Terry Manning, engineer, the great ZZ Top thread.

We were shooting the bull in another thread, Getting A Better Sound From Your Guitar Cabinets, and engineering and mic techniques were discussed. ZZ Top was mentioned and I remember this really cool link about Terry Manning, engineer, and the Memphis days. I think many of you will enjoy it. Lots of cool insider stuff on how they cut some of those records.
 
Not sure if I posted it in the right forum; if not someone can move it.
 
http://recforums.prosoundweb.com/index.php/t/3849/0/
 
DS
 

Found it very interesting. Thanks for the link.

Thanks for sharing those links! Great stuff. I was a huge ZZ Top fan back in the very early days. A little too young to understand guitar tone or even know to ask about it. I just liked the songs. I saw them live on TV in Germany back in late 79 or early 80 (they played their first ever European concert in Essen Germany and I have a pristine recording of that show - it was simulcast on TV and radio). I have to admit though, I wasn't such a fan of their 80's stuff. A little too techno for me and I kinda lost track of them after that. That Essen show was funny - Dusty Hill accidentally pulled his guitar cable out of the amp during one of the songs and you heard that annoying crackle while he plugged it back in. Also they tried to sync up to a video of them playing horns on one song but that didn't work very well. I agree that the CD remixes were horrible. HORRIBLE. I haven't paid attention, Maybe they've gone back and remixed them like they used to be. I hope so. Amazing how much sound those three guys make with a guitar, bass and drums. When you see them play the stuff it looks like it takes no effort at all.

On the Deguello sessions, we were really ramping things up as far as equipment and direction. This album I think is the progenitor of "Eliminator." Billy brought for the first time A LOT of guitars and amps to the session. I had always in the past only had one or two, maybe three guitars, and usually just "the" one amp around, for almost any session. It just wasn't thought of in the 'earlier' days to need a wide selection, just as it wasn't contemplated to need any outnoard mic pre's or such. But this time was the first time I remember a truckload of gear coming in...today it's common practice; anyone who has the gear brings it! (REM were recently in our studio here in Nassau for three months, and they brought EVERYTHING they own, which is a LOT of gear. It filled over 90 LARGE road cases.)

We did indeed use various guitars and amplifiers during this Deguello session (by the way the "Deguello" is the bugle call that used to be played by the Mexican army back in the Texas-Mexico war days. It meant "There will be no quarter, only death, for any who don't surrender now!" This was played, for instance, at The Alamo.), and I employed for one of the first times during an album session, various mic's and mic placements for guitar. Billy had his Les Paul (Pearly Gates) of course, but also Strats, and some wild cheesy Japanese guitars. Amps would have been the various Marshall's (or his Rio Grande customised ones) as well as some Fenders, old Gibson's and I think maybe a Magnavox.

Again, this entire album was recorded in Ardent Studio A, on the SpectraSonics/Auditronics console (USING THE CONSOLE MIC PRE'S OF COURSE), and tracked to either 16 or 24 track 2" (can't remember which now). It would have been mixed probably to 1/4". BG did indeed have an assortment of pedals, the ones out then which are 'vintage' pedals now.

Dang. Thanks for the links.... ZZ Top constantly pull me away from 'normality' and these stories are great... thanks for the share.