IK Multimedia has teamed up with Alex Lifeson to help you nail the Rush icon’s electric guitar tones with a TONEX signature collection that collects four digital models of his most-loved tube amps.
If the machine learning TONEX tech behind this guitar plugin suite is complex, the idea behind it is simple; Lifeson picked four favourites from his guitar amp collection and IK Multimedia deployed its proprietary AI machine learning to engineer 25 tone models that give you tones from all stages of his career.
Been searching for that Moving Pictures “clean-yet-dirty” tone? You will find it here with a digital reproduction of Lifeson’s open-backed Marshall 4140 Club and Country 2x12 combo.
As IK Multimedia notes, Lifeson made full use of this lesser-spotted Marshall amp’s capacity for pedalboard accommodation. Pair this with a Boss CE-1 Chorus Ensemble or an EHX Electric Mistress, add a delay pedal of your choice and you’ll be on the guest list for Xanadu.
Next up is another Marshall and a cornerstone of his tone. Lifeson calls this one “Curly”, and it’s a Marshall 6100 30th Anniversary head that’s paired with a 1960BV straight 4x12 speaker cabinet.
These plug-ins sound just like the amps or better
Alex Lifeson
“One of the most versatile amp designs yet produced, ‘Curly’ played an essential role in providing Alex with every era of ‘British’ guitar tone on stage and in the studio,” says IK Multimedia, and no one here is going to argue with that.
These three-channel 100-watters were launched at Winter NAMM 1992. If you attended one of the guitar expos of that year you too might still be lucky enough to still have your 30th Anniversary poster signed by Jim Marshall. Ours is sadly long missing in action. IK Multimedia presents 10 amp and cab tone models from this special edition tube head and cab.
This collection would not be complete with a Lifeson signature amp, and we’ve got two. His first, the all singing, all dancing Hughes & Kettner TriAmp, which IK Multimedia describes as “the backbone of Rush guitar tones from the late 1990s through the early 2000s” is replicated with five amp and cab tone models, and a super-wide range of tones, from gin-clear cleans to super-saturated lead tones.
The second signature amp brings us right up to the present day, and Lifeson’s signature Lerxst amp brand, with the Omega and its matching 4x12 offering you all the tone and feel of the amps he used on Clockwork Angels.
Again, versatility is the watchword. This is a two-channel amp with switchable clipping, a greatest hits of all his previous amps in one, and in Lifeson’s words, “These plug-ins sound just like the amps or better!”
They are also designed to as a standalone plugin in your DAW or anywhere within the TONEX eco-system, meaning you can access Lifeson’s signature Rush tones via your TONEX pedal.
The TONEX Alex Lifeson Legacy Signature Collection is available now, priced €99.99. See IK Multimedia for more details.
