(Updated 4/11) New images of Jimmy Page’s gear from The Metropolitan Museum of Art
My apologies if this is posted in the wrong place.
Hope this stirs up some interesting discussion.
Ultra low nut slots in #1 (low and high E strings almost touching the first fret). Neck binding super thin knife edge where it meets the fretboard.
Seymour Duncan bridge pickup in the EDS-1275.
No KT88s (but possibly 6550s?) in the Marshalls.
More updates to come...
https://photos.app.goo.gl/biztxb7XHdvMmyb6A
UPDATED WITH MY NOTES BELOW:
Number One Les Paul
-Who knows how the setup of Page’s number one as it appears in the exhibition reflects his current preferred setup but here are some notes:
-High tailpiece height, compared to having it flush with the body throughout the 70s.
-Strings maybe a bit less than a quarter inch above neck pickup. 3 /16”? Neck pickup level w fret board on bass side, a bit lower than fretboard on the treble side. Pickup lower than center of the fretboard
-Pickups higher on the bass side
-Tops of neck pickup pole pieces generally level with pickup cover or even below
-Tops of pole pieces of bridge pickup generally just a bit above the bobbin top (less than on double neck 6 string)
-1.5-2mm action at 12th fret
-Quite flat schoolbus frets
-Super thin, knife edge neck binding. Shaved away? Worn away?
-Super low string slots at nut
-~1mm on high E
-~1.5 mm on low E
-Low E string basically touching first fret
-Nut is made of some translucent cool white material. Bone? Pearloid?
Double Neck
-Super shallow string break angle on the 12 string side of the double neck. Just an couple degree bend over the bridge
-Bridges significantly higher than on Don Felder’s double neck, which are close to flush with the body. Do they have different neck angles?
-6 string bridge pickup replaced with a Seymour Duncan, complete with bright white Seymour Duncan logo
-The pole pieces of the bridge pickup on the 6 string side are somewhat raised. The high E pole piece is maybe just a mm or so below the string. The low E pole piece is maybe 4mm from the string
-The 6 string neck pickup pole pieces are quite raised, though seemingly randomly; the outer E, A, B, and E pole pieces are significantly higher than the middle D and E.
Danelectro
-Big frets on danelectro
Amps
-None of the Marshall amps have the polarity switches, so it looks like these amps aren’t the main ones he used in the 70s.
-The theremin Marshall has a white label on the back that says “no. 6”.
-Unless there are KT88 tubes without the bulging middles, there definitely aren’t KT88s in the Marshalls. However, the tubes are too fat to be standard EL34s.
-The amp closest to the stacked cabinets has a white Marshall logo, the other two have silver/gold ones
-All amps look to be plexis, not metal panels.
-There is a cool video in the exhibition that shows Page demonstrating the various guitars and amp rigs, from the Tele/Supro to the double neck and Marshalls. Notably, he shows off a Vox head with Rickenbacker cabinets. The Les Paul through it nails the “Whole Lotta Love” tone. This is apparently the Led Zep II rig. Page seems to have really offered up everything for this exhibition. I think the only reason the Vox/Rick wasn’t there was that the Met felt they had more than enough Page-related objects.
-Also, when Page plays the double neck through the Marshalls, his 70s live tone is right there. Just shows how much the equipment really shaped those iconic sounds and how since leaving that gear behind he hasn’t really sounded the same.
-An old Vox King Wah used in the video, but a standard Vox wah is what is in the show.
-Third amp only on for theremin.
-Amps miked with what looks like uber expensive Neumann condenser mics. U67s?
-In contrast, theremin amp looks to be micd with a Shure SM57.
-There are felt pen marks on the panels of the Marshalls, presumably indicating preferred settings. The theremin dedicated Marshall has two sets of marks, one in white and one in black.
Amp settings (question marks indicate that it was unclear to me whether this was an intentional pen mark or just a random blemish on the panel. For the theremin amp, b indicates black pen and w white):
Amp 1
Presence 9.25
B 4?
M
T 2 and 10
V1 6?
V2
Amp 2
P 4
B 10
M 5
T
V1
V2
Theremin amp
Presence x or 7.4b 7.25w
Bass 2b 8w
Mid 7.5b 1w
Treble 10b 5.5w
Vol 1 9.25b 6.75w
Vol 2 6w
-All amps have a black X mark in felt pen by the high lead input
-Right most amp has nuts around the power/standby switches, others have ring washers
My apologies if this is posted in the wrong place.
