ZZ Top bassist Elwood Francis has posted an update, introducing the world to his new two-string bass.
Francis was formerly the band’s guitar tech: the man tasked with maintaining their fuzzy guitars (“I hated dealing with keeping the fur clean – we got little brushes for it!” he recently told GW) and keeping one of rock’s most amusing guitar collections in operable shape.
He moved on to bass duties in the group following the sad passing of Dusty Hill and, in keeping with the proud ’Top tradition, often catches the eye with his gear choices, most notoriously, a gargantuan 17-string bass that he first wheeled-out onstage in 2022.
As he explained last year, that instrument was initially ordered as a joke from a Chinese retailer following some late-night browsing.
“I found this guitar, took a screenshot, and sent it to Billy, saying, ‘We should order one of these, and I'll play it. It'll be hilarious,’” Francis told GW in 2024.
“And three months later… Billy pulls out this big-ass yellow 17-string bass and is like, ‘Okay, we'll play it for a song, right?’ I said, ‘Yeah, I guess I can do this…’ [After the show] I thought it was over, but the son of a bitch went viral.”
Francis has since been stuck playing it every night and recently debuted a slimmed-down variant, the 15-string High Selecta bass – complete with a stuck-on Teisco logo [the bass is, to be clear, not made by Teisco - Ed].
All of which is to say that his latest acquisition, must be a real relief – a two-string Sam Hill offset bass built by Waterstone Guitars.
“Life’s a blur once you start using a @waterstoneguitars Sam Hill 2 string bass,” posted Francis on Instagram. “That’s 15 less than I’m used to….”
Waterstone’s site suggests it’s so-called due to the reaction it gets: “What in the Sam Hill?” Spec information is light, but the two-string bass reportedly features an (extremely slim) maple neck, two (two-pole) single coil pickups and a padded case – and is not unattractively priced at $549.
Can it compete with a 17-string? Well, we’ll probably have to wait for ZZ Top’s March tour dates to find out.
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“Would I play it for a whole show? Absolutely not! I’m so happy to get that thing off. It’s brutal”: ZZ Top’s Elwood Francis on his latest weird bass acquisition – the 15-string ‘High Selecta’ bass
