To celebrate the signature model, the Rush guitarist has debuted his first new music since 2012's Clockwork Angels
(Image credit: Epiphone)
Epiphone has unveiled a new, lower-cost version of Alex Lifeson's signature Les Paul Axcess Standard electric guitar.
Based on the Rush guitar legend's signature Gibson Les Paul Axcess Standard – first introduced in 2011 – the new Epiphone Les Paul features a mahogany body with a AAA flame maple veneer, a considerable belly carve and a sculpted Axcess heel.
Its mahogany neck, meanwhile, features a slightly slimmed-down 'Lifeson profile' and an Indian laurel fingerboard with trapezoid inlays and 22 medium-jumbo frets.
(Image credit: Olly Curtis/Future)
Of course though, that tremolo-shaped elephant in the room must be addressed. The system in question is a Floyd Rose-style Graph Tech Ghost double-locking vibrato with, get this, a modular piezo system in each saddle for converting string vibrations to amplified acoustic tones. The piezo system also means the guitar is fitted with two outputs.
Pickups-wise, there's an Epiphone Ceramic Pro humbucker at the neck and ProBucker 3 at the bridge. These are controlled by a shoulder-mounted three-way pickup selector, plus individual volume controls – both equipped with coil-splitting capabilities via a push/pull feature – for both humbuckers.
There's also a master tone control and a piezo volume control – also a push/pull operation – for switching the system on and off. The piezo signal can also be blended with the humbuckers, giving the Les Paul a veritable buffet of tonal options.
“The introduction of the Epiphone Alex Lifeson Axcess model based on my Gibson Les Paul Axcess model has all the same attributes and characteristics that I desired so much when we originally designed it,” Lifeson said in a statement.
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“The look, the sound, the playability and the utility – it’s all there for the player at any level. I’m very proud of this guitar.”
To celebrate the occasion of the guitar's release, Lifeson also released two new instrumental tracks – Kabul Blues and Spy House. You can hear them in a new commemorative video, Alex Lifeson and Gibson – A 50 Year Ride, above, and in full on AlexLifeson.com.
The Epiphone Alex Lifeson Les Paul Axcess is available now – in a resplendent Viceroy Brown finish – for $899.
Jackson is an Associate Editor at GuitarWorld.com. He’s been writing and editing stories about new gear, technique and guitar-driven music both old and new since 2014, and has also written extensively on the same topics for Guitar Player. Elsewhere, his album reviews and essays have appeared in Louder and Unrecorded. Though open to music of all kinds, his greatest love has always been indie, and everything that falls under its massive umbrella. To that end, you can find him on Twitter crowing about whatever great new guitar band you need to drop everything to hear right now.
