![Dweezil Zappa Rig Rundown [2025]](https://www.premierguitar.com/media-library/youtube.jpg?id=56183232&width=1245&height=700&quality=85&coordinates=0%2C0%2C0%2C0)
Dweezil Zappa was always going to end up being an incredible guitarist. His dad, Frank Zappa, is celebrated as one of the most talented and creative guitarists in history, and by age 12, Dweezil was recording music produced by Eddie Van Halen. (Little surprise that he’s covering Van Halen’s 1981 stunner “Push Comes to Shove” lately.) He’s been a bona fide guitar star ever since, releasing seven original solo records, six tribute records, two LPs with his brother Ahmet Zappa, and guesting on recordings across the music universe.
Ahead of his gig at Memphis’ Minglewood Hall on his 2024 Rox(postroph)y tour, which celebrated the 50th anniversary of Frank Zappa’s Apostrophe (') and Roxy & Elsewhere records, Dweezil gave PG’s John Bohlinger a boot-to-bonnet look at his current road setup. There’s a lot of ground to cover between his and his father’s catalogues, and Dweezil loves the challenge, which he meets with a mix of his own gear and some special vintage assists courtesy of his dad.
Brought to you by D’Addario.Shut Up ’n Play Yer Les Paul
This coveted Gibson Les Paul Custom, featured on the cover of Frank’s 1981 record Shut Up ’n Play Yer Guitar, came out on the road this tour. Dweezil says that around 1986, his dad swapped in Dan Armstrong-made ceramic pickups. At one point, Frank installed a second input to try to use the guitar as a synth controller, but it didn’t track well enough to continue the experiment.
Along with the standard controls, the guitar includes switches to turn on different parts of the onboard preamp, which boosts the signal and adds plenty of gain. A rotary knob controls a wired-in parametric EQ set up to emulate different settings along the sweep of a wah pedal. Dweezil didn’t get much of the lowdown from his father on the complex operations; it was more trial-and-error. “You just have to turn knobs until you find something that you like,” he says. He connects to his rig with ZZYZX SnapJack magnetic cable connectors.
Rockin' with Roxy
Also out on the Rox(postroph)y tour is Frank’s iconic Roxy & Elsewhere-era Gibson SG. Like the Les Paul, it’s got a preamp circuit to boost the signal, a sweepable EQ, and can achieve acoustic, piezo-adjacent sounds. The preamp configuration in this one is red-hot; it dishes out tons of gain.
Signature Shabat
For Strat-style tones, Dweezil calls on his signature Shabat Lynx DZ, which has been used to dial in his cover of “Push Comes to Shove.” Per Shabat, it has a “body-mounted HSS configuration with a push/pull phase shift on the middle pickup, simplified single-knob layout, custom-cut 3-ply parchment/gold pickguard, and … a Vega-Trem VT1 tremolo."
The Lynx DZ is constructed with an alder body and a quartersawn hard maple, medium-C-profile neck with a 25.5" scale length. It’s loaded with Lollar Special S and Lollar El Rayo pickups, and the middle Special S is wired for phase shift. The Lynx, as well as the SG and Les Paul, are strung with Optima Gold-Plated 2028 FZ Frank Zappa strings (.008–.046), and struck with D’Addario .50 mm celluloid picks. (Dweezil likes them for pick slides.)
On the Ground
Zappa keeps a significant board at his feet, which he controls with a Fractal FC-12 controller. He runs his sound in stereo, with different effects going to each side, so he keeps volume pedals for each side in front of him, plus a wah and expression pedal.
The row of pedals perched atop the pedalboard includes a TC Electronic Polytune 3 Noir, a Marshall-style prototype pedal, J. Rockett Audio Designs PXO, Union Tube and Transistor Lab, SoloDallas Orbiter, a Jext Telez White Pedal (to nab a specific tone for playing “Nanook Rubs It”), and a 29 Pedals FLWR.
In the Rack
On our 2013 Rig Rundown, Dweezil was using the Fractal Axe-Fx II, and this time around, he’s upgraded to the Axe-Fx III as the basis of his sound. Given the sonic territory covered in his shows, it simply became too unwieldy and expensive to tour an analog rig.
The brains of his show are held in a rack system. A couple of out-of-sight splitter boxes help with the complex stereo signal paths, as do a pair of Voodoo Lab HEX audio switchers. The Axe-Fx III lives on the top shelf, and just below it are an Eventide H90 and TC Electronic TC 2290 that go to both sides.
The next rack down runs only to the left side, and includes a BK Butler Tube Driver, DigiTech FreqOut, Red Panda Radius and Raster, Krozz Devices Airborn Analog Flanger, and a Paul Trombetta Design Tornita! fuzz.
The level below it runs to the right side, with a “Clown Vomit” fuzz, Chase Bliss Warped Vinyl, Korg FLG-1 Flanger, Chase Bliss Generation Loss, Goochfx Holy Cow, and another Red Panda Raster.
