![\"Joe](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Joe-Walsh-The-Eagles-Guitarist-Musician-Far-Out-Magazine-F-1140x855.jpg\")
<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Credit: Far Out \/ TIDAL<\/p>\n
Sun 21 June 2026 19:30, UK <\/p>\n
Great music isn\u2019t just the byproduct of great musicians, but also the technology they have available. Jimmy Page<\/a> is a testament to this. <\/p>\n Far too many rock stars will saunter up to a recording studio with a riff and a solo in mind but no idea how they\u2019re actually going to bring a song to life. Jimmy Page never had this issue, as he spent years working as a session musician before he played with either The Yardbirds <\/a>or Led Zeppelin.\u00a0<\/p>\n The result was that he developed an in-depth understanding not only of the guitar and how it could be played, but also of the studio. A lot of the bizarre recording techniques that Led Zeppelin used were the result of tips and tricks that Page had picked up working for other artists. He made a great living playing as a session musician and learning all about the recording process, so much so that John Paul Jones was surprised <\/a>when he decided to pack it in and start a band.\u00a0<\/p>\n When talking about the kind of work both he and Page would do as session musicians, he said how surprised he was when the guitarist decided to pack it in<\/a>. \u201cAll sorts of styles, country in the evening, swing from eight to nine; from nine to ten we\u2019d do two commercials,\u201d he said, \u201cPage got out earlier and joined the Yardbirds. I thought he was completely crazy. I couldn\u2019t spend all the money.\u201d<\/p>\n His knowledge of different recording techniques meant that Page was able to use the right effects and instruments to get the best possible sound out of Led Zeppelin. However, sometimes you can have too much knowledge, to the extent that you become plagued by it. This is what happened, as after recording Led Zeppelin\u2019s debut album, Page knew that he was playing the wrong guitar. The standard instrument at the time was the Fender Telecaster, and this had worked fine for the guitarist in The Yardbirds, but when writing heavier music for Zeppelin, he knew it wouldn\u2019t do. <\/p>\n This is where Joe Walsh came in. In the UK, Gibson Les Pauls were pretty hard to get, but in America, they were commonplace. After watching Zeppelin perform in Cleveland one night, Walsh found himself talking to the guitar extraordinaire, and Page let the Eagles member in on his six-string conundrum.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cJimmy said to me, \u2018Look, The Yardbirds is great and I played on so many records\u2026\u2019 He played on so many sessions! If you look up what he played on, you\u2019ll be amazed,\u201d recalled Walsh, \u201cBut he said, \u2018This Telecaster ain\u2019t cutting it for Led Zeppelin<\/a>. And I don\u2019t know what to do.\u2019 Now, Les Pauls virtually didn\u2019t exist in England at the time. They didn\u2019t hit popularity yet. They were pretty easy to find because they hadn\u2019t been discovered \u2013 and they didn\u2019t cost very much.\u201d<\/p>\n Further reading: From The Vault<\/p>\n Turns out Walsh had two Les Pauls. The first of which he had found in a basement at Ohio University. It was a solid guitar, and had a tone which he knew would have been much better suited to the kind of music that Jimmy Page was making with Led Zeppelin at the time. He also had a second, which he had acquired through a friend. As an act of kind-hearted charity, Walsh gifted one of the guitars to Page, and the rest is history.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI found another one through a friend, I traded him some stuff for one,\u201d said Page, \u201cSo, one I really liked and one I just was saving for a rainy day. So I gave Jimmy that one. (That\u2019s the) Les Paul he calls Number One. The body of Led Zeppelin music is that Les Paul that I gave him.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/faroutmagazine.co.uk\/wp-content\/themes\/far-out-magazine\/img\/google-discover.svg\")
<\/a> The Far Out Led Zeppelin Newsletter<\/p>\n