Like most guitarists of his generation, Alex Lifeson is a tube amp stalwart. His signature Lerxst Omega amp is based on the Marshall Silver Jubilee, while classic Rush albums were recording with Marshall Plexi and JCM800-style heads.
While he has veered from the tube path for occasional dalliances with solid state amps like the Gallien-Kruger 250ML and Roland JC-120, he has never been a fan of digital modelers – until now.
Recording Stygian Waves, the second full-length album by his post-Rush project Envy of None, Lifeson was tempted away from real amps for the first time. The products that snared him? The IK Multimedia TONEX and Universal Audio pedals.
"They sound amazing," he tells Guitar Player. "They don't sound like plug-ins; they sound like real amps. They've managed to nail the bottom end that was always lacking with plug-ins and really get what an amp sounds like through a speaker cabinet.
"It's a whole new generation in sound. There's nothing lacking."
Lifeson has his own Tonex signature collection, with models of four of his amps: a Marshall 4140 Club & Country 2x12 combo, a Marshall 6100 30th Anniversary head, a Hughes & Kettner Tri-Amp, and a Lerxst Omega.
Like many guitarists, Lifeson enjoys exploring the digital rabbit hole.
"I like the trial and error part a lot," he says. "I enhance the experience with a little cannabis, usually, and I then spend hours going through this gear, because it's so much fun to experiment and hear these things and mess around."
"So it's not ever boring. It's maybe a little time consuming – time-wasting, sometimes," he admits, "but it's all part of the fun of being a musician and playing in a band."
Lifeson is not the only player won over by UA pedals. John Mayer recently named one as the only modeler he recommends for young players, while The Edge traded his tube amps for them at U2's residency at The Sphere.
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