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Jimmy's stolen black beauty Les Paul


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The black beauty is a bit of a mystery. I read that during the 75' tour while in Vancouver a teenage fan presented Jimmy with a vintage black beauty. Jimmy supposedly checked the serial number but found it had been removed. Upon inspection of the guitar Jimy was convinced this was his stolen black beauty which was stolen from the Vancouver airport in 1970. Supposedly he quickly and quiety had it sipped back to England, however the teenagers high school music teacher claimed it was his stolen guitar and he wanted it back. There is nothing else after that so my question is did Jimmy ship the guitar back to England or did he give it back to the music teacher? Also, how could the music teacher prove it was his if the serial number was missing?

Edited by Sagittarius Rising
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I read that during the 75' tour while in Vancouver a teenage fan presented Jimmy with a vintage black beauty. Jimmy supposedly checked the serial number but found it had been removed. Upon inspection of the guitar Jimy was convinced this was his stolen black beauty which was stolen from the Vancouver airport in 1970. Supposedly he quickly and quiety had it sipped back to England, however the teenagers high school music teacher claimed it was his stolen guitar and he wanted it back.

^^^

Nonsense!

The 1960 Gibson Les Paul Custom 'Black Beauty' was purchased new in 1962 for £185. It was used for much of Jimmy's session work (1963-1966), and was taken on tour, starting on January 7, 1970 at Birmingham, England's Town Hall through April 1970, when it was stolen while in air transit from Milwaukee to Montreal via Toronto on April 13, 1970. Jimmy Page placed an ad in the July 19, 1973 issue of Rolling Stone magazine offering a reward, but it was never recovered.

With all of the customization performed upon it the stolen guitar could have readily been positively identified without a serial number:

I put on the Bigsby tremolo. Also, what I did is the Black Beauty originally had a single toggle switch. I took out the single switch and put in three on/off switches. You could have any combination of pickups on or off, even all pickups off!" (laughs) Yeah, Jimmy really liked that setup. - Joe Jammer

Then I got a Les Paul Custom which I stayed with until it was nicked in the States during the first 18 months of Zeppelin-the second or third tour. Usually I never took that on the road, because it was so precious, but things were going so well for us that I eventually took it over and it suddenly went.

It had a big tremlo arm and Joe Jammer custom wired it for me. I was starting to use it more than anything else. It got nicked off the truck at the airport; we were on our way to Canada. Somewhere there was a flight change and it disappeared. It just never arrived at the other end. I advertised for it in Rolling Stone. Just a photograph - no name - and a reward. No luck though, even though it was very recognizable for all the custom work that Joe Jammer done on it. - Jimmy Page, CREEM Magazine, Winter 1980

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^^^

Nonsense!

The 1960 Gibson Les Paul Custom 'Black Beauty' was purchased new in 1962 for £185. It was used for much of Jimmy's session work (1963-1966), and was taken on tour, starting on January 7, 1970 at Birmingham, England's Town Hall through April 1970, when it was stolen while in air transit from Milwaukee to Montreal via Toronto on April 13, 1970. Jimmy Page placed an ad in the July 19, 1973 issue of Rolling Stone magazine offering a reward, but it was never recovered.

With all of the customization performed upon it the stolen guitar could have readily been positively identified without a serial number:

I put on the Bigsby tremolo. Also, what I did is the Black Beauty originally had a single toggle switch. I took out the single switch and put in three on/off switches. You could have any combination of pickups on or off, even all pickups off!" (laughs) Yeah, Jimmy really liked that setup. - Joe Jammer

Then I got a Les Paul Custom which I stayed with until it was nicked in the States during the first 18 months of Zeppelin-the second or third tour. Usually I never took that on the road, because it was so precious, but things were going so well for us that I eventually took it over and it suddenly went.

It had a big tremlo arm and Joe Jammer custom wired it for me. I was starting to use it more than anything else. It got nicked off the truck at the airport; we were on our way to Canada. Somewhere there was a flight change and it disappeared. It just never arrived at the other end. I advertised for it in Rolling Stone. Just a photograph - no name - and a reward. No luck though, even though it was very recognizable for all the custom work that Joe Jammer done on it. - Jimmy Page, CREEM Magazine, Winter 1980

Gee, thanks for clearing that up in such a kind and concise manner. Good show mate!

