Would you agree Billy Gibbons + Divided By 13 would be sensational ?

[Rock Fella]

I heard some clips of the /13 amps and my first thought was "hey those amps have got gibbons vibe stamped all over them "

no higher compliment can i give them, anybody else think the rev playin thru /13 would be just magnificent ?

jimmy

[Ed DeGenaro]

I thought he had some?

[Swarty]

Shoot, Billy Gibbons would sound sesational playing out of Crate.;)

[G'OlPeachPhan]

Funny you should say that seeing as Fred built the Rev an amp. Click here (http://www.dividedby13.com/amplifiers.html) to go to the spot on /13's website where the pic is located. Granted it's not really a /13 amp, but close enough.

[spikeRI]

Hey Jimmy,
See ya still got that Cornford......I'm proud of you, gotta be a record (like I got a lot of room to talk) but, I hear that amp smokes.
To answer your question............the Rev can make a Gorilla Rock and I've heard hes bangin' on crates lately. So the answer is simple......hand him a guitar and stand back

[Rock Fella]

Originally posted by spikeRI
Hey Jimmy,
See ya still got that Cornford......I'm proud of you, gotta be a record (like I got a lot of room to talk) but, I hear that amp smokes.
To answer your question............the Rev can make a Gorilla Rock and I've heard hes bangin' on crates lately. So the answer is simple......hand him a guitar and stand back

yo Spike whadda bout ya man :dude

yup my cornford is a stayer, with the cornford 2x12 , she is mindblowing. nice to see you over here dude.the rev just has that je ne sais que , ive seen him play some of the most orrible looking gtrs ive ever witness and the tones he can wring out of em !!

billy thru the the el84 /13 is the sort of stuff i dream of.

jimmy

[John Bell]

Ummmmm............NO.

[carlygtr56]

It's the other way around....Gibbon's puts HIS stamp on whatever he uses:D

[Mark C]

I don't see anything wrong with the tone he already got out of his old Superlead and Pearly Gates.

[Roccaforte Amps]

Actually, Billy uses a SS 1 12" marshall combo,
and a huge rack. Also, a chain of Expandora pedals.
Been using this rig for years.
It was all covered in Tone Quest mag.
One of my customers (Los Lobos) recorded
a song with him last year, and confirmed
the set up.
Its amazing that he can get such a great tone
from all the SS gear he uses!

[Leftee]

> Dig this (http://vintageamps.com/PlexiPalaceUBBcgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=17;t=000269) <

[bluesbreaker59]

As the member of this forum and many others that is "MOST OBSESSED" over Gibbons tone I think he'd be better off going back to a small Tweed and Pearly, or a Marshall and Pearly.

I like the modern tones a lot too, but I really would do almost anything to have his old tone for just one day.

To hear Billy play through a Vox AC30 type amp, I'd recommend you pick up the Moving Sidewalks album, where apparently the Good Reverend is playing a Fender Esquire through an AC30. Sounds pretty nice to me!

By the way, I talked to Fred about the /13 amp he made for Billy and he explained to me that it was just a 50 watt Marshall shoved into a 2x10 Tweed covered cabinet.

[michael patrick]

Man, it must be nice being the Rev., what with companies like /13 and Mojave making amps for him and all...:D

[Headshot]

Originally posted by Roccaforte Amps
Actually, Billy uses a SS 1 12" marshall combo,
and a huge rack. Also, a chain of Expandora pedals.
Been using this rig for years.
It was all covered in Tone Quest mag.
One of my customers (Los Lobos) recorded
a song with him last year, and confirmed
the set up.
Its amazing that he can get such a great tone
from all the SS gear he uses!


You're partly right. Billy uses a rack that has 2 of each of the following: Marshall JMP preamp, Digitech 31 band programmable EQ, Boss FX processor (can't remember the model) and Marshall Valvestate poweramps. For his FOH sound, he has a Demeter 1x12 iso box. The stuff on stage is just whatever he want's people to see, it's NOT what he's running through.

I've got a great picture of this rig, that I'll have to dig out.

I've any of you have ever met Billy, you'd find out that he talks a lot of crap about the gear he uses. He'll tell you that he plays .008 strings, and tunes down to C. Yeah, right, try that one at home. He does that just to mess with people.

Bottom line, Billy can play through ANYTHING, and he will sound good. He's that caliber of player, along with Jimi, EJ, ect.

