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Ok so i was wondering if anyone knew anything about frank zappa's guitars? I know he had jimi hendrix`s guitar after he burned it but anyone know any thing eles about him or have any comments on his playing?

didn't he play SGs?

slade

that might be the biggest can or worms ever open here...

He played a mini Les paul clone and a SG both with super distortions(he later changed to duncans) and a fender clone that was light in weight and the jimi strat. He played through Crate amps

I always think of him with an SG Special and a 70's LP Custom.


Originally Posted by fusion101He played a mini Les paul clone and a SG both with super distortions(he later changed to duncans) and a fender clone that was light in weight and the jimi strat. He played through Crate ampsI have seen the Mim LP, and there were several SG's and there were even more different Strats not to mention a Tele, several Les Pauls, Carvins, an ES-5 Switchmaster at least 1 335...tones of guitars, loads of Fender and Marshall amps, boat loeds of FX some custom some not...

There is more FZ gear to be talked about that both Billy G and david Gilmoure combined!

GUy who invented fire your right I was just talking about his main guitars, and i completly forgot about his fender twin reverb

BAM here you go

thre is even more that that...and some of that is wrong...

like what?

I always remember Frank as the Big Cavin amp user..... His son tried to sell that Hendrix strat last year and it didn't sell.... I think it would of sold if it had been left the way Frank had it.... The Dwez had Fender make a neck and added all new Fender parts to it...

Ok, here's a breakdown of FZ's main guitars as best as I recall (running on memory):

SGs - His first one was just a factory built Gibson, pretty much stock as I recall, he removed the Vibrola, and one or two others that got lost/destroyed. Next he got a custom-built (still has Gibson logo on headstock) that had 23 frets and Dimarzios (PAFs as I recall, not SDs) and switches galore, including the fabled parametric EQ. There was another custom SG later I think with a crazy pickguard and the parametric EQ, but didn't see that much use. One of the earlier SGs had Barcus-Berry (spelling?) pickups for a while I think...

Zappa's parametric EQ had a variable Q knob (some guitars had two switchable EQs) so he could boost frequencies that were feedback-friendly at any particular venue.

LPs - The one on the cover of the quot;Shut Up...quot; box set was a standard Gibson with Super Distortions installed in both positions. He also has the D'Mini Les Paul that was used a fair bit, up a fourth from standard guitar tuning.

Strats - There is of course the infamous Hendriz Strat from the Miami pop festival. Hendrix's tech kept it, then gave it to Zappa with a new (SG-shaped) neck and pickups, but apparently it had serious feedback problems. There was also a Performance strat with custom pickups (Barcus-Berrys?...can't remember) a Floyd Rose and the parametric EQ. Then there was the D'Mini strat which had Duncans, and was either up in F# or G. Stringwise Frank used 8s and 9s for the most part.

Other Guitars - Frank's first quality guitar was a white Tele, and it appeared on rare occasions during the 60s albums. However almost all the guitar work from the first 3 albums was a Gibson Switchmaster and a P-90 Gold Top (which stayed around through the 70s, proabbly the most used FZ guitar until the late 70s/80s). I've also seen photos of Frank playing a H-H Tele, a Fender XII, an ES-335, various acoustics both f-hole and regular, and even a Black Beauty with a Vibrola-type arm and three Filtertron pickups, so really anything goes. On the quot;Shut up...quot; album there's also reference to a Black Widow acoustic with EMGs...

Amps - Carvin X100Bs for most of the 80s (also Acoustic and Marshall from time to time), though of course other stuff crept in in the studio. There was a Pignose amp during the late 70s, as well as some Marshalls and an AC30. The early albums (up to Hot Rats) were done almost exclusively through a Deluxe, and Orange amps were used a bit later on. As for effects univibe, fuzz face, rangemaster, and other standards of the time. Dynaflangers, MXR Digital Delays, and various phasers for the 80s, and all sorts of studio experimentation. Once again anything, anytime, anywhere, for no reason... FZ also used a wah half-****ed quite a bit as well.

Playing wise as you know he's no technician, but I still love his style and sense of melody and polyrhythmic excursions. There's a lot more legato than you would think, especially when playing fast. I could say more but it's late, and I've probably dug myself ia big enough hole with the Zappa trivia...

on of the european guitar mags had an article about frank recently. It had some good pics of his SG special.

My old copy of GP with Frank on the cover wearing the burnt Strat is somewhere in my 'toilet stash' I'll have to read it again.
I listen to the Alice Cooper radio show some nights, he's been around and is quite the funny DJ. He mentioned of a club where all the greats jammed in the 60's, Hendrix, Clapton, Page and others were all there, a guy walks on stage, does riffs of everyone there...it was Zappa. His music always made me laugh, his playing jaw dropping, nothing else like him in the music scene. Seemed like a really humble guy...RIP Frank.

funny this thread pops up. i was just listening to apostrophe yesterday. on either uncle remus or stinkfoot his tone is so delicious i wanted to lick the cd. he had some wah going too but the sound coming out of whatever chunk of wood he was using was one the best i've ever heard. can i get a hallelujah!

In addition to the above, and specifically the quot;Black Widow acoustic with EMGs...quot;
mentioned by mind_transplant above, I think that was the fretless prototype that
he also installed Barcus-Berry pickups into.

In my giant guitar book it has a section on FZ and it said the he had quot;special contact pickups installed in the neck of his guitarsquot;


Originally Posted by ericmeyer4In my giant guitar book it has a section on FZ and it said the he had quot;special contact pickups installed in the neck of his guitarsquot;

Those would be the Barcus Berrys. They made something called quot;Hot Dotsquot;, they were supposed to be for amplifying acoustics, but Frank said he had 'em inlaid up amp; down the guitar neck.