From Planet Rock.
When the world was first introduced to Led Zeppelin with two echoing chords in ‘Good Times Bad Times’ back in 1969 few people, let alone Jimmy Page himself. would have been able to predict the effect the band would have on rock music.
And the sound of that album was all largely down to one guitar, as Jimmy explains in a new video shared by Fender, who have recreated the mirrored / dragon Tele (one guitar, two incarnations, in case you’re confused) as an extremely limited edition, available only in runs of 50.
Jimmy Page’s custom mirrored & dragon guitar ⓒ Fender
The film tells of how Jimmy was gifted the plain white Telecaster by Jeff Beck after Page had recommended him for the position of lead guitarist in The Yardbirds.
The extravagant animations, partnered with Jimmy Page’s narration, go on to recount how Jimmy began customising the Tele, first with mirrors to catch stage lights, and then later by stripping it and putting his art school skills to good use, painting the vibrant dragon design, and adding a reflective pick guard.
Fancy snaring yourself one? Well, you’ll have to do some hunting to find the dragon issue for sale, listed as it currently is with no price. But the mirrored version is yours for a snip at $2,500.
And whatever happened to the original dragon Tele? Well, that’s actually a bit of a sad story, as Jimmy told Guitar World in 1998: “I still have it, but it’s a tragic story. I went on tour with (a) ’59 Les Paul that I bought from Joe Walsh, and when I got back, a friend of mine had kindly painted over my paint job. He said, ‘I’ve got a present for you.’ He thought he had done me a real favour.
As you can guess, I wasn’t real happy about that. His paint job totally screwed up the sound and the wiring, so only the neck pickup worked. I salvaged the neck and put it on my brown Tele string bender that I used in the Firm (in 1985 and 1986). As for the body, it will never be seen again!”
Lucky for Jimmy, and for us, there are now faithful replicas ready to take its place for generations to come.
Watch the behind-the-scenes making of the custom guitars below:
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- Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin II - 7th - EX - UK - vinyl LP - £25.00, $31.25, €30.25 (New Item) (arrived 24-Dec-2024 13:32)on December 25, 2024 at 9:29 pm
LED ZEPPELIN Led Zeppelin II (1970s UK seventh issue of the 1969 9-track stereo vinyl LP on a green & orange Atlantic labe with the 'W' Warner logo, 'The Lemon Song' sleeve & label credit. The sleeve displays just a little light general wear and the vinyl has only light signs of play, an excellent example of this classic album K40037) #Top 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time
- Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin II - 9th - UK - vinyl LP - £20.00, $25.00, €24.20 (Back In Stock) (arrived 23-Dec-2024 18:00)on December 25, 2024 at 9:29 pm
LED ZEPPELIN Led Zeppelin II (70s UK issue of the 1969 9-track stereo LP on a green & orange Atlantic label with the perimeter label print ending with the 'W' logo & above the white band, & with 'The Lemon Song' credit on both the label & sleeve, gatefold picture sleeve. The sleeve has some foxing to the inner spread & the vinyl is clean & in Excellent condition with just the odd light sign of play K40037) #Top 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time
- Led Zeppelin - In Through The Out Door - EX - Portugese - vinyl LP - £25.00, $31.25, €30.25 (Back In Stock) (arrived 23-Dec-2024 18:00)on December 25, 2024 at 9:29 pm
LED ZEPPELIN In Through The Out Door (Rare 1979 Portuguese 7-track LP, the eighth studio album by the English rock band and was the last released by the band before the death of drummer John Bonham in 1980, fully laminated sleeve with unmarked'magic wash' inner. The sleeve has some light creasing near the spine and on the back, but is otherwise in excellent condition; whilst the vinyl looks barely played)
- Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin II - 6th - EX - UK - vinyl LP - £25.00, $31.25, €30.25 (Back In Stock) (arrived 23-Dec-2024 18:00)on December 25, 2024 at 9:29 pm
LED ZEPPELIN Led Zeppelin II (70s UK sixth issue of the 1969 9-track stereo LP on a green & orange Atlantic label with no 'w' logo at the end of the label perimeter ['The Lemon Song' credit on sleeve & label], dark brown gatefold picture sleeve.The sleeve shows some light shelf wear with a dash of sticker residue in top corner whilst the vinyl is Excellent with a little cosmetic scuffing not affecting play K40037) #Top 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time
- Led Zeppelin - Physical Graffiti - 80s Two Misspellings - German - 2-LP vinyl set - £65.00, $81.25, €78.65 (Back In Stock) (arrived 23-Dec-2024 18:00)on December 25, 2024 at 9:29 pm
LED ZEPPELIN Physical Graffiti (80s German issue of the classic 1975 15-track double LP, housed in a die-cut picture sleeve with the catalogue number SSK89400-O & [SS 2-200] printed in red on the spine whilst the labels have 'K89400' & with tracks mis-spelt as 'Hauses Of The Holy' & 'Boggie With Stu', complete with paper picture inners & tracklisting/ credits insert. The outer sleeve displays minimal light wear, the inners are free from splits or tears and the vinyl is Near Mint SSK89400) #Top 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time
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