Head

[thesedaze]

Originally posted by Roccaforte Amps
Actually, Billy uses a SS 1 12" marshall combo,
and a huge rack. Also, a chain of Expandora pedals.
Been using this rig for years.
It was all covered in Tone Quest mag.
One of my customers (Los Lobos) recorded
a song with him last year, and confirmed
the set up.
Its amazing that he can get such a great tone
from all the SS gear he uses!

He used it for a recording session, so thus it's his only go to amp? If you are referring to the same Tone Quest article as I, he discussed still using and even pictures a Valco amp, among others. I don't know of any recording musician who only uses one amp in the studio. It's worth mentioning that he runs through JMP1 12AX7 preamps, Real Tube pedal, etc.

I think his go to live rig is this rack, which I am sure he brought to the studio and used w/ Los Lobos, but the previous mentioned statement seems a little deceaving/misleading to the other go to options of Billy Gibbons.

[Roccaforte Amps]

Originally posted by thesedaze
He used it for a recording session, so thus it's his only go to amp? If you are referring to the same Tone Quest article as I, he discussed still using and even pictures a Valco amp, among others. I don't know of any recording musician who only uses one amp in the studio. It's worth mentioning that he runs through JMP1 12AX7 preamps, Real Tube pedal, etc.

I think his go to live rig is this rack, which I am sure he brought to the studio and used w/ Los Lobos, but the previous mentioned statement seems a little deceaving/misleading to the other go to options of Billy Gibbons.






He uses it live and in the studio.
I'm not here to argue with anyone,
its a fact.
Yes, he owns a bunch of different
amps, but that setup seems to be
the "one".

[Headshot]

Well obviously Billy has TONS of gear, since everyone and their brother, gives him stuff. What he uses in the studio could be anything. One of his favorites though, is that Marshall that was fitted into the 2x10 combo.

I was just referring to Billy's live rig, and that's all.

Head

[thesedaze]

Originally posted by Roccaforte Amps
He uses it live and in the studio.
I'm not here to argue with anyone,
its a fact.
Yes, he owns a bunch of different
amps, but that setup seems to be
the "one".

I don't recall arguing that he uses it live and in the studio? You quote a specific article/interview which has discussions with both him and his tech...you might want to refresh it. I know you're busy away in your tube amp shop for hours on end daily (atleast I hope you are) so seeing a SS amp in the signal can be a real big red light, but you mustn't forget the particular preamp chain he's going through before that specific amp. Loads of tube preamps.

I'm not sure how much experience you have in studios, but I really don't know any guitarist, especially those so particular about finding great tone, that has 'the one' for studio sessions.

[Roccaforte Amps]

Originally posted by thesedaze
I don't recall arguing that he uses it live and in the studio? You quote a specific article/interview which has discussions with both him and his tech...you might want to refresh it. I know you're busy away in your tube amp shop for hours on end daily (atleast I hope you are) so seeing a SS amp in the signal can be a real big red light, but you mustn't forget the particular preamp chain he's going through before that specific amp. Loads of tube preamps.

I'm not sure how much experience you have in studios, but I really don't know any guitarist, especially those so particular about finding great tone, that has 'the one' for studio sessions.






Loads of preamp tubes?
Try loads of transistors and IC's.
He uses that rig for damn near everything.

[thesedaze]

Originally posted by Roccaforte Amps
Loads of preamp tubes?
Try loads of transistors and IC's.
He uses that rig for damn near everything.

Right, so dismissing the sets of marshall 12ax7 preamps and the tube pedal is fair in assessing his rig?

[Headshot]

The multiple Expandoras that were mentioned, are a stage prop/gimmic. Billy uses an Expandora from time to time, but he doesn't use that multiple chain of them.

You guys gotta remember that Billy is a character...... he'll do things to fool you on purpose. (especially when it comes to gear) He likes to mess with people. He's also THE biggest gear whore of all time.

Head

[Headshot]

Here's a portion of a recent interview with Billy. Try out his "slack" tuning, and see how it works for you......


What was the instrument lineup for Mescalero?
Dusty used his ’54 Telecaster bass, and my cornerstone rhythm and lead guitar was Pearly Gates [Gibbons’ ’59 Les Paul]. I also used a ’54 Fender Esquire, and toward the end of the sessions, a ’59 Gretsch that Bo Diddley gave me 20 years ago. It’s one of the real oddballs they did for him, and it has a very distinctive tone. I also brought something back from the Rhythmeem sessions—a ’55 Gibson gold-top Les Paul. Stop tailpiece, no Tune-o-matic—just a simple, beat-up, and marvelously performing instrument with P-90 pickups. Ironically, I used that guitar on Rhythmeen for a song called “Hummbucking, Pt. 2.”

