thriftdig Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 The sound he got the 1st few months with his tele & fuzztone/echoplex ala april fillmore shows was pretty awesome. Hands down for me is 72-73 les paul/marshall combo (orange amps too?). Absolutely devastating when you consider that he was at his most technically brilliant improv-wise. Somewhat simple set up too. wah-wah, echoplex, (MXR distortion? - I've heard that's what he used-maybe I've seen a stage photo somewhere). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huw Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 Never an MXR distortion. When he had a fuzz pedal in the early days it was a Tone Bender. The only MXR box he took on stage was a Phase 90 from 1975. As far as a favourite tone goes, I enjoy the differences. Sometimes I love '75, some times '71, or '73 - it just varies. All I can ever decide for sure is that '77 had more of my least favourite tones than any other year. '79 was much better again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZepFanatic Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 Yes 1977 was the absolute worst...wafer thin guitar sound... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thriftdig Posted January 29, 2009 Author Share Posted January 29, 2009 Yes 1977 was the absolute worst...wafer thin guitar sound... Always thought 75 had a transparent mid-rangy tone - not enough of the overdrive displayed in the 69-73 years. 79-80 had alot of bite coupled with delay during most of his solos that I enjoyed most of the time. I think the the delayed effect compensated for his lack of the fleet-fingered facility of his earlier years. Interesting style-sort of gave him more notes than what he was actually playing. Somewhat psychedelic at times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZepFanatic Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 By 1975, you're right, it was noticeably thinner than in years past...not as much sustain...but still pretty good. In 1977 the attack, tone, sustain, etc were fucking awful...it literally matched Jimmy's physical appearance and condition! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicago Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 There were more off-nights than on during the 1977 tour for Jimmy and the band, but there were also some strong performances. The guitar solos during No Quarter on 4/28/77 and 6/23 are really dynamic and filled with great licks. The guitar sound is pretty damn full especially during his octave work. Having seen 4 Zeppelin shows on that tour I actually heard Page's guitar tone in real time. Ten Years Gone sounded great and during White Summer his sound was shimmering. There was nothing thin about his tone during Trampled Under Foot. A flat and dry soundboard of any of the shows from that tour is not truly representative of what the crowd was hearing from Page. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Lady Who's Sure Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 '69 with the tele, without a doubt its just so raw! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZepFanatic Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 There were more off-nights than on during the 1977 tour for Jimmy and the band, but there were also some strong performances. The guitar solos during No Quarter on 4/28/77 and 6/23 are really dynamic and filled with great licks. The guitar sound is pretty damn full especially during his octave work. Having seen 4 Zeppelin shows on that tour I actually heard Page's guitar tone in real time. Ten Years Gone sounded great and during White Summer his sound was shimmering. There was nothing thin about his tone during Trampled Under Foot. A flat and dry soundboard of any of the shows from that tour is not truly representative of what the crowd was hearing from Page. I agree, while 1977 is actually one of my favorite Zep tours, it was spotty. However, all but the second night at the LA Forum, the 2nd night in Cleveland, the Landover shows, Houston, and bits of the Oakland shows are damn fine if not spectacular... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicago Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 I agree, while 1977 is actually one of my favorite Zep tours, it was spotty. However, all but the second night at the LA Forum, the 2nd night in Cleveland, the Landover shows, Houston, and bits of the Oakland shows are damn fine if not spectacular... There's was definitely a feeling of calamity throughout that tour and many times they rode off the rails. Jimmy catches much of the flak for the tour's uneveness, but the others had similar moments. Listen to a few of Bonzo's 40 minute drum solos from Landover and see what I mean. It sounds like Bam Bam from the Flintstones on Stoli and Qualludes. Compared to the more concise drum solos I saw him play earlier in the tour he sounds lethargic and out of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZepFanatic Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 Good point. Even Bonzo had his shit show...San Diego, half the time he's ahead of the band, the other half he's dragging ass... I agree there was just this big dark air of darkness around that whole tour, which is weird as it should have been glorious..their biggest ever US tour, great setlists, loads of shows...but the people/drugs/events/etc around them really cast a shadow on it...and of course it ended the only way it could have (in retrospect), with the arrest for beating Graham's guys and Plant's son's tragic death... