Proving to dominate the stage still, ZZ Top rocker Elwood Francis shreds with the biggest bass anyone has ever seen.
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Francis, who has been with the rock group for nearly five years, was seen with the massive bass during a recent performance.
Although impressive, critics took to social media to point out issues with the instrument.
“Only plays 3 strings,” one critic wrote. “Save the gimmick and let pop pop live a few more years.”
Another critic wrote, “Shoulda retired. So disappointed. Such disrespect for Dusty’s legacy. Just awful.”
Meanwhile, a longtime fan wrote, “All these punks don’t know ZZ always had a schtick. Hell I seen them on the eliminator tour with spinning fuzzy guitar [and] bass. Now go read up on the Texas world wide tour.”
Francis Previously Spoke About Why He Brings Massive Basses For Shows
During a 2024 interview with Guitar World, Francis spoke about why he uses massive basses for ZZ Top shows.
“I hate playing that f—ing bass,” he admitted. “I found it late at night while internet surfing on one of those Chinese websites.”
Francis then noted, “I couldn’t believe they were making something like that. I found this guitar, took a screenshot, and sent it to Billy [Gibbons], saying, ‘We should order one of these, and I’ll play it. It’ll be hilarious.’”
Gibbons actually went with the idea, and they ordered the bass.
“And three months later, we f—ing got it,” Francis continued. “It came in all the way from China, and Billy pulls out this big-ass yellow 17-string bass and is like, ‘OK, we’ll play it for a song, right?’ I said, ‘Yeah, I guess I can do this…'”
However, the bass came with some challenges. Francis recalled first performing for ZZ Top’s track “Got Me Under Pressure.”
“Man, the guitar tech barely got the thing ready for the show,” he said. “And we don’t do soundchecks; I didn’t even play the guitar until the first time, so it was a baptism by fire while we were out on stage. I was like, ‘God damn, this thing is hard to play.'”
Francis further shared, “I was seriously struggling because you don’t always know where you are, and if you look at it from the bottom, it’s a big blank neck; I was having trouble finding the frets to play.”
Following the performance, Francis was relieved that he managed to perform with the bass. “I thought it was over, but the son of a b— went viral,” he noted. “And I woke up to all these messages and links to all this f—ing bull—.”
Despite his disdain for the bass, Francis continues to play it.