Anything new on the amplifier side?
Well, speaking of Rhythmeen, there’s a strange tone phenomenon that started back when we cut that record. Brent Magnano out at Guitar Oasis in Huntington Beach, California, had created this custom Marshall for me that was portable enough to throw in the back seat of a car. I believe it started out as a ’68 100-watt head, but they installed an effects loop and put it in a cabinet with two Celestion 10s. It’s a real dark, smoky-sounding thing, and it really packs a punch for such a small unit.

Anyway, I had my guitar signal split through this Marshall combo and a Marshall JMP-1 preamp, which was going direct into the board, and we kept hearing this ghostly sort of delay through the control-room monitors. We couldn’t figure it out because we didn’t have a delay unit or any outboard gear patched in to play tricks on us. We finally realized that the signal from the JMP-1’s speaker-emulator output was hitting the board a little ahead of the signal coming from the mic on the Marshall combo. Electrons travel much faster over wire than they do when a paper speaker and a microphone get in the way, and while the delay time between the higher notes was very close, on the low notes it was wide enough to create a certain fatness that would change organically depending on what I was playing.

The low, grinding tones you’re getting on Mescalero are spectacular. What tunings are you using?
I’ve been tuning down as far as low A, which is just berserk, and I’m using a set that goes .008, .010, .012, .020, .030, .040. It’s very comfortable. B.B. King once asked me, “Why are you fighting them big, heavy strings? Don’t you know they make strings that are easier to bend?” I said, “Yeah, but I thought the bigger the string, the bigger the sound.” He said, “Well, just turn that amplifier up.” [Laughs.]

Do you have to modify your technique to accommodate such a slack tuning?
It definitely requires more concentration, because the lower you go, the more spaghetti-like the strings get, and the more monumental a challenge it becomes to play in tune. You really have to keep your attention focused on the fingerings to make it work.

Your slide playing on “Buck Nekkid” is very cool. What guitar did you use for that song?
That’s a ’54 Magnatone lap steel tuned to open D, which belongs to Mr. Moon. We were having a nightmarish heat wave in Houston that day, and he didn’t want to leave the Magnatone in his car, so he brought it in the studio and let me use it. It totally smoked, and you can also hear it on those fills between the vocal lines on “What Would You Do.” Magnatone steels are rare, and if Gary hadn’t brought it in that day, I probably would have used my ’55 Fender 8-string, which I usually have tuned to either C6 or E9. It has a single-coil pickup that looks like a Telecaster’s, only bigger.

[loudboy]

Here's a GREAT thread on early and mid-period ZZ Top, from Terry Manning, who was actually there for a lot of it.

If you read between the lines, it appears that Frank Beard hasn't played drums on any of the records, since Deguello. He's pretty tight-lipped about it, tho.

http://recforums.prosoundweb.com/index.php/t/3849/0

A short excerpt, about Eliminator:

<The guitar was recorded with basically only one setup; one amp (Legend), one speaker (12"), one guitar (Deans, the two were almost exactly the same), one mic (AKG 414B-ULS, I still have it) in one position (about 5" from the cone, placed at a slight angle off axis), one mic pre (the SpectraSonics console). 98% of ALL guitar on this album, whether lead or rhythm was done this way. Any variations were from the player himself, who, remember, did not even have a tone control. That's how good Billy was back then.>

So there you have it...

Loudboy

[Rock Fella]

this thread is a tour de force of information :dude :dude

cracking read guys !

jimmy

[Leonc]

Originally posted by loudboy
...A short excerpt, about Eliminator:

<The guitar was recorded with basically only one setup; one amp (Legend), one speaker (12"), one guitar (Deans, the two were almost exactly the same), one mic (AKG 414B-ULS, I still have it) in one position (about 5" from the cone, placed at a slight angle off axis), one mic pre (the SpectraSonics console). 98% of ALL guitar on this album, whether lead or rhythm was done this way. Any variations were from the player himself, who, remember, did not even have a tone control. That's how good Billy was back then.>

So there you have it...

Loudboy

Well to me at least, it makes complete sense that everything on that record was recorded that way. Not taking anything from the Rev--he's perhaps my all-time, most revered tone-master--but from what I recall, there was very little variation in guitar tone on that record; like Gimme All Your Lovin, for example. It just sounds like 8 guitars all playing humbuckers through a distorted, not-too-special amp. It's fun...but, IMO B-O-R-I-N-G, particularly when you compare that record to something like Tres Hombres where there so much more interesting guitar tone going on...at least in my opinion.

