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1980 Jimmy Page tone


mikecooch

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4 hours ago, mikecooch said:

Does anyone know what happened to Jimmy Page's tone during the 1980 over Europe tour specifically the Frankfurt show and how did his sound become more over driven, scratchy, and fuzzy. 

I don't really know, I would guess that his tone was exactly how he wanted.

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You can hear the start of the change on South Bound Suarez on ITTOD.  More distortion and echo in the live performances on the '80 tour.  I'm sure others could give a more technical answer.  I think the new sound was due to a different attitude in his playing, Mook said - bringing in a more punk sound, and given the fact he wasn't up to snuff at that point and tried to compensate for it.  

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It's not just Frankfurt.  Some shows, like Munich and Mannheim, his tone is clearer and snappier, but then like you say it gets fuzzed out more in Frankfurt, and Rotterdam for example.  

I think Jimmy was experimenting with settings, this was a warm up tour after all.

So some nights, he probably turned up the gain or Presence, fiddled with tone knobs etc.  every venue sounds different, too.  You gotta tweak things to work for you.  

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4 hours ago, bluecongo said:

It's not just Frankfurt.  Some shows, like Munich and Mannheim, his tone is clearer and snappier, but then like you say it gets fuzzed out more in Frankfurt, and Rotterdam for example.  

I think Jimmy was experimenting with settings, this was a warm up tour after all.

So some nights, he probably turned up the gain or Presence, fiddled with tone knobs etc.  every venue sounds different, too.  You gotta tweak things to work for you.  

The difference in tone and attack from one night to the next kept it lively and interesting. The smooth "Im Gonna Crawlish" tone of SIBLY from 06/20/1980 compared to the next night -  06/21/1980 Rotterdam, that version of SIBLY Jimmy plays much much more hectic and sporadic with a different sound as well. I sure love both versions though !!

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I loved Jimmy's varying tone and approach during the 1980 tour. I rather enjoy it when a player changes things up and personally, regardless of how killer Page's tone was in 72' or 73', I don't have any desire to hear that tone repeated tour after tour after tour.

I have listened to most of the boots from this tour and with the exception of songs he had no interest in playing (All My Love) the vast majority of the tour he played better and more consistent than he did in 77'. Of course you could tell the shows where Jimmy was enjoying his recreational activities a bit much (Berlin for one) where his playing is erratic...weird and disjointed on one tune (Stairway to Heaven) and then out of this world brilliant on another (WLL) and the whole spectrum in between.

Again, I may be in the minority but Jimmy's playing on this tour was pretty good and solid for most of it, and his varying tone and attack were fantastic. The only real weak member during that tour was Bonham. He was no longer the larger than life, peak performance player but instead subdued and more of a time-keeper. From what I have heard, from 79' on he also was not getting into the violent side of things either, he was very low key.

Bottom line, I really like Jimmy's tone and approach on the 80' tour.

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