Alex Lifeson Signature Axcess

[RUSHian]

Congratulations guys!!

[Alex Wannabe]

Mine shipped from Colorado yesterday and arrived in New York TODAY!!!

 

Here' are a few quick pictures of AL226 with his brother, a 2008 Les Paul Standard and some of my gear (and some of my 1970's era GI Joe collection!). So far, I am in love!

 

 

[RUSHian]

I'm jealous! Look at all the Adventure Team stuff!! LOL! Awesome guitars and gear, BTW!!

[SolitaryPine]

 

 

Haha, I had that GI Joe six wheeled thing AND the orange training tower thing too! I think I was in third grade! Thanks for the blast from the past!

 

Oh, and nice guitar!

[elvtnedge]

My setup out of the box was pretty good. For some reason it felt like 9's on there but they weren't. That could be that I haven't used a floyd in much in the last few years and the strings feel slinky. Within the first week I needed a setup as my band plays 1/2 step down so I had to level the bridge which was easy. I then adjusted the neck, and did an intonation job. The guitar played great once I did all that. Still think I can tweak the intonation a bit, but I'll do that when I get time. I love this guitar. I have that "I feel cool" mentality going on in my head when I play this guitar live...LOL

[SolitaryPine]

My guitar was setup with 10s. I'm going to switch to 9s. The setup sounds and plays pretty good, however the bridge is not perfectly level (it's a little 'rear up'). I've got some new springs and other parts on order from FloydUpgrades.com, so once those arrive I'm going to re-do the setup and intonation so it's level. Although, it is kind of fun having the extra "up" bend room.

 

The guitar is really a monster. I am completely happy with it. The tone and versatility of it are just amazing.

 

And I will add that without the piezo fix switch in the "off" position, it does in fact bleed, although I can only notice anything when the mag volume knobs are completely off. 99% of the time I'm running two cables and it isn't an issue. I have not had any issues of the volume knobs performing in unexpected ways, like others have reported. I plan to eventually separate the wiring of the mag pickups and the piezo so I don't have to worry about a low battery affecting the tone of my mag pickups. I use it in blended single jack mode so infrequently that I'm happy to make that trade. The only thing I want to investigate is how to do it in a "reversible" way in case I ever decide to sell it (e.g. when hell freezes over).

 

The fit and finish is literally perfect. I can't find a single flaw, unlike my Lifeson 355, where I have two very minor gripes. I'm heavily smitten by this guitar.

[SolitaryPine]

 

 

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.

 

I just thought I'd follow up on this since I've received my guitar and since I've done a little more research on the topic. The standard Axcess has an original Floyd Rose. I can't verify this myself, but I have read that the blocks on those are in fact made of brass, but are coated in chrome or zinc or something that makes them appear to be a different metal. The Graphtech Ghost block is brass, but uncoated. As you can see in the photo, the brass block in the Lifeson Axcess is not much, if at all, larger than the block in the standard Axcess.

 

So, I ordered a "big block" from FloydUpgrades.com (which is where that photo of Alex holding a standard Axcess comes from) and I can tell you that their blocks are about twice as thick as the stock block on the Lifeson Axcess, so I don't think the stock brass block on the Lifeson Axcess comes from them.

 

Also note, should you decide to do the same, that the big block you want from FloydUpgrades is the 42mm one (the stock size is 37mm), and you will want one without the "L" shape as it won't fit in the guitar. Finally, be sure to tell FloydUpgrades.com which guitar you are getting it for, as the screw holes in the regular Floyd blocks are too large for the screws that are on the GraphTech Ghost. After I discovered this, I emailed them and they are now making a custom fit one for me, with the proper size screw holes. They are not charging me extra for this, and the owner of FloydUpgrades.com has responded to all of my emails very promptly so I have to say that so far I am very impressed by them. Once I get the block back and get it installed I'll report what, if any, impact it has on the tone and sustain.

[Alex Wannabe]

Glad you guys like the pictures with the GI Joe's in the background. Here's a better shot showing the large display case I have built into the wall of my office / music room. Enjoy!

 

[RUSHian]

Glad you guys like the pictures with the GI Joe's in the background. Here's a better shot showing the large display case I have built into the wall of my office / music room. Enjoy!

