Any tips for achieving an 80s Alex Lifeson Rush tone?

Stringtheorist

Stringtheorist

Fractal Fanatic
I'm specifically trying to create a "Hold Your Fire" era Alex Lifeson tone. I'm finding the hardest part is EQing the amp properly to get that really sparkly sound on top without the highs being piercing. I'm also not sure which is the best amp model to use for this. I've tried all the clean/semi-clean amp models and so far the AC30 TB seems to be working best but it's not quite there. Anyone know how I can get the low register notes to drive harder without the higher notes becoming distorted? Would a Multiband Compressor block help here?

I can post my preset if anyone wants to check it out.
 
mesaboog said:
There is a current thread on this: http://forum.fractalaudio.com/axe-fx-ii-preset-exchange/45023-rush-patch-thread.html
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Thanks... I know, I've been following the thread but it isn't specifically about 80s Rush tones and no one who's contributed to that thread has yet posted any presets or advice useful to me. I downloaded Dancing Frog's presets but they all sounded horrible through my rig, guitars and ears. Since I find this is always the case when downloading other users' presets I prefer some advice which will help me to dial it in on my own.
 
I'm in a Rush Tribute band, and I've covered a LOT of songs from old to new, and I really believe the Hold Your Fire guitar tones are the hardest ones to get. I've only had the Axe Fx for a few weeks and have been frantically been rebuilding my Lerxt sounds but am still working on the HYF tones. We just added Mission to the setlist and man, those tones are tough to nail down.
 
BDer said:
I'm in a Rush Tribute band, and I've covered a LOT of songs from old to new, and I really believe the Hold Your Fire guitar tones are the hardest ones to get. I've only had the Axe Fx for a few weeks and have been frantically been rebuilding my Lerxt sounds but am still working on the HYF tones. We just added Mission to the setlist and man, those tones are tough to nail down.
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Neat...any clips or video of your tribute band?
Do you do In The Mood?
 
You know, the variety of tones he used, particularly around that time, are just not easy to achieve. I'd love to take some time to mess around with it.

What amp or amps, and effects was he using? I've focused more on his earlier tones.
 
pima1234 said:
You know, the variety of tones he used, particularly around that time, are just not easy to achieve. I'd love to take some time to mess around with it.

What amp or amps, and effects was he using? I've focused more on his earlier tones.
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Here's a good post I've referenced over the years on this topic. Alex Lifeson Hold Your Fire/Presto clean tones...what's the secret? [Archive] - The Gear Page.

The originator of that thread, Analogkid85, has been helpful to me with some advice, but he doesn't have an AFX. I think he lurks here some, but he is also pretty active on HRI. Even with his advice and a Freddy Gabresek Hentor replica, I haven't been able to get these tones where I want them. He told me he has some good presets for a Lexicon MX200, I've thought about getting one just to dissect those presets...
 
There was a lot of processing going on at that time. Getting away from his more traditional tones to fit with the times, and work better with all of Ged's keyboard work.

I need to go back and revisit those CDs, with a good pair of headphones.
 
Did you try out the Grace Under Pressure era preset as a starting point?

Since he was using a similar rig around that time, it might be better to mod that than trying to start from scratch.
 
Stringtheorist said:
I'm specifically trying to create a "Hold Your Fire" era Alex Lifeson tone. I'm finding the hardest part is EQing the amp properly to get that really sparkly sound on top without the highs being piercing. I'm also not sure which is the best amp model to use for this. I've tried all the clean/semi-clean amp models and so far the AC30 TB seems to be working best but it's not quite there. Anyone know how I can get the low register notes to drive harder without the higher notes becoming distorted? Would a Multiband Compressor block help here?

I can post my preset if anyone wants to check it out.
Click to expand...

Sure, I'd like to check it out. thx
 
Tone Collector said:
Sure, I'd like to check it out. thx
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I believe he actually changed rigs for Hold Your Fire to a Gallien Kruger Solid State amp with (4) 2x12 cabinets, driven by other slave power amps. The other key to Hold Your Fire's tone is the Signature guitar's active pickups. So much so, that Alex had one fitted into one of his Gibsons, for Time Stand Still. It's going to give you the highs you are looking for.

Prior to that change, he had been using tube amps. During Signals/Grace era, it was (4) combo amps loaded with 2x12's. Maybe Dean Markleys.
 
Here's a video montage of a show we did back in May....



This was pre-Axe-FX so I've spent a lot of time trying to rebuild and improve on the patches.

Also here's a demo of The Trees we're still trying to polish up, this one with the Axe-FX:



Bill
 
Some new Rush Patches

Here's a couple new patches I built....

View attachment Working Man.syx
View attachment Rush Clean with Dirt.syx

Working Man is, well, Working Man :)

The other one works really well for various Alex parts such as Natural Science (after the acoustic intro), The Trees (middle section), The Camera Eye (During the 'They seem oblivious.." part), etc. I almost always use it with the neck pickup, coil-tapped.

Bill
 
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Thanks for sharing the patches, BDer. Your band sounds great & great guitar playing too. Good variety of tunes as well. I think your old Xanadu & Show Don't Tell clean/chorus sound isn't too far off of the Hold Your Fire sound, IMO. We're doing Time Stand Still, so I'll be working on getting the HYF sound soon too. I agree that the Evans pickups are a huge part of it. From what I've read in interviews, he ditched the Dean Markley amps and actually used a JCM800 for that album. But like probably all of their albums, the guitar sounds are a blend of several guitar tracks. Both in the studio and live for that tour he had a direct guitar signal included in the mix, which I think contributes a lot to the sound. The closest I've gotten to that sound so far is by using a preset that combined my normal dirt amp (Friedman BE I think) in one row of the grid and an acoustic sound in another row. It's the acoustic preset from CCRoyalSenders, originally called "Badger"-something-or-other. I use a PRS CE24 with a 5-way rotary in the 2nd position (next to the bridge position). That gives it a fairly thin sound which gets me as close as I can to the Evans sound. If I come up with anything good I'll share it.
 
BDer said:
Here's a video montage of a show we did back in May....



This was pre-Axe-FX so I've spent a lot of time trying to rebuild and improve on the patches.

Also here's a demo of The Trees we're still trying to polish up, this one with the Axe-FX:



Bill
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That's great stuff, Bill! I'm impressed, not to mention insanely jealous. :)
 
Thanks Kfilegner, I appreciate the comment! I've wanted to get in a Rush tribute band for years but could never find the right mixture of people to do it. It was pretty easy to find a bar band that likes to play Rush, but that wasn't really what I wanted to do.
 
A lot of that sound is in the guitar.

I get a great Time Stand Still sound with Fishman Power Bridge tele.

I don't think the record had piezos, but it works for me.
 
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It was just playing through my GK-250 ML (forgive the sacrilege) and on Channel A without the chorus and reverb on, it does have a piezo type sound. Very crisp, trebly and solid state. My gkcpl -2000 preamp has a similar sound on Channel A. I know Alex used GK in the mid 80's and while it may not have been his main amp live or in the studio at this time, it might have been used on TSS.
 
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