It wasn't Page's 1st Les Paul. He had a 3 pickup Black Beauty when he was doing sessions, prior to the Yardbirds. It was stolen on the first American tour Zep did, and it was finally found and returned to him not long ago. The story was published a couple of months ago in Vintage Guitar magazine.
Jimmy Page did use Fender a lot on the studio recordings LZI probably was all Fender Telecaster, not totally sure though but that was before he bought the Gibson ..The saying is that Fenders were great advertisements to sell Gibson Les Paul guitars because of the guitar solo in Stairway to Heaven is that a Fender was used
@@22julip Yes ,I could be wrong but he used the Telecaster a lot in the live shows i the early years of Zep and Yardbirds era ..Maybe he should give us the true history of the guitar timeline and I wont be guessing anymore ..
he used his les paul in the studio for the bulk of their work imo. he got it halfway through recording lzii and seems like he basically stopped cutting tracks with the dragon tele at that point. fenders don't really make more than a 1 or 2 song per album appearance again until presence. i think a lot of people get confused by what he was playing on a given song because a real late 50s les paul is actually kind of bright and has a bit of telecaster twang to it on the bridge pickup. his les paul really just sounds like a fat telecaster. for quite a long time the only way to get a gibson of similar spec was to get a custom shop reissue, so i think a lot of people who have only played a regular production line guitar that is bone stock haven't experienced the sound of a bright les paul in person. people think lesters are dark guitars but a proper one will take your head off through an aggressive amp.
Two things. Jimmy had the Black Beauty Les Paul but I suppose the Bigsby would have creating tuning issues. The Stairway to Heaven solo was on the Tele so it’s not a fair statement that the “catalog” wouldn’t be the same. Fair enough that some of the “crunch” on 3-Presence would have been missing, which would have had an impact. Great interview!
i think jimmy was also reluctant to take the custom on tour, which was why he never used it with the yardbirds or on the first few zeppelin tours, but when he finally did take it with him it backfired pretty quickly. i don't think that guitar even made it through a full tour before it was stolen.
The early Zep would of been nothing without his Tele and Led Zep Presents was all recorded on Jimmy's Strat. The large amps were just coming around and in the early days Bands had to play in large arenas because of their popularity. I love both my Les Paul's and Tele's.
@@andrewgarcia3136 actually I think that Custom was stolen from him even before he started with The Yardbirds. The ‘59 Tele was a hand me down from Jeff Beck. A few years ago after being MIA for decades he got it back.
Yes sir! It had already been refinished and I believe the neck shaved a little bit when Joe sold it to him. Jimmy had had a black Custom that had been stolen from him and he used it in his session years (it was found and returned to him a few years back). Actually the first Led Zeppelin album was recorded with the ‘59 Yardbirds Telecaster and it sounds amazing.
You cant go wrong with either guitar. Back then Amps were just getting louder and PA's not really around. At that time if you need loud, The Les Paul was it. Today with all the equipment you can get loud with a Tele and a Les Paul easily. The Stones had Ampeg make them amps that were 300 watts at it was the only one at the time back in 69" All the big concerts needed more power.
That was funny as hell and the rest was history. I wouldn't say anything bad about a Tele because that was Yardbirds and early Zeppelin. That tone is iconic. You can see a lot of Jimmy Page footage of him playing his Les Paul live in the middle pickup position. Very Tele-like sounding. The Les Paul with the humbuckers is louder you needed back then because there were not too many PA systems or they just started to use them. Both great guitars, that's why I play both. With the equipment today, My Tele can play really loud if I want it to. Two different animals for the trade.
Randy Bachman of The Guess Who and BTO tells a story about this bar band in Canada who bought 3 Les Pauls out of a catalog. After they broke up one of the guys went to school in LA and sold his guitar out there which was acquired by Joe Walsh and later given to Jimmy Page. The other guy went to London and sold his which ended up in Keith Richards hands and he later gave it to Mick Taylor. The 3rd guy met Bachman backstage after a show and traded it to him for a Mosrite and 50 bucks and Bachman used it to create American Woman.
