Alex Lifeson and Axe-Fx

[rsm]

...and a bit more info.

 

[ACShreds]

Funny how i keep seeing more and more people sending their entire rigs direct to house instead of using live cabs. Wonder if this is where the future of live rigs is headed. Makes sense though, im sure its way more cost effective and easier to get a great sounding mix since you dont have to mess with micing everything.

 

[petejt]

Thanks for the vid. I'll check it out later on.

 

[King Crimson]

Nicely done, rsm.

I've been following RUSH for decades and playing all their interesting material in various tribute bands.

That’s a very impressive rig, to say the least.

So Alex uses 4 g-forces, 2 for delays, 1 for reverb and pitch shifting and the 4th setup exclusively for flanging. The Axe-Fx is only there as a backup.

Plus Alex is not using any speaker cabs at all. Alex sends all the signals from the H&Ks to the Palmer speaker sims to the house via XLR - sweet.

 

[Lord Toneking]

thanks for sharing

 

[IndyWS6]

Nicely done, rsm.

I've been following RUSH for decades and playing all their interesting material in various tribute bands.

That’s a very impressive rig, to say the least.

So Alex uses 4 g-forces, 2 for delays, 1 for reverb and pitch shifting and the 4th setup exclusively for flanging. The Axe-Fx is only there as a backup.

Plus Alex is not using any speaker cabs at all. Alex sends all the signals from the H&Ks to the Palmer speaker sims to the house via XLR - sweet.

I didn't watch the vid yet (will have to do it at home, not work...), so forgive me if they answered this. So, the output of the amps goes to speaker simulators and then to FOH. Makes sense. How is monitoring accomplished? Is his guitar sent back to the stage to dedicated monitor(s) or is it mixed with other instruments/vocals into his monitors? I've wondered about that scenario -if I send my rig output to the board, how best do you monitor your guitar playing?

 

[petejt]

So Alex uses 4 g-forces, 2 for delays, 1 for reverb and pitch shifting and the 4th setup exclusively for flanging. The Axe-Fx is only there as a backup.

I wonder if the Fractal website will have a picture of Alex as an artist but clearly state for back-up purposes only?

I'd say they'd leave out that very last bit.

 

[The Hoff]

I usually don't like the people doing the interviews. She knew what she was talking about though. Lots of great info there. Thanks for sharing

 

[Doubleneck]

So Alex uses 4 g-forces, 2 for delays, 1 for reverb and pitch shifting and the 4th setup exclusively for flanging. The Axe-Fx is only there as a backup.

I wonder if the Fractal website will have a picture of Alex as an artist but clearly state for back-up purposes only?

I'd say they'd leave out that very last bit.

If I was the owner of Fractal, a $2000.00 piece of gear backing up Alex Lifeson's entire pro touring rig.

I would make sure that everyone knew about it

 

[Badronald]

Did I count 6 heads? So how is the Ax-Fx a backup?

I feel so silly just plugging into a boost and a tuner and running into my Triple Rec with a DD-5 in the loop tonight at rehearsal.

Oh, and a ported 2x12.

 

[ACShreds]

Did I count 6 heads? So how is the Ax-Fx a backup?

I feel so silly just plugging into a boost and a tuner and running into my Triple Rec with a DD-5 in the loop tonight at rehearsal.

Oh, and a ported 2x12.

technically the other 3 heads are just backups, and one of the heads he only uses when he hits a single note at the end of a certain solo...

 

[IndyWS6]

Did I count 6 heads? So how is the Ax-Fx a backup?

I feel so silly just plugging into a boost and a tuner and running into my Triple Rec with a DD-5 in the loop tonight at rehearsal.

Oh, and a ported 2x12.

technically the other 3 heads are just backups, and one of the heads he only uses when he hits a single note at the end of a certain solo...

"This is the amp I use when I play the G chord in "Fly by Night"... This is the amp I use when I play a Bm... This is the amp I use when I play the note that starts "Discovery"... and that CCV? I only use it to play Dm7SUS4 chords"

 

[mentoneman]

i like the way he thinks gear selection wise, but

4 gforces-- one for dedicated reverb one for dedicated flanger?
6 amps, and one is used for one note, and that amp has a back up????

that's upper crust rock and roll!

it looks like he has the axe as a backup for everything so if his amps and effects go down he can just go down to straight axe and it will mimic his whole rig. maybe he's working it into the equation over time as well so eventually he can ditch some of the gforces and amps...?

after spending time with both axe and gforce i'd conclude that the delays and reverbs in the axe sound more like the 2290 and pcm70, the chorusing i give to the gforce, and strangely enough the drive block on the gforce had grown on me, as a block you add after the amp or in the loop, and feels more immediate and the parameters are more intuitive than the axe, although the axe mimic's way more pedals. the axe is a little off touchwise/immediacy wise and in that department the gforce with an amp is a clear winner to me over the axe and real amp. it's like a headroom/conversion type feel issue....

i never bonded with the advanced amp features in the axe yet the basic controls never felt like they did what i intuitively wished they did. the amp controls are where i found the most struggles. from there the stock cabs never sounded as 3D as i wanted, and i didn't want to mess with the redwirez stuff because that was adding a whole extra layer of variables i didn't need to wade through.

 

[boof]

brain may has two g-force units. one is used for one note in a solo as well.
how else is alex going to get all those 80s sounds without massive numbers of fx units? (read hold your fire, power windows, roll the bones)
I noticed he traded in the loft for the g-force. he has always had several g-force units usually 3 with a 4th as a back up. I think (guess) he now uses 4 g-forces, dropped the loft, and uses the axe-fx to replace the g-force that used to be used as a backup. outside of that and not using cabs its somewhat the same as it has been for several years.

 

[mentoneman]

brain may has two g-force units. one is used for one note in a solo as well.
how else is alex going to get all those 80s sounds without massive numbers of fx units? (read hold your fire, power windows, roll the bones)
I noticed he traded in the loft for the g-force. he has always had several g-force units usually 3 with a 4th as a back up. I think (guess) he now uses 4 g-forces, dropped the loft, and uses the axe-fx to replace the g-force that used to be used as a backup. outside of that and not using cabs its somewhat the same as it has been for several years.

you know, when you look at it from another perspective, he can switch between preset gforce units instantaneously with an external RJM switching device, instead of switching between patches internally and dealing with the glitching times, it makes sense.

and the prior gforce will be allowed to ring out delays or reverbs--whatever was played prior to switching units

obviously money is no object for him so more power to him!

all i know is i've seen gforces being sold for 6-700 dollars all day long and considering what it does against things like tc and eventide pedals, the price is a steal.

 

[polaris20]

So Alex uses 4 g-forces, 2 for delays, 1 for reverb and pitch shifting and the 4th setup exclusively for flanging. The Axe-Fx is only there as a backup.

I wonder if the Fractal website will have a picture of Alex as an artist but clearly state for back-up purposes only?

I'd say they'd leave out that very last bit.

They seem to do that. Check out their guitar rag ads. Steve Vai, Petrucci, a whole bunch use it for just effects, but they make it look like they've all switched completely.

Don't get me wrong, it's an awesome box. But misleading marketing is always a bit amusing.

 

[RSRD]

They seem to do that. Check out their guitar rag ads. Steve Vai, Petrucci, a whole bunch use it for just effects, but they make it look like they've all switched completely.

Don't get me wrong, it's an awesome box. But misleading marketing is always a bit amusing.

The fact that it's a 'backup' and he already has backup amps definitely makes you wonder.