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ZZ Top Gear Gallery

Guitarist Billy Gibbons’ and bassist Dusty Hill’s toys can be summed up by three Bs: bold, Bolin-made, and because they said so.

On the current ZZ Top tour, Billy Gibbons starts the night with a John Bolin-made purple telecaster. The guitar was made in 2012 and has a 24 3/4 scale, a chambered mahogany body with a flamed-maple top, a set mahogany neck with painted maple fretboard, Glendale saddles, a Cream T BFG Banger pickup with LED pole pieces, and checkerboard binding. According to Gibbons’ tech Elwood Francis, this guitar is “feather light.” Like all of Gibbons’ guitars, it’s strung with .07-.038 strings.

ZZ Top approaches gear like they approach facial hair: Go big or go home. Billy Gibbons’ tech Elwood Francis and Dusty Hill’s tech Ken “TJ” Gordon give us the behind-the-scenes rundown of the current touring setup.

Billy Gibbons’ Gear
Here’s a glimpse at what Billy’s been using live, but let it be known that it’s already changed. “We started the tour using the Les Pauls for the encores, but that gave way to whatever guitars we happened to pick up along the way,” said Billy Gibbons’ tech Elwood Francis from the road in mid-November. “Things change at the drop of a hat. In the past week, we've acquired four guitars and six fuzz boxes—and the tour only has three more gigs.” 

Dusty Hill’s Gear
Tech Ken “TJ” Gordon describes Dusty Hill’s bass tone as, “Texas blues with a little nastiness and a lot whoooo!” Here he guides us through Hill’s gear, including a collection of basses that were custom-made to match the guitars of bandmate Billy Gibbons.

Onstage, Tommy Emmanuel executes a move that is not from the playbook of his hero, Chet Atkins.

Photo by Simone Cecchetti

Recorded live at the Sydney Opera House, the Australian guitarist’s new album reminds listeners that his fingerpicking is in a stratum all its own. His approach to arranging only amplifies that distinction—and his devotion to Chet Atkins.

Australian fingerpicking virtuoso Tommy Emmanuel is turning 70 this year. He’s been performing since he was 6, and for every solo show he’s played, he’s never used a setlist.

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Featuring a newly-voiced circuit with more compression and versatility, these pedals are hand-crafted in Los Angeles for durability.

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Joe Glaser has been a pillar of Nashville's guitar community for decades. He's a man that dreams in mechanical terms often coming up ideas while deep in a REM cycle. Through his various companies he's designed, developed, and released a handful of "blue water" solutions to age-old instrument problems making the tolerable terrific. In this comprehensive visit to Glaser's home base, we get up close and personal with several of these products that enhance intonation and playability without disrupting the guitar's integrity.

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With both feet squarely in the rodent realm, the Bat spreads its wings to range outward to fuzz, lo-fi, and creamy OD zones.

A thousand shades of RAT, spanning lo-fi, fuzz, and creamy OD. Gets along with every kind of amp and guitar—as long as you like things a bit filthy and mysterious.

Not many, really. Maybe a little extra bass range is asking too much?

$199

Supercool Barstow Bat
supercoolpedals.com

4.5
4.5
4.5
4.5

One of the most visceral, thrilling sound baths I ever experienced came courtesy of a Turbo RAT. This roar was an amalgam of trashy punk spittle, string detail, Black Sabbath mass, and an imploding Fender tweed. I might have been even happier if the Supercool Barstow Bat was onstage that night instead.

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