Inexpensive Billy Gibbons rig showdown

[shwn]

I remember seeing in some guitar magazines showing expensive and inexpensive guitar rigs of certain players, but I never seen one for the Rev!
Let me hear what everyone could do on a budget of under $600 bucks and one under $1000!
Ready, set, GO!


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[TresGatos]

Squier Classic Vibe Tele.
a. remove pickguard.
b.remove neck pickup
c. replace bridge pickup with Duncan lil 59
d. plug into Fender G-Dec Fifteen modeling amp.

You are done. Under $600. La Grange forever!

 

[crhfish]

I found this early silver face in a pawn shop a few months ago for $50.

and matched with this Halifax (Ibanez) LP copy with super 70's, also $50

You can get a pretty good early ZZTop sound. Got to crank it up though.

 

[sportoflife]

How about This Agile

And this amp:.... CRANKED

 

[xjojox]

Billy's classic tones were often vintage fender tweeds. He's also used marshalls and lots of other things.

On a budget? Used Marshall JMP1 preamp, cheap power amp, speaker. Get a midi switcher next year, you can find one edgy tone and go with it.
If you need to throw in a guitar, find a beat up les paul studio faded, and if that's too rich an epi.

 

[jo2012]

Epiphone Les Paul-$400
Fender Champion 600- $170
Rev Willy's 7 gauge strings- $6
-----------------------------------
$576

 

[smolder]

A tweed champ and nearly any guitar (but a squire tele works great)

 

[willie k]

Squier Classic Vibe Tele.
a. remove pickguard.
b.remove neck pickup
c. replace bridge pickup with Duncan lil 59
d. plug into Fender G-Dec Fifteen modeling amp.

You are done. Under $600. La Grange forever!

You forgot the emergency cigarette in the cable route

 

[frisco kid]

That sweet fiddle is an Agile???? Even the first batches of Agiles with more correct looking lower bouts never came close to looking that nice?!

How about This Agile

And this amp:.... CRANKED

 

[utterhack]

That sweet fiddle is an Agile???? Even the first batches of Agiles with more correct looking lower bouts never came close to looking that nice?!

right? where's the stubby horn and the (belch) abalone markers?

 

[webe123]

At first I thought this thread was about Billy Gibbons getting rid of his vintage stuff and using a cheap setup of some kind! LOL!

 

[crhfish]

He is rumored to have used Rockmans on Afterburner and others. It was not always vintage gear.

 

[sahhas]

do they make cheap versions of the billy-bo guitar? i was not aware of it? ha!

 

[fjblair]

I found this early silver face in a pawn shop a few months ago for $50.

You can get a pretty good early ZZTop sound. Got to crank it up though.

That is the mythical pawn shop steal, can't believe that would happen today.

Congratulations.

 

[wattage]

Hmm....

Epi LP Studio>Tube Screamer>Crate Vintage Club 20w combo should be enough left for a Duncan CC pickup and wire with a treble bleed. If you're smart and buying used should be a $600 rig easy


Epi LP Standard>TS>Expandora>Alamo Challenger - http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-1965-USA-Alamo-Challenger-Tube-Amplifier-6V6-5Y3-12AX7-American-Made-/161069786593?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item258081e5e1 plus a set of Pearly Gates pickups. Should be very attainable in the $1000 range. Might even have enough left for a used cheapo Tele with a Duncan QP if you're thrifty.

And of course you do need a funky chapeau of some sorts, maybe a weirdo shower cap and a thin glass slide

 

[crhfish]

That is the mythical pawn shop steal, can't believe that would happen today.

Congratulations.

Not only was it $50, but the electrical cord still had what I think was an original rubber band around it and it was folded just like it was brand new. The rubber band was hard and brittle and I had to break it to plug it in.

 

[shwn]

Thanks for all the replies!
I'm surprised about seeing the teles... I thought he used Pearly on everything in the studio... I know he used a hardtail strat on one album and an SG on La Futura, but I thought it was Pearly for everything else...
And the Eliminator tone was very processed... Im not looking for that tone...

Anyone have a definitive Studio setup for Rev Willy? Especially the Tres Hombres era...

 

[LanEvo]

Based on everything I've read, his custom Teles run a Gibson scale length. And they've got humbuckers. So, you're probably not going to nail the tone you're after from an off-the-shelf Tele. Then again, he plays a million guitars and sounds great on all of them.

In my experience a Gibson-scale guitar with low-output humbucker or P90 in the bridge position through a relatively low-gain amp is the key. You can get the right tone from a small Class A amp (e.g., Fender Champ, Gibson GA-5 Skylark, Alamo Capri) or any number of Bassman/JTM-45 clones. Kick in an OD/boost pedal to add some bite to the single-note stuff.

To get the crazy, squealing pinch harmonics he's famous for, look no further than the Bixonic Expandora v.1.

 

[shwn]

Man, I want an Expandora just to put it thru its paces! I did read that his custom tele shapes are Gibson scale length... I might pick up a cheap Tele shape and mod it for fun...
Cant forget the 7 and 8 gauge strings, too!

 

[rummy]

At first I thought this thread was about Billy Gibbons getting rid of his vintage stuff and using a cheap setup of some kind! LOL!

Haha. So did I.