Aqualung" is playing in the background to one of the greatest prog rock bands in the world.
I saw Rush at Madison Square last week on the Time Machine Tour! FANTASTIC show! "The Camera Eye" takes on a whole different meaning in New York, yet me tell ya!
This lady and the other one that talks about basses at Thomman are a dream of every musician
@mightyV444
3 жыл бұрын
No, not *my* dream! x-))
he has a whole another amp head for one note of limelight? did i hear that right....??
@CorvetteCoonass
7 жыл бұрын
***** When you want something to sound just right, you'll go to any lengths to make it happen.
@hazor777
7 жыл бұрын
EXACTLY. He's made his money , who could blame him for having wanted every second of the performance to sound like he wanted it too. Just sucks that they don't tour anymore.
@artysanmobile
7 жыл бұрын
Andrew Monias A bit of spinal tap excess. It's easy for such ridiculousness to creep into a touring act's setup.
@hazor777
7 жыл бұрын
HOW, is it "ridiculous" ...?
@drewper73
7 жыл бұрын
I know exactly which note he's talking about. I've always wondered how they pull that off live. It's one note but it sounds so cool being sustained while he goes back into the main riff.
that last note of Limelight is legendary!
My favorite Rig Rundown so far. That's because I love RUSH!!!!
They should have had the guitar tech for a day BUBBLES do the interview
@sonic-dna7742
6 жыл бұрын
That would be fuckin DECENT!
@4spbiz
4 жыл бұрын
De hee hee hee cent!
Aqualung, Kansas, and Cross Eyed Mary! YES
One of the greatest guitarists in history
Finally a Guitar Tech that KNOWS what he's talking about. Haven't seen one of those in a long time.
Very well done. This man knows his stuff
Wow. Great in depth explanations from the guitar tech. And the best road crew in the business.
People forget that Rush were influenced by great old school bands: Jethro Tull, Kansas, Yes, Pink Floyd, The Who, Cream, Led Zeppelin, etc. They were also influenced by other styles (Ultravox, Talking Heads, The Police).
@daleburkett4141
2 жыл бұрын
Please explain since they have played together since the late 60's????
@RogueReplicant
2 жыл бұрын
@@daleburkett4141 Played together since the late 1960's? Who? Rush? Alex and Geddy might have, but Neil joined in the mid-70's. I don't understand your request. Explain what?
CARRY ON MY WAYWARD SONAHHHON -Love having Kansas in the background! Got a bit distracted by it though
It's amazing that if you think about two great players, as far as tone & dexterity, you think of Alex & Steve Howe; Alex has one of the most complex & extensive stage setups and Steve has just a digital floor console & SS/digital modeling combo amp (see PG's Yes Rig Rundown)...oh, and they both kill it live, guess it really IS all in the fingers...
Alex's guitar tech definitely knows his stuff!!! Very cool rig rundown! :)
@KeeperOfPoops
7 жыл бұрын
but it kinda defeats the point of this rundown, it's supposed to be an "Alex Lifeson" rundown, not a "Scott Appleton" rundown therefore in my opinion this rundown sucks
This video is awesome. Great and complex set-up, great tech, great interviewer..
Excellent interview!
Actually Neil Peart selects the playlist/music that's played before the concert starts. Read that somewhere..
All this inboard gear is mindblowing! Ah, the days of a simple MK II and some pedals...
The H&K amp sim out is really good (as are the amps). I've been a Luthier/Amp Tech since 1980. I traveled for almost 9yrs. till the wife said no more. He has a ton of gear onstage. But his signal out is dry out from the Palmer to an AFX at the FOH. He has nothing onstage mic'd up so he's switching effects for his in ears and the AFX out front. I have a lot of customers I try to get their recorded sound live. Some pretty eccentric set ups, this one's right up there. Geddy uses one Sans Amp.
i like to pretend I know what they're talking about.
@urianger
10 жыл бұрын
haha same i wish i knew what they're talking about
@omnipop4936
6 жыл бұрын
I like to pretend I care about anything other than watching Rebecca.
