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Alex Lifeson and his Les Pauls : Gibson kick-backs ?


CajunBlues

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Posted

I saw Rush last summer... Great concert... And ALex is one of my favorite guitar players... as far as playing and writing... One thing I noticed was that he played like 6 or 7 different les pauls during the concert Some standards and some customs... All different finishs also... Sunbursts and black mostly...

 

Do you think he plays all these les pauls because he is getting kick backs from Gibson... Or does he simply prefer the les paul... or a little bit of both ?

Posted

I think the prevailing notion is that Gibson would be glad to put some nice Les Pauls in his hands if he'll agree to use them onstage for all the world to see.

 

Assume it costs Gibson $1,000 to produce a Les Paul he likes.

If he uses it enough to inspire 25 new guitar sales during the Rush tour - it paid off.

 

If those guys then become Gibson buyers in the future, getting more LP's the odd SG or EDS-1275...

Posted

I'll wager it is a combination of different tunings, and the different sounds he can achieve using each guitar. Their music is typically very complex for a 3 piece band, so it would make more sense to me to have guitars set up for the various sounds he needs.

 

 

Of course, that dovetails nicely with my my whole "guitars are like artists brushes for sound" theory, too....

Posted

I saw the tour opener in Atlanta, June 2007. Alex did have some tuned differently for different songs - "Circumstances," for example, was a lower tuning. Geddy can't reach those notes anymore!

 

Some guitars had Floyds. This really got me jonesing for a Floyd LP.

 

He used a PRS for one song only that night, and I heard that within a week or two later the PRS was phased out in favor of a Les Paul for whatever song that was (I forget).

Posted
I saw the tour opener in Atlanta' date=' June 2007. Alex did have some tuned differently for different songs - "Circumstances," for example, was a lower tuning. Geddy can't reach those notes anymore![/quote']

 

WOW, Circumstances! I LOVE that song!!![-X

and Hemispheres is possibly my favourite Rush record ever ...

well, after 2112, actually ... O:)

Posted

i think alex has a few with floyd roses too. and i was in the guitar center and they had a les paul with a floyd rose and where the neck joined the body it was blended in smooth with no bump. it had the back route too for the spring cavity> interesting> not my taste but interesting> i havent seen a les paul with a whammy in a looonnnnggg time>

i know he used to play customs for a long time so maybe he just went back to the best guitars ever made >

Posted

 

WOW' date=' Circumstances! I LOVE that song!!!=D>

and Hemispheres is possibly my favourite Rush record ever ...

well, after 2112, actually ... :) [/quote']

 

The very first cassettes I bought ... 2112 and Hemispheres!

Posted
No Rick Nielson ????

I think you need to listen to more Rush tracks... they don't just do 16th and 32nd notes on old British Punk type tracks.

 

you need a refresher in reading comprehension.

Posted
If those guys then become Gibson buyers in the future' date=' getting more LP's the odd SG or EDS-1275...[/quote']

 

And then join the Gibson Forum and get caught up in all the GAS around here... :)

Posted
The very first cassettes I bought ... 2112 and Hemispheres!

 

My first cassette was "All the World's a Stage" - still one of my favorite Rush recordings. I think that was during Alex's Les Paul stage wasn't it?

Posted
you need a refresher in reading comprehension.

 

Ahh you were stating # of guitars on stage.

According to Rush's site Alex has 13 guitars on stage during the current tour.

Rick on the other hand (I could only find a 2003 article) states that he no longer uses 20 guitars on stage and is now down to 15 per show. http://gc.guitarcenter.com/interview/ricknielsen/

 

 

(and I haven't included Rick's 5 neck guitar; Rick: I think we had like 50 guitars in the studio the last time we recorded)

Posted

 

My first cassette was "All the World's a Stage" - still one of my favorite Rush recordings. I think that was during Alex's Les Paul stage wasn't it?

 

Well, sort of...He used a '74 Les Paul Standard with a tobacco finish for the All the World's a Stage tour, but he used an ES-335 on the first four albums. After that he switched to his now famous white ES-355 for a while and then used different guitars from Moving Pictures forward. It was great seeing him go nearly all Gibson on the last tour. He claims that he wanted to be more traditional. I couldn't agree more.

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