Alex Lifeson Lerxst Limelight Review

sick pickle

sick pickle

Inspired
I got to try one of these with the Vega trem the other day. There was one in stock, signed by Alex (I think that is the first 150 that were signed?). I asked the young man to pull it off the wall for me...and I went to town. Plugged into an amp and started riffing and soloing my way through the guitar.

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It was very very fun to play. I love the Gibson style switching. I didn't get to play the Vega trem as the bar was packed away with the case.

What I liked:
  • The neck felt slim and fast - the 12" radius was great. The action and setup felt superb. Really slim and sleek feeling.
  • The weight feels great - a bit of heft but not too bad.
  • The bridge PU really cut and spanked as I was riffing away.
  • The fret ends and fingerboard seemed really great, but not 'top tier'.

What I disliked:
  • The price. I mean, $4999 CAD is Gibson custom shop or PRS Core territory.
  • Some of the higher bends felt a 'tad' stratchy or stiff, despire the flat radius and the nice looking frets. Not sure how to explain this one.
  • It felt just like a sexier strat - which I know is what it is. But, you are kind of left feeling "maybe I should just buy a used strat and put the pre wired PU set in it?"
  • The neck PU seemed a bit to mellow (for my taste) compared to the middle/bridge, but could easily be fixed with raising (maybe?)
All in all, I was super happy to have demoed this thing. I would love to own this guitar, but I just can't afford it. I think if it was $2999 I prob would have walked out with it, but in the current state it is out of my reach for what this guitar is at the end of the day. I am a big time Rush / Lifeson fan - I would love to own it for the exclusivity factor...but will have to pass this one by!
 
sick pickle said:
I got to try one of these with the Vega trem the other day. There was one in stock, signed by Alex (I think that is the first 150 that were signed?). I asked the young man to pull it off the wall for me...and I went to town. Plugged into an amp and started riffing and soloing my way through the guitar.

View attachment 142001View attachment 142002View attachment 142003

It was very very fun to play. I love the Gibson style switching. I didn't get to play the Vega trem as the bar was packed away with the case.

What I liked:
  • The neck felt slim and fast - the 12" radius was great. The action and setup felt superb. Really slim and sleek feeling.
  • The weight feels great - a bit of heft but not too bad.
  • The bridge PU really cut and spanked as I was riffing away.
  • The fret ends and fingerboard seemed really great, but not 'top tier'.

What I disliked:
  • The price. I mean, $4999 CAD is Gibson custom shop or PRS Core territory.
  • Some of the higher bends felt a 'tad' stratchy or stiff, despire the flat radius and the nice looking frets. Not sure how to explain this one.
  • It felt just like a sexier strat - which I know is what it is. But, you are kind of left feeling "maybe I should just buy a used strat and put the pre wired PU set in it?"
  • The neck PU seemed a bit to mellow (for my taste) compared to the middle/bridge, but could easily be fixed with raising (maybe?)
All in all, I was super happy to have demoed this thing. I would love to own this guitar, but I just can't afford it. I think if it was $2999 I prob would have walked out with it, but in the current state it is out of my reach for what this guitar is at the end of the day. I am a big time Rush / Lifeson fan - I would love to own it for the exclusivity factor...but will have to pass this one by!
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Yeah, for that $$$ I would wan’t a custom Charvel to my exact specs.
 
Leaving aside the Lifeson connection and his tone history, do you have any sense of how that pickup set would work for a general purpose strat?

I like the idea of single coils and a humbucker with their outputs matched, since an overpowering bridge pickup always bothers me about HSS guitars. OTOH, I don't want a 3 position switch. Why? Those positions also exist on a 5 position switch, and I like all 5 positions.

The guitar itself is a lot of money, and I'm not chasing his tones, like at all, but there some interesting ideas there.
 
Dave Merrill said:
Leaving aside the Lifeson connection and his tone history, do you have any sense of how that pickup set would work for a general purpose strat?

I like the idea of single coils and a humbucker with their outputs matched, since an overpowering bridge pickup always bothers me about HSS guitars. OTOH, I don't want a 3 position switch. Why? Those positions also exist on a 5 position switch, and I like all 5 positions.

The guitar itself is a lot of money, and I'm not chasing his tones, like at all, but there some interesting ideas there.
Click to expand...
It seemed pretty hot to me - very crisp, lots of sparkle, and cut. That's really all I got! I am not a Strat PU guy, I am not a fan of position 2/4 - hence this wiring and config really floating my boat!
 
Cool review man!

I think these types of guitars are for the diehard fan and that's fine! Nothing wrong with wanting to have something one of your guitar heros had a hand in recreating to make a little money with. I tend to be pretty picky with signature stuff tried it a few times but never really bonded with them. I totally agree on the money issue that is a large chunk of cash to part with for something you can mod a Strat with for $3-400!
 
I love seeing a production guitar with a VegaTrem, but I can't wrap my mind around the price. I would've loved to know your take on the trem! The only other production guitar, which is really not a production guitar but made to order, with a VegaTrem that I'm aware of, is the Kiesel Greg Howe Lyra. Anyway, very cool you got to feel this thing for yourself. I can't imagine we'll be seeing these in a ton of stores.
 
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