- 2 days ago
Dweezil Zappa spent some time around the Marshall booth at Guitar Summit 2025, so we caught up to discuss his early Eddie Van Halen memories, thoughts on digital guitar gear, YouTube journey so far, signature Shabat guitar, and dream collaborators.
We also got an update on his ambitious instrumental project, What The Hell Was I Thinking?, for which he's set to recruit a few more big-name players...
We also got an update on his ambitious instrumental project, What The Hell Was I Thinking?, for which he's set to recruit a few more big-name players...
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MusicTranscript
00:00Now I have it all on the computer and I'm starting to work on it again.
00:03Oh, cool. That's exciting.
00:04And there's a lot more new players out there that I'd like to get involved.
00:08There's obviously still some very well-known guys like Jimmy Page.
00:12He'd be nice to have on there.
00:14But, you know, of the people that are on it, you know, I have Edward Vandy.
00:17Yeah, of course.
00:18Brian May, Steve Morse, Steve Vai, Albert Lee.
00:21Hi, guys. Matt from Guitar World here.
00:23We are at Guitar Summit 2025 at the Martin booth with Duizel Zappa.
00:26Hello.
00:27Duizel, absolute pleasure. Thanks for taking the time to speak to us.
00:30Sure.
00:31I mean, we sat at the Marshall booth, so let's start there.
00:34Kind of what's your relationship with Marshall at the moment?
00:36And where does your kind of, yeah, your connection to the brand first begin?
00:40Well, like most guitar players, every guitar player that I ever was inspired by played Marshall.
00:47Yeah, it was the, yeah.
00:49Yeah. I mean, it's the sound of rock. It will always be the sound of rock.
00:53But, you know, they have a lot of things that they've made over the years that I wasn't familiar with.
00:59They, a few months back, had reached out and said, hey, we have some stuff we'd like you to look at, and maybe you want to come to the factory.
01:07Nice.
01:08So, it was a fortuitous bit of timing because I had been doing a concert with the Metropole Orchestra in Holland.
01:17Yes.
01:17So, I was able to just go from there to the UK and what I was able to do was go do the factory tour and then also play like 15 different amps that they had from their museum vaults.
01:34You know, so like new stuff, old stuff. Yeah. Okay.
01:38Because they have one of everything they've ever made.
01:40Wow. Spoil for choice to play with that.
01:42Yeah. So, I was able to listen to a lot of different things.
01:45Okay.
01:46And what I found was that it doesn't matter what year, what model, there's a consistent sound that exists within the Marshall.
01:57Yeah.
01:58It's like a signature thing where certain guitars just do exactly what you want when you put them through a Marshall.
02:05And one of the cool things is the way that it cleans up when you turn.
02:08Yeah. Sure.
02:09Far responsive.
02:10What I found when I did this testing and we did this video, this YouTube video, all of the amps consistently were very, very good.
02:19So, it kind of removed the argument that only the old ones are any good.
02:25Sure. Yeah.
02:26There's going to be people who will disagree, but my experience was that I could get a good sound with the old ones, the new ones, anything they put in front of me, I could get a good sound.
02:35Yeah. Okay.
02:36And I just really appreciated that it was consistent, you know.
02:39And so, after doing that, they invited me to do some other things here and there and just like give them feedback on things that they're up to.
02:48Nice.
02:49So, this guitar summit was something they thought, you know, maybe, maybe you want to come check it out.
02:55And I hadn't been to it before.
02:56Oh, cool. First time, is it?
02:57Yeah.
02:58Oh, nice.
02:59So, in terms of the amps themselves, are there like particular models or kind of variations that you prefer or is it just all of them?
03:05I, of course, like the plexi stuff.
03:07Yes.
03:08You know, it just, that's what most of my favorite players always used.
03:13You know, my dad used the Marshall Majors at one point, you know, before there was a PA system, so you had to be very loud on stage.
03:21Yeah, sure.
03:22Yeah.
03:23But he had different electronics in his guitar so he could get even more gain.
03:27Most.
03:28Because the guitar was hitting the amp harder.
03:30Yeah.
03:31Instead of preamp gain.
03:32But my experience has been that, you know, there's the classic stuff is always what I prefer.
03:40But there's other versions of things that I didn't even know they made.
03:44Like one of the newest ones is this JCM 900 Studio, like a million.
03:49Yeah, yeah.
03:50And when I looked at it, you know, they said, hey, do you want to try that one?
03:54And I, I said, no, because it, it done, the look of it wasn't inspiring.
04:00And so that's one of these things as a guitar player that, you know, we would all hate to admit, but visually, if it doesn't catch your eye.
04:09You're not going to.
04:10Yeah.
