General Specific Stuff

 I'm a huge ZZ Top fan, since high school. There's just nothing like Billy F Gibbons. I'm a bit unhappy with their decision to remain ZZ Top after the death of Dusty Hill (RIP). Covering the bottom end will be Elwood (Francis?), BFG's old guitar tech.

On most albums, there was a weird song. Squank comes to mind. The big question here is what is Snappy Kakkie? Manic Mechanic is one of my favorites, but less for the guitars than the drums. Give 'em a listen during the 'chorus' bits and at the beginning. Also, during the "That's right" vocals is a great Billy bit involving suspended bar chords with the E and B strings ringing. Heaven, Hell or Houston is another fun one. Asleep in the Desert is completely out of left field - it belongs in a movie. Ten Foot Pole has pitch-shifted vocals and cool drums. Fool for Your Stockings live is a great blues piece and goes off into an hysterical bit about stockings - "Ladies, them stockings is a real cross you must bear."

One of the things not mentioned frequently is the way Billy filled out a three piece group in the studio. Listen to the sliding piano-like bits during the riff of Cheap Sunglasses, as well as the lead. Interesting drums too. Fool for Your Stockings has an interesting almost acoustic sound for the main riff, doubled with something else. There's lots of percussion and guitars you have to listen for. Billy studied percussion with Tito Puente, although I don't know if he played it on the albums. He is also fond of playing behind the beat, which really fills things out, Francine for one. Esther be the One has some very well-mixed in Strat on the harmonized parts, panned hard left(?).

Also interesting is that Billy appears onstage with Pearly, his Les Paul, or some semblance of it, equalized to sound like Pearly. However, earlier on, there were Stratocasters. Apologies to Pearly and Chevrolet come to mind. You never see a Strat onstage. I think he wants to get on and off, with one sound. Check out Party on the Patio.

Call me a heretic, but I never liked the synth-hits that made videos and made them huge, including Legs. The videos were pretty cool, though.

But they can do pretty too: check out Rough Boy, featuring Lord of the Strings, Jeff Beck. Also 2000 Blues. Sure Got Cold After the Rain Fell sounds like his guitar went through a Leslie. Interesting chords. 

And da blooz. Blue Jean Blues. It's deliciously sparse.

ME?

the Fenders

This group is appropriately called 'the Fenders'. Guess why?

from left:

1977 Strat, sunburst finish literally started to peel off

1994 Squier ProTone Strat - grab one if you can find it - feels vintage-y, relatively cheap

1978 Strat non-trem

1977 antigua Strat (pukeburst) - my #1, ain't nothin' like it. Weighs more than my car, has more bottom end too.

2005(ish) Strat body, authorized Fender Warmoth backwards v-neck, Christian piezo bridge pickup

1994 G&L Legacy - every guitar should have this bass control

1978 Tele - the most comfortable neck I have ever played, heavy as hell

all pickups replaced, likely Duncan SSL-1L and JBjr, Tele front-Fender 52 repro, rear-Van Zandt Rock

bunches of custom wiring for when I get bored

preferred necks are 7.25" radius, somewhat v-shaped, good fscking luck finding Fenders with these specs. The late 70s Fenders necks I've played vary from a large squashed C to various Vs that are very comfortable to play.

If anything looks a little weird, they're all left handed.

Funny: the late 70s Strats were real dogs. The Micro-slip Tilt neck would wander all over the place, frequently while you were playing. The finishes were sometimes garbage. The pickups sounded horrible. They could vary wildly from day to day or even morning to afternoon. Yet they're now 'vintage'.

Yes, there are non-Fenders too, as well as amps. Stick around.

• I have a recent Seymour Duncan pickup, which has a warning about coming into contact with nickel. California, California, what are we going to do with you?
• as little as possible

I hate to mention Niki Manaj in a music blog, but she said something I agree with the other day.

Thus proving that even a broken clock is right twice a day.