Gretsch Billy Bo “Live From Texas” Billy Gibbons

Billy “BFG” Gibbons is known for his incredible collection of great instruments. But even though ZZ Top has been touring for nearly half a century (or close to it), the thousands of concerts the band has played have not been enough for him to take all his precious custom guitars on the road. Therefore, when he chooses one, it has to be particularly striking. And when he chooses one for a live DVD, it has to be especially special.

You might recognize this white Billy Bo since you’ve probably seen it on the cover of the 2008 DVD, Live From Texas, a ZZ Top concert best-of filmed at the Nokia Theater in Grand Prairie, Texas, on November 1, 2007. This DVD was a huge success, going multi-platinum and topping video charts in many countries. Throughout the entire concert, Gibbons plays this Gretsch.

It was specially made for him in Japan with a hollow body to make it lighter, then heavily customized. The ebony fingerboard was painted white for a “total white” effect, larger side markers were added on the fingerboard (essential when filming a live DVD to avoid fixing mistakes in the mix), and the incredible pinstriping was designed by Gibbons himself. Finally, the inevitable finishing touch for a guitar played live by ZZ Top is, of course, the “Beer” logo on the back, added by Gibbons’s longtime guitar tech, Elwood Francis.

Like all guitars from Billy Gibbons’s collection sold by Matt’s Guitar Shop and purchased directly from Gibbons himself, this historic Gretsch is signed by the Reverend on the back of the headstock and comes with a signed certificate of authenticity, a photo of Billy holding the guitar, a photo of Billy signing the guitar, and a photo of Billy signing the certificate. This is our way of guaranteeing that you are truly buying his instrument.