04:11You're not really going to connect with it.
04:12But I said, well, I should hear it anyway.
04:15Yeah.
04:16So I plugged it in and it actually was one of the better and easier amps to play.
04:21But, okay.
04:22So that's one of those things where I would then say to people and say, look, looks can be deceitful.
04:27Yeah.
04:28Don't judge a book bias caliber.
04:29Give it a day.
04:30So you got to give it a try.
04:31Okay.
04:32If you're looking for an amp that is versatile and it has a lot of gain if you need it.
04:39Yeah.
04:40But still cleans up.
04:41So I, I was surprised that it was as good as it was.
04:46Because you've been doing quite a lot of kind of digital versus analog kind of tests on your YouTube channel as well.
04:52I remember you did the eruption thing where you played it for a fractal and then for like a tube amp.
04:56Yeah.
04:57And what inspired that experiment in the first place and what did you kind of learn from it?
05:00Well, the thing about modeling is that it's a really, the technology is getting better and better by the minute.
05:08And I like it because it's easier to make a lot of different sounds, especially complex sounds, store them, make them guitar specific, preset specific.
05:21So the technology is beneficial for touring, but it's also great for recording and for all kinds of stuff.
05:28But a tube amp is also a great thing when you find the right one and you just really connect with it.
05:36Yeah.
05:37You can play, you can really dig in and play a certain way.
05:40So I think it all just depends on what you're trying to do.
05:43Okay.
05:44But knowing how to use all the tools is a good thing to do.
05:49Do you find you're leaning more towards the other or are you very much just embracing?
05:53On my own tours where I play my dad's music, it's easier to use the modeling stuff because I can make things very song specific, guitar specific.
06:03And I can rearrange the order of the sounds easily.
06:08Yeah. Okay.
06:09So it just seems to be the best fit for that.
06:13And it just continues to improve.
06:15Sure. Yeah.
06:16I use the fractal, but there's so many different versions of all that stuff.
06:20Yeah. So many brands are doing it now, aren't they? It's quite competitive.
06:23I mean, in terms of the other gear you're playing, you had your Shammat signature come out.
06:27Kind of what, how did you design that?
06:29What are your must haves when you're thinking about a guitar that you want to play?
06:32Well, growing up, of course, I was inspired by Van Halen and that sort of like modded Stratocaster.
06:41So this was kind of a throwback to like the feeling I had when I started playing when I was 12.
06:48Okay. Yeah.
06:49And it's a really well-balanced Stratocaster.
06:52You can get any kind of Strat sound, but you can also get that super strat rock vibe, which is fun.
07:01Which is fun.
07:02That's cool.
07:03So, I mean, you hinted at kind of your background and your growing up and, you know, being surrounded by all these guitar greats.
07:09I mean, was there a moment when you thought, okay, I want to do that as well?
07:12Or was it always just like a thing that you were going to do?
07:16I mean, I always was inspired by it. I wanted to get really into playing guitar well after meeting Edward Van Halen as well.
07:25Of course. Yeah.
07:27But, you know, how to keep it going for a lifetime's worth and worth, it's very challenging to do that even at this point in time.
07:38What would you say was the biggest thing you learned from growing up in that environment?
07:43Just to, my dad basically said, you know, if it sounds good, it is good.
07:48Okay.
07:49If you like it, that's all that matters.
07:50Yeah, yeah, yeah.
07:51You know, so you're never really going to be able to please everybody and you just wouldn't drive yourself crazy trying.
07:57Yeah.
07:58I think the best thing at this point, especially for people that are just getting into like trying to make a living playing music,
08:07you need to be able to develop a relationship with your fan base where they feel like it's a reciprocal relationship and you can count on them to want to keep coming back for more.
08:21You know, so a good way to look at it is if you just look at the numbers, like if let's say your goal was to make a million dollars,
08:29everybody thinks of it as, oh, well, I got to make a dollar from a million random people.
08:35Yeah.
08:36It's hard to reach a million people and make them want to spend anything.
08:39Yeah.
08:40You'd be better off trying to get 10,000 people want to spend a hundred dollars.
08:44Yeah, yeah.
08:45And it's easier to get over time an audience of that number.
08:50Yeah.
08:51Then it would be a bigger number.
08:53And that's the challenge is a lot of people don't want to think of the smaller number because they think, well, that means not enough people like.
09:01Yeah, looking.
09:02But if 10,000 people want to spend a hundred dollars, that's the same million dollars.
09:07That's the goal.
09:08Yeah, yeah, yeah.
09:09You know, so it's I feel like they need to change their perspective and look at it as building a relationship with a smaller group that wants to keep coming back and do something cool.
