Jimmy Page’s ‘Number One’ 1959 Les Paul Standard has to be one of the best $500 ever spent. Purchased in 1969 from Joe Walsh, modified by Page, it’s one of those legendary electric guitars that has the whiff of Excalibur about it.
And for many of us mortals, the 2004 Gibson reissue of it is as close as we have gotten – and even then that was a rare beast. But with Page hooking up with Gibson, releasing a replica of his 1971 EDS-1275 double-neck and 1964 SJ-200 acoustic guitar, maybe in the not-so-distant future there might be another.
In the meantime, Tim Mills, the founder of Bare Knuckle Pickups, has revealed in a recent interview with Guitar World what we could expect from Page’s Number One.
Because Mills had the extraordinary privilege of working on it before Led Zeppelin reconvened in 2007 for one last stand at London’s O2 Arena. And while it is common knowledge that Page slimmed down the neck profile, Mills was shocked by just how thin it was.
“The back of the neck had this odd carve where it got thin from frets three to nine,” he said. “Most of the tone came from how much timber had taken off the neck, almost to Ibanez levels of thinness. I was amazed the truss rod hadn’t popped out.”
Describing Page has his dream client, Mills says he got the gig when Page reported a electric guitar pickup issue – and that humbucker pairing held their share of secrets, too.
“Interestingly, the neck pickup was just shy of 9K,” explained Mills. “Normally that would be muddy and hot, but because the magnet had discharged so much and the coil windings were heavily asymmetrical, it was behaving more like a single-coil. That’s why it had this woody, almost SRV sound.”
Stevie Ray Vaughan Stratocaster tones from Jimmy Page’s Les Paul? Sign us up. That has to be the ultimate rock and blues guitar.
There has, however, been no news out of Gibson about any Les Paul. Page and Gibson announced a “multi-year partnership” in February, 2024, with the partnership promising to develop a number of signature guitars.Gibson president/CEO described Page as an “ambassador emeritus of guitars”.
“Jimmy Page deserves a very important chapter in the history of Gibson,” said Gueikian. “We think of Jimmy as an ambassador emeritus of guitars and a music trailblazer in the birth and evolution of rock!
“In many ways, Jimmy is responsible for the success, continued innovation, and evolution of post-Golden-Era Gibson. We are grateful for Jimmy’s trust in the Gibson team, and we look forward to paying tribute to him by bringing this epic collaboration to life.”
Could the EDS-1275 and SJ-200 be joined by the return of Jimmy Page Les Paul? Surely it’s a matter of time.
