Jimmy Page ... History of his Guitars !!!

[colchar]

it was a double white; they did not make cream. they sometimes turn to cream with age. the one he replaced it with was double black but it had a chrome over on it. he later removed the cover. and that pickup was later replaced with an SD.

But he only removed the cover from the black one after Zeppelin right?

 

[MCAN]

I did some reading yesterday and it seems that, when the pickup was uncovered, he had a double cream in there. I couldn't find any info or see any pictures in which the pickup was a double black. Is this correct? If so, why would Gibson put out a signature model with a double black pickup or was that done because that was the way the guitar was when they looked it over? You'd think they would have gone for how it looked during Zeppelin rather than how it looks today.

Believe it or not, Gibson couldn't legally use double white/creme as the rights are owned by another company (Seymour Duncan or DiMarzio)

On the product page for Page #2, there is a footnote:
"Due to trademark issues and per Jimmy’s directive, the bobbins on the Jimmy Page “Number Two” Les Paul are black instead of cream."

 

[colchar]

Believe it or not, Gibson couldn't legally use double white/creme as the copyright is owned by another company (Seymour Duncan or DiMarzio)

On the product page for Page #2, there is a footnote:
"Due to trademark issues and per Jimmy’s directive, the bobbins on the Jimmy Page “Number Two” Les Paul are black instead of cream."

Thanks.

I just checked around on the Gibson website and realized that, even if I wanted to, I cannot buy a white/cream BB2 as they are not made in that colour. So I guess they still have copyright issues.

 

[JimmyAce2006]

Thanks.

I just checked around on the Gibson website and realized that, even if I wanted to, I cannot buy a white/cream BB2 as they are not made in that colour. So I guess they still have copyright issues.

DiMarzio owns the trademark (not copyright). Gibson did make a few burstbuckers in double cream (not white) in 2003. They pop up on ebay from time to time. I used to have a pair.

 

[colchar]

Thanks for the info.

And here I thought removing the cover on my bridge pickup to make my guitar slightly more Pageish was going to be a relatively easy decision!

 

[MCAN]

You could just get a DiMarzio PAF in double creme instead of going the Burstbucker route. I have a Dimarzio PAF in my bridge and I love it.

 

[colchar]

You could just get a DiMarzio PAF in double creme instead of going the Burstbucker route. I have a Dimarzio PAF in my bridge and I love it.

That is an option but I am really happy with the Burstbucker 2 that I have in there now and am rather reluctant to take it out.

Oh well, I guess if Page and Gibson went with black bobbins I could always do the same.

 

[JimmyAce2006]

That is an option but I am really happy with the Burstbucker 2 that I have in there now and am rather reluctant to take it out.

Oh well, I guess if Page and Gibson went with black bobbins I could always do the same.

Page's #1 currently has black bobbins exposed

 

[colchar]

Page's #1 currently has black bobbins exposed

Yeah but I was hoping to make it look like it did during the Zeppelin era and, so far as I have been able to figure out (unless I have misunderstood something posted above), he had it covered or white during that period. I could go black to make it look like it does now but, as I said, it was the Zeppelin era I was shooting for. My faded LP has a vintage vibe to it and I was thinking that uncovering the bridge pickup would be the icing on the cake.

 

[JimmyAce2006]

Yeah but I was hoping to make it look like it did during the Zeppelin era and, so far as I have been able to figure out (unless I have misunderstood something posted above), he had it covered or white during that period. I could go black to make it look like it does now but, as I said, it was the Zeppelin era I was shooting for. My faded LP has a vintage vibe to it and I was thinking that uncovering the bridge pickup would be the icing on the cake.

He had the pickup covered for a while after he first got it. One option for you would be to buy some white bobbin toppers. They are about $6 shipped.....google it

 

[BrianM]

It will always be the TSRTS guitar in my mind.

 

[illiniknick]

EDIT: I was mistaken.

