Zappa Gear: The Unique Guitars, Amplifiers, Effects Units, Keyboards and Studio Equipment

by Mick Ekers, Mick Ekers

Frank Zappa was an unremitting musical innovator and experimenter, always looking for ways to exploit the latest advances in technology. His working life coincided with the explosive development of music technology that ran from the 1960s through the following three decades. Without such inventions as the Marshall amplifier, the Gibson SG, the wah-wah pedal, and the Synclavier – much of it modified to his requirements and used in ways for which they had never been designed – Zappa's “air sculptures ” as his music has been described, would have had a significantly different shape and texture.

Lavishly illustrated – including over 180 unique photographs of Frank Zappa's guitars and equipment taken by the author at his UMRK studio in LA and featuring a foreword by Dweezil Zappa – Zappa Gear offers an unprecedented inside look at the machinery behind the legendary music. In addition to a detailed presentation of the equipment, Zappa Gear also introduces some of the pioneering inventors, engineers, and entrepreneurs without whom the instruments would not exist.

Zappa Gear is an official Frank Zappa book produced and written with the full cooperation and endorsement of Gail Zappa and the Zappa Family Trust.

Genres: Music

248 pages, Hardcover

Published December 10, 2019

Reviews

[Thomas Cavanagh · Rating 5 out of 5]

WELL RESEARCHED! Very cool photos. An amazing guided tour through Zappa's gear throughout his career onstage and off and a fantastic history of the companies that made the gear. So thorough it included Franks touring Coffee machine.

[Corey Edwards · Rating 4 out of 5]

While likely only appealing to serious Zappa nutters such as myself (or music gear geeks), Ekers' Zappa Gear book is a fascinating, detail oriented, behind the scenes look at some of the more iconic instruments and other gear used by FZ and his bands over the decades. Items covered reach back to the maestro's childhood years through to The Yellow Shark performances. Learn about everything from FZ's guitars and effects down to his conductor's baton and traveling coffee maker. Well organized, thoughtfully written, and full of interesting stories, detail, and insight.