Rio Grande Amps

[the guy who invented fire]

Ok guys...I know I have seen pics of ZZ Top with these amps called Rio Grande. I have looked all over and found no mention of them on line, in interviews or anything...I know Im not crazy...I DID see these amps. Does anybody have a pic or 2 of these amps and more importantly...does anybody know what in the hell they are?

 

[maxbruch]

Don't have a pic, but they were just re-done Marshall's from what I remember. ZZ Top used them and sometimes I used to see them for sale back in Memphis were I come from.
The story I heard was they were Marshalls that were retrofitted with new tolex and grill cloths and the Rio Grande logo with the palm trees on it. Apparently all done in Mexico. Whether that is true or not I don't know.

 

[clydethecat]

Sometime in the mid-1980s there was a picture of one on the back page of Guitar Player magazine, in an article about the 1958 Explorer Bass. (I remember seeing that bass in the window at We Buy Guitars with an $11,000 price tag in 1984, then a few months later seeing the same instrument in GP mag.)

That, and a ZZ Top concert I saw in 1974, are the only times I ever heard, heard of, or saw a Rio Grande amp. They do look just like a Marshall, dunno if they're re-labelled or clones.

 

[DrewB]

The story I heard was they were Marshalls that were retrofitted with new tolex and grill cloths and the Rio Grande logo with the palm trees on it. Apparently all done in Mexico. Whether that is true or not I don't know.

That's what I had heard, too. Candor isn't exactly Billy Gibbons' forte...

 

[the guy who invented fire]

thanks guys!!!

If anybody has ANYTHING else it would be great!

thanks again!!!

 

[Pigsfootpeete]

I remember going into Strings & Things in Memphis back in the '70s, when they were on Cooper, and there were two, maybe three, purple Rio Grande full stacks. Man, they were gorgeous. They looked like Marshalls to me.

 

[JTM45blues]

Okay, so I'm obsessed with Billy Gibbons, and I've done hours of research on this very subject. The following will sound like a joke, but it is 100% the truth I swear.

I actually found a phone number for an amp tech on the Texas / Mexico border. The guy I talked to was shocked that I got his number, apparently he's been retired for a while. But anyway, he was the guy that did the mods for the "Rio Grande" amps. He explained to me that they were nothing more than 1969 100 watt Marshall's redone with new tolex, logos, etc. No internal mods were done. He also told me that Billy used to collect Fender "plow front" Dual Professionals, and had like 18 of them, and frequently used them for recording. He also used some Alamo amps, (the little green 1x12 model), and sometimes a Tweed Deluxe, and a 100 watt Marshall with a 4x12 cab. I thanked the guy for his time and hung up.

Then a few weeks later, I tried to call back and the number was disconnected. It really sucks, because this was the best source of Gibbons info I've ever had, and teh guy sounded very legit.

But as in all things concerning Billy Gibbons, take it for what its worth.

 

[Paul in Colorado]

Maybe he wasn't supposed to talk and got knocked off?

Sorry, I've been watching too many mysteries lately.

There was a Rio Grande head at one of the Rocky Mountain Guitar Shows in Denver some years back. I never got to hear it, though.

 

[the guy who invented fire]

WOW!

Thanks guys!

Is there ANY chance that one of you guys has a pic somewhere of one of these things?!

 

[BGriogrande]

Ok guys...I know I have seen pics of ZZ Top with these amps called Rio Grande. I have looked all over and found no mention of them on line, in interviews or anything...I know Im not crazy...I DID see these amps. Does anybody have a pic or 2 of these amps and more importantly...does anybody know what in the hell they are?

I have Photos of the Rio Grande Amps

 

[brookdalebill]

Just another old Texas guy joining the Rio Grande/Marshall chorus.
My memory dates from 1972.

 

[Wally]

I have Photos of the Rio Grande Amps

Without pics, pictures don’t exist!! (;^)

 

[blowtorch]

^ Quote/response fail (;^)

 

[Wally]

There...that makes more sense, doesn’t it? Thanks.