 

[TheVince325]

If you're talking about his #1 then both pickups were definitely covered for the MSG shows in 73'.

 

[hecube]

more pics less talk

 

[Exluthier]

He was rockin the exposed double black for most of the 70's. He only had the exposed double white for a short time, and had the pup covered for even less time. From the footage I've seen, he had the exposed double black for most of Zeppelin. That is what I think of when I think of his #1. Check out concert footage on youtube from '73-'79 and you will see the exposed double black. As a matter of fact, I'm pretty sure he has the exposed double black in your sig pic, as that was how he had it for the '73 MSG (TSRTS) shows. The double white was in the earlier days, such as the Royal Albert Hall concert in '70.

I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think I am.

No it was chrome covered T-top in there from '72 until it was replaced in the 80s.

 

[colchar]

He was rockin the exposed double black for most of the 70's. He only had the exposed double white for a short time, and had the pup covered for even less time. From the footage I've seen, he had the exposed double black for most of Zeppelin.

Even looking at the photos just in this thread it seems that he had it covered for the majority of that era. It was the fact that Gibson had released the signature models with the double black that had confused me.

 

[colchar]

more pics less talk

It is an information thread too and, with the experts here, it is a great resource for those of us who are looking for that info.

Is that #1? If so, my God but my Les Paul looks very much like it in that photo.

 

[JimmyAce2006]

Even looking at the photos just in this thread it seems that he had it covered for the majority of that era. It was the fact that Gibson had released the signature models with the double black that had confused me.

They made the signature guitar based on how the original guitar was at the time they were copying it. They copied the SD pickup he had in it, copied the color, aging, neck profile, etc. They did not try to go back to some particular point in time - like 1973 when the movie was made - and try to make it like that.

 

[illiniknick]

If you're talking about his #1 then both pickups were definitely covered for the MSG shows in 73'.

No it was chrome covered T-top in there from '72 until it was replaced in the 80s.

You guys are right.

It was the fact that Gibson had released the signature models with the double black that had confused me.

^ I think that's what screwed me up too. I always thought it was exposed double black in TSRTS. My world just got rocked.

 

[JimmyAce2006]

He was rockin the exposed double black for most of the 70's. He only had the exposed double white for a short time, and had the pup covered for even less time. From the footage I've seen, he had the exposed double black for most of Zeppelin. That is what I think of when I think of his #1. Check out concert footage on youtube from '73-'79 and you will see the exposed double black. As a matter of fact, I'm pretty sure he has the exposed double black in your sig pic, as that was how he had it for the '73 MSG (TSRTS) shows. The double white was in the earlier days, such as the Royal Albert Hall concert in '70.

I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think I am.

All of the photos I have seen from 1973-1979 of the #1 Les Paul show it with a chrome cover on the bridge pickup. Prior to mid 72, it had the exposed double white PAF most of the time, except for a short period right after he got the guitar, it had a nickel cover on the bridge pickup. I do not see any photos of an exposed double black pickup in the bridge position in the 70s.

1969:

1970:

first gig with the pickup uncovered with double white PAF:

1973:

1975:

1977:

1978-79:

This link gives the history of the guitar & pickups:

Guitars - Whole Lotta Led

excerpt:

Pickups To date, Page's No.1 has seen a few pickup changes. The guitar started life with a set of PAFs. The double white bridge PAF seen from the early years failed shortly after the Australian tour in February 1972. In May '72 the guitar returned with a chrome covered T-Top pickup as a replacement which remained through Led Zeppelin and beyond until the early 90's when it was replaced with a custom wound Seymour Duncan which is believed to still reside in the guitar at the moment. The neck pickup, as far as we know, was never replaced until the 2000's when it a '60 PAF replaced the original for reasons unknown.

And the first shot that the owner of the web site above has of #1 with no pickup cover on the guitar, exposing double blacks is in 1988:

"Atlantic 40th Anniversary in 1988 - the chrome pickup cover removed"