Alex Lifeson / Rush / Mark V Rig Tour

[@mesaboogie]

Mesa is really proud to have any product be a part of the band RUSH... much less the Mark V, and for it's clean sounds, no less. Alex Lifeson CHOOSES the amps he wants to play on his albums and live and he chose the Mark V. LOTS of amps to choose from out there and his choice of Mark V was based on tone. The endorsement of the Mark V here is pure and as good as it gets. If he played through one of our 12AX7s much less one of our best amps ever, we'd be just as thrilled to be a part of it.

[@tomulator]

Mark V's are fantastic! So are Mesa's Royal Atlantic heads...Alex should check into those as well. Thanks Mesa for always LEADING and never following!

[@Reite07]

Thanks MESA for sharing! Actually got my first MESA this year at Long & McQuade A (used) Studio .22 + , and just love it...hands down Thanks again MESA for the video

[@DVTOM]

When Mr' Lifeson says use the ultimate high gain monster crunch amp Mesa Boogie Mark V for clean sounds you use it for clean sounds with no questions asked.......remember that newbies!

[@gab_ale]

Mark V only for cleans... I'm going to cry. The Mark V is a beast of versatility.

[@kreepthedestroyer]

Dude I hear you. I guess I'm guilty aswell. MarkV for everything my 6505 for brutal. Sad but true

[@richardhighsmith]

gab True, but the Lerxst is a customized Silver Jubilee and closer to his main guitar sound for years.

[@Rushftw27]

ok so they've done an interview with alex's guitar tech, they've done one with neil's drum tech, when are they gonna do one with geddy's bass/synth tech? that would be sick

[@OrangeCountyCarl]

I went digital for a couple of years...sometimes use an Eleven Rack. I went back to tubes (Mark V head) this past year because tubes have a more punchy and natural sound. The digital stuff has been retired for home practice and recording. The majority of pros still use tubes live.

[@mikesvideostuff]

but i thought Bubbles was Alex's guitar tech!

[@appleroger]

Very interesting video. I have one doubt though. What does they do with the powered outputs of the amp? Isn't it supposed that any valve amp should have the speakers connected when powered up?

[@OrangeCountyCarl]

I bought my Mark V head this past year. Obviously, Alex (somehow) caught wind of that and decided a Mark V was great for his rig, too. :-D

[@alexmurphy5289]

When you have 40 years of progressive music this is what you need

[@Janesch]

He's Alex Lifeson, he can do whatever he wants. It'll always sound awesome!

[@mesaboogie]

Thanks, Gabriel. Being that you're not in the US, calling is less likely but always the best way for the kinds of question(s) you have. But you can email us at info [at ] mesaboogie [dot] com with questions and we should be able to help. Thanks again for the comment as it's a legit observation. Hopefully on the next vid Alex's rig will be all Boogie and maybe even some Geddy gear will be Boogie!

[@curcumin417]

I think Lifeson's best tone was on the 'counterparts' and 'test for echo' albums - especially the clean 'lead' tone; ala leave that thing alone, and resist solo.

[@nkmcfrln]

And you're a fucking nerd.

[@sbrave]

Never saw him using Mesa's before...sweet. Yes, strange he's not using the dirty channels. Looks like he got rid of the TC G Force's as well. Are those Lerxst heads Marshall Jubilees?

[@smoovegittar]

I'm running a Les Paul Standard through the clean channel on my Dual Recto....... it really has a great tone when it's kicked up a bit.

[@KyleCarrington]

Funny. Alex's clean sound is by far and away my favorite part of his sound LOL. Never been a real huge fan of his dirty sound...

