[RUSHian]

D'OH

[RUSHian]

This would be the only guitar I would ever need! Looks like Alex made it that way for his live playing!

[RUSHian]

I will own one of these guitars! I have always been a fan of Alex and Rush. I hope they won't sell out of the first 300 before I can pool the money together.

[elvtnedge]

Let me just say that I got mine yesterday morning and never playing an axcess before I was blown away. I got the royal crimson and it's beautiful! The neck is nice and beefy and the weight is there... Believe me!

I plugged it intonmy h&k trilogy and the tone was amazing. Nice thick full sound. Nthr piezo sounds fantastic and the push/pull pickups are just awesome. All of Al''s tone can be reached on this guitar as well as probably any tone you want.

LovIng this guitar!!!

[elvtnedge]

Grrrr I hate using the iPhone to post, sorry for the weird words above, I'm sure you can figure out what I was trying to say.

[Rock2112]

Does anyone know what the shipping story is on these? I see some posts from people who have received theirs. I cracked open my piggy bank and ordered a Royal Crimson a couple of weeks ago, the dealer was thinking it would ship last week, and no news much less guitar. Guitar Center has been showing them as "in stock" but I've seen others who say that's a bit misleading. But since some people are getting theirs, I'm wondering why mine's not coming. Anyone have any insight?

Btw, I played the Alex LP at NAMM in January and it is a very comfortable guitar. I never got to plug it in and can't wait to do that.

[SolitaryPine]

Argh. I've had a deposit down on mine since January 29, and still no word.

[Surfguy]

elvtnedge, on 17 March 2011 - 01:56 PM, said:

Let me just say that I got mine yesterday morning and never playing an axcess before I was blown away. I got the royal crimson and it's beautiful! The neck is nice and beefy and the weight is there... Believe me!

I plugged it intonmy h&k trilogy and the tone was amazing. Nice thick full sound. Nthr piezo sounds fantastic and the push/pull pickups are just awesome. All of Al''s tone can be reached on this guitar as well as probably any tone you want.

LovIng this guitar!!!

I'm really considering buying this guitar. I'm wondering about the slim taper d neck. Is it well suited for players with smaller hands? I play a PRS CE 24 now.

I love the design of this guitar and the viceroy brown. I play a lot of rush. I have a gk 250 ml solid state amp Alex used to endorse/play on before GK went strickly bass.

I'm also considering the line 6 hd50 1x12 and the hd300 effects board to go with. I play casually as a hobby but want to upgrade my stuff.

Maybe guitar center will have one to play but not yet apparently.

Thanks. I hope you can persuade me. I've been thinking about this a lot and it's driving me crazy. The cloud of Alex hangs over me. I passed on the es 355 (which was a mistake I'm sure) and I'm not sure I want to pass on this one. Although, I do hear there will be more quantity of this guitar available which wouldn't make it as valuable down the road as the es-335? Just speculating. I wonder how much this guitar is marked up just because it is a signature guitar?

Thanks for any comments...especially on this guitar. And, long live Rush of course!

[SolitaryPine]

Surfguy, on 17 March 2011 - 05:26 PM, said:

I'm really considering buying this guitar. I'm wondering about the slim taper d neck. Is it well suited for players with smaller hands? I play a PRS CE 24 now.

I love the design of this guitar and the viceroy brown. I play a lot of rush. I have a gk 250 ml solid state amp Alex used to endorse/play on before GK went strickly bass.

I'm also considering the line 6 hd50 1x12 and the hd300 effects board to go with. I play casually as a hobby but want to upgrade my stuff.

Maybe guitar center will have one to play but not yet apparently.

Thanks. I hope you can persuade me. I've been thinking about this a lot and it's driving me crazy. The cloud of Alex hangs over me. I passed on the es 355 (which was a mistake I'm sure) and I'm not sure I want to pass on this one. Although, I do hear there will be more quantity of this guitar available which wouldn't make it as valuable down the road as the es-335? Just speculating. I wonder how much this guitar is marked up just because it is a signature guitar?

Thanks for any comments...especially on this guitar. And, long live Rush of course!

I suggest you go to any dealer and try a regular Axcess. Most guitar centers have them. The only differences between a regular Axcess and this one are 1) this one has a GraphTech Ghost Floyd Rose with Piezo pickups (and dual output jacks), 2) the colors, 3) the truss rod cover and case with Al's signature on them, and 4) a different serial number scheme. EDIT: I forgot to add 5) the pickup covers. Another EDIT: The tremolo block has been upgraded to a brass one for more weight and sustain.

Read this thread for a discussion of the numbers to be produced. I agree, the Lifeson ES 355 will be worth more as an investment (unless you have one of the 50 signed Lifeson Axcesses), but you'll have to find a used 355 and pay the current market price for it, which is undoubtedly more than you would pay for the new Axcess (with warranty). I believe you'll find the neck on this guitar is not as thick and beefy as the 355, but I haven't received my Axcess yet so I can't say for sure.

