![]() In more recent years, he has also stopped playing the guitar live. Gibbons was actually offered $5 million for the guitar, but refused to sell it. Pearly Gates is still in its original condition and having been played by Gibbons for so long, is now one of the most desirable Les Pauls ever made. And from that point onwards, the guitar was known as Pearly Gates.ġ959 is widely considered to be the year that Gibson produced its best guitars. Gibbons went and bought the Les Paul on the day the cheque arrived. His girlfriend sold the car, and sent Gibbons a $250 cheque. She got the part, and Gibbons and his friends nicknamed the car Pearly Gates, joking that it had divine powers. He didn’t have much luck in finding one, until he heard that there was a local rancher trying to sell one.Īround the same time, Gibbons leant his car to a girlfriend who used it to drive from Houston to California for a film audition. So the story goes, Gibbons had been looking for a Les Paul after seeing Eric Clapton holding one on the back of the 1966 John Mayall Blues Breakers album. Known affectionately as ‘Miss Pearly Gates’ (or ‘Pearly Gates’ for short), this is Gibbons’ 1959 Gibson Les Paul. However, of all of the different instruments that Gibbons has played, there is one guitar that defines both his tone and his image. In his own personal collection, it is estimated that Gibbons owns over 450 guitars! These include Fender Stratocasters and Telecasters, a Gibson SG, a Gibson Explorer, various different Gretsch guitars, as well as custom made John Bolin Broadcasters, amongst countless others. Over the course of his career, Gibbons has played a huge range of different guitars. So without further ado, here is everything you need to sound like Billy Gibbons. And so here I will be focusing on how to recreate Billy Gibbons’ signature tones from ZZ Top’s early albums. Not only that, but it is a less versatile tone. In my opinion, the quintessential Billy Gibbons tone is that which you hear on the early ZZ Top albums – Rio Grande Mud, Tres Hombresand Fandango! It is also the tone you hear on Eliminator. For although the band took a different musical direction on that album, the core guitar sound remains relatively unchanged.Īs such, in my opinion the heavy fuzz sound of recent albums represents a shift away from the classic Gibbons tone. In particular, Gibbons has adopted a much heavier tone and uses fuzz as a key part of his sound. As a result, a lot of the material online and the ‘Rig Rundowns’ that look at Gibbons’ setup, focus on this aspect of his rig.Īlthough I will cover aspects of Gibbons’ heavy fuzz sound here, it will not be may focus. This was illustrated on La Futura– their most recent studio album. In more recent years, Gibbons and his bandmates have favoured a heavier sound. During that time, Gibbons has experimented with a huge variety of different tones and effects, and ZZ Top’s material has ranged from soft, synth-laden 80s pop rock to fuzz laden hard rock. ZZ Top have been performing for over 50 years, and have released 15 studio albums. It is not easy to sound like Billy Gibbons. And that’s what we’ll be looking at today – the gear that Billy Gibbons used and continues to use to craft his signature Texas tones. He is an amazing guitarist and has a killer tone that has long been the subject of scrutiny in guitar magazines and on forums. ![]() In addition, along with Freddie King, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Albert Collins, Gibbons has played a key role in defining the sound of ‘Texas Blues’. ![]() Eliminator alone sold over 10 million copies in the U.S. Throughout his career he has brought the blues to a mainstream audience. Billy Gibbons is an exceptional guitarist, and his impact on the blues has been profound. Thankfully, I have since come to my senses.Īs I have matured and listened to more ZZ Top, I have realised that no amount of furry guitars or novelty dances can detract from the quality of the musicianship in the band. I mistakenly thought that ZZ Top offered nothing more than catchy choruses and funny gimmicks and I certainly didn’t fully appreciate the quality of Gibbons’ guitar playing. So I wasn’t drawn in by the furry guitars, long beards or comical dancing.Īlthough I enjoyed the songs, I dismissed them. My introduction to the band was as a teenager, watching a compilation of the MTV videos they had put together for their best selling album Eliminator. I had only recently started playing the guitar, and at that time was taking both myself and my musical endeavours very seriously. Truthfully, the first time I heard ZZ Top I didn’t really want to sound like Billy Gibbons. Guitars Pickups Amps Pedals Strings & Accessories Closing Thoughts Discover the gear that he uses to craft his signature Texas tone. Billy Gibbons is an exceptional guitarist, whose impact on the blues has been profound. ![]()
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