 

 

My dream room!!

[JohnnyRocker]

Hello. I'm new to this board but not new to Gibson.

 

I have a question about a topic I've only seen on this thread regarding the Alex Lifeson Axcess.

 

This is the first I've heard about a limited production of 5 years and 300 guitars per year (1500 total).

 

I placed an order for one this week with my local authorized dealer. He told me that it would arrive in July.

 

I have seen posts and pics of serial numbers of 240+. Should I be concerned if I'm only ordering this week?

 

Can someone please verify if this is truly a limited production guitar?

[SolitaryPine]

 

Can someone please verify if this is truly a limited production guitar?

 

There is nothing official from Gibson regarding this being a limited production guitar (excepting the 50 signed ones). The reports about 300/year for 5 years are from users who believe they have a source with knowledge regarding the contract between Gibson and Mr. Lifeson. Even if this is true, nobody knows what sort of discussions the two have had outside of the written contract. It could be that they verbally agreed that if demand was greater than 300/year for 5 years that they might sit down again and renegotiate the contract. Since Gibson hasn't made any promises to anyone about it being limited, there is nothing that would prevent them from doing this.

 

My dealer, which had to wait so long to get my guitar from the first production batch, now has 11 in stock. So, it could be that the initial pent up demand for the guitar has been filled, and now they will trickle out over time.

 

My last thought on this topic is that it is curious that Gibson used a three digit serial numbering scheme if the plan really is to release 1,500 guitars over five years. So, maybe the reports on the contract are incorrect.

[JohnnyRocker]

My last thought on this topic is that it is curious that Gibson used a three digit serial numbering scheme if the plan really is to release 1,500 guitars over five years. So, maybe the reports on the contract are incorrect.

 

Thank you for that reply. I did talk to my dealer yesterday and he said that my order was accepted and it should arrive in July. I'm now interested to see what serial number I receive.

 

The three digit serial number scheme call-out is interesting.....

[Alex Wannabe]

The three digit serial number scheme call-out is interesting.....

 

They have already made more than 300 pieces, I just saw #312 listed for sale. Will be interesting to see how many are actually made in the end.

[Alex Wannabe]

They have already made more than 300 pieces, I just saw #312 listed for sale. Will be interesting to see how many are actually made in the end.

 

I actually thought about this a bit more...if they made 50 signed, and then 300 unsigned, then the serial numbers shouldn't go higher than 350...and the #312 that i saw would still be within that range. Confusing :-)

 

Wonder what the breakdown was between Royal Crimson and Viceroy Brown...half and half?

[JohnnyRocker]

I actually thought about this a bit more...if they made 50 signed, and then 300 unsigned, then the serial numbers shouldn't go higher than 350...and the #312 that i saw would still be within that range. Confusing :-)

 

Wonder what the breakdown was between Royal Crimson and Viceroy Brown...half and half?

 

Thanks for the information about #312. I too wondered if the 300 was in addition to the 50 signed. If #312 is already out I'm interested to see what # I get. I will post it on this thread when it arrives. I would be interested in knowing the color breakdown as well. I had a hard time selecting but went with the Viceroy Brown.

 

Oh - That G.I. Joe collection is really bringing back memories of my childhood! I had that Jeep, the tower, the yellow six wheeler, the command center with search light.... and much more. That is an impressive collection!!!

[RUSHian]

I hope Gibson keeps making these! I want one within a year or so.

[SolitaryPine]

The 50 signed ones were hand numbered, with Alex writing a number "23" or whatever underneath his signature. They did not have the engraved "AL XXX" type number that is on the non-signed models. So, if one is out there with AL 312 on it, that means that they have already made at least 362.

 

They have said that they made 25 of each color for the signed models, but I would guess that they are just making whatever people want with the rest of them based on orders. It seems to be like the red ones are more popular, but who knows.

[Rock2112]

Why haven't any of us owners posted a YouTube video yet playing one of these manly beasts?! We've seen Alex holding his and talking about it, and we've got plenty of boots of Alex playing them live, but I'm surprised at the lack of demos from proud owners rocking out on the Tube. I just got mine, I've been sick, those are my excuses. Eventually, I think I'll try to do the Freewill cover for the ages. But let's get busy and show the World what this guitar can do! I'm also wondering how this guitar has escaped any serious review in the guitar mags or websites.

