Jimmy Page no.1 '59 'burst

[Bryansamui]

Wasted?
You must be putting us on.. But thanks for all your insight knowledge, it's very interesting!

I shouldn't say 'wasted',but I quess with my R&D I can't really recover that selling pickups..Gibson are smarter than me . They charge $1000 a set for their latest offerings lol..

 

[S. Weiger]

I shouldn't say 'wasted',but I quess with my R&D I can't really recover that selling pickups..Gibson are smarter than me . They charge $1000 a set for their latest offerings lol..

Yeah they're going for the cha-ching effect it seems

Re. mr. Page's bridge pickup, a T-top in the 73-ish period.. But on LZ II it was a '59 PAF right? On that most famous record, was it even that Burst (his #1) ?

 

[jimmi]

Yeah they're going for the cha-ching effect it seems

Re. mr. Page's bridge pickup, a T-top in the 73-ish period.. But on LZ II it was a '59 PAF right? On that most famous record, was it even that Burst (his #1) ?

It was definitely the #1 for that record. Page states that guitar inspired most of that album so maybe some of it is the custom but sounded like the Burst was nearly all of it. The original pickup must be in everything though IV that he used the LP for. Houses of the Holy would have been the first album after the change.

 

[jb_abides]

Houses of the Holy would have been the first album after the change.

Yes, conceivably both PAF and T-Top are on HOTH, as it was recorded from 71 on into 72. The switch happened once the PAF suffered issues, end-Feb 72, once the Australia 72 tour concluded.

 

[MattD1960]

Much speculation about that confounded bridge (ha ha) pickup in Number 1.

I have always wondered if the Custom Appears on Zep 2 cuz it was still in JPs hands at the time of recording i do believe. I know much has been made about him getting the Burst from Joe Walsh and that kinda shaped the sound of the record but Page had already been involved with clapton recording with beano into a marshall and had played becks burst in the Yardbirds, if Jimmy wanted that "bigger" sound why didnt he just stop over his mum n dads and grab the custom he was already a little famous for owning ? anyone ever take a deep dive into Zep 2 and maybe fish out some custom sounds ?

 

[ADP]

"Whole Lotta Love"s famous riff is the Black Beauty. This is a known fact from the Horses mouth.

 

[MattD1960]

"Whole Lotta Love"s famous riff is the Black Beauty. This is a known fact from the Horses mouth.

Legit i kinda always thought that. but i have never seen it said by JP and the folklore surrounding the BURST always played to loud in my head when listening

 

[S. Weiger]

Much speculation about that confounded bridge (ha ha) pickup in Number 1.

I have always wondered if the Custom Appears on Zep 2 cuz it was still in JPs hands at the time of recording i do believe. I know much has been made about him getting the Burst from Joe Walsh and that kinda shaped the sound of the record but Page had already been involved with clapton recording with beano into a marshall and had played becks burst in the Yardbirds, if Jimmy wanted that "bigger" sound why didnt he just stop over his mum n dads and grab the custom he was already a little famous for owning ? anyone ever take a deep dive into Zep 2 and maybe fish out some custom sounds ?

Maybe he wasn't all that comfortable with the 3 pup config?

 

[MattD1960]

Maybe he wasn't all that comfortable with the 3 pup config?

potentially, I recently got a Reissue BB and was very very worried about the same thing, and i lowered the middle pick up flush with the ring to avoid the clicking pick noise.

perhaps JP had similar concerns. the only counter argument to that is the footage of him thrashing the Custom during the encore at RAH in 69 ( which also happens to be my favorite part of that DVD)

 

[jb_abides]

potentially, I recently got a Reissue BB and was very very worried about the same thing, and i lowered the middle pick up flush with the ring to avoid the clicking pick noise.

Well, that describes me, and what I did...

I surmise Jimmy was OK with the middle. He kept everything in during the modification prior to the theft; he used 3 individual toggles for the 3 pickups.

