Cool or comical?
Fans who saw ZZ Top during their recent tour stop in Huntsville, Ala. witnessed an unusual sight, as bassist Elwood Francis briefly performed using an oversized 17-string bass.
The mammoth instrument wasn’t just a prop. Francis proved it could actually be played by using the bass for ZZ Top’s first number of the night, the 1983 Eliminator tune “Got Me Under Pressure.” In fan-shot video (see below) the bassist can be seen strumming along on the comically large device, much to the delight of frontman Billy Gibbons.
No explanation was initially given for the giant instrument, as Francis moved to a more traditional bass for the rest of the concert.
As it turns out, the behemoth bass was actually the result of some late-night web browsing. Yes, ZZ Top discovered their newest instrument in the same way that average people end up buying weird gadgets and gizmos on Amazon.
"I was doing night internet searching [and] turned up a picture of this crazy 17 string bass,” Francis explained in response to an inquiry from UCR. “I sent a picture to Billy and we laughed about it and made some jokes about actually trying to use it.”
The story could have ended there… but where’s the fun in that?
“A few weeks later, after I had forgotten about it, Billy shows up with [the 17 string bass],” Francis explained, describing the situation as “one of those ‘hold my beer’ moments."
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[Reply]
it's a bit overkill but it's rock and roll so being a little bit ridiculous on stage is just fine
The biggest issue with basses with a ton of strings is making sure the other strings don't ring when you play and they can be a pain in the ass (probably why he only had it out for one song). hopefully their sound guy has a good sense of humor about it
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