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The black beauty is a bit of a mystery. I read that during the 75' tour while in Vancouver a teenage fan presented Jimmy with a vintage black beauty. Jimmy supposedly checked the serial number but found it had been removed. Upon inspection of the guitar Jimy was convinced this was his stolen black beauty which was stolen from the Vancouver airport in 1970. Supposedly he quickly and quiety had it sipped back to England, however the teenagers high school music teacher claimed it was his stolen guitar and he wanted it back. There is nothing else after that so my question is did Jimmy ship the guitar back to England or did he give it back to the music teacher? Also, how could the music teacher prove it was his if the serial number was missing?

I think this was from LZ'75, probably referring to a different guitar

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  • 1 year later...

If a person knows how Page's black Les Paul went missing in 1970, not having stolen it himself, but having held and played the guitar after it went missing, would that make him an accessory to the crime, or in any way culpable? If he told the story, would he get in legal trouble?

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If a person knows how Page's black Les Paul went missing in 1970, not having stolen it himself, but having held and played the guitar after it went missing, would that make him an accessory to the crime, or in any way culpable? If he told the story, would he get in legal trouble?

Such a person could be charged with receiving stolen property. However, a defense attorney could argue the guitar went missing as opposed to having been stolen. Besides that, it would have to be proven the person was in possession of the guitar at some time.

It is for that reason telling the story would not be a good idea as it would substantiate they knowingly received the item, which could lead to charges being brought and increase the likelihood of a conviction.

http://criminal-law.freeadvice.com/criminal-law/white_collar_crimes/crime_property.htm

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Jimmy was portrayed with a black Les Paul custom (complete with bigsby) several times during the Page/Plant era (1995-1998) was this a different guitar?

The Black Beauty was never found (why do you think this discussion is here?) - the one from Page/Plant was a Gibson Custom shop model. Jimmy found it too heavy and Justin Hawkins from The Darkness ended up with it.

http://www2.gibson.com/News-Lifestyle/Features/en-us/darkness-and-jimmy-page-black-beauty-0823-2012.aspx

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Such a person could be charged with receiving stolen property. However, a defense attorney could argue the guitar went missing as opposed to having been stolen. Besides that, it would have to be proven the person was in possession of the guitar at some time.

It is for that reason telling the story would not be a good idea as it would substantiate they knowingly received the item, which could lead to charges being brought and increase the likelihood of a conviction.

http://criminal-law.freeadvice.com/criminal-law/white_collar_crimes/crime_property.htm

There's also the statute of limitations to contend with. Theft isn't like murder, Its possible that it may no longer be a crime you could be prosecuted for.

Edited by juxtiphi
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A stolen guitar is not on any cops radar. I'm sure the perp jacked serial number and may have sold it with the story "Jimmy Page's guitar." It's like stolen art; there is an underground market of buyers. All hush hush.

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  • 1 year later...
  • 2 years later...

Rare photos of Jimmy Page's Black Beauty Les Paul guitar just posted on LZ Forums being played at the Led Zeppelin October 17, 1969 Carnegie Hall concert.  These are the earliest known photos of Jimmy playing his coveted Gibson guitar while on the road touring.  See the link below:

 

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  • 2 years later...
On 10/19/2015 at 1:26 AM, TexasTea said:

The Les Paul Custom has been found and is being returned to Jimmy! Look for the official story to break soon

 

 

On 10/19/2015 at 1:26 AM, TexasTea said:

The Les Paul Custom has been found and is being returned to Jimmy! Look for the official story to break soon.

Funny, I've seen Jimmy playing it, (or rather one that looked like it,) in the 2012 movie, "Celebration Day"...(which was filmed in concert, at the 02 arena in London, UK on Dec. 10th in 2007)...or was that a replica custom recreated, from photos of the original?

Edited by Mary,n
Left out the year of movie
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