[@alexm2623]

I can't reply to a lot of the comments down below. The Lerxst head is a modified Marshall Jubilee. Alex uses amps instead of digital because he plays old school - with the volume at 7.5 or 8 on the guitar. If he plays harder or turns it to 10 it overdrives the sound more because that's what tube amps just do. When he backs of playing so hard the sound cleans up a little - can't do this digitally worth crap yet, but it's very close. No cabinets are used so they don't have to mic them on stage and get leaking sound. Even when Alex DID have huge stacks of cabinets he kept volume very low - just high enough that he could get feedback if he got close. The loudest thing on stage was always Neil. His rig looks complicated, but half the stuff in there is for redundancy in case something breaks and pieces needed to run many wireless guitars through the same rig without downtown while the tech unplugs stuff and plugs it back in. He's been running his rig this way since A Farewell to Kings, though obviously with some more modern equipment like the Fractal. It's very simple: Guitar > Receiver > Wah > amp switcher > amp > AxeFX (effects loop) > speaker emulator > soundboard. Same way you'd run if you used 10 pedals instead of 1 AxeFX, just replace the Fractal in that signal with all your pedals and voila! OLD SCHOOL.Geddy is going bass > wireless receiver > then to a splitter that sends his signal to 4 different places. 1 goes to the Orange head, then to a speaker emulator. Another goes straight into a Palmer. Another goes into a SansAmp RPM, and the last goes to an Avalon DI. Those 4 signals are blended together at the sound board and that's it. Both have VERY simple rigs that date back to the 70's. Chris Squire of Yes and Billy Sheehan were also splitting the bass line into separate signals into separate amps way back when along with Geddy. That's how all those guys got that growly tone.

[@a_single_white_female]

Wait, your saying his physical guitar's volume knob is at a 7.5 or 8? Wouldn't that attenuate the high frequencies like crazy? Or are you saying 7.5 - 8 on the guitar AMPLIFIER?

[@alexm2623]

Oh, and YES to your questions about frequency. When tone is 10, the volume knob essentially acts a gain knob. Rolling off the volume from ten does cause you to lose higher frequencies until you go back to 10. That's why most MODERN guitarists put everything at 10 and just use a volume pedal/other effects for dynamics and overdrive. For these people, how hard you play doesn't do much for dynamics in the same way a solid-state doesn't change overdrive based on how hard you play. You get better tone, but it anchors you to your pedal board the whole show.

[@a_single_white_female]

Alex M How do you know Lifeson does all this? I can see if he would roll off the volume to get some clean tones perhaps. But I find it somewhat hard to believe he would keep the volume rolled off all of the time.

[@alexm2623]

I've been to several dozen live Rush shows and have watched all the blu-rays a LOT. He always goes to 10 for solos and for important guitar parts that he wants to cut through, then he'll roll it back off slightly with his right pinky finger. A lot of times he'll trigger the piezo and coreblade at the same time too, which is for maximally cutting through. Even if he's playing crazy fast or dirty arpeggios it comes through clear as mud. As a guitar junkie I'm always watching when he hits a pedal, or adjusts a knob. But Alex talks about it himself all the time. He's said it in at least 100 interviews. Here's the first one that popped when I Googled for it, but there's TONS more out there if you go looking. www.2112.net/powerwindows/transcripts/20070900guitarplayer.htm It's what Jimmy Page, Clapton, and Townshend did, and Alex kind of stole all the techniques of those original guitar guys. Using the Dunlop Wah as the master volume, and rolling the bridge volume back a little cleans it up just a smidge and lets him really get some dynamic contrast without having to run over to the pedal board. Very 70s, very tube-ampy.You gotta remember, he's trying to sound like 3-4 guitarists up there, but it's just little old him.

[@a_single_white_female]

This is really great information man, thanks for sharing. I got up close at one Rush show myself, but I was on Geddy's side. Not that I'm complaining. My two favorite guitar tones are Alex's classic tones and Townshend's Who's Next/Quadrophenia tones.

[@andycardillo9167]

Wow, what a complicated set-up... I'm definentley diggin the mark v, & the Axe fx II's, I want one for my tripl rec. so bad!

[@themodernguitarist]

Given that it's easier to dial in, more consistent, and less stuff to carry around, I think it's a good idea.

[@CSXer]

I miss the old wall of HiWatts...