@lerxstcire
3 жыл бұрын
@@omnipop4936 lol
@lerxstcire
3 жыл бұрын
Shout out to Garrison Mandolin! Wooooo!
@ryj44
Жыл бұрын
😆 I’m still pretending
rush is so nice about sharing their rig with everybody
Its was a white Gibson 355 that gave Alex that sound in the early years that i fell in love with in the late 70s . You will notice a change in his sound in the 80s I like the raw sound of the early days up to Moving Pic. album It brings me back to my teen years
This rig is like friggin' mission control... so much stuff!
Such complexity yields awesome sound. I saw Rush live a couple months ago and Alex's sounds were very good. I think the complex rig is a necessity to cover all the textures of Alex's guitar parts over the years. The proof is in the pudding!
5:39 onwards could have been done in about 5 seconds......... "Alex plugs his guitars into the Large Hadron Collider"
@liu3kang
3 жыл бұрын
🤣🤣🤣🤣
Fitting that Genesis, Dancing with the Moonlit Night was closing out the interview for me, my two favorite bands ever
The fractal is just a backup! Yesssssss!!!
Aqualung my friend!!
I'm trying to get a similar bass tone to his, but with a little more drive and metallic high end while maintaining a good low end. You've been a lot of help. Thanks a LOT.
11:00 you can hear "dancing with the moonlite knight"
@199ALBO
9 жыл бұрын
Edoardo Papa I was just going to wright this XD
@hamishgiec2062
8 жыл бұрын
+Edoardo Papa Love Aqualung at the start as well :3
@ThomasandrewTk
7 жыл бұрын
Genesis and Rush are my favorite bands this is great
This band makes me happy and proud to be Canadian, most specifically Toronto :D
Highly underated player!
I agree with going with the Fractal for his FX . It could do all of his effects exept maybe the Wah and his piezos. I think he's just very comfortable with this setup.That's all I can come up with!
can we have a Mark Knopfler Rig Rundown....
Para todo el hardware que utiliza y la gran calidad que éstos poseen, el sonido es bastante normal. No es una opinión peyorativa. Aprendí a tocar guitarra escuchando a Lifeson y Rush es una de mis bandas favoritas.
@maximilianodelrio
Жыл бұрын
Concuerdo, nunca me ha gustado mucho su sonido en vivo de los 2010, siento que le faltaba más cuerpo como los tonos de los 80s
I suppose this rig has evolved as Alex has. This is one of the more complex rigs I have seen. Only the tech and Alex fully understand it.
Ok seriously how did Geddy Lee get left out of this rig rundown?? Does not compute ._.
@babayaga1767
6 жыл бұрын
he doesn't use a rig. sans amp geddy lee pre in ear monitors. i do the same
@Grayham4
6 жыл бұрын
general mayhem he also has at least three basses and keyboards
@robgreen1818
6 жыл бұрын
He doesn’t really run a rig, it’s just Ged’s crazy fingers-Bass-sansamp-front of house.
@snapascrew
4 жыл бұрын
On this tour he had 4 inputs to foh/monitors. 1: A sansamp RPM, 2: a Palmer speaker simulator (used as a DI instead of a speaker simulator), 3: a Palmer speaker simulator fed by an orange bass head and 4 an Avalon tube DI. On tours previous to time machine he had the same setup sans the Orange head. Sources: I asked their sound guys. And it’s also on the internet in a few articles. Look hard enough and you’ll find it. It’s not until recently that he started attempting to use only his signature sansamp unit. That thing didn’t exist back when this video was shot.
Just a note on that 52 reissue Tele, It has brass replacement bridge saddles. Definately not stock!
@MrWilly2204 it was good. I liked all those midrange smoother tones he used on like Limelight and such. Did he use Gallien-Kreuger for a while? (sp)
I hear Genesis in the background near the end of the video!! Steve Hackett and Alex Lifeson are my favorite guitarists!
I hope Premier Guitar is going to do a Rig Rundown for the current RUSH tour.
growing up, i must admit Rush was not a favorite of mine. when i started playing guitar, i tried to learn spirit of the radio, and thus hated them for a while. i still can't play much rush, but i do so adore their music.