Wrapping up the rig is the bottom rack, which again runs to both sides. It carries most of Zappa’s exquisite dirt sounds, thanks to a Union Tube and Transistor Tsar Bomba, Chase Bliss Automatone Preamp MKII, Goochfx Dirty Hippie, Tru-Fi Two Face, Foxrox Electronics Paradox TZF2, and a Paul Trombetta Design Rotobone that … somewhat reasonably apes a trombone sound. Paul Trombetta, we salute you.
Enter here:
Pedalmania 2024 Week #3Eventide Ultratap Delay/Reverb Multi-Tap Effects Pedal Silver
UltraTap is a unique multi-tap delay effects pedal offering rhythmic delays, reverb and modulation. It's perfect for staccato leads, swelling chords, and other evolving effects — everything from reversed reverbs to the sound of ripping it up in the Grand Canyon! UltraTap features the ability to add as many virtual tape heads as desired along with the ability to expressively control head position and output level enabling new and unprecedented effects.
Xotic XW-2 Wah Pedal - Limited-edition Blue
The wah tone and EQ are dialed in to perfection making accessing the perfect wah sound easier than ever. With plug-and-play simplicity, you can achieve the finest wah sound that will truly elevate your creative ingenuity. The pedal features custom wound inductor, pot and circuit which not only captures the pure essence of vintage Clyde McCoy (as XW1 did), but also breathes an evolved essence (of wah) that goes beyond vintage. As with the XW-1, the pedal has a relay-based true bypass switch and adjustable rocker tension to optimize your rocker pedal to your liking.
Walrus Audio Sloer Stereo Ambient Reverb Effects Pedal Blue
The Slöer Stereo Ambient Reverb builds on our popular Slö lineup but adds two additional reverb algorithms, stereo width control, two additional modulation wave shapes, and the ability to control the sample rate. Now you can create immersive, lush, modulated, sleepy, and ambient soundscapes with more width and depth than ever before.
J. Rockett Audio Designs Blue Note Select Boost/Overdrive Pedal
Transparent, organic, dynamic — J. Rockett’s Blue Note Select all but embodies these sought-after overdrive qualities, improving upon J. Rockett’s self-admitted “favorite circuit” with a fresh look and tone. Like previous Blue Note series pedals, it skillfully skirts the lines between dirty boost and overdrive to deliver the same lively feel of a hot tube amp. And just like a traditional amplifier, this pedal’s 4-knob setup — consisting of Volume, Gain, Tone, and Fat controls — provides a straightforward and intuitive tone-shaping experience. However, Sweetwater’s Blue Note aficionados find that this V2 variation’s most significant change is found in its harder-hitting low-end response, which impacts both standard mode and the screaming sound of Hot mode when you engage the middle switch. The Blue Note Select fits the bill for the guitarist who requires an uncompromisingly amp-like response from their gain pedal.
Neon Egg Planetarium 3
The Planetarium 3 is a stereo reverb and/or chorus, running into a delay with stereo modulation, running into a compressor with an external sidechain input. It lets you turn any sound into a sea of modulated ambience, then make it pump in time with the music (without the need for a computer or click track).
Maxon Od-9 Overdrive Effects Pedal
The Maxon OD-9 Overdrive Effects Pedal may look like your old favorite but that's where the similarity ends. Improved circuitry with a new chip yields the ultra-smooth dynamic overdrive guitarists crave. Drive and Level controls tweak the intensity and volume while the Hi-Boost/Hi-Cut tone controls adjust brightness. Features true bypass switching, a die-cast zinc case, and 3-year warranty. From subtle cries to shattering screams, the Maxon OD-9 delivers a huge range of tones.
Features
Improved circuitry with a new chip yields ultra-smooth dynamic overdrive
Drive and Level controls tweak the intensity and volume
Hi Boost/Hi Cut tone controls adjust brightness
True bypass switching
Die-cast zinc case
AC/DC operation (order optional Maxon AC210N adapter)
Product Specs
Input: 1/4" mono jack
Output: 1/4" mono jack
Power: 9V DC, 6 mA, center pin minus (not included)
Dimensions: (WxDxH) 74 mm x 124 mm x 54 mm
Weight: 580g
J. Rockett themselves say the differences between these diode positions are subtle at high gain settings, and pretty much indiscernible in clean boost situations. That was borne out in my experiments. The default OA10 diode, standard in regular Archers, is predictably sweet and dishes the lowest output. Among the other five germanium diodes, which include the 1N34A used in the original Klon, the differences are apparent in slight shifts in output and compression profile. The 1N270 and 1N34A sound the most open and attractively compressed. The 1N695, D9B, and D9A are less flatteringly compressed, and very similar in the case of the last two. The single red LED diode setting is considerably louder and less compressed. In this setting you can use the clipping switch to move between default OA10 and LED modes, using the latter as a volume boost. Whether these subtle differences in diode type, and a DI output with speaker simulation, justify the extra 130 bucks you’ll pay to upgrade from a regular Archer to a Select will be very subjective. But you can be certain there are delectable Klon-style voices here if you pony up the cash.