[@rkl17]

They call Neil "The Professor", but I honestly think that Alex is the true genius. He LOVES to experiemnt with technology. Alex stays ahead of the curve - he's using Fractals for effects... My question is - why bother using amps at all? He's already abandoned using cabs, and for good reason. SO hasn't Geddy, hence the chicken fryolators, etc. But seriously - I own both the Mesa Mark V and the Eleven Rack - And I would be comfortable with either on stage, but the rack mount makes life easier

[@rkl17]

As a very happy owner of a MESA Mark V, I can say that I agree with Mesa's comments above - Yes, they should be very happy to be a part of Lifeson's rig. Why? - Because Alex employs THE BEST of everything! Mesa, Hughes & Kettner, Fractal, Audio Technica, PRS and Gibson guitars.... Except he uses the Dunlop Cry Baby Wah.... Alex - If you ever read this, try the Geoffrey Teese wah pedals. They smoke anything Dunlop delivers, not because Dunlop are bad, but the Teese pedals are that good.

[@rkl17]

I know... :-( That's exactly what I thought. But I read a recent article where Alex stated that he was just starting to learn about his Mark V. It is an extremely versatile animal, and perhaps he has only learned how to use Channel One so far. I think that once he explores the entire amp and all of it's capabilities, he'll set it to Channel Three, 10 Watts, Class A, and drive the tubes into submission!

[@prsplayer210]

the lerxst amp is a silver jubilee clone if anyone is wondering

[@GabrielKlute]

I thought Ricky from Trailer Park Boys was his guitar tech.

[@jlarsena]

I never saw Ricky with them, but Bubbles did.

[@RaspySquares]

geddy is using orange amplifiers

[@rushbum]

i thought he uses hughes and kettner?

[@rockhouse90]

everyone's been getting their hands on a mark v these days.....I need to get crackin and get my own mark v that I've wanted since it came out....

[@beatamichael]

Is it me or do you find that some of these musicians effects/amp rigs are just too overly complex. I'm not saying musicians shouldn't use and experiment with different sound outputs but dam can you imagine how much time Alex and his crew spend on sound processing? Anyway Alex and the band are awesome IMO.

[@miller434]

bb king rig tour...umm here's my guitar, cord, and amp...done...

[@kthulhu32]

Is it just me or are guitarists these days making their rigs overly complicated? I know Rush has a huge catalog but holy shit! I'd need 5 years and a Harvard degree to figure out how to run that!

[@rickfeith6372]

hmm.....yes and no. This rig is just utter nonsense to me. Seriously.....at least 3 laptops? Why would you need to run weak ass Guitar Rig software. Okay....UA makes GREAT plugins, but thats just not knowing how to use your gear to the max. The Fractal has all that covered. Just nonsense. And a sure fire way to not EVER have his rig. But to answer your question, take a look at Petrucci's rigs through the years. He has gone from a $60k rig with 4 amps and 50 rack units down to a pair of Mark V's with an Axe Fx in the loop of one feeding the FX return of the 2nd with a remote pedalboard that hits the front end of the amp with his favorite Overdrive of the week. And a Crybaby Rackmount in front of the amp as well. Translation.....normal folks can have a JP rig. Which is more diverse than this and SO MUCH SIMPLER to use.

[@alexm2623]

