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Jimmy Page Les Paul questions


wrong-note-rod

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Pardon me if this has already been asked a zillion times.

Everybody knows the story that Joe Walsh gave, or sold, Jimmy his 1959 Les Paul, at the Fillmore East in NYC, in early 1969.

Was Joe Walsh a famous or noted guitar player back then? How did he wind up in New York if he lived in Cleveland? Was he already on tour with a band, or, was he just a big Page fan, and he traveled from Cleveland to meet Page in NY and sell him the guitar?

Has Walsh ever given his side of the story? Anybody know?

Another question, this time about Page's #2 les paul, I think its the 1958.

I've never read anything about where he got it. Plenty of stuff about the #1, but almost nothing about the alternate one. A friend of mine joked that Page never disclosed how he got it because it was stolen. There are so many myths about the guy its impossible to believe anything anymore!

Anybody know where the 58 came from?

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thanks for that. I didnt know the James Gang was already formed and released an album in 1968.

But why Page? Did Walsh and Page already know each other? Or did Walsh take a wild guess and a leap of faith and just show up to a concert in NY with the guitar?

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Page acquired Number 2 in 1973 as a backup for Number 1, and to play during Dazed and Confused and songs with alternate tunings (like Kashmir).

I'm quite sure he just sent someone out to find him another burst (Les Paul) as he loved his Number 1, and he was able to get one due to his increasing fortune (not that bursts had yet reached the stratuspheric prices they are at now) and fame.

In the early 80s he had the neck shaved to resemble the thin neck on Number 1 and the fancy four push-pull wiring (now known as the Jimmy Page wiring) installed.

In addition to Number Two, Page also had (during the Zeppelin years) a red Number Three (thought to be a 1969) and "The Other Number Three", a Les Paul that is nearly-identical to it.

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In the early 80s he had the neck shaved to resemble the thin neck on Number 1 and the fancy four push-pull wiring (now known as the Jimmy Page wiring) installed.

# 2 had the switches underneath the pickguard. #1 had the push-pull pots.

Page was already using the coil splitting series/parallel features during Zeppelin. Heartbreaker, Immigrant Song(coil splitting) and Hots on for Nowhere (series/parallel - aka the Peter Green mod) also the solo guitar on The Song Remains The Same is #1.

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# 2 had the switches underneath the pickguard. #1 had the push-pull pots.

Page was already using the coil splitting series/parallel features during Zeppelin. Heartbreaker, Immigrant Song(coil splitting) and Hots on for Nowhere (series/parallel - aka the Peter Green mod) also the solo guitar on The Song Remains The Same is #1.

#2 has both switches under the pickguard and 4 push-pulls. #1 just has a single push-pull in the bridge tone pot to reverse the phase.

It's a common misconception that Page had these mods during Zeppelin because of the vast ocean of tones he was able to create on record, but he actually had the work done in the 80s. During the Zep years, his LPs were stock (except for the tuners being changed to Grovers and the bridge pickup being replaced in #1 due to failure). Many tones that people associate with being created through the switching were just Page adjusting his knobs and the result of the amps he used. One or two people have theorized that his neck pickup in #1 had an accidental magnet flip like Peter Green's but there isn't much evidence to support it.

Page has even stated that he has barely even used the fancy switching. There is a video of him using the under-pickguard switches during the Page/Plant years but there are few other examples.

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He obviously used the hell out of the toggle switch and the volume/tone knobs, even if it was all stock.... you can hear the changing tones clear as day on any Led Zep concert recording. I remember one interview where he said his Marshalls were great, he could go from a very clean sound to very overdriven, just with the volume knob.

Its still a mystery to me, why Joe Walsh would drive hundreds of miles across the country to take a chance on selling a guitar to a rock star he didnt know.... or did he know Page by then?

Nobody in Cleveland wanted to buy it? I dont know. The 60s were a crazy time, I guess you just had to be there.

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He obviously used the hell out of the toggle switch and the volume/tone knobs, even if it was all stock.... you can hear the changing tones clear as day on any Led Zep concert recording.

Oh for sure he did. Watch any live performance from any time period (when Page is playing a Les Paul) and you will see him constantly flipping the toggle switch back and forth, and fiddling with knobs throughout songs.

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He obviously used the hell out of the toggle switch and the volume/tone knobs, even if it was all stock.... you can hear the changing tones clear as day on any Led Zep concert recording. I remember one interview where he said his Marshalls were great, he could go from a very clean sound to very overdriven, just with the volume knob.

Its still a mystery to me, why Joe Walsh would drive hundreds of miles across the country to take a chance on selling a guitar to a rock star he didnt know.... or did he know Page by then?

Nobody in Cleveland wanted to buy it? I dont know. The 60s were a crazy time, I guess you just had to be there.

Page knew Walsh since his Yadrbirds days, they had been friends and admirers of each others work for some time. Walsh specifically wanted Jimmy to purchase the guitar because he was a friend and thought the guitar was perfect for him. Pretty much what anybody would do for a friend.

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Page knew Walsh since his Yadrbirds days, they had been friends and admirers of each others work for some time. Walsh specifically wanted Jimmy to purchase the guitar because he was a friend and thought the guitar was perfect for him. Pretty much what anybody would do for a friend.

ok thanks for that, this explains it.

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