[Superdick2112]

SolitaryPine, on 18 March 2011 - 09:49 AM, said:

I believe you'll find the neck on this guitar is not as thick and beefy as the 355, but I haven't received my Axcess yet so I can't say for sure.

That would be interesting - my Lifeson ES-355 has a much slimmer & thinner neck than my Axcess Standard. You will have to keep us posted on this.

To those of you who have a new Lifeson Axcess - let's see 'em! Start posting some pix here!

[SolitaryPine]

Superdick2112, on 22 March 2011 - 08:44 AM, said:

That would be interesting - my Lifeson ES-355 has a much slimmer & thinner neck than my Axcess Standard. You will have to keep us posted on this.

To those of you who have a new Lifeson Axcess - let's see 'em! Start posting some pix here!

Really? My impression from playing Axcesses in stores is that the necks are slimmer. But I don't own one (yet) so I haven't compared them side by side like you have.

In the Musician's Friend interview of Alex about the Lifeson Axcess guitar he describes the neck as "broad but shallow."

[elvtnedge]

I don't know where my digital camera is or I'd take pics, my phone shoots kinda crappy photos.

I do have one question thought which only the owners thus far can answer, and I just noticed this today...

When I'm plugged into my amp using the regular output jack and I turn down the piezo volume, and both pickup volumes I can still hear at a very low volume through my amp whatever I play on the guitar so the volume of something isn't going all the way down to zero. It's louder on the higher gain channels. I think it might be the piezo but I'm not sure. I find this very strange indeed

Can someone who has the guitar try this and see if this is the case on theirs?

Just an FYI..

**edit** I just did a test where I plugged in the regular jack into the amp and just plugged a cord into the life-o-sound with that cord going nowhere. The sound when you turn down the volume knobs is now practically gone so the slight volume is coming from the piezo when from the regular jack. Also for the fun of it, I went back to using only the regular jack and disconnected the 9V battery and instantly the guitar becomes muddy and loses volume and tone ALOT. Once I plugged the battery back in the volume came up along with the gain on my amp. This means the battery is part of the circut no matter if you intend to use the piezo or not so always remember to change your battery as the sound is affected

[Rock2112]

I'd be happy to test the leakage issue out myself if I had the guitar and were not in nonstop pre-order limbo. That's a bit concerning, though, that the piezo doesn't zero out in volume -- it probably means it is affecting your tone somewhat when you are in magnetic pickup mode as well. Hopefully you just need some kind of physical adjustment to the piezo volume pot and it's no big deal. Can any other lucky recipients try this out? It would be nice to know if this is an issue with other Alex LPs.

[PaulR]

I just got my (signed) Axcess yesterday but neither the Gibson Custom Shop nor Guitar Center had done any setup so I immediately dropped it off with Randy Parsons to have it done. Once I get it back I'll post a photo and playability notes. From the brief time that I spent with it in the store (I admit I wanted to get out of there fast both to avoid having anyone else touch it and to get to Parson's Guitar Shop before they closed) I can tell you that the body is slimmer and the neck is not brawny. The entire guitar definitely feels lighter than my Les Paul Studio. The maple top is gorgeous!

[elvtnedge]

So has anyone else plugged in their Axcess yet? I did a gig with it Friday night and it sounds great but when I'm on a clean sound and especially on the neck pickup I can swear I heard Piezo bleed with a really high end pitch.

[tskidmore]

I tried this on my AL Axcess, I have a similar problem with the Piezo being audible even with all volumes at zero.

Here's a pic, same one I posted on therushforum.com:



I have a standard LP axcess as well, I think the necks are pretty similar. The biggest difference I notice besides the pups and electronics is the weight, the AL is a lot heavier!

[rocketman]

Sweet looking guitar. Congrats! Can't wait to see everyone's pictures.

[SolitaryPine]

tskidmore, on 29 March 2011 - 07:41 PM, said:

I have a standard LP axcess as well, I think the necks are pretty similar. The biggest difference I notice besides the pups and electronics is the weight, the AL is a lot heavier!

Thanks for the photo and for the comment about the weight. I'm wondering if Alex specified an upgraded "big block" for the Floyd Rose? He's shown on the FloydUpgrades.com web site using one of their products (they don't say which one). Maybe you could take the back plate off of both your regular Axcess and your Lifeson and compare them?



http://www.floydupgr...=index&cPath=66

This might explain the weight difference. Whenever he's interviewed about his guitars, Alex always talks about the weight and seems to think heavier is better.

Also, is your regular Axcess in the "Ice Tea" color? I'd love to see the Ice Tea and the Viceroy Brown side by side to see how they are different. I have a Viceroy Brown one on order.

[tskidmore]

Solitarypine:

As you wish (anything for another AL-355 owner, AL252 here) ---






You win the prize, here is the floyd block shot, brass block as you thought on the AL!



Finally a closeup of the AL FR:



Hope this helps- I only had to wait a few weeks for mine, but I was watching GC like a hawk for it when they first got announced.

[elvtnedge]

You know thats just cruel posting the Triamp... nobody in the US will ship to Canada and its driving me crazy.. I know.. sell me yours!! lol