 

[MattD1960]

Well, that describes me, and what I did...

I surmise Jimmy was OK with the middle. He kept everything in during the modification prior to the theft; he used 3 individual toggles for the 3 pickups.

Absolutely did not mean to compare myself to Jimmy Page, I have seen multiple people with similar worries about the middle pickup. and yes i whole hartedly agree he most likely had ZERO issues with the Custom cuz he even went the the trouble of buying/ getting it back recently so obviously he had some serious fondness for the Custom.

 

[jb_abides]

Absolutely did not mean to compare myself to Jimmy Page, I have seen multiple people with similar worries about the middle pickup. and yes i whole hartedly agree he most likely had ZERO issues with the Custom cuz he even went the the trouble of buying/ getting it back recently so obviously he had some serious fondness for the Custom.

I never thought you were doing so, FWIW! I just like a lowered middle, I have trouble with them. I suppose I could work on my technique!

One reason I loved the Elliot East SG: it's dressed like a 3-pup SG Custom without the middle pickup... per Elliot specs, he wanted to ditch the middle. He saved me a hunt for the SG Custom Reissue in lefty.

 

[Bryansamui]

This is the timeline on #1 Sunburst pickups:
1: 2 X White coil PAFs..Neck higher wind by a fair bit compared to Bridge.Until late Feb 72 ( Australia/NZ Tour)
2: During this tour, the Bridge pickup was failing and rewound by Merv Cargill( Melbourne Luthier)
3: According to Merv, Jimmy was happy with the rewind...Now, WAS Jimmy happy? or did it fail again? because on 27 May Jimmy is seen with a bright new Chrome covered bridge pickup in Amsterdam. HTWWW = T Top
4:This is how the guitar remains for the rest of Zeppelin...No push pull anything..
5:The famous 21 sound 'Jimmy Page Harness ' was done by Steve Hoyland on Jimmy Pages #2 Les Paul in 1982 (The Firm Era)..Info courtesy Jimmy's Right Hand Man ( Clive Coulson) whom I knew personally.
6: On #2, Jimmy quite liked the Out of phase sound and this option eventually made it to #1 via a push/pull pot....Gibson in 2003 managed to screw up the reissue and put a 'coil split' on the push/pull pot in error.

As a side note, I got my new 2024 Baseplates back for my next run of 1973s

 

[Chain8096]

Much speculation about that confounded bridge (ha ha) pickup in Number 1.

I have always wondered if the Custom Appears on Zep 2 cuz it was still in JPs hands at the time of recording i do believe. I know much has been made about him getting the Burst from Joe Walsh and that kinda shaped the sound of the record but Page had already been involved with clapton recording with beano into a marshall and had played becks burst in the Yardbirds, if Jimmy wanted that "bigger" sound why didnt he just stop over his mum n dads and grab the custom he was already a little famous for owning ? anyone ever take a deep dive into Zep 2 and maybe fish out some custom sounds ?

A bit of a necro, but eh.

Zeppelin II was recorded mostly while they were touring. Jimmy said he didn't want to take the Custom on the road as he was worried something might happen to it. It was stolen in April 1970, so he was right to be worried.

The point is that he probably didn't bring the Custom on the road during '69, and would likely not have had it available to use on most of Zeppelin II. Per Led Zeppelin All the Songs: The Story Behind Every Track , they recorded in 13 different studios. It seems that only Whole Lotta Love and What Is And What Should Never Be were recorded in Olympic in London, so they are possible candidates for the Custom. However, the overdubs for WLL were done in A&M Studios in Hollywood, so presumably the solo is the #1 LP. Same for WIAWSNB, overdubs were done at Groove Studios.

EDIT: Looks like Living Loving Maid, Thank You, and We're Gonna Groove were in London as well, so they could be the Custom too. Same for Sugar Mama and We're Gonna Groove, which weren't released til way later.

@ADP Do you know where WLL being the custom is mentioned?