Any idea how many Alex Lifeson ES-355's were shipped to Canada?......I now have the answer!

[1meanmalibu]

Hello Custom Admin (or anyone that may know the answer),

 

I'm a Canadian owner of an AL122 and was curious if you knew approximately

how many Alex Lifeson models were shipped to Canada. This was a question

that came up in a coversation I had with a few friends and we thought that since

Alex Lifeson is a Canadian that maybe a 'more than usual allotment of guitars'

were shipped to Canada because of the Canadian connection. I would greatly

appreciate any information that you could pass along to me.

 

Thanks a lot eh!

[Flight959]

Admin don't come here anymore,

 

Email them direct..

 

Regards

[rockpile69]

Could be wrong, but I think it was 50. I have AL 049. Love it!!!

[1meanmalibu]

Thanks for your input rockpile and flight959. I was on ebay on the weekend and noticed that an Alex Lifeson is up for sale and the description, according to the seller, indicates that only 20 came to Canada. I wouldn't have thought it was that low but I'll email Custom Admin and see what happens. Thanks again!

[pantagruel]

Thanks for your input rockpile and flight959. I was on ebay on the weekend and noticed that an Alex Lifeson is up for sale and the description' date=' according to the seller, indicates that only 20 came to Canada. I wouldn't have thought it was that low but I'll email Custom Admin and see what happens. Thanks again!

 

[/quote']

 

Right, I saw that same item on ebay. I am also interested in the answer. I have AL018. It is a stunning thing of beauty and it plays so beautifully.

 

Let us know what you find out. Thanks.

[1meanmalibu]

The short answer is 60.

 

I emailed Gibson USA on Monday and this morning I recieved an email from them and was directed to the Canadian distributor who would have actually ordered the instruments for all of Canada and to check with Yorkville Sound in Pickering Ontario. I then emailed customer service at Yorkville Sound this morning and the email that I just opened from Yorkville's customer service wrote that sixty Alex Lifeson models were sold in Canada. (60 out of 300 = 20%) Sweet.

 

Thank you Gibson USA and Gibson Canada for your quick responses and for making such a beautiful guitar. It is truly a work of art and a treat to play and own. To say that I have one in sixty in my country of Canada is very special.

 

 

 

 

As a side note:

 

I stumbled across Much Music this morning and saw this music video where I caught a quick glimpse of one of the band members playing a white electric guitar. I was intrigued because it looked like a white Gibson ES-355, the one that Alex Lifeson uses. As I watched the video I was convinced that it was an Alex Lifeson “Inspired By” model that Gibson produced last year. Sure enough, it’s an Alex Lifeson model.......or did Alex actually lend the band his original guitar…......….nah I don’t think so.

 

From an internet search, I found out that the band “The New Cities” are from Quebec Canada and it appears that the guitarist, Christian Bergeron, is a Rush fan and the video where he uses the Alex Lifeson ES-355 was called "Dead End Countdowns". If you click on the You Tube link, watch it in HD and enlarge the screen for a better look. I would also be curious to know which number Christian Bergeron has as well.

 

The New Cities website http://www.thenewcities.com/biography

 

Dead End Countdown video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=id8pKHjWBok

 

Here’s a high-def screen shot from Youtube.

 

 

 

 

 

While I'm at it, I might as well post some other photos that I'd like to share.

 

Here are some photos from the Classic Albums Live website where the band performed 2112 in it's entirety back in June 2005. I was at that show which was at the Phoenix Club in Toronto. The organizer/promoter for Classic Albums Live (he's the guy holding the ES-355 in the first photo, I don't know who the second guy is) made an announcement before the show started and wanted to thank Alex Lifeson for lending his ES-355 and his white double-neck to the show. Alex was not in attendance that night but we sure did feel his presence.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The encore setlist.

 

 

[rockpile69]

I was at that Classic Albums show as well with a friend. We actually contemplated jumping on stage grabbing to guitar and making a run for it! Ha! Ha! Not a bad show considering they need 6-7 people to do what 3 very talented musicians do. Long live Big Al!!!

[rockpile69]

I meant grabbing "the" guitar!!!

[AL220]

60 in Canada is Wrong. It is 61.

I missed out on the order to get one but I found a new one in Texas and had it shipped to Canada.

[Envirotech]

61 guitars to Canada sounds about right. I got mine through Long & McQuade in Burlington. I was one of two orders filled and was told one additional order for the store front. I've actually seen two for sale there; 067 which looked a bit better than mine, but sat on the wall for quite a few months (losing it's nice vanilla case scent no doubt) and 096 which was priced down about $400, it had the finish/wood flaw on the horn in the exact same position mine has (which made me feel better something funny didn't happen to my guitar). I've tried to keep up on any eBay auctions and have seen two guitars come from the same seller in Burlington, so might be possible that more than 3 were sold to Burlington L&M.

 

John Kastner (All Systems Go, The DoughBoys) has got himself a Lifeson ES 355 too. I got to see him use it at the Andy Kim Christmas Show last year (the reason I went was Alex was on the bill) man he strums hard, the whole upper horn had pick marks all over it, can't see it in the photo though.

[Superdick2112]

Malibu, did you get a close look at Al's EDS-1275? Is that Alex's name engraved on those brass truss rod covers?

 

Thanks.

 

BTW, still loving my AL-355, but my LP Axcess is now my #1 go-to guitar. The AL sounds a little better, but the Axcess is a bit more comfy to play for long periods, and it stays in tune no matter how crazy I get with it.

[1meanmalibu]

Sorry Superdick2112 for not responding sooner but I haven't been on this forum for quite some time, as its now February 2010, although I still feel obligated to reply. From what I can tell, I believe the truss rod covers on Alex's EDS-1275 were originally blank but were changed to read something like Gibson Custom I'm guessing. Here's an old photo of Alex with some of his guitars from 1981. The white double-neck that Alex has is a stock EDS-1275 which replaced the red one (like the one Jimmy Page has) that apparently got destroyed while on tour in the mid 70's as a result from a speaker cabinet landing on it.

 

Here's a link to a 2009 interview that Alex did where he talks a little about the "inspired by" ES-355.

 

http://www.harmony-central.com/articles/premier_guitar/lifeson/

 

 

[guitarmandp]

I'm sure all of them have the volute in the wrong spot.

[elvtnedge]

I love mine.... AL076