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!
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
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.
$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.
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!!!
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.
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!!
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!
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
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.
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.
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 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?
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
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...
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!
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
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'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.
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!
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.
@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.
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.
While it certainly could be a signal processor me thinks it is a decoration left over from the Steam Punk theme. He didn't have it before and does not have it in his pedal board now. Neil Peart has vacuum tube things on his drum riser.
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
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 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!
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.
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
I've used the SansAmp Bassdriver DI Box before and even it by itself (playing a Fender Precision ) could deliver a very close growl similar to the "Counterparts" -era bass tones Geddy had. I think that the true tone start in the player himself when it comes down to it, so you won't sound exactly like him, but that would be a good start.
Where's the white double-neck SG? Pretty sure they played Xanadu on that tour...didnt they? What he does with it on the intro...with the volume pedal?...easily top 10 rock guitar moment
I think Geddy switched to Orange recently because that's what the website uses (could be wrong), but I checked out the SansAmp RBI. It looks pretty promising, and it's reasonably priced enough to buy. As far as the Trace Elliot goes, how much of an influence on his sound do you think THAT has over his SansAmp? I ask because there's no fucking way I'm going to be able to afford that Trace Elliot.
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.
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!
clinke2007 One iconic Progressive Rock band to another
You forgot the best. Dancing wit the moonlitknite
Oh nvm it wouldnt let me read more omg xD
I was noticing that too. I love all those songs.
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
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.
The last note of the Limelight solo is epic enough to be processed by a dedicated head.
$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.
He was renting guitars and amps before A Farewell to Kings.
I’m glad he went back to Gibson there is no others. Glad he shelved the PRS
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.
He's not underrated to guitar players, but I guess he would be to someone who can barely grasp the concept of proper grammar...
@@heathercollins4432 How about the needlessly supercilious, such as yourself?
you should totally do a RR of Geddy Lee...
d34n1097 They should've
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.
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!!
And Kansas, apparently .
I remember hearing a fair bit of Deep Purple too, during the pre-show on the Time Machine tour. Pleasant surprise, that.
I've watch every single rig rundown and related video in existence, and i think alex lifeson's is the most complicated.
that last note of Limelight is legendary!
Alex needs a damn traffic cop to route his signal.
Nothing like Living Color
He has a separate amp for one note. This is insane
Perfection and money
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!
Words you will never hear from Alex's tech; "It's a pretty simple set up".
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
My favorite Rig Rundown so far. That's because I love RUSH!!!!
I like how Jethro Tull's "Aqualung" is playing in the background to one of the greatest prog rock bands in the world.
Aqualung, Kansas, and Cross Eyed Mary! YES
She did a good job. She did what more interviewers should do (but don't) and let the expert talk.
She actually seemed to know what she was talking about, too. They should bring Rebecca back.
he has a whole another amp head for one note of limelight? did i hear that right....??
***** When you want something to sound just right, you'll go to any lengths to make it happen.
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.
Andrew Monias A bit of spinal tap excess. It's easy for such ridiculousness to creep into a touring act's setup.
HOW, is it "ridiculous" ...?
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.
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).
Please explain since they have played together since the late 60's????
@@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?
This lady and the other one that talks about basses at Thomman are a dream of every musician
No, not *my* dream! x-))
Very well done. This man knows his stuff
Finally a Guitar Tech that KNOWS what he's talking about. Haven't seen one of those in a long time.
All this inboard gear is mindblowing! Ah, the days of a simple MK II and some pedals...
One of the greatest guitarists in history
Alex's guitar tech definitely knows his stuff!!! Very cool rig rundown! :)
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..
Fitting that Genesis, Dancing with the Moonlit Night was closing out the interview for me, my two favorite bands ever
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...
CARRY ON MY WAYWARD SONAHHHON -Love having Kansas in the background! Got a bit distracted by it though
They should have had the guitar tech for a day BUBBLES do the interview
That would be fuckin DECENT!
De hee hee hee cent!
rush is so nice about sharing their rig with everybody
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!
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
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.
They keep playing influential prog rock songs.
This rig is like friggin' mission control... so much stuff!
@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)
11:00 you can hear "dancing with the moonlite knight"
Edoardo Papa I was just going to wright this XD
+Edoardo Papa Love Aqualung at the start as well :3
Genesis and Rush are my favorite bands this is great
i like to pretend I know what they're talking about.
haha same
i wish i knew what they're talking about
I like to pretend I care about anything other than watching Rebecca.
@@omnipop4936 lol
Shout out to Garrison Mandolin! Wooooo!
😆 I’m still pretending
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.
I thought the Gibson EDS 1275 would be in this video as well...
5:39 onwards could have been done in about 5 seconds.........
