Tom Sawyer
Alex Lifeson's tone on Tom Sawyer is a masterclass in using chorus and effects to create a massive, shimmering wall of guitar sound. The ES-355's semi-hollow body provides natural resonance and warmth, which is then pushed through a Marshall for crunch and layered with a Boss CE-1 chorus for that wide, sweeping stereo effect. The result is a tone that fills the entire sonic spectrum without ever getting in the way of Geddy Lee's bass and Neil Peart's drums.
Moving Pictures
What we checked
Computed by a program, on this recipe, every time this page is built. How this works
Preset files — 1 of 3 complete
- Helix builds complete — every block in the recipe is in the file
- Quad Cortex 4 blocks replaced with a stand-in model
Which ones
Replaced with a stand-in: Studio Comp, Vintage Chorus, Brit Plexi 100 Bright, Hall. These load cleanly but are not the model named above — the file will sound wrong here until we map them. Set these blocks by hand.
- Katana 1 block missing from the file; 4 blocks replaced with a stand-in model
Which ones
Not in the file: Hall. The recipe calls for this block, but we have no verified model ID for it on this platform, so the preset is written without it. Add it by hand using the settings above.
Replaced with a stand-in: Brown, Chorus, Digital, Hall. These load cleanly but are not the model named above — the file will sound wrong here until we map them. Set these blocks by hand.
What we didn't check
- Nobody played this through a real amp. There is no human listening test behind any number on this page.
- The settings are reasoned from the sources below, not measured off the record.
- No audio has been rendered for this recipe yet, so you cannot hear it before you load it.
- 3 platforms on this page (TONEX, Kemper, Fractal) get a model pointer, not a preset file — nothing was built or checked for them.