This dude is an awesome guitar tech.
@KeeperOfPoops
6 жыл бұрын
i disagree, it's so much more shit when the fuckboy techie does the gear how about we rename the video "Rig Rundown - Rush's Scott Appleton" cos that just rolls of the tongue DUH!
I've watched a bunch of rig videos and most of the time I'm like "wtf is all this stuff?"
Aqualung is playing in the background!
Good job..! ps "NO IDIOT STOP" can't believe there was no mention of this effect...? smh
@ProffAndy the rack is an important part of any good band's performance. lots of mic and wireless systems need to be kept track of and the rack equipment does that.
Best drinking game: take a shot every time the tech says "so"....
I thought the Gibson EDS 1275 would be in this video as well...
where's alex lifeson, i don't see no alex lifeson! just scott appleton who also works for def leppard's phil collen
Rebecca is the Hottest Rig Rundown interviewer!!!
Wow. nice gear!!! From mtw - jam night guitars in L.A.
No! If the way Lifeson's tech described it is accurate the Palmer units HAVE to provide some sort of load for the amps -or there is something in between we're not privy to.
Awesome. Somebody needs to count how many times he says "so."
lol 2 of my favourite songs in the background!
Brilliant selection of background music.
Looks almost identical to my guitar rig....
nice Genesis, Dancing with the Moonlit Knight in the background.
He doesn't answer to you or anyone else. He plays what he wants, how he wants, and when he wants to play it.
just seeing this because of Rebecca
He is giving just one (example) of the last note of the solo on Limelight. Not that it is used for just one note.
Actually that's a mandola, not a mandolin. It's what a viola is to a violin- there's four instruments to the mandolin family just like the violins.
@Grayham4
6 жыл бұрын
Brian Fassbender isn't it a bouzouki?
I remember reading online how Alex used 9 gauge strings, which I'm sure he did at one point but people change through the years and here he is using 10s. I knew it lol
It's a bit more complicated than that, but barely. For the Vapour Trails/R30 tours, he was splitting the bass signal to an Avalon DI (for a pure clean) and a Tech 21 preamp (for a dirty sound) and just running those two signals to the PA with the Front of House guys adding echo every now and again. I read he used an Orange amp setup for the Snakes and Arrows and Time Machine tours, but he's still not using any effects as far as I know.
How do I learn about all this stuff?
Aqualung, Carry One Wayward Son, Cross Eyed-Mary and Selling England By The Pound. Nice choices.
@jacobdallen1 they brought back the neck heel , for 2011 called neck pattern regular
I WANT ALEX'S GEAR JUST TOTALLY AWSOME
10:40 See the button in the lower left labeled "No idiot, stop!"? That's so Rush doesn't inadvertently destroy the universe through sheer awesomeness.
@amarr11 The new '52 reissue has that stock. Plus no ashtray bridge and has tone bypass, I think.
Wow alex has got an axe fx! He's so up to date on his gear... awesome!
It's not just a Sans-amp. It's a Sansamp RPM pre-amp and an Orange Amp.
For over a decade now, Ged's rig has been a blend between a Trace Elliot Quadravalve all-tube power amplifier and a SansAmp RBI rackmountable preamp.No more amps in a traditional sense.This why he has clothes dryers, chicken roasters,etc on his side of the stage now instead of big stacks of bass amps.
I would love to see those Fractal settings he uses. For Limelight, I use a Electro-Harmonix Freeze pedal for the "infinite note".
I wonder if this setup would be good for playing in coffee shops...
man the Piezo equipped Les's remind me of my epiphone Les paul Ultra II with the dual outputs and the black shadow nanomag cept mine dont have a Licensed floyd just regular Stopbar Tuneomatic
Great questions.
A tour of his pedalboard would be mind blowing
Dude, Dancing with the Moonlit Knight, too!
@TruthSurge He used a GK rack preamp sometime during the 80's. Not sure exactly when though.
OMG Rebecca for life