[SolitaryPine]

Why haven't any of us owners posted a YouTube video yet playing one of these manly beasts?! We've seen Alex holding his and talking about it, and we've got plenty of boots of Alex playing them live, but I'm surprised at the lack of demos from proud owners rocking out on the Tube. I just got mine, I've been sick, those are my excuses. Eventually, I think I'll try to do the Freewill cover for the ages. But let's get busy and show the World what this guitar can do! I'm also wondering how this guitar has escaped any serious review in the guitar mags or websites.

 

This is a good idea. Except, I think, any video should be of a song that uses all the capabilities of the guitar, including of course an acoustic section with the piezo, a solo with a "pull up" Floyd section like in the Spirit of Radio, and bonus points if it has both single coil and humbucking sounds in there somewhere. Hmmm.

[Rock2112]

This is a good idea. Except, I think, any video should be of a song that uses all the capabilities of the guitar, including of course an acoustic section with the piezo, a solo with a "pull up" Floyd section like in the Spirit of Radio, and bonus points if it has both single coil and humbucking sounds in there somewhere. Hmmm.

 

 

Good add ... Presto, maybe? Before I can do that, I still need to get a footswitch for switching back and forth with the piezo. This guitar has so many options to it that I find myself overwhelmed while playing songs trying to switch around to everything I'd like to do. I figured out that, in blended mode, you can have the mag pickup selector at the neck pickup and turned to zero, play through the piezo alone, then throw the switch to the bridge pickup at 10 and do a nice transition into mag pickup mode. Then you kill the piezo in the next stage to go pure mag. Maybe you kick from a clean to a dirty channel once you go pure mag. It's a fun way to transition back and forth. But a footswitch would obviously be better. Every once in a while, I get confused about where I am, and accidentally kill the piezo while the pickup selector is still on the zero mag neck pickup. Talk about an instant buzz kill!

 

One thing I find odd, but is apparently normal behavior, is that, in the middle pickup selector position, if either mag pickup is dialed to zero, there's no sound. I got really worried the other night that this was the "odd volume pot" issue I'd vaguely heard about, but then I tried it on my LP Standard and it does the same thing. It would seem to me that, if that position is supposed to blend the two pickups, if you turn one all the way down, you'd just hear all of the other one. But if you turn either down all the way, it goes dead. Not a big deal but there are a few ways to create a very embarrassing moment for yourself onstage if you play with stuff too much and lose where you are.

 

But I am still in awe that the Lifeson LP does so many things so well. Options without sacrifices. It really is a dream guitar.

[SolitaryPine]

 

One thing I find odd, but is apparently normal behavior, is that, in the middle pickup selector position, if either mag pickup is dialed to zero, there's no sound. I got really worried the other night that this was the "odd volume pot" issue I'd vaguely heard about, but then I tried it on my LP Standard and it does the same thing. It would seem to me that, if that position is supposed to blend the two pickups, if you turn one all the way down, you'd just hear all of the other one. But if you turn either down all the way, it goes dead. Not a big deal but there are a few ways to create a very embarrassing moment for yourself onstage if you play with stuff too much and lose where you are.

 

 

Yeah, my AL Axcess and my other two Gibsons do that too.

 

I'm using two radio packs and switching between piezo and mags with my G-System. It works great, but to do blended right now I have to unplug one of the packs. I have in my head a way to set everything up to do two radio packs and blend it down stream, but I haven't bought the stuff I need for that yet.

 

Also, in case anyone is wondering, the piezo DOES bleed with two radio packs unless the kill switch is used to shut off the piezo. Because of this I am almost certainly going to rewire my guitar so the mags always go to the "regular" jack and the piezo to the "Life-O-Sound" jack, which I will do eventually once I have my gear all set up to blend downstream instead of through the guitar. Also, I may wait a full year after I've had the guitar until the electronics warranty is expired.

[Rock2112]

Yeah, my AL Axcess and my other two Gibsons do that too.

 

I'm using two radio packs and switching between piezo and mags with my G-System. It works great, but to do blended right now I have to unplug one of the packs. I have in my head a way to set everything up to do two radio packs and blend it down stream, but I haven't bought the stuff I need for that yet.