09:21Speaking of making people want to come back, are you working on new music at the moment? Are you writing?
09:26Well, I'm hoping that I'll be able to make some new stuff, but I've been mostly focusing on building up a bunch of videos for YouTube.
09:35Sure.
09:36Because we, I'm not touring as much as I have in the past.
09:42Okay.
09:43So between now and maybe like October of next year.
09:47Okay.
09:48I'm probably going to be home just doing projects where I have concert videos that we're going to finish editing and doing the mixing for.
09:59So not necessarily brand new music, but definitely brand new performances of me playing some of my music, some of my dad's music, some other music.
10:08So a lot of that stuff will end up on my website, but also on YouTube.
10:12Cool.
10:13You know, I wanted to ask if you've got an update about your like mega ambitious.
10:17What the hell was I thinking?
10:18Yeah.
10:19What's the latest on that?
10:20So that thing is, it's still a work in progress.
10:23Okay.
10:24And the reason it's been a work in progress is that it started on analog tape and it had a couple of problems.
10:30Right.
10:31So the problem was that it was on these bigger reels.
10:35And as it got closer to the end of the reel, there was a slight speed up of the reels.
10:43Yeah.
10:44So what you don't perceive right away when you listen to it, it's the pitch is changing as it continues to get to the end.
10:53So if you wanted to overdub something, it would never be in tune.
10:56So you'd have to rerecord the guitars.
10:59The drums would stay the same because you're not going to notice.
11:02Yeah.
11:03It's the pitch, but anything else that you wanted to overdub to, you'd have to rerecord, you know, some of that stuff.
11:09So that became a problem.
11:11We fixed some of that, moved it to a digital format.
11:14Okay.
11:15Then the digital format that it was on, which was these 33, 48 digital tape machines, started to erase parts of it without me knowing.
11:28Because, you know, it would just, you would see that the tracks go like this and then suddenly they're just dropping off.
11:34Yeah, yeah.
11:35And it was never put into record.
11:37Ah, okay.
11:38So it was like, then I had to fix that.
11:40Yeah.
11:41And...
11:42Just one thing after another it seems in this project.
11:43Yeah.
11:44So we went to a different digital format.
11:46And then over a period of time, everything in the industry changed and it became DAW.
11:51Yeah, of course.
11:52Yeah, of course.
11:53So it's taken a long time to get the whole project now, like, into a computer system.
11:59Okay.
12:00I started touring a lot, so I didn't have time.
12:02So now I have it all on the computer and I'm starting to work on it again.
12:05Oh, cool. That's exciting.
12:06And there's a lot more new players out there that I'd like to get involved in.
12:10Cool.
12:11Any names that you can...
12:12Well, you know, I mean, there's obviously still some very well-known guys like Jimmy Page.
12:17He'd be nice to have on there.
12:19That would be good.
12:20Of the people that are on it, you know, I have Edward Vane.
12:23Yeah, of course.
12:24Brian May, Steve Morse, Steve Vai, Albert Lee.
12:26Yeah.
12:27I mean, the names just...
12:28Yeah.
12:29It's crazy.
12:30There's like 45 people on it already, but I probably could get another 35, 40 people of
12:35newer players.
12:36Yeah.
12:37That'd be really cool.
12:38Because I was going to ask, who would be your kind of like dream collaborators that
12:40you could work with, either in that project or elsewhere?
12:42Well, there's definitely a lot of good players that are out there, newer players, like
12:48Julian Lodge is one of my favorites.
12:49Wow.
12:50Cool.
12:51You know?
12:52Yeah.
12:53But there's...
12:54Of all different styles, there's a ton of guys.
12:56There's this one guy, I can never remember how to say his name.
13:01He's a guitar player that plays like microtonal stuff.
13:07The style that he plays is like this...
13:12He's like, he's from Azerbaijan.
13:14Oh, cool.
13:15Okay.
13:16The Arabic microtonal stuff.
13:19Wow.
13:20But it's super clean.
13:21Mm-hmm.
13:22And his picking style.
13:23I mean, he can play as fast as Yngwie.
13:25Yeah, yeah.
13:26But it's all these really weird timing phrases and microtones.
13:30Yeah.
13:31So that stuff is fascinating.
13:34And I would like to get somebody like him as one of the players, because the whole project
13:42is about guitar from every different perspective, every style, and it's made in a way where
13:49it's like, if you were listening to the radio and constantly changing the channel, the music
13:53would change.
13:54And so there's all these transitions and it morphs.
13:57Yeah.
13:58And that's what it is.
13:59It's a continuous piece of music that's 75 minutes long.
14:03And it has every style of music, but all done on guitar.
14:07It's like a celebration of the instrument almost, of what you can do with it.
