' most known guitar is the white spinning fur guitar made by Dean Zelinsky of Dean Guitars featured in the 1983 "Legs" music video. Gibbons described the mechanics of the spin: Gibbons' choice of electric guitars has primarily been Gibson. His first guitar was a sunburst 1962 Gibson Melody Maker. In 1968 Gibbons acquired the instrument most associated with the sound and style of ZZ Top, when he purchased a sunburst 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard guitar from a farmer in Houston, Texas for $250. The guitar was named "Pearly Gates", a name taken from the dangerous-to-drive, rolling-wreck auto that he sold for the money to buy the guitar. This guitar has become the foundation/benchmark of every ZZ Top album since the group formed in 1969. Along with Gibson, Gibbons is also known for playing various Fender guitars. During his stint in the Moving Sidewalks, Gibbons used a white 1963 Fender Jazzmaster and Fender Esquire. He has also used an extremely rare "Gretsch Jupiter Thunderbird" given to him by Bo Diddley. The use of this guitar inspired a signature production model, the "Gretsch Billy-Bo Jupiter Thunderbird." For Mescalero, Gibbons also relied heavily on Ulrich Teuffel's futuristic Birdfish guitar, claiming it was second only to his 1959 Les Paul Sunburst Standard, "Pearly Gates". According to Gibbons, "It really shines on Mescalero because of that dirty, raunchy tone. I defy any other instrument, besides these odd-ball things, to get that crazy.“ Gibbons has worked with Thomas Nilsen of Cream T Pickups to create the BFG Banger Humbucker Pickup. Billy has used these pickups live for the past decade.
"I would say that it was the '59 Gibson Les Paul, better known now as 'Pearly Gates', plugged into a hundred-watt Marshall. designed a sound that still resonates today."
Along with the Super Leads, he has used a variety of Marshall's products, including the JCM 900 Dual Reverb, Bluesbreaker, JTM45, Major, and Lead 12. Recently, his live touring rack consists of the JMP-1 Preamp, combined with power amps like the Valvestate 120 or the 9200 model. Gibbons has a large collection of vintage Fender amplifiers, and collects Fender Dual Professionals. Other Fenders he has used include a Fender Bassman and Fender Tweed Deluxe. Gibbons now uses Magnatone amplifiers. At the 2010 Winter NAMM show, Dunlop Manufacturing and Gibbons unveiled a new line of guitar accessories, Rev. Willy's. These include Gibbons inspired picks, strings, and slides.
Preferring the Fender Telecaster style bass, Dusty Hill also uses many different basses and amplifiers in different combos, and maintains a large collection of vintage as well as custom basses by noted luthier, John Bolin of Bolin Guitars USA. Hill is noted for designing simple, uncomplicated basses with a single pickup with a single volume knob, with the sometime rare addition including a specially powered knob for tone control.
