Video - The Secret to Jimmy Page's Tone

[brandtkronholm]

I have an opinion on what this fellow has to say about "the secrets" to Jimmy Page's tone in this video.
The opinion I have is quite strong.

Do you have an opinion?

 

[ADP]

Yes.

 

[rockabilly69]

The guy is obviously into Page, and has learned many of his techniques, his tone is a little harsh, but I think his techniques are a good way to start getting into Jimmy for someone who wants to open that door. The splitting and blending of the pickups technique will surely get a novice on the page faster. And deliberately knowing what you need to do to get a sound is important. I like what he has to say.

Most of this type of thing falls on deaf ears to me because I've spent more of my time trying to develop my own sound, but once again, anyone trying to get into Zepp/Page I think he's worth a listen. And, I just checked out his band Soul Of Led Zeppelin and they are pretty rocking...

 

[J T]

Some of Mr. Page's best stuff was played on a Tele.

edit:
I'm with rockabilly on this. If you want to play like Jimmy Page it's about phrasing muting double stops and open strings.

I'm kinda deep set into what I've been doing for a long time and not really going to start a Zeppelin tribute anytime soon, but I guess he will get people interested in doing some Zeppelin stuff.

I think he makes a good point about gain, delay, and reverb. I hear so many indie and alt players of today just swimming in too much reverb, delay, and gain that it is just distracting from the performance itself. Dial it back guys. Are you auditioning the effect or playing the song?

 

[Any Name You Wish]

My strong opinion is he did not get Black Dog right No need to slide up a step. I do like the way he plays though.

Mr. Page is many things. A guitarist, producer, sound engineer, and composer. There's a heck of a lot Mr. Page going on in those records.

Sometimes I think "tone" get mixed up with "personal style."

I am no one to judge.

 

[J T]

What Les Paul model is that? That guitar he's playing has Custom inlays.

 

[zacknorton]

he can totally play... but it doesn't sound much like Jimmy Page to me. Maybe he's going for Rick Beato territory?

He could do waaaaaay worse things with his $$$. sign me up!

 

[Bryansamui]

Carl's Great, Expert on Page .The only thing here to disagree with (imo) is his view on 'unimportance on equipment '.
.
The Source of the correct tone are the Pickups, and the mainstream winders don't do a set ( Gibson , Duncan etc) Jimmys neck pickup was a unicorn..A Boutique PAF won't do that sound either.

 

[Bryansamui]

What Les Paul model is that? That guitar he's playing has Custom inlays.

I've spoken to Carl in person..That guitar is a 72 Deluxe with added full sized hums.

 

[Bryansamui]

The guy is obviously into Page, and has learned many of his techniques, his tone is a little harsh, but I think his techniques are a good way to start getting into Jimmy for someone who wants to open that door. The splitting and blending of the pickups technique will surely get a novice on the page faster. And deliberately knowing what you need to do to get a sound is important. I like what he has to say.

Most of this type of thing falls on deaf ears to me because I've spent more of my time trying to develop my own sound, but once again, anyone trying to get into Zepp/Page I think he's worth a listen. And, I just checked out his band Soul Of Led Zeppelin and they are pretty rocking...

Of course, Jimmy never had coil splits in Zeppelin. That 21 sound harness came about on his seldom played #2. Mods done circa 1982 by Steve Hoyland

 

[Bryansamui]

My strong opinion is he did not get Black Dog right No need to slide up a step. I do like the way he plays though.

Mr. Page is many things. A guitarist, producer, sound engineer, and composer. There's a heck of a lot Mr. Page going on in those records.

Sometimes I think "tone" get mixed up with "personal style."

I am no one to judge.

Black Dog was played live in the Middle Position...Most players opt for the bridge pickup, because a modern Les Paul can't do the Jimmy Page 'middle sound'.. It's a pity as Jimmy P lived in the middle slot.

 

[Any Name You Wish]

Black Dog was played live in the Middle Position...Most players opt for the bridge pickup, because a modern Les Paul can't do the Jimmy Page 'middle sound'.. It's a pity as Jimmy P lived in the middle slot.

Interesting. Perhaps middle switch position and roll off the neck pickup just enough to get there. I think if I got heavily into recording I would lose my mind

 

[J T]

Carl's Great, Expert on Page .The only thing here to disagree with (imo) is his view on 'unimportance on equipment '.
.
The Source of the correct tone are the Pickups, and the mainstream winders don't do a set ( Gibson , Duncan etc) Jimmys neck pickup was a unicorn..A Boutique PAF won't do that sound either.