+kthulhu32 I don't think you guys understand what you're looking at. This is one of the most simple old school ways to run a rig. He's using the Wah as the freakin' volume! That's shit out of the 70s! Goes from guitar to wireless receiver. From there to a funnel (because Alex switches guitars often and there's no time to keep manually changing the wireless signal). The funnel combines all 8 wireless signal into 1 single "out." From there into the Wah. From there to Mesa switcher. This piece lets Alex use his pedals out front to turn on and off the various amps, so it splits here to go to the dirty amp, the clean amp, the H&K, and Mainstage. He uses mainstage only for a couple really funky sounds that were on Clockwork Angels. Easy examples are the songs Carnies, Territories, and Clockwork Angels. The separate signals then go to speaker emulators - which digitally gives the sound of a big 4x12 marshall mic'd on stage. From those straight to the mix board to be combined by the audio guy for what needs to be heard. Additionally, the 1/4 goes from the Lerxst and Mesa amp into another funnel, and then straight into the AxeFX, where all the effects are added in. This way he can use all his effects with both clean and dirty. He also has his ancient TC 1210 wired into the effects loop of the AxeFX (it gives the flange sound at the beginning of Spirit of Radio, for example). It's rigged this way so he can have stereo effects. He can make sounds come from stage right or left depending on what he wants. Then it goes to the front of house. His acoustic pickups have a separate wireless pack (he has two outputs on his guitar if you look) that go to the receiver, then get funneled into one signal just like the electric, and go into the AxeFX, which digitally gives the acoustic sound. This goes to front of house to be mixed in as well. The extra laptops and amps are just there for redundancies sake in case something blows - Scott hits one button and switches the signal over to the backup amps with hopefully only a couple seconds of downtime. And Scott did set the AxeFX backup up with many of the sounds of Apple mainstage just in case, but it can't be made to do ALL the weird patches Alex uses on CA stuff. If everything failed on that rig, he could still get all his effects and play solely through the AxeFX. It's designed for when shit hits the fan, but obviously isn't going to sound as good the original stuff, but it's damn close. TL;DR - Guitar > Receiver > Wah > amp switcher > amp > AxeFX (effects loop) > speaker emulator > soundboard. Done and simple as hell. If you think this is nuts, look up just about any other guitar rig. You ever seen Red Hot Chili Peppers live rig? HA! Look at how Robert Plant ran his stuff - almost exactly like this. Guitar > Wah > to switcher > to amp > to effects loop and back > to cabinet > to FOH. It's the old school way of thinking and playing. Alex even rolls his volume down to 7.5 or 8 on the guitar so he can crank it to 10 for solos and start getting some spit off his amps.

[@rickfeith6372]

Sorry dude....I am a gear guy, and there is nothing "simple" about it. It took you a full page to explain

[@alexm2623]

I left out one other important thing about why he wires it up in this way. The in-ear monitor gets a wet and dry sound from Alex to mix in the bands' monitors however they want. Neil and Geddy don't want to hear Alex's chorus and delay, they just want pure, straight-ahead guitar so they can stay in time. Alex has his monitors set up kind of unusually as well. His left ear gets dry guitar, and his right ear gets all the effects just like the audience but it is on an 8 ms delay.

[@rickfeith6372]

Not simple. Highly complex and A TON of failure points for things to go wrong. And any rig with a Fractal is modern. The trick to simplifying is to 5 cable method the Axe Fx to a pair of killer amps...like a Mark V and use the INCREDIBLE effects section inside the Axe Fx for everything else, out front and in the loop Thats a "simple" stereo rig with SERIOUS potential for everything from Floyd & Dream Theater to Garth Brooks & Lil Wayne.

[@prsplayer210]

not anymore, its called alex lifeson disease he changes his rig every tour and sometimes multiple times a tour

[@jaiullu1]

And I thought Tremonti's rig was excessive....

[@lespaulguy32]

I love you :D

[@nogoogleplus]

wow, no cabs on stage....I wouldn't dig that at all...

[@skaboosh]

Palmer Speaker Simulators

[@vogaqq]

His guitar tech looks like Alex himself!

[@nkmcfrln]

What sort of drugs are you on?

[@RingoFreakingStarr]

Wait a second...he has mark V's but doesn't use them for a dirty sound...?

[@ThomasVammenJensen]

use a mic next time.

[@plexilespaul]

using guitar rig...where are we going with this??????gggeeeeezzzzeeee

[@smoovegittar]

Gone are the days of pushing air through 8 12's........... but not for me!

[@claychandler3468]

Way too much shit my God the early days had a very straightforward Style with all this digital shit

[@Swanlord05]

No guitar cabs= fake tone