[revgsmall]

Originally posted by michael patrick
Man, it must be nice being the Rev., what with companies like /13 and Mojave making amps for him and all...:D

which goes to show, its in his hands, head and heart. he could make most any reasonable rig sound great. We spend so much time on gear and so little time on the art....bummer :(

[bjm007]

I would trust what Doug had to say about Billy's setup much more than I would believe ANYTHING Billy had to say in print.

He plays the "disinformation" game better than the CIA ;)

[revgsmall]

Originally posted by revgsmall
which goes to show, its in his hands, head and heart. he could make most any reasonable rig sound great. We spend so much time on gear and so little time on the art....bummer
Originally posted by splatt
hmmm.
2 things about that:
A) in a lifetime of playing the gtr, i've spent waaaaay more time on the art of music than on gear, &
2) according to my very approximate calculations, the right rev spends a fair good bit of time on gear & its acquisition, himself; he *is* a collector, as well, after all.....
dt / spltrcl

Its my understanding that Billy is a collector of alot of things besides musical gear. I read somewhere that he literally has a couple of storage places full of worldly treasures.

[ericb]

Originally posted by bjm007
I would trust what Doug had to say about Billy's setup much more than I would believe ANYTHING Billy had to say in print.

He plays the "disinformation" game better than the CIA ;)

Me too, just like many of the others guys, like, say .. .mmmm Eddie Van Halen.. Everyone's always an expert.

AND NO, to answer the original poster's question!!! He sounded great the way he USED TO SOUND... My friend played thru a small SS Marshall combo and sounded exactly like old ZZ TOPP.. .I played thru it and didn't.. I'm a much more experienced guitarist than he was, but he had the strat to Marshall SS combo "feeling" down and sounded exactly like him. Carl's post was right on... Billy controls WHAT HIS GEAR SOUNDS LIKE, not the Gear controlling him... It's the same for MANY MANY guitarists

ERIC

[GuitarG]

Originally posted by loudboy
Here's a GREAT thread on early and mid-period ZZ Top, from Terry Manning, who was actually there for a lot of it.
http://recforums.prosoundweb.com/index.php/t/3849/0
Loudboy
That is a great interview. It also puts to rest the myth that Gibbons used a Rockman on the Eliminator sessions.

[Brent Magnano]

