Page's Telecaster

[McSeven]

Does anyone know why Page stopped using a Telecaster from Zeppelin 2 and on and went with his iconic sunburst Les Paul. Only using a Acoustic or Double neck for other songs?

Does anyone know what it is about the Les Paul that does it for Zeppelin sonically or is Pages personality more dominant when it comes to expressing himself on the Les Paul more than the Telecaster.

Psychologically when you listen to LZ 1 and the other albums does it change the way you hear the songs?

Seems to me like The Telecaster has a more shreading sound to it than the Les Paul

Is a Les Paul more of a tough guy guitar sound than a Tele which sounds more twangy?

[IzzyBlues]

I believe he stopped using the Dragon Telecaster because someone had repainted it for him as a surprise, but the paint destroyed the guitar and Page ended up salvaging one of the pick-ups. However I believe there were other reasons as to why Page moved on to the Les Paul, I'm just not 100% sure. Maybe he found that he wanted something different from the Telecaster was giving him? I don't know.

[magerogue]

He used the Black Beauty too for Zepp 1 and 2, probably more than the tele.

His sound had a lot to do with the various amps he used in the studio as far as albums go.

Have you ever played a good les paul? I'm not talking about crappy epiphones, I'm talking about custom R8s and such,

you'll love it and never want any other guitar again. It's the best guitar ever made, the neck is perfect and combined with

the right amp it's the best thing ever.

He probably used alot of other guitars besides the ones we know of. He used the tele for the song remains the same,

I heard he used AC30's and the SL 100w head for Houses of the holy (the album), if I had to guess, he used AC30's throughout

the rest of the Zeppelin career in the studio; In through the out door was done all in a 60's Vox AC30. He used the botswanna tele

alot in Presence and ITTOD. He also used an ES335 in Presence along with the Tele and a Strat, wich some people think it's the

sunburst '57 or the white strat he used to record Ten Years Gone.

He did alot of experimentation in the studio - there's a rumour that he used the Danelectro on Nobody's Fault But Mine.

[McSeven]

So basically I got to get out of my head that Page ran to his Sunburst Les Paul for everything little Zep thing under the sun on the studio recordings.

[magerogue]

So basically I got to get out of my head that Page ran to his Sunburst Les Paul for everything little Zep thing under the sun on the studio recordings.

Not really, he used it alot, he just didn't use it exclusively in every single song, I'd say that it's 50% the two 59 les pauls and 50% a plethora of guitars.

[in_the_evening]

I am surprised some of the sounds on LZ1 do not sound like the Tele, they sound much more like a LP. specifically I am thinking of How Many More Times. To me, one of the big downers of ITTOD was the reedy, thin sound of Page's guitar, and I believe ITTOD is largely Telecaster.

[McSeven]

Why not use one guitar for all the live and studio instead of switching. Except for using the double neck SG on TSRTS/STH/OTHAFA/TRSong.

[3DayBender]

Maybe it was the Supro amp he was using that accounted for the big sound...not an expert but I read that he used it a lot on that album and then it "blew up"...

[magerogue]

Why not use one guitar for all the live and studio instead of switching. Except for using the double neck SG on TSRTS/STH/OTHAFA/TRSong.

He used a Fender 12 string electric on those songs, it's rumoured that the only song that Jimmy used the Double Neck on is Carouselambra.

Do you play guitar?

[McSeven]

I just bought and SG epiphone and I am starting to learn. Its tricky for me coming from playing piano/sax.

[woz70]

I am surprised some of the sounds on LZ1 do not sound like the Tele, they sound much more like a LP. specifically I am thinking of How Many More Times. To me, one of the big downers of ITTOD was the reedy, thin sound of Page's guitar, and I believe ITTOD is largely Telecaster.

On LZ1 he was using his Roger Meyer built tonebender pedal a lot - it thickens things up considerably (you can see him demonstrating it in 'It Might Get Loud'). By ITTOD he was relying more on the amp overdriving rather than overdriving the guitar signal before the amp like he did in the early days, hence the thinner sound. Also a massive part of the sound he achieved was through mic technique and compression during both recording and mixing.

