Everything I Thought I knew about Guitar Tone Has Just Been Shot in Under 18 Minutes.

Goldtop11

Goldtop11

Mojo & Blues
So, I love anything ZZ Top. I saw them when they came to town and by far they were the best live band I've seen. I've always dug Billy Gibbons's tone and I got really excited when I saw they did a rig rundown of all the stuff he uses. I must say, this has got to be the weirdest set ups I've ever seen from a classic rock guitarist, lol. Anyone else find a lot of things in this video really strange? Like his settings on the amp and EQing and what not. I would've never guessed you got a great raunchy blues tone out of what he uses, lol.
 
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hehe...I watched that a few weeks ago. He definitely does his own thing. I like haw they have EQ presets to make every guitar sound like his Les Paul.
 
Mark Wein said:
hehe...I watched that a few weeks ago. He definitely does his own thing. I like haw they have EQ presets to make every guitar sound like his Les Paul.
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Rofl, that was one of the things that made me laugh really hard, that he has so many guitars and he makes them sound the same, lol. I also like how the amps have 0 treble, 0 mids, 10 bass, 10 gain and 10 volume, lol.
 
I seem to remember an article in either Guitar Player or Guitar World in the late 90s where the interviewer asked him why he had so many guitars that were made to sound the same. Gibbons answered that they might sound the same, but they feel completely different and that's what he likes.
 
Kerouac said:
I seem to remember an article in either Guitar Player or Guitar World in the late 90s where the interviewer asked him why he had so many guitars that were made to sound the same. Gibbons answered that they might sound the same, but they feel completely different and that's what he likes.
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Yeah, I do totally understand the "feel" thing. I just think it'd be weird to switch from a LP to a Tele and get the same sound when I played, lol. Part of the "feel" of a guitar for me is the way it sounds and responds with the amp what not. But obviously it works of him, lol. Who am I to question the Reverend's ways. :cool:
Modern Saint said:
Tone is in the El Dorado strap!

Goldtop - you have at least 396 guitars to go.
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Rofl, plus I still gotta buy a warehouse in Texas to keep them all in, lol.

I've heard that he uses even stranger stuff in his studio work. I read somewhere that mentioned he used a SS Marshall Lead 12 to record some of his songs, lol.
 
There is enough treble with the mids up. That's pretty much a good starting point for an old Marshall, then bring up the treble a little depending on the room.
 
telecaster911 said:
There is enough treble with the mids up. That's pretty much a good starting point for an old Marshall, then bring up the treble a little depending on the room.
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True. He's using a JMP-1 though. I do know traditional Marshall's can get quite screechy with the treble up though.
 
Goldtop11 said:
Rofl, plus I still gotta buy a warehouse in Texas to keep them all in, lol.

I've heard that he uses even stranger stuff in his studio work. I read somewhere that mentioned he used a SS Marshall Lead 12 to record some of his songs, lol.
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You don't need a warehouse in Texas, just one in Ohio :thu:

As for the Marshall 12 Watt, I don't find that so unusual as Michael Schenker recorded the Force It album from UFO with a battery operated Pignose amp.
 
Modern Saint said:
As for the Marshall 12 Watt, I don't find that so unusual as Michael Schenker recorded the Force It album from UFO with a battery operated Pignose amp.
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Lol, true. I've heard that Pignose amps have been used for a ton of stuff over the years. Didn't Clapton use it for Motherless Children?
 
Billy G works in mysterious ways.
I actually set my amps in a similar way to his (though I started doing it before I saw this)
Bass on about 7, Mids all the way up, Treble and Presence practically nil.
I find that as long as the bass has the right EQ-ing, it sounds great.
 
His guitar collection was in the mid-400's 10+ years ago. His tech estimates he has anywhere between 600-800 guitars spread between his houses, etc. He is constantly buying guitars. I can't say I blame him!
 
Tig said:
His guitar collection was in the mid-400's 10+ years ago. His tech estimates he has anywhere between 600-800 guitars spread between his houses, etc. He is constantly buying guitars. I can't say I blame him!
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Wow to have that kind of freedom.....
 
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