Billy Gibbons Tone Search

[ericmeyer4]

I heard he was using a Dirtbox into a JMP-1 that was feed into the house pa and the power section of some marshall jmc900s. Does anyone know what songs he would have used this on? I'm currious to hear what it sounded like. Also does anyone know what songs he went to direct to board with? I'm really currious in dirrect recording and I want to get an idea on what different things sound like.

Thanks,
Eric

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: Billy Gibbons Tone Search

Starting on Antenna he started using the JMP-1 with another amp in a sort of stereo set up...the JMP-1 ran direct while the other amp was miced. He's continued that set up on Rhythmeen, XXX, and Mescalero and live he does it with the JMP-1 and Marshall 2100's. For distortion boxes he's running several on his board and uses them depending on his mood that night...you will find a ZVEX Fuzz Factory, an SIB Varidrive, a ZVEX SHO, several (with different settings) Bixonic Expandoras, Marshall Supa Fuzz, and a few others. The "other" amps in question he uses with the JMP-1 are an old JTM-45, several late 40's/early 50's Fender Dual Professionals/Supers and a gutted 18 watt Marshall 2x10 cab with a 69 Plexi chassis in it that was built Brent at the Guitar Oasis.

 

[Wattage]

Re: Billy Gibbons Tone Search

GWIF I think you missed something!


j/k!

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: Billy Gibbons Tone Search

GWIF I think you missed something!


j/k!

:bigthumb:

What can I say...Im hooked

I did leave out the guitars...

 

[jdm61]

Re: Billy Gibbons Tone Search

Billy G. has been using the Marshall rack mount stuff for a while, but i recall than in a interview, he said that he used a bunch of his old combo amps to record Rythmeen........of which he has a ridiculous number.......I may be wrong, but I recall him saying that, among others, he used an old Supro. Talking about the Dual Pro's, i saw a pic of him recently in one of the mags where he was talking about his new guitar and car collection book and he was sitting in from of a shelf with at least 10 guitars and 8-10 amps.......and that was just the Esquire/Dual Pro part of his collection........he said that the author stopped counting guitars once he hit 600:crying: When he was here in the Tampa Bay area, he took a day off and went to most of the local guitar shops in the area. As for pedals, i know he bought a couple of OCD's from one place. I was told that he is currently using those. One saleman also said Billy's tech told him that most of the Billy-Bo's that he is using and Dusty's Fender basses are actually custom/prototypes made by Bolin, the guy who made all those fuzzy guitars, apparently with the blessing of Fender......lol Not sure whether that is accurate, but if it is, it was not intended to be common knowlege i'm sure:bigthumb:

 

[ericmeyer4]

Re: Billy Gibbons Tone Search

Starting on Antenna he started using the JMP-1 with another amp in a sort of stereo set up...the JMP-1 ran direct while the other amp was miced. He's continued that set up on Rhythmeen, XXX, and Mescalero and live he does it with the JMP-1 and Marshall 2100's. For distortion boxes he's running several on his board and uses them depending on his mood that night...you will find a ZVEX Fuzz Factory, an SIB Varidrive, a ZVEX SHO, several (with different settings) Bixonic Expandoras, Marshall Supa Fuzz, and a few others. The "other" amps in question he uses with the JMP-1 are an old JTM-45, several late 40's/early 50's Fender Dual Professionals/Supers and a gutted 18 watt Marshall 2x10 cab with a 69 Plexi chassis in it that was built Brent at the Guitar Oasis.

Thanks for the help. I will have to check out those albums. Where do you get all of this info anyway? I got his book... I should probably read it instead of looking at all of the pretty guitars. lol. I swear that one of the girls holding his telecaster is Christina Applegate. I have a feeling I'm wrong though.

Thanks again,
Eric

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: Billy Gibbons Tone Search

Eric,

I have well over a dozen iterviews will Billy..I really am hooked! I will also say that a lot of guys will tell you that the 4 albums I mentioned are not so good...BS! I think those albums are great. Also, if you get XXX there are some live tracks on it and you can hear that JMP-1/"other" amp set up live...around tha tme I belive the "other" amp (s) were the JCM 900's or maybe reissue Plexi's.

 

[Bludave]

Re: Billy Gibbons Tone Search

Eric,

I have well over a dozen iterviews will Billy..I really am hooked! I will also say that a lot of guys will tell you that the 4 albums I mentioned are not so good...BS! I think those albums are great. Also, if you get XXX there are some live tracks on it and you can hear that JMP-1/"other" amp set up live...around tha tme I belive the "other" amp (s) were the JCM 900's or maybe reissue Plexi's.

ZZ TOP has NEVER put out a bad album. Some are better than others, but none are bad:arms: :arms: One of the best american bands of all time!

 

[jdm61]

Re: Billy Gibbons Tone Search

If you listen to the first three records, you are pretty much hearing two guitars. Pearly Gates (the infamous 59 LP bought from a farmer for $250 bucks with the proceeds from the sale of a '38 Packard........the original BFG car-guitar nexus :bigthumb: ) and a 54 hardtail Strat. (used most noticable on the opening riff of La Grange) I read or heard somewhere that back in the day, he also used the same distortion pedal that Jimmy Page used to get his Tele to sound like a Gibson in the 68-69 era. Remember also that some of that tone comes from using a big ol Mexican copper coin ground down into a pick. I ground down a big British 2p coin into a small pick. You have to really put an edge on it, but it sounds interesting.......kinda tough to strum real hard though. But it's kinda cool to have a pick with Queen Elizabeth on it..lol

 

[tone?]