14:10Do you have any highlights from kind of what you've recorded so far in it that you're looking
14:14for?
14:15Well, the Van Halen stuff.
14:16Yeah.
14:17I mean, one of the coolest things about that is I went to 5150 and he played through the
14:22original Marshall and he said, okay, so what do you want to do?
14:26And I said, I want you to play a solo that is a greatest hits solo.
14:32Yeah.
14:33I love your best licks in one solo.
14:35So it's about a two minute solo, which is long.
14:37Wow.
14:38Yeah.
14:39Yeah.
14:40He's rarely plays.
14:41It's all in one take, just going through all of his.
14:42Well, for the most part, you know, but before he started playing, I said, okay, you've
14:47got to get Ice Cream Man in there.
14:49You've got to get Mean Street in there.
14:50Yeah.
14:51You've got to get Push Comes to Shove in there.
14:53And he had this like jazzy lick that he did on the wildlife soundtrack that had this little
14:59weird thing.
15:00And I had to remind him of what that lick was.
15:04It was like, you know, the certain things that I would ask him to play, he's like, why
15:08did you just play it?
15:09You sound just like me anyway, you know?
15:11Yeah.
15:12But it was, it was funny because it was like the equivalent of like, if you had your own
15:17toy, Edward Van Heel, what would you make him play?
15:20Yeah.
15:21Just like push your button and be like, I'll play this.
15:22Yeah.
15:23That solo is going to blow people's minds because he on the fly just connected.
15:28Like we had a list of like all these different licks and he just did them all in one go.
15:33Way to put them on.
15:34Oh, so it's exciting to think about, isn't it?
15:37Yeah.
15:38When it comes out.
15:39Well that too.
15:40The other cool thing about that was that when I was 12, he recorded the first thing
15:44that I ever did, which was called my mother was a space cadet.
15:47Okay.
15:48And he showed me how to punch in, you know, you have to play along and then they punch in.
15:52So when he was playing on the, what the hell was I thinking?
15:55I was punching him in, you know?
15:57So it was like the total rule reversal thing.
16:00Yeah.
16:01Oh, that's cool.
16:02I mean, the really cool thing about your music and your gear is that you're really,
16:05you embrace different like approaches and different perspectives.
16:07Yeah.
16:08Is that always been something that's kind of been driving you in your own kind of career?
16:11I feel like it's just a natural progression to do that stuff.
16:15My dad was always like that with stuff, you know, whether it was writing music or the way
16:20he recorded it or what he was playing through.
16:23It was always some new element of discovery.
16:26Yeah.
16:27So that just seemed normal.
16:29Sure.
16:30Yeah.
16:31To approach things that way.
16:32Are there any new techniques that you're working on?
16:34Are you working on new kind of areas that you want to?
16:36I am always trying to do new stuff.
16:38I'm finding that if I can do things that are just left hand only, if I can get my hands
16:45more accurately, go to the right place, then the right hand follows better.
16:53But I can also avoid the right hand and get some different kinds of dynamics from just left hand only.
17:00Yeah.
17:01So that's been kind of an interesting part to put into it.
17:06But I'm also trying to learn some different picking techniques.
17:09Okay.
17:10And it's, I'm not very good with like the hybrid stuff.
17:13I'd like to do that better.
17:15Okay.
17:16It's always a journey, isn't it?
17:17Learning the thing.
17:18So for the rest of the year, what are your priorities?
17:21Probably mostly trying to finish some concert stuff and some YouTube videos.
17:26Nice.
17:27I did a video recently that's almost done where I test out every Jimmy Page amplifier.
17:33He's got the Sun Dragon Amplot.
17:36Yeah, yeah.
17:37So I go through each of those.
17:40Sure.
17:41Show what they do in different situations.
17:43That's cool.
17:44What encourage you to pivot to the kind of YouTube stuff?
17:46Because I mean, nowadays guitarists, they kind of have to have that online presence, don't they?
17:50So, you know, is that something that you like consciously wanted to do as well?
17:53Or is it just like a necessary thing?
17:54Well, I like that kind of content anyway.
17:56Yeah.
17:57You know, if I'm going to watch that stuff, I might as well make some of that stuff.
17:59Yeah, nice.
18:00You know, the stuff that doesn't seem to be happening.
18:02Yeah.
18:03You know, I have my own perspective on it.
18:04So it might as well, you know, be in focus.
18:08Yeah, yeah, yeah.
18:09Cool.
18:10Well, thanks so much for your time, Driesal.
18:11Yeah, sure.
18:12It's been an absolute pleasure.
18:13Thanks, man.
18:14Hey, cheers.
18:15Take care.
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