The SECRET Amp On STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN! | Friday Fretworks

hey guys i'm chris buck and a very warm welcome back to friday frat works and this week we're taking a look at an amp that was unquestionably pivotal in shaping the sound of rock and roll guitar yet an amp that over the years has been shrouded in speculation myth and secrecy and only very recently has the actual truth of which come to light the album led zeppelin one guitarist jimmy page the guitar the 1959 telecaster and the amp well we'll come to that [Applause] [Music] [Applause] thank you wow [Music] [Applause] [Music] the album is hugely influential as led zeppelin won both on popular music and of course guitarists the world over it should be a very little surprise just how much speculation there has been over the years in regards to the gear that was used on that record famously vague shall we say to be kind when it comes to disclosing the specifics of his gear jimmy page himself has only really added fuel to the fire over the decades with several fleeting references of either small amps in the studio or a super combo with a 12-inch speaker armed with these tantalizing if somewhat misleading bits of information zeppelin fans the world over i've set about trying to track down what amp was used on not only the entirety of led zeppelin one but crucially arguably the most iconic solo of all time stay away to heaven taken from led zeppelin 4. now whether deliberately misleading or not jimmy referring to such an amp with those specifications was only really half the story and after decades of zeppelin fans forensically pouring over studio photos with blurry low-res almost bigfoot-esque sightings of this mythical beast it would take until january of 2019 almost 50 years to the date from the release of led zeppelin one for the final pieces of the jigsaw puzzle to finally fall into place with the release of the sun dragon an exact recreation of the app that jimmy used but what was it now for those unfamiliar with jimmy's history pre-led zeppelin to say that he was a prolific sashing guitarist would be somewhat putting it mildly with jimmy being credited on any number of classic 60s tracks from shirley bassey's goldfinger to petula clark's downtown to joe cockers with a little help from my friends now we don't know a great deal about the gear that he used during this period but what we do know is that in 1961 his friend mentor and renowned guitarist in his own right albert lee convinced jimmy to buy not only a lesbo customer but a 1959 supra combo as albert explains here every night we weren't on the road we play in a little coffee bar in london where a lot of musicians used to come and jimmy pages to come down we're about the same age he'd come down and he'd he would sit in too you know we'd go to each other's house and play records and we were really into it you know listening to all these great american players eventually he i mean he loved my les paul and my and my supros so much you wouldn't bought the same rig and i believe he used the amp and the on the the zeblin record well albert bought its bigger brother with a single 15-inch speaker jimmy purchased the smaller 1690 t super coronado with two 10 inch speakers and added tremolo circuit clearly enamored with his purchase jimmy used the amp extensively until it fell out of the back of an ambulance no less the touring transport of choice for neil christian and the crusaders a band that jimmy was playing in at the time as perry margaloff explains perry margalof being the guitar collector and producer that persuaded jimmy to do a reissue of this amp it had to be put back together again it was a bit like humpty dumpty it's unknown where exactly the amp went to be pieced back together but thanks to the sun dragon we do at least for the most part know what was done to it to get it up and running again the original 54v rectified tube being replaced with a mallard gz-34 and the 12 x7 preamp tubes again being replaced with mallard ecc 83s a british made readily available alternative much the same as various other components throughout the amp that were replaced to get it up and running again miraculously the original ge6 l6 power tubes remained but crucially those two original 10 inch speakers more than likely damaged in the 4 were replaced with a single 12-inch oxford speaker that's kind of where the confusion around the specs of this amp arise that at some point in its life had been re-coned with a pulsonic cone the amp was also biased cold significantly reducing its headroom meaning that it essentially breaks up at lower volumes i guess the ultimate result of which was a true hybrid of american and british amp technology american design but with kind of a lot of british replacement parts that were readily available at the time mitch colby the renowned amp designer that was tasked with recreating this amp for led zeppelin 1's 50th anniversary has been incredibly generous with his time and expertise knowledge across various interviews that he's done outlining the incredibly laborious process that went into recreating this app say for one component that he's referenced that at least on paper shouldn't have made a difference to its sound but in actual fact was the one component that really helped nail the sound of that original amp whether or not we'll ever find out what the component is i guess again is always going to be a matter of speculation but what we do know is that in january of 2019 sundragon released 50 very limited edition amps that were hand numbered and hand signed by jimmy page himself up for sale for a cool 12 and a half thousand dollars and unsurprisingly sold out in just over a day thankfully later on in the year they released a version for 3 875 ostensibly the same amp with a few cost cutting parts and kind of building procedures and that's exactly what i have here today very kindly on loan from vintage and ray guitars in bath in the uk sounds a little bit like this [Music] [Applause] [Music] so [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] [Applause] so [Music] [Applause] [Music] so [Music] [Music] [Music] so [Music] hmm [Music] [Applause] [Music] so [Music] [Applause] so [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] following the immense success of led zeppelin one released in january of 69 the bank included their second tour of that same year in only may finishing up with two sold out nights at new york's film or east upon the conclusion of the second show their record label atlantic threw them a party not only presenting them with a gold record for led zeppelin one but telling them that they would love to get a follow-up to that album in stores by the end of that year and as such the recording process of led zeppelin ii is a real mishmash of locations techniques and equipment especially relative to led zeppelin one which is recorded exclusively at olympic studios in barnes in london live the supra was neither big enough nor reliable enough frankly at this point to take out on tour and consequently jimmy experimented with various amp brands in the coming years being seen with fenders marshall hi what vox and orange amps at various points and subsequently it wasn't to be until 1971 when that little super combo was to make another appearance this time again being paired with the 59 telecaster to put down one of the most if not the most iconic solo of all time in stairway to heaven on led zeppelin iv it's somewhat ironic to think of the man that near single-handedly pioneered this quintessential image of a les paul wielding dragon suited wall of marshall rockstar actually put down two of his most iconic moments on a telecaster and a super combo as ever i'm chris buck this is friday frat works thank you very much for watching and bearing with me in recent weeks please subscribe at the bell icon if you haven't already and i'll see you next week for another episode cheers guys take care see you soon

Channel: Chris Buck

Views: 47,790

Keywords: Jimmy Page, Jimmy Page Amp, Jimmy Page Les Paul, Jimmy Page Telecaster, Jimmy Page Guitar Tone, Jimmy Page Guitar Lesson, Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin Guitar Tone, Led Zeppelin Guitar Lesson, Jimmy Page Supro, Jimmy Page Sundragon, Sundragon, That Pedal Show, Andertons, Tim Pierce, Paul Davids, Rick Beato, Pete Thorn, Telecaster, 1959 Telecaster, Chris Buck, Chris Buck Guitar Lesson, Chris Buck Solo

Id: 6KKL4TA7ryw

Length: 12min 47sec (767 seconds)

Published: Fri May 20 2022