 

Also, in case anyone is wondering, the piezo DOES bleed with two radio packs unless the kill switch is used to shut off the piezo. Because of this I am almost certainly going to rewire my guitar so the mags always go to the "regular" jack and the piezo to the "Life-O-Sound" jack, which I will do eventually once I have my gear all set up to blend downstream instead of through the guitar. Also, I may wait a full year after I've had the guitar until the electronics warranty is expired.

 

I use the G System too. How do you feed the two outputs into the G? I use the infamous "four-cable" method, and it would seem that you need some form of A/B switch before the G to make that work. Right? And second question -- how well does the G-sys work with your H&Ks? I use a Marshall TSL100 -- I love the sound but it's bad with effects like chorus because it does not have a true parallel loop (chorus gets "swishy" like a flanger sound). I once tried the H&Ks and thought they sounded great, but I just couldn't give up that Marshall sound. Someday I'd like to move back to a true stereo setup with dual amps, but I'm not ready to deal with that now.

[Alex Wannabe]

They have said that they made 25 of each color for the signed models, but I would guess that they are just making whatever people want with the rest of them based on orders. It seems to be like the red ones are more popular, but who knows.

 

Seems like most of the ones that have been listed and sold on eBay have been Viceroy Brown.

[SolitaryPine]

I use the G System too. How do you feed the two outputs into the G? I use the infamous "four-cable" method, and it would seem that you need some form of A/B switch before the G to make that work. Right? And second question -- how well does the G-sys work with your H&Ks? I use a Marshall TSL100 -- I love the sound but it's bad with effects like chorus because it does not have a true parallel loop (chorus gets "swishy" like a flanger sound). I once tried the H&Ks and thought they sounded great, but I just couldn't give up that Marshall sound. Someday I'd like to move back to a true stereo setup with dual amps, but I'm not ready to deal with that now.

 

Here's how I have mine set up (also 4 cable).

 

'Regular' Output Jack -> Radio Pack 1 -> G-System Input

 

'Life-O-Sound' Output Jack -> Radio Pack 2 -> Fishman Aura Spectrum -> Loop 1 Return

 

That way, whenever you activate effect loop 1, you are effectively switching to your acoustic pickup. Another tip.. if you don't have a separate amp for acoustic, you will probably get better sound by using a patch where you turn the insert loop off and thereby bypass the pre-amp on your amp. If you don't drive your power amp tubes to saturation, you'll get a pretty decent clean sound for your acoustic sounds. Of course, you'll have to turn off the insert lock in order to have this ability and make sure you keep things straight in your presets.

 

The G works great with my H&K Switchblade. The H&K zenTera should work great, but the MIDI on my amp doesn't work. In my setup it doesn't matter, as I'm just using the power amp section in my stereo setup. So, I'm using the pre-amp of the Switchblade for both amps, basically.

[Rock2112]

Here's how I have mine set up (also 4 cable).

 

'Regular' Output Jack -> Radio Pack 1 -> G-System Input

 

'Life-O-Sound' Output Jack -> Radio Pack 2 -> Fishman Aura Spectrum -> Loop 1 Return

 

That way, whenever you activate effect loop 1, you are effectively switching to your acoustic pickup. Another tip.. if you don't have a separate amp for acoustic, you will probably get better sound by using a patch where you turn the insert loop off and thereby bypass the pre-amp on your amp. If you don't drive your power amp tubes to saturation, you'll get a pretty decent clean sound for your acoustic sounds. Of course, you'll have to turn off the insert lock in order to have this ability and make sure you keep things straight in your presets.

 

The G works great with my H&K Switchblade. The H&K zenTera should work great, but the MIDI on my amp doesn't work. In my setup it doesn't matter, as I'm just using the power amp section in my stereo setup. So, I'm using the pre-amp of the Switchblade for both amps, basically.

 

Ah! Great idea with the G. I never thought about running the piezo into a loop return. Smart. The possibilities with presets would all be there then, but I get your point about keeping the insert loop straight among presents. Thanks for the tip. Your setup with the H&Ks must sound pretty killer. Pick a good tune and post us a YouTube vid sometime soon -- would be cool to see it all in action.