Re: Billy Gibbons Tone Search

you want my answer to getting Billy Gibbons tone???

fricken mojo man.

practice practice practice and put attitude in your playing.

Billy to me is the opitomy of why tone is in your fingers. He plays so much different stuff its pathetic. That is why he can make anything sound awesome. he just knows what to play on what.
Gibbons has the stuff man.

i remember talking about this a long time ago with a friend of mine while we were playing guitar. we were playing Halen or something and then we put on Billy and we said now lets play like we are drunk and have attitude. we were analyzing how different the feel is between players.

Billy is totally in the fingers to me guys.
call him up to play on your rig weather it be a recto or a Ultra lead or a blue junior and he will make it sound like a tex/mex hot tamali!
Guaranteed!

 

[Pierre]

Re: Billy Gibbons Tone Search

I always use the Bassman model on the POD with a dollop of drive. I basically dial in a little drive, clean it up with the guitar's volume, then for the sonic assault use the SD1 to boost it more. I don't know if he ever used Bassman but it sounds quite good for Lagrange.

 

[jdm61]

Re: Billy Gibbons Tone Search

Well, Pierre, he probably has 30 or 40 of the darn things, so it's entirely possible..lol

 

[jdm61]

Re: Billy Gibbons Tone Search

for "I'm Bad, I'm Nationwide" he used one of those little Erlewine Chiquitas for the fills. Even he can't get that nastee tone on stage with a normal sized guitar.....neither can I....tried for years:crying: the closest thing i have ever heard to that tone on record is the tone Peter Green had putzing around on one of the "Madge" tracks from "Then Play On" Some of his THICK tone may be the result of tape saturation. As anyone who bought Mescalero can tell you, Billy and the boys like to punch the recording levels WAY up. That may be the loudest CD i have ever heard.

 

[ericmeyer4]

Re: Billy Gibbons Tone Search

I'm not looking to cop his tones... I was just wondering what albums he used that set up on.

Thanks,
Eric

 

[54stratlover]

Re: Billy Gibbons Tone Search

Eric,

I have well over a dozen iterviews will Billy..I really am hooked! I will also say that a lot of guys will tell you that the 4 albums I mentioned are not so good...BS! I think those albums are great. Also, if you get XXX there are some live tracks on it and you can hear that JMP-1/"other" amp set up live...around tha tme I belive the "other" amp (s) were the JCM 900's or maybe reissue Plexi's.

I am with ya....... I think if the XXX/Rhythmeen albums were Pimped/Promoted, and recieved airtime there would have been a greater recognition of those two albums in particular. I guess some of the lyrics are hokey, but what thehell. One of my favorite tracks is Humbucking part 2. That tone is so BAD A**ed. Then the live tone on Mr. Millionare. Then the song were the guitar sounds like it is melting down and breaking up. I could go on and on.

One thing to mention also is that he has been detuning a lot lately, or at least on some of the recent albums. I have experimented with that, and vintage amps. There is something to be said for the tone achieved when using that combination. I have heard that he is using really light gauge strings also, but I don't have "the touch" for light gauge and detuning.

I am currently pursuing the tone that The Rev has achieved on the XXX/Rhythmeen albums. I am also toying with trying to get into the blues scene around here if I can find a group of like minded guys, but I want to pursue the hard/dirty blues tone and feel that is showcased on these later two albums.

LONG LIVE THE REV. BILLY G!!

 

[Mephis]

Re: Billy Gibbons Tone Search

My setup gets me pretty close.


Just like EVH tho, 40% of his tone is his playing. The other 60% is an extremely loud gritty amp.

 

[BluesGuyJ]

Re: Billy Gibbons Tone Search

Gotta love Billy.

 

[jdm61]

Re: Billy Gibbons Tone Search

Man, i think that old Pearly/Plexi tone he had on the live side of Fandango was the sonic holy grail as far as his stuff goes......that and the tone on the original, non "remastered" versions of Brown Sugar and Just Got Paid.....only way to hear all of that stuff on CD is to buy the Chrome, Smoke and BBQ box set...it is a revelation. He still sounded pretty much like that live when i saw him for the first time on the tail end of the Deguello tour. Tres Hombres and Fandango have been re-released in their original form, so you should all go out immediately and buy them if you haven't already. I hope they do the rest. Deguello was the only one that didn't get that remastering in 87 because they were involved in a lawsuit with whoever owned or claimed to own the rights to the Ellmore James catalog.

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: Billy Gibbons Tone Search

Brown Sugar is THE tone for a Les Paul and a Mashall in my opinion...the Beano record is great and with out the beano record Billy woundn't have used a Les Paul and a Marahall so I own a tip of the hat to Clapton but for me the first ZZ Top record (and Brown Sugar to name names) has the tone. I also like the 90's stuff as well...very different from the old stuff but very much Billy G.

 

[jdm61]

Re: Billy Gibbons Tone Search

Billy really likes Brown Sugar too....that is the one pre-Tres Hombres song that he has played every show the last 3 times i have seen them. Hey Christian........you got any use for a set of either Burstbuckers or A2 Anniversary Seths for the Moderne maybe?