I have kept a low profile for many years about the amps that Billy F. Gibbons commissioned me to build for him back in the 1990s. I have read some miss information and wanted to set it all straight and also give credit where credit is due. First off let me say that all of the concepts came from the man himself Billy F. Gibbons. I am not an amp tech but had at that point owned and played thousands of vintage tube amps and kind of knew what Billy wanted. I had been getting my hands dirty for may years fixing them up but using many great amp techs to repair and service them. Being a long time fan and first seeing ZZ Top live in 1976 when I was still a young teenager also gave me an idea. I wore out the first three albums. Billy was introduced to my by my buddy Michael Doyle author of the “History Of Marshall”. Billy came to my shop in Huntington Beach around 1993 with Mike. He would occasional stop back in and it was always a fun visit that would spill over into other fun activities besides guitars and amps. Anyway at the time a fine amp tech in his own right was working for Guitar Oasis and his name was Art Reno. Art built the first amp chassis for Billy. Chuck Guald from Classic Case who also builds all of Divided By Thirteen’s boxes built the box. It was covered in Marshall re-issue tolex and the grill was done in original 1960’s used striped “Blues Breaker” grill cloth. The box was made out of the best birch plywood. The chassis was an original totally burnt out and ragged 1969 Marshall 50 watt chassis. The only thing left was the power transformer which was original and used for the final production. From there it’s a bit foggy but Billy’s concept was to build a monster amp in the smallest possible box. The speakers were 2X8” Vintage Celestion V-30’s (I think they discontinued these). The amp was tiny but had a huge tone. Art Reno really dialed it in and Billy loved it. It was all hand wired of course and Chuck and Art did an amazing job. As soon as Billy picked it up he commission a second one. This one had all of the same fetures but we had a custom aluminum chassis bent up fashioned after a vintage 50 watt Marshall. This one was worked on by Art Reno and then Guy Hedrick of Guytron Fame. Box built by Classic Case Chuck Guald. Guy worked for me for a number of months and also is an amazing amp tech and designer. What set this amp apart was a special piece of rack mount gear that was mounted in the back bottom of the amp at Billy’s request. According Billy this is the one that made the next several albums. He loved this amp. After Guy moved out of state mid project another OC map tech named Tom Mitchell finished the amp. Tom did a bunch of amp design work for Groove Tubes and others. Just another very talented guy. When Tom got the amp the problem was it wouldn’t fit into the box because the tubes where hitting and the box was so small. He actually counter sunk the tubes into the chassis. He did the final tweaking of the tone and hit it right on. It sounded big and Billy was very pleased. The third and final amp was a nightmare financially for me. Mark Cameron another very talented amp tech and designer started it. He was working for us at the time. Mark had it sounding amazing but then his car completely blew up and he wasn’t able to get back to work from LA to OC. As good as it looked and sounded it was unstable (are we talking about amps or woman?? Sorry sorry sorry!!!). So mark wasn’t able to finish his master piece in all due respect. Mark asked me to give it to another OC tech named Richard Lingenburg who was also doing general repairs for us at the time. Rich is a guy that could fix anything and very talented at fixing. But not a player. So Rich made it stable but the tone Mark had worked at went away. In the mean time I spent a ton of money trying to get this amp right. This was a V-Front tweed amp and again Billy’s concept. At the time he had bought from me and several other vintage dealers a big number of Fender original tweed V front 50’s combos. So he commissioned me to build a V-Front along the same lines as above. Super powerful and compact. I should also point out that the late Sam Hutton built this box. It was a pine box and Sam did a wonderful knock out job being an original employee of Fender in Fullerton CA. He knew who it was for and it looked great. After all of this it still wasn’t anything I would give to Billy. So it sat in my shop literally for over a year and a half. Around that time a guy named Fred Tacone who was also a customer of Guitar Oasis and a crazy ass punk rock bass player ( it takes balls to plug a bass into a full Marshall 100 watt stack just ask Jack Bruce) started doing all of my personal AC-30’s and tube amp repair. Right off the bat I knew he had great ears. So you guessed it. Fred ended up with the last chassis. It was also a Marshall burnt out 50 watt. Fred took a blowtorch and melted everything down inside of the chassis. Just kidding. But really he did rip it all out and started over from scratch except for the chassis and transformers. What he delivered back was a masterpiece. It sounded like ZZ Top what can I say he nailed it. This amp had some very special features that Fred built in. Shortly after Fred Launched his own amp line and the rest is history. I must have lost 3k on this amp but live and learn as they say. I was never in to this for the money!
Sorry for any miss spelling and bad grammar.
OK Questions?

[SkydogFan81]

Nice read. Thanks for that post!

[MightyGuru]

Lance's (Wichita) tone with the Bludo reminds me of the Rev.

[EastCoastRocker]

Actually, Billy uses a SS 1 12" marshall combo,
and a huge rack. Also, a chain of Expandora pedals.
Been using this rig for years.
It was all covered in Tone Quest mag.
One of my customers (Los Lobos) recorded
a song with him last year, and confirmed
the set up.
Its amazing that he can get such a great tone
from all the SS gear he uses!

OK, I have to jump into the fray..... I wouldn't doubt that at all, and you're probably right that he has used that set up but...

I worked one show as a PA system tech with ZZ top on a one off show when the Aeorsmith tour was cancled due to Steve Tyler's injury.

He had a mojave scorpion in a rack mount that he used that night in addition to a row of Marshall JMP pre amps, and a DI line to the FOH console.
His tech said that he also had the 12 watt and 30 watt Mojave's (that would be the Coyote and Sidewinder) that he had used from time to time depending on the venue and his whims...
I did not see the Coyote and sidewinder, but the Scorpion was in use for sure. I'm not sure about the SS stuff. I don't remember seeing it but I do remember one of the techs talking about him using SS at one time.

As for guitar string gauge, he really does play 07's. I didn't believe it when his tech told me, so he let me play Billy's flametop Les Paul through the Mojave.I was surprised at the playability of those light strings. That coupled with the guitar's setup gave an unreal feel of nuance to the guitar.I hate to admit that I liked it! I really liked the mojave so I went out and and bought the two that I currently own. ( I've played your amps since then and love those as well)

As for the Les Paul that I played, it was a custom one off. (he got lots of custom made Gibsons) That particular one was a weight relieved/chamber hybrid. The guitar tech said that Billy made Gibson nuts with the selection
of wood and design. He sent it back countless times until they got it the way he wanted.