I love Les Pauls but I can say my Tele's are a sweet thing that I'll never give up. The raw sound of early Zep was all telecaster. Thats why I have both lol.
I'm surprised there is someone that hosts a podcast for "Premier Guitar" that doesn't know the story of Joe Walsh selling JP his LP. Was the host acting like this was the first time he heard the story for Joe's sake, or did the host really hear the story for the first time? If its the latter who is hiring the on air talent over at Premier Guitar?
" Les Pauls virtually didn't exist in England"? Eric Clapton, Peter Green, Keith Richards, Jeff Beck all managed to find them pre 1969. I remember new Les Pauls selling for $350 at Sam Ash in 1969.
Two thoughts: 1) The story Joe Walsh tells is very different from the way Jimmy Page tells it. Page says he was perfectly happy with the Telecaster, and Walsh was BEGGING him to buy that Les Paul until he gave in!. Funny enough, Page was sold and Led Zeppelin never sounded the same again as Page became a "Gibson man" for life! 2) The Telecaster was a gift from Jeff Beck to Jimmy Page for referring him to the Yardbirds. Did Joe Walsh ever give Tommy Bolin a gift for referring him to the James Gang?
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It wasn't Page's 1st Les Paul. He had a 3 pickup Black Beauty when he was doing sessions, prior to the Yardbirds. It was stolen on the first American tour Zep did, and it was finally found and returned to him not long ago. The story was published a couple of months ago in Vintage Guitar magazine.
I heard this story many years ago from a guy that used to live with Joe in Kent. He was around when this exchange took place.
I love this! My favorite guitarist gave one of the best rock guitarist his first Les Paul!
Jimmy Page did use Fender a lot on the studio recordings LZI probably was all Fender Telecaster, not totally sure though but that was before he bought the Gibson ..The saying is that Fenders were great advertisements to sell Gibson Les Paul guitars because of the guitar solo in Stairway to Heaven is that a Fender was used
That’s what I thought but another source said he used his black beauty Les Paul for most of his sessions ,
@@22julip Yes ,I could be wrong but he used the Telecaster a lot in the live shows i the early years of Zep and Yardbirds era ..Maybe he should give us the true history of the guitar timeline and I wont be guessing anymore ..
Actually, a lot of Jimmy's solos during Zeppelin were recorded on his Tele but live he needed his Les Paul.
he used his les paul in the studio for the bulk of their work imo. he got it halfway through recording lzii and seems like he basically stopped cutting tracks with the dragon tele at that point. fenders don't really make more than a 1 or 2 song per album appearance again until presence. i think a lot of people get confused by what he was playing on a given song because a real late 50s les paul is actually kind of bright and has a bit of telecaster twang to it on the bridge pickup. his les paul really just sounds like a fat telecaster. for quite a long time the only way to get a gibson of similar spec was to get a custom shop reissue, so i think a lot of people who have only played a regular production line guitar that is bone stock haven't experienced the sound of a bright les paul in person. people think lesters are dark guitars but a proper one will take your head off through an aggressive amp.
@@andrewgarcia3136 You are absolutely right. Les Pauls are meant to be twangy also.
Old Old story made new for this generation who missed Rock and Roll .
Two things. Jimmy had the Black Beauty Les Paul but I suppose the Bigsby would have creating tuning issues. The Stairway to Heaven solo was on the Tele so it’s not a fair statement that the “catalog” wouldn’t be the same. Fair enough that some of the “crunch” on 3-Presence would have been missing, which would have had an impact. Great interview!
i think jimmy was also reluctant to take the custom on tour, which was why he never used it with the yardbirds or on the first few zeppelin tours, but when he finally did take it with him it backfired pretty quickly. i don't think that guitar even made it through a full tour before it was stolen.
The early Zep would of been nothing without his Tele and Led Zep Presents was all recorded on Jimmy's Strat. The large amps were just coming around and in the early days Bands had to play in large arenas because of their popularity. I love both my Les Paul's and Tele's.
