Alex Lifeson is taking a Kirk Hammett Greeny on the road with Rush: “The relic’ing is just spectacular”
Rush are soon to kick off their highly-anticipated Fifty Something reunion tour, and Alex Lifeson is taking a Kirk Hammett Greeny model with him on the road.
The tour begins on 7 June at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles, and it’s going to be huge. The stint continues across the world with dates going all the way into April 2027. Lifeson and bassist Geddy Lee will be joined by drummer Anika Nilles, and it will mark the first time in 11 years that Rush have toured, as well as the first time since the tragic passing of Neil Peart in 2020.
READ MORE: “That was distasteful to me”: Geddy Lee confirms “many” drummers contacted him following Neil Peart’s death offering to join Rush
The Greeny signature model Lifeson will be taking is likely the Murphy Lab-aged Gibson Custom Shop edition launched in 2023, which replicates the fabled 1959 “Greeny” Les Paul Standard guitar belonging to Hammett, priced at $19,999. In the same year, an Inspired by Gibson Custom Shop Epiphone version was also launched.
Speaking to Guitar World about his gear choices, Lifeson reveals, “Kirk Hammett gave me one of his Greenys. I’ve been having fun with that. It’s a pretty raunchy Les Paul, for sure. The Gibson Custom Shop did such an amazing job on it. The relic’ing is just spectacular, and it sounds really, really great.”
He continues, “My original ES-355 has gone to someone else, but I have one of the reissues that I’ll have on the road… I’m still sort of building that arsenal. I think I had 23 guitars on the last tour. I’ll probably have 15 or 16 [for this tour].”
As for Lee, he plans on bringing his ‘62 Jazz Bass, some “classic Rickies”, and more, including “some unusual things” which he remains tight-lipped about.
Lifeson and Lee spoke of their decision to tour again in an interview with Classic Rock published earlier this year. Given their previous comments about not wanting to tour over fears of being “a Rush tribute band”, Lee joked the stint is a “supremely stupid idea” with emotions running high.
“It’s a massively stupid idea, because we’re going to be so emotional already, that first show without Neil, and then to be in that building. What the fuck was I thinking?” He later continued, “Without Neil… I’ll be frank. There are some songs you play where it kind of hits you, it’s bad, and it feels weird. And it’s appropriate that that happens. You know what I mean?
“If we just picked up and went on without feeling any tug of anything, that would be absurd, that would be a whole other thing. And there’ll be moments in both sets where we’ll pay tribute to him. We’re working hard on that, making sure that it’s appropriate.”
You can view the full list of Fifty Something tour dates via the Rush website.
The post Alex Lifeson is taking a Kirk Hammett Greeny on the road with Rush: “The relic’ing is just spectacular” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
Source: www.guitar-bass.net
