Arteconciencias: Watch ZZ Top's Elwood Francis use a 17-string bass guitar onstage for Got Me Under Pressure

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November 11, 2022

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Editor's Note

Highly strung

Billy Gibbons is known for his outlandish six-strings – peep his extensive collection of hot rod-inspired guitars – but he may have just been outshone by Elwood Francis, Dusty Hill's replacement in ZZ Top, who was recently spotted playing the most extended-range bass imaginable.

The image below is no Photoshop job: that really is Francis playing a 17-string bass guitar onstage. Amusingly, the headstock reads 'Fender', but it's like no Fender we've ever seen…

All gimmicks aside, five decades into their career, it's pleasing to see the Top give the eight-string-toting djent generation a run for their money – even if just on a purely practical level.

Michael Astley-Brown – Editor-in-Chief, guitarworld.com

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