In 2022, ZZ Top guitar tech-turned-bassist Francis Elwood made headlines throughout the guitar press and beyond when he with the Texas blues-rock legends. And although Elwood has since he has occupied since Hill’s passing in 2021, his new addition to the ZZ Top arsenal continues the band’s great tradition of wacky instruments (the that starred in the video being their most famous examples). Now, in a new interview with , Francis has detailed the origin story behind the unlikely extended-range behemoth, which started life as a (and is most definitely not a Fender, no matter what that gargantuan headstock logo says).
“I did it to myself,” Elwood laughs. “I hate playing that fucking . I found it late at night while internet surfing on one of those Chinese websites.
I couldn't believe they were making something like that. “I found this guitar, took a screenshot, and sent it to Billy, saying, ‘We should order one of these, and I'll play it. It'll be hilarious.
’ And three months later, we fucking got it. It came in all the way from China, and Billy pulls out this big-ass yellow 17-string bass and is like, ‘Okay, we'll play it for a song, right?’ I said, ‘Yeah, I guess I can do this..
.’” Unsurprisingly, the instrument proved somewhat challenging to play, not least because the very first time Francis used it was on stage – to tackle, appropriately enough, ZZ Top classic . “Man, the guitar tech barely got the thing ready for the show,” he says.
“And w.