One of Alex Lifeson’s most famous guitars is his Gibson ES-335… but why did he choose a hollowbody over something a little more rock friendly, like a Les Paul? In an interview with Gibson, Lifeson explained that he just found the ES-335 to be smoother.
“I bought that guitar and I started playing it every waking minute that I had. I just couldn’t stop playing it. I couldn’t believe how easy it was to play… the neck felt so much smoother, the action was so much lighter and easier.
“I really looked forward to playing that -335 and I remember coming home from school every day and playing until dinner time. Then I said, ‘Forget about homework, I’ll just play guitar.’”
So… what’s up with his recent Les Paul signature? Lifeson said he’s still a big fan of the Les Paul, and totally bought one the second the royalty checks started rolling in.
“Of course, once we got our advance on our record deal, we went shopping at Long and McQuade’s! I ended up buying my first Les Paul, which was a Les Paul Deluxe. That was so cool. Doing that that was like a dream come true for for any young musician, I think.”