For whatever it's worth,his tour techs talked about all of the different amps that he owns and has used, and that they firmly believe that Billy sounds like himself on whatever he plays. Billy himself told me that his tone is all in the hands, and I firmly believe that.

[sickboy79]

OK, I have to jump into the fray..... I wouldn't doubt that at all, and you're probably right that he has used that set up but...

I worked one show as a PA system tech with ZZ top on a one off show when the Aeorsmith tour was cancled due to Steve Tyler's injury.

He had a mojave scorpion in a rack mount that he used that night in addition to a row of Marshall JMP pre amps, and a DI line to the FOH console.
His tech said that he also had the 12 watt and 30 watt Mojave's (that would be the Coyote and Sidewinder) that he had used from time to time depending on the venue and his whims...
I did not see the Coyote and sidewinder, but the Scorpion was in use for sure. I'm not sure about the SS stuff. I don't remember seeing it but I do remember one of the techs talking about him using SS at one time.

As for guitar string gauge, he really does play 07's. I didn't believe it when his tech told me, so he let me play Billy's flametop Les Paul through the Mojave.I was surprised at the playability of those light strings. That coupled with the guitar's setup gave an unreal feel of nuance to the guitar.I hate to admit that I liked it! I really liked the mojave so I went out and and bought the two that I currently own. ( I've played your amps since then and love those as well)

As for the Les Paul that I played, it was a custom one off. (he got lots of custom made Gibsons) That particular one was a weight relieved/chamber hybrid. The guitar tech said that Billy made Gibson nuts with the selection
of wood and design. He sent it back countless times until they got it the way he wanted.

For whatever it's worth,his tour techs talked about all of the different amps that he owns and has used, and that they firmly believe that Billy sounds like himself on whatever he plays. Billy himself told me that his tone is all in the hands, and I firmly believe that.

Interesting stuff. I saw them open for Tom Petty at Summerfest in Milwaukee back in June and his tone was AMAZING. Just huge and fat. Much bigger and thicker than I've heard on previoius live recordings/DVDs.

[EastCoastRocker]

Interesting stuff. I saw them open for Tom Petty at Summerfest in Milwaukee back in June and his tone was AMAZING. Just huge and fat. Much bigger and thicker than I've heard on previoius live recordings/DVDs.

I'll give a ton of credit to his FOH tech. It was (and still is) one of the best sounding shows that I've ever worked or seen.ZZ top has extremely low
stage volume due to IEM's and iso cabinets. That certainly helps.

[mcdonaldkd]

It's the other way around....Gibbon's puts HIS stamp on whatever he uses:D

Exactly.

[Birdy]

Great thread everybody :dude

[wichita]

Lance's (Wichita) tone with the Bludo reminds me of the Rev.

Thank you my friend.

[bettset]

that's kinda what i thought with fred's involvement. monster tone. then there's the witchita tone--i don't need another amp, but lance's sounds monster too. but then i don't have his hands :munch

[Analog Assassin]

Actually, Billy uses a SS 1 12" marshall combo,
and a huge rack. Also, a chain of Expandora pedals.
Been using this rig for years.
It was all covered in Tone Quest mag.
One of my customers (Los Lobos) recorded
a song with him last year, and confirmed
the set up.
Its amazing that he can get such a great tone
from all the SS gear he uses!

I LOVE ZZ Top, but I can't say that I've been impressed with his tone on anything that he's come out with since they started using synths and sampled drums on Eliminator.

[Rena Rune]

Actually, Billy uses a SS 1 12" marshall combo,
and a huge rack. Also, a chain of Expandora pedals.
Been using this rig for years.
It was all covered in Tone Quest mag.
One of my customers (Los Lobos) recorded
a song with him last year, and confirmed
the set up.
Its amazing that he can get such a great tone
from all the SS gear he uses!

What SS Marshall is it?