Why not use one guitar for all the live and studio instead of switching. Except for using the double neck SG on TSRTS/STH/OTHAFA/TRSong.

The simple answer is that different guitars sound different.

In a live situation you want something that you know is 100% reliable and stable, so the less stuff you need to use the better - the more guitars and gear the higher the chances of breakdowns & fuckups.. In the 60's & 70's you had far less options when it came to tailoring your live sound than we do today.

In the studio if you want a jangly sound (for example) you'd reach for a Tele or a Rickenbacker, if you want something thick & creamy you go for a Les Paul etc. You may also find that a certain guitar only really works for you sound-wise in a non-standard tuning as well (which is where the Danelectro worked best) - it's all down to the sound. Also if you're multitracking the same guitar it can end up sounding kinda boring and flat - if you use different guitars with different tonal characteristics you can add more colour to the sound.

Maybe it was the Supro amp he was using that accounted for the big sound...not an expert but I read that he used it a lot on that album and then it "blew up"...

Again - all down to careful mic placement (and wonderful mics) in a great sounding room, compression and a superb plate reverb! Incidentally, some of the hugest guitar sounds ever committed to tape have been recorded on very small amps (which the Supro is). For example, the iconic 'ker-chunk' bit of guitar on Radioheads 'Creep' was recorded using a truly tiny pignose practice amp.

[in_the_evening]

Kind of OT, but I find it amazing that Page used the Danelectro on a few songs! Not a great guitar in its day, I believe it was regarded as a "cheap guitar".

Sorry, back to the original thread!

[magerogue]

Kind of OT, but I find it amazing that Page used the Danelectro on a few songs! Not a great guitar in its day, I believe it was regarded as a "cheap guitar".

Sorry, back to the original thread!

I think it's more about "cheap small amps" than cheap guitars. And for the record, everybody goes on and on about how Jimmy used small amps in every album but I'm pretty sure that it lasted about 3-4 albums. By HOTH he was using the Marshall SL 100w head and an AC30 in the studio acording to Eddie Kramer and I think he kept doing that for the rest of his career in Zepp; Black Dog was done with the guitar pluged into the mixing desk, then the sound was distorted;

I heard through a friend that knows people who worked at Music Land during Zeppelins Presence sessions in late '75 who said he used the a transonic rick, head and cab, and did alot of stuff pluged into the mixing desk. The thing about the studio work that was done on the Zeppelin albums is that nobody's really sure about what was going on, what was being used, because they wouldn't allow anybody into recording sessions, particularly when they rented studios and weren't recording at Headley Grange. I'd even go as dar as saying that Jimmy might have said a few things just to throw us off and keep us in the dark, after all it's his sound.

Woz70 speaks the truth, microphone placement played a huge and definite role in the way that everything sounded on the album. And Jimmy's producing abilities were just fantastic, that's why Zeppelin was the perfect equation.

[the chase]

I also loved the sound of his Telecaster.... You Shook Me has a great tone..

The Yardbirds studio album he played on "Little Games" had great some tele sounds as well.

Jimmy went back to his Telecaster for the solo on Stairway To Heaven.

For Your Life and In The Evening are both played on a Stratocaster.

http://www.feelnumb.com/2011/01/10/jimmy-pages-1958-fender-dragon-telecaster-guitar/

http://www.feelnumb.com/2011/02/26/john-paul-jones-returned-jimmy-pages-olympic-white-fender-stratocaster-after-borrowing-it-for-over-30-years/

[magerogue]

I also loved the sound of his Telecaster.... You Shook Me has a great tone..

The Yardbirds studio album he played on "Little Games" had great some tele sounds as well.

Jimmy went back to his Telecaster for the solo on Stairway To Heaven.

For Your Life and In The Evening are both played on a Stratocaster.

http://www.feelnumb.com/2011/01/10/jimmy-pages-1958-fender-dragon-telecaster-guitar/

http://www.feelnumb.com/2011/02/26/john-paul-jones-returned-jimmy-pages-olympic-white-fender-stratocaster-after-borrowing-it-for-over-30-years/

Also, he used a ES335 in For Your Life.