route66guitars
New member
- Joined
- Aug 4, 2001
- Messages
- 21
He may have left a different set behind, if they were not his property to begin with and he didn't bring them with him in the first place. Can't say, really, but that's one possibility.
Promoters/organizers provided backline gear quite often, and still do. They would/will usually attempt to replicate something the performer already owns back at home, or accommodate a specific request, especially if it was in a rider on the contract.
I can tell you I wouldn't have wanted to upset Peter Grant or Richard Cole by failing to get Jimmy something he'd asked for. Chuck Berry was bad enough. :dang
It was common practice in those days for English bands to get gear on loan on for endorsement for tours abroad. They'd often capitalise on their "star power" to flog the gear for cash after the last gig which they'd use to escape the cost of shipping the stuff back to Blighty. The cash was often used to pay for old American guitars sourced on the road and flown back to the UK for resale at a profit, or for personal use/presents for pals. How do you suppose Steve Winwood got the Strat a certain Sir Eric gifted him?
The Jeff Beck Group, Steppenwolf, and Led Zeppelin amps were all loaned out for their US tours as promotional/endorsement deals. Zeppelin were loaned half a dozen of the Transonic 200 series amps, as well as several guitars and basses for their first US tour in 1969. They weren’t reliable amps. During the tour Rickenbacker shipped replacement heads and cabinets, as well as a few instruments, to the local airports ahead of the next gig.
Page kept two of the Transonics, a 4001 bass, and a double bound 360-12, at the end of the tour. They were purchased from the factory by the band’s management company after the loan deal was closed out. Everything else was returned to the factory. A couple of the instruments used on that tour are still in the factory’s “museum.”
I sorted out all of Rickenbacker’s non-current inventory for them in October 1988, and in March of 1989 I took possession of 42 Transonic amplifiers (and 67 instruments.) Most were unsold stock, but a dozen or so were the Zep, Beck, & Steppenwolf amps. Also included were a couple of 4x15” and 1x30”(!) cabinets (which I hilariously attempted to sell to John Paul Jones in my shop one day, before he introduced himself...)
I rented a dozen of the Transonics and Roger McGuinn’s Light Show 341-12 to Cheap Trick for a video shoot and a Tonight Show appearance. I believe this was in late 1989. A month or so later Tom Petersson bought several of the amps and three amazing NOS 1960s 4,6, and 8 string 4005 hollow body basses. He used the amps as stage props, and occasionally played through the cabinets, for live shows for years. I believe they were all destroyed in the stage collapse before one of their shows several years ago. They were nearly all unsold factory stock, and a few were from the ones used by Led Zeppelin. They didn’t need any restoration work when I sold them to Tom. The factory restored them before I picked them up. Maybe after a few years on the road...?
This is all from memory. I’ve posted copies of the factory documents for the Zeppelin tour on various forums over the years. They’re currently packed up, but are probably only a google search away.
Hope that helps sort a few things out.