[Demo]

Might have been this Mojave http://mojaveampworks.com/index.php?id=20,80,0,0,1,0

[jkr]

I have kept a low profile for many years about the amps that Billy F. Gibbons commissioned me to build for him back in the 1990s. I have read some miss information and wanted to set it all straight and also give credit where credit is due. First off let me say that all of the concepts came from the man himself Billy F. Gibbons. I am not an amp tech but had at that point owned and played thousands of vintage tube amps and kind of knew what Billy wanted. I had been getting my hands dirty for may years fixing them up but using many great amp techs to repair and service them. Being a long time fan and first seeing ZZ Top live in 1976 when I was still a young teenager also gave me an idea. I wore out the first three albums. Billy was introduced to my by my buddy Michael Doyle author of the “History Of Marshall”. Billy came to my shop in Huntington Beach around 1993 with Mike. He would occasional stop back in and it was always a fun visit that would spill over into other fun activities besides guitars and amps. Anyway at the time a fine amp tech in his own right was working for Guitar Oasis and his name was Art Reno. Art built the first amp chassis for Billy. Chuck Guald from Classic Case who also builds all of Divided By Thirteen’s boxes built the box. It was covered in Marshall re-issue tolex and the grill was done in original 1960’s used striped “Blues Breaker” grill cloth. The box was made out of the best birch plywood. The chassis was an original totally burnt out and ragged 1969 Marshall 50 watt chassis. The only thing left was the power transformer which was original and used for the final production. From there it’s a bit foggy but Billy’s concept was to build a monster amp in the smallest possible box. The speakers were 2X8” Vintage Celestion V-30’s (I think they discontinued these). The amp was tiny but had a huge tone. Art Reno really dialed it in and Billy loved it. It was all hand wired of course and Chuck and Art did an amazing job. As soon as Billy picked it up he commission a second one. This one had all of the same fetures but we had a custom aluminum chassis bent up fashioned after a vintage 50 watt Marshall. This one was worked on by Art Reno and then Guy Hedrick of Guytron Fame. Box built by Classic Case Chuck Guald. Guy worked for me for a number of months and also is an amazing amp tech and designer. What set this amp apart was a special piece of rack mount gear that was mounted in the back bottom of the amp at Billy’s request. According Billy this is the one that made the next several albums. He loved this amp. After Guy moved out of state mid project another OC map tech named Tom Mitchell finished the amp. Tom did a bunch of amp design work for Groove Tubes and others. Just another very talented guy. When Tom got the amp the problem was it wouldn’t fit into the box because the tubes where hitting and the box was so small. He actually counter sunk the tubes into the chassis. He did the final tweaking of the tone and hit it right on. It sounded big and Billy was very pleased. The third and final amp was a nightmare financially for me. Mark Cameron another very talented amp tech and designer started it. He was working for us at the time. Mark had it sounding amazing but then his car completely blew up and he wasn’t able to get back to work from LA to OC. As good as it looked and sounded it was unstable (are we talking about amps or woman?? Sorry sorry sorry!!!). So mark wasn’t able to finish his master piece in all due respect. Mark asked me to give it to another OC tech named Richard Lingenburg who was also doing general repairs for us at the time. Rich is a guy that could fix anything and very talented at fixing. But not a player. So Rich made it stable but the tone Mark had worked at went away. In the mean time I spent a ton of money trying to get this amp right. This was a V-Front tweed amp and again Billy’s concept. At the time he had bought from me and several other vintage dealers a big number of Fender original tweed V front 50’s combos. So he commissioned me to build a V-Front along the same lines as above. Super powerful and compact. I should also point out that the late Sam Hutton built this box. It was a pine box and Sam did a wonderful knock out job being an original employee of Fender in Fullerton CA. He knew who it was for and it looked great. After all of this it still wasn’t anything I would give to Billy. So it sat in my shop literally for over a year and a half. Around that time a guy named Fred Tacone who was also a customer of Guitar Oasis and a crazy ass punk rock bass player ( it takes balls to plug a bass into a full Marshall 100 watt stack just ask Jack Bruce) started doing all of my personal AC-30’s and tube amp repair. Right off the bat I knew he had great ears. So you guessed it. Fred ended up with the last chassis. It was also a Marshall burnt out 50 watt. Fred took a blowtorch and melted everything down inside of the chassis. Just kidding. But really he did rip it all out and started over from scratch except for the chassis and transformers. What he delivered back was a masterpiece. It sounded like ZZ Top what can I say he nailed it. This amp had some very special features that Fred built in. Shortly after Fred Launched his own amp line and the rest is history. I must have lost 3k on this amp but live and learn as they say. I was never in to this for the money!
Sorry for any miss spelling and bad grammar.
OK Questions?

Interesting story and history! Thanks for sharing.