@@andrewgarcia3136 actually I think that Custom was stolen from him even before he started with The Yardbirds. The ‘59 Tele was a hand me down from Jeff Beck. A few years ago after being MIA for decades he got it back.
Funny how people think they know the facts when the stories are told by people who drank and did drugs till the cows came home
Yes sir! It had already been refinished and I believe the neck shaved a little bit when Joe sold it to him. Jimmy had had a black Custom that had been stolen from him and he used it in his session years (it was found and returned to him a few years back).
Actually the first Led Zeppelin album was recorded with the ‘59 Yardbirds Telecaster and it sounds amazing.
You cant go wrong with either guitar. Back then Amps were just getting louder and PA's not really around. At that time if you need loud, The Les Paul was it. Today with all the equipment you can get loud with a Tele and a Les Paul easily. The Stones had Ampeg make them amps that were 300 watts at it was the only one at the time back in 69" All the big concerts needed more power.
@@michaelheller8841 The Ampeg amps were the SVTs, and I had one of the first ones.
I never knew he got the Custom back. When was that? I'd love to hear the story.
That was funny as hell and the rest was history. I wouldn't say anything bad about a Tele because that was Yardbirds and early Zeppelin. That tone is iconic. You can see a lot of Jimmy Page footage of him playing his Les Paul live in the middle pickup position. Very Tele-like sounding. The Les Paul with the humbuckers is louder you needed back then because there were
not too many PA systems or they just started to use them. Both great guitars, that's why I play both. With the equipment today, My Tele can play really loud if I want it to. Two different
animals for the trade.
Randy Bachman of The Guess Who and BTO tells a story about this bar band in Canada who bought 3 Les Pauls out of a catalog. After they broke up one of the guys went to school in LA and sold his guitar out there which was acquired by Joe Walsh and later given to Jimmy Page. The other guy went to London and sold his which ended up in Keith Richards hands and he later gave it to Mick Taylor. The 3rd guy met Bachman backstage after a show and traded it to him for a Mosrite and 50 bucks and Bachman used it to create American Woman.
Love ya Joe. Keep on keepin' it real ♥️
Joe Walsh has some of the best rock-n-roll stories.
Still baked.
Why cant you image led zeppelin using a Telecaster?
Jimmy used s Tele for the solo on Stairway to Heaven
The whole first album too.
I love Les Pauls but I can say my Tele's are a sweet thing that I'll never give up. The raw sound of early Zep was all telecaster. Thats why I have both lol.
"...I traded him some stuff..." What stuff was that Joe? 😹
haha..the good stuff.
What an awesome story!
Impressive mr. Walsh
Great story!!
Classic.
What month did Joe sell Jimmy the guitar . Trying to find what tour he starting using the Les Paul . Any ideas ?
Great yarn
How ya do n ...Joe! 🤘
I'm surprised there is someone that hosts a podcast for "Premier Guitar" that doesn't know the story of Joe Walsh selling JP his LP. Was the host acting like this was the first time he heard the story for Joe's sake, or did the host really hear the story for the first time? If its the latter who is hiring the on air talent over at Premier Guitar?
Led zepp 1_tele
" Les Pauls virtually didn't exist in England"? Eric Clapton, Peter Green, Keith Richards, Jeff Beck all managed to find them pre 1969. I remember new Les Pauls selling for $350 at Sam Ash in 1969.
Two thoughts: 1) The story Joe Walsh tells is very different from the way Jimmy Page tells it. Page says he was perfectly happy with the Telecaster, and Walsh was BEGGING him to buy that Les Paul until he gave in!. Funny enough, Page was sold and Led Zeppelin never sounded the same again as Page became a "Gibson man" for life! 2) The Telecaster was a gift from Jeff Beck to Jimmy Page for referring him to the Yardbirds. Did Joe Walsh ever give Tommy Bolin a gift for referring him to the James Gang?