Anyone know the amp Page uses in the Danish TV special???

Xpensive Wino said:

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?

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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.

Can anyone confirm which speakers Page's Transonic cabs have? Size and manufacturer? :hmm

TM1 said:

I think those early Sound City's had a choke transformer in the power supply which would give them alot more touch response and they'd be a lot quieter too.

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The Arbiter and Sound City amps do not have a choke. The power supplies are similar to the usual Hiwatt 100W arrangement.

There are photos of one of Page's custom 100W Hiwatts with a choke; otherwise, the only Hiwatts with chokes were the 200W & 400W amps.

fernieite said:

Can anyone confirm which speakers Page's Transonic cabs have? Size and manufacturer? :hmm

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Are you asking about the ones he toured with or the two he kept?

The ones they toured with were various models, containing 2x15”, 2x15” with horns, and the rarer 3x12”. Most of the speakers used in Transonics were JBL. The horns were Altec.

I couldnt tell tell you which brand of speakers are in Page's amps. Odds are they’re JBL, but only his tech could tell you for sure. I can pull my copy of the factory receipt and tell you which configurations his are, but it’ll be a few days.

~ Scott

That would be great. Thanks Scott! eace2

Bumping this old thread...I’m thoroughly impressed by jlee. That guy’s info is spot on. I’d swear he was me if I didn’t know better! I’m a Page obsessive and I’ve also got a Stu Castledine grey Vox wah circuit built into a vintage grey Vox wah shell and I have a Tonebender clone made by Stu with a Supafuzz 1.5 circuit built into a reissue Solasound Mk 1.5 shell. My experience is identical to his.

Also wanted to add this nice shot of Page between January 23-26, 1969 at the Boston Tea Party. This was shortly after the band’s endorsement deal with Ric. The Transonic heads were only used briefly...possibly at only one or two shows and then returned to Ric. As was mentioned previously, Page used the Transonic cabinets (with Jensen speakers he sourced/stole from rented Fender amps) and the Arbiter Power 100 for a time and most often with the Vox UL-4120 bass amp head.

The Transonic cab with Jensen speakers along the UL-4120 head and Vox Long Tom echo is, in my opinion, the combination that was most likely used to record the second album version of “Whole Lotta Love” with the #1 Les Paul.

There is an all too brief clip of Joe B in Norms rare guitars playing one of his bursts through a Transonic amp using a Tone Bender. Perhaps the closest thing I've heard to the sound on LZ ll , just seemed to nail the tonal characteristics.
Jimmy said he used a Marshall for the first time on a record with Heartbreaker, and it's certainly a different tone to that we hear on the rest of the album..

Does anyone more ' in the know' than people like me think that the Riccy Transonic could be the answer to a rock sound that remains pretty unique in rock music ?

Sol said:

Does anyone more ' in the know' than people like me think that the Riccy Transonic could be the answer to a rock sound that remains pretty unique in rock music ?

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Not sure I'm "in the know", but many agree that it's his Hiwatt that all the glorious live tone came from. Also in the studio along with the Supro.
As mentioned the Marshall was later and the Rics were hardly used at all.

Yes, the Ric amps were really used live only once or twice according to photographic evidence and I seriously doubt they were ever used in the studio. As I mentioned, the heads were quickly returned to Ric, but the speaker cabinets were kept and Jensen speakers were added.

The heads used with these Transonic cabs live and in the studio were the Vox UL-4120 and the Arbiter Power 100 from all photographic evidence.

They're multiplying... :wah

Whoa! Hen’s teeth found!

Funny, I never loved the sound of the Danish TV special...the sound of Page’s specific Tonebender YES! The sound with the fuzz off? NO!

As obsessed as I am with Jimmy’s Tonebender, in my opinion the sounds he got live on the Telecaster without the fuzz are just terrible.

The non-fuzz/straight amp sounds he got out of the Tele and Flying V on the first album are just amazing...the Sundragon’s forefather was amazing. But Page just couldn’t come close to those straight amp sounds live. That goes for the ‘Little Games’ era too.

garbeaj said:

Whoa! Hen’s teeth found!

Funny, I never loved the sound of the Danish TV special...the sound of Page’s specific Tonebender YES! The sound with the fuzz off? NO!

As obsessed as I am with Jimmy’s Tonebender, in my opinion the sounds he got live on the Telecaster without the fuzz are just terrible.

The non-fuzz/straight amp sounds he got out of the Tele and Flying V on the first album are just amazing...the Sundragon’s forefather was amazing. But Page just couldn’t come close to those straight amp sounds live. That goes for the ‘Little Games’ era too.

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I've seen pics of some later Yarbirds tours where Jimmy's backline is, I think, a BF Super Reverb and a BF Dual Showman head and cab, with the Tonebender going into those. THAT'S a rig I'd like to hear.

The Shifter said:

I've seen pics of some later Yarbirds tours where Jimmy's backline is, I think, a BF Super Reverb and a BF Dual Showman head and cab, with the Tonebender going into those. THAT'S a rig I'd like to hear.

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Not particularly good. Basically his live rhythm/straight amp tone with the Tele was terrible in my humble opinion. Really thin and weak during The Yardbirds and much of Led Zeppelin. The first album straight amp/rhythm tones were great primarily because of the sound of the modded Supro (replicated well according to Jimmy by Mitch Colby with the Sundragon amp) with the mic’ing adding atmosphere, but the core mid heavy tone is the amp.

Just watch any of The Yardbirds’ TV sessions or the ‘Live Yardbirds featuring Jimmy Page’ LP...monstrous tone from the Tonebender and very weak without it. And he never used the Tonebender rolled off or adjusted for a rhythm sound as far as I can tell. He just kicks it on and off in the most basic way.

For great Jimmy Page straight amp/rhythm tone with a Tele, listen to ‘Little Games’ and the first Led Zeppelin album.