Zz Top Live In Texas

[RGGR]

Has anyone seen the DVD ZZ Top live in Texas?

On there, Billy Gibbons play this old Telecaster with the front routing exposed and some kinda little 59 as a bridge pick-up.

It's missing it's pickguard, I guess.

Funky thing is, the control routing seems to be done from the back.

Is this normal?

I'm not very familiar with the telecaster, but all the tele bodies I see on evil bay (et al.) are all front routed for the control cavity?

[zyonsdream]

ZZ top is known for customized guitars. Looks like it's rear mounted. My JB Player body was rear mouted. It just might not be a real Fender body. I love ZZ Top!

[Traveler]

caught that show 2x on VH1 some weeks ago.....great show...great tone! I dig the Billy Bo Gretch and hope to run across plans to make one or save my nickels and find one myself. Tele is cool also.

[soapbarstrat]

I can't tell for sure if the one in your photo has a control plate or not. But that crazy Gibbons dude does have a convoy of custom teles/esquires that do indeed have rear routed control cavities.

http://www.bolinguitars.com/homejb.html

Not typical for a tele/esquire to be like that, though.

[Traveler]

there's a good close up of the tele during Cheap Sunglasses and you can see a white/cream pearloid plate the pots mount thru, appears std size as the metal one would be.

[RGGR]

Comes pretty close.

Edited August 23, 2008 by RGGR

[soapbarstrat]

I wonder if he's got .008 - .038 gauge strings on that Bolin tele, since it apparently has a short scale, and he used to have 8's on his Les Pauls.