Sharp Dressed Man
ZZ Top · Eliminator · 1983
The main riff is a custom Dean Z with a single DiMarzio Super Distortion at the bridge, straight into a 50-watt Legend Rock 'n' Roll 1x12 combo, close-miked with an AKG C414 — that one chain covers almost the whole record according to engineer Terry Manning. Standard tuning, and the intro is two tracks spread left and right through a stereo delay. Dial a mid-forward crunch rather than a scooped high-gain sound, keep the bass tight, and let your picking hand do the muting.
Where these numbers come from: worked out from the documented rig and the sound of the record
Tuning
Standard tuning, no capo
Gibbons confirmed he played it "straight-up in regular tuning" on a Dean; the intro riff is doubled by two guitar tracks split left and right through a stereo delay, so a single guitar will sound narrower than the record.
Guitar
- Dean Z (custom-built) · DiMarzio Super Distortion · bridge pickup (only pickup)
- 1959 Gibson Les Paul "Pearly Gates" · PAF humbuckers · bridge pickup
Amp
Legend Rock 'n' Roll 50 1x12 combo
Engineer Terry Manning says nearly all Eliminator guitars were this 50-watt hybrid (tube preamp, solid-state power) with one 12" Celestion, close-miked with an AKG C414 B-ULS about five inches off the cone, slightly off axis; no knob settings were ever published, so these values are inferred from the recording. Manning flatly denies the widespread claim that a Rockman made the Eliminator guitar sound.
Pedals
- Stereo delay unit (studio, model unspecified) · delay · Short doubling delay splitting the intro riff hard left and right; Gibbons described it as a studio/console effect, not a stomp box
Tone character
forward mids · tight compressed crunch · bright pick attack · controlled low end · wide doubled riff
The riff is fourth-interval double-stops in C minor pentatonic that must be picked cleanly on exactly two strings with tight palm muting between hits, or it turns muddy.
Want this on your own amp?
These are the record's settings. Tell us what you play through and we'll translate every knob to the amp you actually own — free.
Adapt it to my gearSources
- Terry Manning on the making of Eliminator (ProSoundWeb post, reposted at Tape Op)
- ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons: The 1984 "Eliminator" Interview (Jas Obrecht)
- Guitar Player: Billy Gibbons on the making of "Gimme All Your Lovin'"
- Equipboard: ZZ Top – Eliminator gear
- Dean's Dean Zelinsky on building Gibbons' guitars