"Alex plugs his guitars into the Large Hadron Collider"
🤣🤣🤣🤣
Aqualung my friend!!
Just a note on that 52 reissue Tele, It has brass replacement bridge saddles. Definately not stock!
I hear Genesis in the background near the end of the video!! Steve Hackett and Alex Lifeson are my favorite guitarists!
The fractal is just a backup!
Yesssssss!!!
"that's it in a nutshell"
Yeah, pretty freaking big and complicated nutshell!!
This band makes me happy and proud to be Canadian, most specifically Toronto :D
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!
I hope Premier Guitar is going to do a Rig Rundown for the current RUSH tour.
Actually Neil Peart selects the playlist/music that's played before the concert starts. Read that somewhere..
Rebecca is the Hottest Rig Rundown interviewer!!!
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.
I would love to see those Fractal settings he uses. For Limelight, I use a Electro-Harmonix Freeze pedal for the "infinite note".
Excellent interview!
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.
can we have a Mark Knopfler Rig Rundown....
Highly underated player!
Genesis "Selling England By The Pound" is also playing in the background.
Can't believe he's using those Palmer Speaker Sims! I used to have one in the eighties I think...
Aqualung is playing in the background!
@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.
Ok seriously how did Geddy Lee get left out of this rig rundown?? Does not compute ._.
he doesn't use a rig. sans amp geddy lee pre in ear monitors. i do the same
general mayhem he also has at least three basses and keyboards
He doesn’t really run a rig, it’s just Ged’s crazy fingers-Bass-sansamp-front of house.
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.
Great as all PG works...why did not you do a video on Geddy´s rig??....just wondering....
Sanson101 Premier Guitar... not Premier Bass :)
they have done videos on Flea, Myung, Stanley, Marcus, Wooten, Beller...no guitar players either I Think.....
Sanson101 it was a joke man. Relax
JgHaverty mine was too!...I just want to see Rebecca!
+JgHaverty Technically it's still guitar, hence the name bass guitar. It's not an upright bass or anything like that. :)
where's alex lifeson, i don't see no alex lifeson! just scott appleton who also works for def leppard's phil collen
8:15 - Sadly the volume controls only go up to 10. Won't get them that extra push over the cliff. A band this good needs the 11...one louder!
For what does he use that tube thing on his pedalboard???? 10:26
While it certainly could be a signal processor me thinks it is a decoration left over from the Steam Punk theme. He didn't have it before and does not have it in his pedal board now. Neil Peart has vacuum tube things on his drum riser.
@jacobdallen1 they brought back the neck heel , for 2011 called neck pattern regular
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
@amarr11
The new '52 reissue has that stock. Plus no ashtray bridge and has tone bypass, I think.
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.
Great gear tour ! Anybody noticed Carry On Wayward Son in the background ?
lol 2 of my favourite songs in the background!
nice Genesis, Dancing with the Moonlit Knight in the background.
A tour of his pedalboard would be mind blowing
The pickup in the sunburst prs (my favorite) for the tone, is a fernandes pickup, NOT A FERNANDES SUSTAINER.
It's not just a Sans-amp. It's a Sansamp RPM pre-amp and an Orange Amp.
Best drinking game: take a shot every time the tech says "so"....
He doesn't answer to you or anyone else. He plays what he wants, how he wants, and when he wants to play it.
@TruthSurge He used a GK rack preamp sometime during the 80's. Not sure exactly when though.
@Glockenator maybe that was his more sunburst coloured 335?
This dude is an awesome guitar tech.
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!
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.
Brilliant selection of background music.
Wow alex has got an axe fx! He's so up to date on his gear... awesome!
just seeing this because of Rebecca
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
I've used the SansAmp Bassdriver DI Box before and even it by itself (playing a Fender Precision ) could deliver a very close growl similar to the "Counterparts" -era bass tones Geddy had. I think that the true tone start in the player himself when it comes down to it, so you won't sound exactly like him, but that would be a good start.
Wow. nice gear!!! From mtw - jam night guitars in L.A.
Where's the white double-neck SG? Pretty sure they played Xanadu on that tour...didnt they? What he does with it on the intro...with the volume pedal?...easily top 10 rock guitar moment
I've watched a bunch of rig videos and most of the time I'm like "wtf is all this stuff?"
I think Geddy switched to Orange recently because that's what the website uses (could be wrong), but I checked out the SansAmp RBI. It looks pretty promising, and it's reasonably priced enough to buy. As far as the Trace Elliot goes, how much of an influence on his sound do you think THAT has over his SansAmp? I ask because there's no fucking way I'm going to be able to afford that Trace Elliot.
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.
I found it all very illuminating, but there was something I didn't understand: What is this pie-zo they keep referring to?