Riff Tone

Freewill

Rush

Guitarrock1980s

Original Gear

GuitarGibson ES-355

AmpMarshall 100-watt head (likely JMP or Super Lead) into Marshall 4x12 cabinet

PickupsGibson humbuckers (likely T-Top or Patent No.)

Amp Settings

gain6

bass6

mid7

treble7

reverb2

presence6

Effects & Signal Chain

No effects used for this tone

Notes

Studio recording, Permanent Waves album (recorded 1979, released 1980). Multiple sources confirm Marshall and Hiwatt amps were used on the album, but the main riff tone is widely attributed to the Marshall stack with the ES-355. No evidence of pedal use for the riff section; effects are likely from amp or post-processing.

Tone Character(10)

bright and articulatestrident attacktight, percussive rhythmcrunchy British overdrivedynamic and responsiveclear note separationopen-string voicingsslight natural reverbharmonic richnesspunchy midrange

Difficulty

The riff requires fast, accurate chord changes with open-string voicings and tight, percussive muting, making it challenging for most intermediate players.

Sources

Rush: Amps used on Permanent Waves? - The Gear Page “I’ve never been very confident as a player. I’ve always felt like I had to work hard, and maybe I didn’t appreciate that I have a natural talent for playing guitar”: Alex Lifeson’s 20 greatest guitar moments in Rush | Guitar World Rush’s Geddy Lee on the guitar genius of Alex Lifeson | MusicRadar

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