Billy Gibbons

ModestCargo

ModestCargo

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Any of you guys love his tone? I mean, listen to Fandango and tell me that's not beautiful...

Anyway how does he get that tone? Aside from his pickups and playing style?

Pedals/Amps? Anyone know?
 
Re: Billy Gibbons

Billy plays with very light strings (set of 8's) so there goes that whole you have to push enormous strings for good tone theory. he also always credits his Pearly gates pickup in interviews. I think you can get a diagram of his signal chain at guitargeek.com
 
Re: Billy Gibbons

don't get christian started on billy gibbons :laugh2:

thunderlung said:
I think you can get a diagram of his signal chain at guitargeek.com
Click to expand...

no such luck
 
Re: Billy Gibbons

The Rev is a tone and gear whore for sure so it's hard to nail down everything. But early stuff was mostly, but not limited to, 100 watt Marshall Super Lead and Pearly. He's also recorded with Fender Esquires and Broadcasters, a '55 hardtail Strat on "La Grange", '61 LP/SG, '58 Flying Vee, early 50's Goldtop LP with p90's used throughout "Rhythemeen", '58 LP on "Just Got Paid", '52 Broadcaster on "Jesus just left Chicago", '60 Alamo Fiesta on "Belt Buckle", '56 Strat on "Apologies to Pearly", '55 Gretch Roundup on "TV Dinners", Gretch "Billy Bo" on a lot of the new stuff. For fx he's been know to use more than one, in series, Bixonic Expadora fuzz pedal. Other amps in his stash, LOTS of 40's and 50's Fender Dual Pro's and Supers. But ultimately the tone's in the hands bro!
 
Re: Billy Gibbons

Jumpmarine is dead on about his use of 3 or 4 Bixonic Expadora fuzz pedals in series. it must have been in a guitar magazine, not guitargeek.com that I saw this but I definetly remember it.
 
Re: Billy Gibbons

Loads of vintage (Gibson, Fender, Gretsch) and custom made guitars (Bolin, PRS, Etc) as well as a few oddballs (Magnatone, etc) thrown in for flavor into loads of vintage amps that run from Plexi Marshalls, JTM-45's, V Front Tweed Supers, Dual Pro's, up to and including JCM 900 Marshalls, Rack Mount Marshalls, Crates as well as Custom made amps like the Rio Grande amps from the 70's and the Creamy amps from the 90's and loads and loads of cool distortion/booster/overdrive and fuzz boxes as well as a Chrous pedal from time to time a ring modulator here and there...the list goes on and on my friend.
 
Re: Billy Gibbons

JumpMarine said:
The Rev is a tone and gear whore for sure so it's hard to nail down everything. But early stuff was mostly, but not limited to, 100 watt Marshall Super Lead and Pearly. He's also recorded with Fender Esquires and Broadcasters, a '55 hardtail Strat on "La Grange", '61 LP/SG, '58 Flying Vee, early 50's Goldtop LP with p90's used throughout "Rhythemeen", '58 LP on "Just Got Paid", '52 Broadcaster on "Jesus just left Chicago", '60 Alamo Fiesta on "Belt Buckle", '56 Strat on "Apologies to Pearly", '55 Gretch Roundup on "TV Dinners", Gretch "Billy Bo" on a lot of the new stuff. For fx he's been know to use more than one, in series, Bixonic Expadora fuzz pedal. Other amps in his stash, LOTS of 40's and 50's Fender Dual Pro's and Supers. But ultimately the tone's in the hands bro!
Click to expand...

BFG is not the most reliable source for what he uses either. I think that there is some deliberate misinformation spread by the good Reverend. I also read in Guitar Player that the expandoras were not used in the live signal chain but instead used as a "totem."
 
Re: Billy Gibbons

After listening to recent live ZZ Top recordings I can assure you that there is indeed at least one Expandora being used...some of those sounds only come out of one box and it is an expandora!
 
Re: Billy Gibbons

the guy who invented fire said:
After listening to recent live ZZ Top recordings I can assure you that there is indeed at least one Expandora being used...some of those sounds only come out of one box and it is an expandora!
Click to expand...

Oh, I don't doubt it. I *know* I can trust your ears :). It just proves my point of BFG's misinformation.
 
Re: Billy Gibbons

I suspect that his old live rig was a bit simpler than his current one. I have heard that he used a Scholz Rockman at some point during the synth period. As for the live cuts, he is clearly using some kind of wild pedal on the live cuts from the Capitol Theater show that are included on the remasters of Tres Hombres and Fandango. But the original live cuts from the Warehouse show on Fandango sound pretty straight up to me. Pearly/Plexi and not much more if anything. I have also heard that the opening and solo lead riffs from I'm Bad, I'm Nationwide, which are heretofore tonally unreproducable by mere mortals (even by BFG himself live) were recorded on an early Erlewine Chiquita mini-guitar.
 
Re: Billy Gibbons

the guy who invented fire said:
After listening to recent live ZZ Top recordings I can assure you that there is indeed at least one Expandora being used...some of those sounds only come out of one box and it is an expandora!
Click to expand...

He bought 2 OCD's from a shop in St Pete when he came through here. But, then again, he hit every guitar store he coulod find, including Sam Ash and GC, so who knows what the hell else he bought.:laugh2:
 
Re: Billy Gibbons

He has used some much gear over the years it impossible to nail down his sound to any one piece of gear. Bottom line is he could use a $50.00 guitar and plug it into a Gorilla amp and we would all be scratchin our heads saying "How does he do that"
 
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