Riff Tone

Jesus Just Left Chicago

ZZ Top

Guitarblues1970s

Original Gear

Guitar1955 Fender Stratocaster (stop tailpiece)

Amp1969 Marshall Super Lead 100

PickupsFender single-coil pickups (original 1955 Strat set)

Amp Settings

gain3

bass6.5

mid7

treble6.5

reverb3

presence5.5

Effects & Signal Chain

No effects used for this tone

Notes

Studio recording, 1973, Tres Hombres album. Clean riff section. Multiple sources confirm Stratocaster and Marshall Super Lead for this track. No evidence of pedals or additional effects for the clean riff. Pickup selector set to middle + bridge (position 2).

Tone Character(10)

glassy and articulatewarm and roundtouch-sensitivedynamic response to pickingclear note separationslight edge-of-breakup on peaksclassic Stratocaster chimeno pedal colorationvintage blues-rock cleanslightly compressed from amp

Difficulty

The riff requires intermediate-level blues phrasing, precise muting, and dynamic control to achieve the touch-sensitive clean tone and shuffle groove.

Sources

ZZ Top Waiting For The Bus (tres hombres) tone...ZZ Top Waiting For The Bus (tres hombres) tone...Billy Gibbons on the making of ZZ Top's El Loco | Guitar World Anybody wanna talk Billy Gibbons tone?

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