Dial in a Billy Gibbons (ZZ Top) Style Tone
In this lesson you’re going to check out some Billy Gibbons inspired tones.
ZZ Top may be known for their long beards and catchy synth blues tracks from the 80s, but if you dig a little deeper into their discography, you’ll find some incredible blues rock from this power trio.
The tones in this lesson stem from the early 70s to the super processed 80s guitar tones. Each tone is inspired by a specific track from key points in the bands career.
Beards are optional for these tones, but they do help.
Just Got Paid Tone
This early 70s tone is great for blues rock riffs. It is based on the track Just Got Paid.
This tone aims to emulate a small tube amp pushed very hard. You’ll notice everything here is set to 10 with the ISF set to the American voiced side. Paired with the 6V6 response, this gives the feel of a cranked tweed style amp.
This tone works great when you roll back the volume on a humbucker guitar to 7. You get a punchy overdrive with extra headroom on the volume control to boost the gain when needed.
The only effect you need here is a plate reverb for some ambient space.
Download This Patch: http://www.blackstarinsider.co.uk/site/view.php?id=6236&name=ZZ%20GOT%20PAID
La Grange Tone
This tone is a great clean platform based on the track La Grange. This works well with humbuckers, but even better with single coils.
On full volume, this tone actually delivers overdrive, but the real magic happens when you dial the guitar volume back to 6 or 7. It takes the overdrive out and cleans up the sound. You get a great clean tone that’s very dynamic. If you hit the guitar hard, it starts to break up.
The overall gain level is set lower here but the EQ section is still dimed. This time it uses an EL34 response.
The effects for this are spring reverb and analogue delay. The delay serves as a fast slapback to thicken the tone out.
Download This Patch: http://www.blackstarinsider.co.uk/site/view.php?id=6237&name=ZZ%20GRANGE
Tush Tone
The third tone is a snappy light overdrive based on the song Tush. This pairs a 6V6 response with a British style ISF. The gain is dailed back here and the EQ is not dimed. Set the bass to 7, mid to 8 and treble to 7.
If the tone is too bright, you can dial the guitars tone control back a few notches to soften it out.
The spring reverb and analogue delay are still present but now a subtle chorus has been added. This is not here as an audible chorus sound, but more of a thickening tool. The original studio version features lots of double tracking and a subtle chorus can add that thickness that a double track would add.
Download This Patch: http://www.blackstarinsider.co.uk/site/view.php?id=6238&name=ZZ%20TUSH
Sharp Dressed Man Tone
This final tone is an 80s influenced tone, inspired by the tone of the track Sharp Dressed Man.
At this point the band were playing with a very processed guitar tone.
This pairs a high gain crunch tone with a British ISF and EL34 tubes to get a big rock sound. The treble is boosted here for some extra bite.
This tone is full of effects. You’ve got a spring reverb and an analogue delay for space and a lot of chorus to add that 80s swirl to all the riffs.
Download This Patch: http://www.blackstarinsider.co.uk/site/view.php?id=6239&name=ZZ%20SHARP