Hope this stirs up some interesting discussion.
Ultra low nut slots in #1 (low and high E strings almost touching the first fret). Neck binding super thin knife edge where it meets the fretboard.
Seymour Duncan bridge pickup in the EDS-1275.
No KT88s (but possibly 6550s?) in the Marshalls.
More updates to come...
https://photos.app.goo.gl/biztxb7XHdvMmyb6A
UPDATED WITH MY NOTES BELOW:
Number One Les Paul
-Who knows how the setup of Page’s number one as it appears in the exhibition reflects his current preferred setup but here are some notes:
-High tailpiece height, compared to having it flush with the body throughout the 70s.
-Strings maybe a bit less than a quarter inch above neck pickup. 3 /16”? Neck pickup level w fret board on bass side, a bit lower than fretboard on the treble side. Pickup lower than center of the fretboard
-Pickups higher on the bass side
-Tops of neck pickup pole pieces generally level with pickup cover or even below
-Tops of pole pieces of bridge pickup generally just a bit above the bobbin top (less than on double neck 6 string)
-1.5-2mm action at 12th fret
-Quite flat schoolbus frets
-Super thin, knife edge neck binding. Shaved away? Worn away?
-Super low string slots at nut
-~1mm on high E
-~1.5 mm on low E
-Low E string basically touching first fret
-Nut is made of some translucent cool white material. Bone? Pearloid?
Double Neck
-Super shallow string break angle on the 12 string side of the double neck. Just an couple degree bend over the bridge
-Bridges significantly higher than on Don Felder’s double neck, which are close to flush with the body. Do they have different neck angles?
-6 string bridge pickup replaced with a Seymour Duncan, complete with bright white Seymour Duncan logo
-The pole pieces of the bridge pickup on the 6 string side are somewhat raised. The high E pole piece is maybe just a mm or so below the string. The low E pole piece is maybe 4mm from the string
-The 6 string neck pickup pole pieces are quite raised, though seemingly randomly; the outer E, A, B, and E pole pieces are significantly higher than the middle D and E.
Danelectro
-Big frets on danelectro
Amps
-None of the Marshall amps have the polarity switches, so it looks like these amps aren’t the main ones he used in the 70s.
-The theremin Marshall has a white label on the back that says “no. 6”.
-Unless there are KT88 tubes without the bulging middles, there definitely aren’t KT88s in the Marshalls. However, the tubes are too fat to be standard EL34s.
-The amp closest to the stacked cabinets has a white Marshall logo, the other two have silver/gold ones
-All amps look to be plexis, not metal panels.
-There is a cool video in the exhibition that shows Page demonstrating the various guitars and amp rigs, from the Tele/Supro to the double neck and Marshalls. Notably, he shows off a Vox head with Rickenbacker cabinets. The Les Paul through it nails the “Whole Lotta Love” tone. This is apparently the Led Zep II rig. Page seems to have really offered up everything for this exhibition. I think the only reason the Vox/Rick wasn’t there was that the Met felt they had more than enough Page-related objects.
-Also, when Page plays the double neck through the Marshalls, his 70s live tone is right there. Just shows how much the equipment really shaped those iconic sounds and how since leaving that gear behind he hasn’t really sounded the same.
-An old Vox King Wah used in the video, but a standard Vox wah is what is in the show.
-Third amp only on for theremin.
-Amps miked with what looks like uber expensive Neumann condenser mics. U67s?
-In contrast, theremin amp looks to be micd with a Shure SM57.
-There are felt pen marks on the panels of the Marshalls, presumably indicating preferred settings. The theremin dedicated Marshall has two sets of marks, one in white and one in black.
Amp settings (question marks indicate that it was unclear to me whether this was an intentional pen mark or just a random blemish on the panel. For the theremin amp, b indicates black pen and w white):
Amp 1
Presence 9.25
B 4?
M
T 2 and 10
V1 6?
V2
Amp 2
P 4
B 10
M 5
T
V1
V2
Theremin amp
Presence x or 7.4b 7.25w
Bass 2b 8w
Mid 7.5b 1w
Treble 10b 5.5w
Vol 1 9.25b 6.75w
Vol 2 6w
-All amps have a black X mark in felt pen by the high lead input
-Right most amp has nuts around the power/standby switches, others have ring washers
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