[sahhas]

some interesting reads...i will say that i've watched the "zztop live in tx" dvd a number of times and his playing/sound i think is just fascinating...

i can't really comment on his amp/sound gear, i haven't followed him too closely over the yrs, but in most of the interviews if read w/ him he seems to favor guitars that are chambered in order to make them lighter...that certainly contributes a different sound to the guitar than a solidbody.

as for the tuning down...i can't speak specifically to what he tunes to...but i know that for myself in the last few yrs i've been tuning down a whole step to D (and recently been playing w/ drop C-most fun) and i will say that i think it gives you a certain tone...to my ear whenever i hear a guitar tuned standard i think it sounds too twangy...i don't know BG's reasons for downtuning (and down to A, whoa...) but i do like it, & b/c it can be so "floppy" you do have to play a bit different....

lastly--i think from watching the live in tx dvd, if you watch BG's hands in the closeups, you can see that his picking hand is all over the place while he plays, sometimes at bridge, other times by the neck, and all pts inbetween & i've noticed in my own discovery of exploring this is that you can get different sounds & different harmonics by varying your picking, sort of really exploring what he does w/ the pinch harmonics...just some general observations i've noticed in rewatching it....the magic is probably in his hands and how he uses them.....my guess anyway....thanks for all the technical details from folks, interesting stuff....

[EastCoastRocker]

Might have been this Mojave http://mojaveampworks.com/index.php?id=20,80,0,0,1,0

No, I've never seen that one. Billy had a rack mount Mojave Scorpion,
I seem to remeber that it was this one: http://www.vintageamps.com/plexiboard/viewtopic.php?t=58660

Maybe Victor made Gibbons a standard head version with the same tweeks,or maybe it's some type of signature model. Time to call Victor about that one..

[Ogre]

He doesn't need Divided By 13. This guy could play even when I saw him with the Moving Sidewalks way, way back.

[topgeardan]

I LOVE ZZ Top, but I can't say that I've been impressed with his tone on anything that he's come out with since they started using synths and sampled drums on Eliminator.

In the 70s I used to blast Tres Hombres thru a big cab at the foot of my bed ;-) It had THE BEST recorded tone (including the drums, which kicked my butt) I'd ever heard up to then. It's still one of the best. Back in those days I was one of the original DiMarzio guys, and was v.p. for over a decade. (please, I'm not bragging: just background to tell how I arrived here)

FFwd to today: I've owned my own guitar & amp shop for 25 years. Every time I go out & play - which is rare - somebody says they like my tone. It happened again last night ;-) At a recent NAMM show I ran into Billy by accident and had a few words with him (I made him laugh!), after which he played a bit with a pickup band thru a Fender amp. While he didn't have the Reverend's "God Tone" he was unmistakeably Billy.

Like you, I had thought Billy's whole deal had slipped a bunch during the 90s. Then last year I was in TX and heard some cuts from that recent live Dallas show & I was blown away. He sounded waaay more "authentic" than in the past. Even his playing upped a notch. When I heard they were going to play this past Saturday at the Del Mar race track in SD, CA. I was determined to go, and BOY AM I GLAD I DID!

His tone is now the best live sound I've ever heard. Forget these players, all of whom I've seen, some of them multiple times, and all known for exceptional tone: Leslie West, Joe Satriani, Jeff Beck, Eric Johnson, Steve Vai, Alan Holdsworth, Pete Townshend, Tom Scholz (and I own an old modded Rockman!), Eric Clapton, etc, etc, etc.

I don't want to blather on, but I can't stress how great he (they) sounded!

[teleamp]

Funny you should say that seeing as Fred built the Rev an amp. Click here (http://www.dividedby13.com/amplifiers.html) to go to the spot on /13's website where the pic is located. Granted it's not really a /13 amp, but close enough.

That would be the /13 for me!!!

[Jack Luminous]

You're partly right. Billy uses a rack that has 2 of each of the following: Marshall JMP preamp, Digitech 31 band programmable EQ, Boss FX processor (can't remember the model) and Marshall Valvestate poweramps. For his FOH sound, he has a Demeter 1x12 iso box. The stuff on stage is just whatever he want's people to see, it's NOT what he's running through.

I've got a great picture of this rig, that I'll have to dig out.

I've any of you have ever met Billy, you'd find out that he talks a lot of crap about the gear he uses. He'll tell you that he plays .008 strings, and tunes down to C. Yeah, right, try that one at home. He does that just to mess with people.

Bottom line, Billy can play through ANYTHING, and he will sound good. He's that caliber of player, along with Jimi, EJ, ect.

Head

The processor is a Boss SE-70.