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicago Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 Good point. Even Bonzo had his shit show...San Diego, half the time he's ahead of the band, the other half he's dragging ass... I agree there was just this big dark air of darkness around that whole tour, which is weird as it should have been glorious..their biggest ever US tour, great setlists, loads of shows...but the people/drugs/events/etc around them really cast a shadow on it...and of course it ended the only way it could have (in retrospect), with the arrest for beating Graham's guys and Plant's son's tragic death... Who would've thought postponing the initial 1st leg of the 1977 would have such disastrous effects. Page admitted to not playing his guitar in that time frame waiting to start the tour. That blew my mind because if you're going to face those massive crowds and you're not practicing it 's not going to come off well. That combined with his heavy intakes contributed to the common criticism Page played like shit on the tour. The last leg of the tour would've been over after the L.A. shows allowing the band to have been in England with their families. Not strung out on the road when Karac Plant died and the bad vibes that emanated from Page, Jones and Grant not attending his funeral. A big " What if?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SourceNRG Posted January 30, 2009 Share Posted January 30, 2009 Who would've thought postponing the initial 1st leg of the 1977 would have such disastrous effects. Page admitted to not playing his guitar in that time frame waiting to start the tour. That blew my mind because if you're going to face those massive crowds and you're not practicing it 's not going to come off well. That combined with his heavy intakes contributed to the common criticism Page played like shit on the tour. The last leg of the tour would've been over after the L.A. shows allowing the band to have been in England with their families. Not strung out on the road when Karac Plant died and the bad vibes that emanated from Page, Jones and Grant not attending his funeral. A big " What if?" I am TRYING to remember why they postponed the initial first leg of the tour??? Was that when JP hurt his finger...or...?? Anyways, 1977 was the one and ONLY time I ever got to see Zep...in Chicago. For me the whole night was magical...kinda my dream come true, with decent seats, too. So I get sad when I see how much the 1977 tour is slammed. I mean, i totally understand it and all, what with JP's problems/all the other &#*^%!@ going down, but that still reigns supreme in my memory as one of the best concerts of my life, if not THE best!!! Actually...hands down the best, come to think of it. Sharon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SourceNRG Posted January 30, 2009 Share Posted January 30, 2009 Oh...to answer the original post---I would have to agree with the 1972/1973, sound, altho Led Zep 1 album sound was amazing, too, in a totally raw kinda way. Sharon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thriftdig Posted January 30, 2009 Author Share Posted January 30, 2009 Oh...to answer the original post---I would have to agree with the 1972/1973, sound, altho Led Zep 1 album sound was amazing, too, in a totally raw kinda way. Sharon Glad to see things back the original topic. Another thing that drastically changed the live sound of the band was JPJ's bass setup. I love his old Fender jazz sound. The Alembic sound was snappier, more modern sounding-but harshly metallic to my ears. It also changed his style somewhat. More chording-double stops. For one thing, it did have more presence that enabled it to be heard in the huge places they were playing in 77. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZepFanatic Posted January 30, 2009 Share Posted January 30, 2009 Glad to see things back the original topic. Another thing that drastically changed the live sound of the band was JPJ's bass setup. I love his old Fender jazz sound. The Alembic sound was snappier, more modern sounding-but harshly metallic to my ears. It also changed his style somewhat. More chording-double stops. For one thing, it did have more presence that enabled it to be heard in the huge places they were playing in 77. I agree, while I liked his Alembic sound from 1977 onward, you nailed it when you called it harsh and metallic...not nearly as much bottom, too much top end... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZepFanatic Posted January 30, 2009 Share Posted January 30, 2009 Who would've thought postponing the initial 1st leg of the 1977 would have such disastrous effects. Page admitted to not playing his guitar in that time frame waiting to start the tour. That blew my mind because if you're going to face those massive crowds and you're not practicing it 's not going to come off well. That combined with his heavy intakes contributed to the common criticism Page played like shit on the tour. The last leg of the tour would've been over after the L.A. shows allowing the band to have been in England with their families. Not strung out on the road when Karac Plant died and the bad vibes that emanated from Page, Jones and Grant not attending his funeral. A big " What if?" Didn't know they didn't attend Karac's funeral...I do remember reading they all pushed Plant and put loads of pressure on him to continue the band when Plant wanted to be left alone to grieve and didn't want to continue anymore...not sensitive or kind at all. The shocking thing is he did another album, a mini-tour (1979), another tour (1980) and was gearing up for a big one in the USA (1980/81) when Bonzo died...the more I've read over the years, the more I respect Plant the most... And the 1977 tour was postponed initially because of Plant's laryngitis...but all of their equipment had already been shipped over the the USA before Plant got sick and the tour was postponed...I still find it hard to believe that super rich Led Zeppelin (especially Jimmy) didn't have a guitar lying around...hell they could have gone and bought new gear just to practice...but that would have taken too much time away from the drugs, I guess... This is an interesting sidebar discussion! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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