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There are signature guitars, and then there are the ones built around an instrument that actually shaped the music you grew up on. The Epiphone Alex Lifeson 1976 ES-355 Reissue is the second kind. It is a faithful recreation of the 1976 Gibson ES-355 that Alex Lifeson played while Rush was pushing progressive rock somewhere nobody else had taken it, and it arrives finished in gloss Alpine White with gold from end to end.
It is part of Epiphone's Inspired by Gibson Custom Collection, which is their way of saying this is not a stripped-down tribute. The goal was to capture the tone, the feel, and the appointments of the real thing and hand you Custom-level features without the Custom Shop price. For a lot of players that is the whole appeal: a top-of-the-line ES-355 you can actually take to the gig.
It is a true ES-355 at heart. The body is a five-ply semi-hollow build of maple and poplar with a solid maple center block running down the middle, and that center block is the trick that makes these guitars so versatile. You get the air and resonance of a thinline hollowbody, but the block tames feedback and adds the sustain you would expect from a solidbody. Multi-ply binding on the top and back is the kind of detail that belongs on a flagship.
The neck is a three-piece maple build like the 70s original, with a volute behind the headstock for strength where these guitars want it. The profile is a Slim C, so it plays fast and stays comfortable across a long set. Up top is an ebony fretboard, which adds a bit of snap and clarity to the attack, dressed with mother-of-pearl block inlays and 22 medium jumbo frets. The open-book headstock carries mother-of-pearl Epiphone and Custom split-diamond logos, premium die-cast tuners with keystone buttons, and a Graph Tech nut for tuning that stays put. Look at the truss rod cover and you will find Alex Lifeson's name engraved right there.
All of the hardware is gold, including a harmonica-style Tune-O-Matic bridge and gold pickup covers, and it pulls the whole white-and-gold look together. The piece that really earns its keep is the gold Maestro Vibrola. It is a genuinely musical vibrato, good for a subtle shimmer on a held chord or a more dramatic move when the song calls for it, and it is a big part of the Lifeson vocabulary.
Under the covers sits a pair of USA-made Gibson T-Type humbuckers, wired the right way with CTS potentiometers, Mallory tone capacitors, and a Switchcraft three-way toggle and output jack. What really opens this guitar up is the Varitone. It is a mono Varitone circuit with its own mini toggle, so you can dial in voices a standard two-humbucker guitar simply cannot reach, then click it out of the way when you want the straight-ahead sound. That is a lot of tonal range for a player who likes to explore, which is to say it suits this guitar perfectly.
Even the case got the signature treatment. The guitar ships in a custom black hardshell with a reproduction of Alex Lifeson's signature on the lid, a plush red interior, and gold hardware to match.
Put it together and you have an ES-355 that is just as at home in a small club as it is on a big stage, with the look, feel, and tone of a far more expensive instrument. If you grew up on Rush, or you just want one of the most versatile semi-hollows out there, this is one to get your hands on.
Come play the Epiphone Alex Lifeson 1976 ES-355 Reissue in Wheaton, or find it at ChuckLevins.com. Give us a call and we will walk you through it, and help you find your Xanadu.