I have an LPR9 with Gibson installed split Neck and Bridge pickups. I absolutely get what Mr. Page was doing pulling the neck split in the middle position. Non-split neck is a "deeper" middle position tone and the neck split pulls that out to leave something that leans more toward the bridge pickup. It sounds like a bridge pickup that has more oomph. The split pulls out those lower frequencies that a full neck would have.

 

[Bryansamui]

Interesting. Perhaps middle switch position and roll off the neck pickup just enough to get there. I think if I got heavily into recording I would lose my mind

Rock and Roll (Live) and Whole Lotta Love (live) on 'The Song Remains the Same' was exactly that.. Middle Position Riffs with Neck pickup backed off a tad..Not a single person on YT plays it correctly. All, incorrectly select bridge pickup.In their defence I quess, the modern Les Paul Middle sound does sound a bit bloated. Black Dog was different.Yes, middle position again, but more 'phase cancellation ' in that tone.

 

[Bryansamui]

I have an LPR9 with Gibson installed split Neck and Bridge pickups. I absolutely get what Mr. Page was doing pulling the neck split in the middle position. Non-split neck is a "deeper" middle position tone and the neck split pulls that out to leave something that leans more toward the bridge pickup. It sounds like a bridge pickup that has more oomph. The split pulls out those lower frequencies that a full neck would have.

Although Jimmy didn't do it that way of course in Zeppelin ,his guitar was just wired standard.The Coil split , out of phase stuff was done in 1985 by Steve Hoyland on Jimmy's backup #2 Les Paul well after Zeppelin.
The "Modern" Les Paul simply has those bloated lower frequencies in the middle position because the pickups .

 

[Bryansamui]

The Secret is all in the pickups. A $20,000 Custom Shop Page Model won't do the Zeppelin sound because they didn't copy the Zeppelin era pickups... They weren't in Jimmy's Guitar when Edwin Wilson saw it in 2003.
Here are the correct pickup types here.They replicate "The Song Remains the Same" tones 1973.
Different from Carl's Tone.
1:Bridge Humbucker Bright (Tele on Steroids tone 0:36-1:40
2:Middle."Hollow Chirp" tone ( IN PHASE!) 1:44 - 2:30
3: Neck: Woody and Swampy(unlike any other PAF) 2:40 - 3:40
4: Bridge pickup (The Kerrang sound!).That last chord of the famous Madison Square Garden Concert..This pickup nails it.

 

[Any Name You Wish]

Very interesting tones there for sure. Might be pretty hard to get some of that out of my R9, and not worth the trouble. I must admit that I like the earlier Zep/Tele/Page tones better than the later stuff with the Page on the Les Paul. Physical Graffiti for instance, too much middle position switch for my taste (if that's what he used), but that's just me, and who the hell am I anyway.

 

[Bryansamui]

Very interesting tones there for sure. Might be pretty hard to get some of that out of my R9, and not worth the trouble. I must admit that I like the earlier Zep/Tele/Page tones better than the later stuff with the Page on the Les Paul. Physical Graffiti for instance, too much middle position switch for my taste (if that's what he used), but that's just me, and who the hell am I anyway.

What you like or personal preferences are just as valid/ important as anybody else's.
You won't get Page Zeppelin tone out of an R9 with Gibson pickups ...The Bizzare thing is the Closest sound to Jimmy's Les Paul off the shop floor is Fender Telecaster Custom ( Not a Les Paul at all!)Why is this?..It gets closest of any guitar to that middle tone, which is the sound Page used most.

 

[Any Name You Wish]

What you like or personal preferences are just as valid/ important as anybody else's.
You won't get Page Zeppelin tone out of an R9 with Gibson pickups ...The Bizzare thing is the Closest sound to Jimmy's Les Paul off the shop floor is Fender Telecaster Custom ( Not a Les Paul at all!)Why is this?..It gets closest of any guitar to that middle tone, which is the sound Page used most.

Well before we go off into Tele-land (even though I have one) the middle switch position on my '61 SG RI is pretty darn close. Anyway, I wonder if Page got used to that tone when he played the Tele and then we he got the LP he found a way to coax a similar tone out of it. I really admire the way he got so many tones and sounds in the studio, and how it all came together so great on the records back then. Every song is so different.

 

[Nifty]

Two pedals might make things a bit easier

CB's RAH
Hammer of the Gods