Jimmy Page

Why Jimmy Page's Rig Works

Page's choice of amp per recording is a masterclass in matching an amp's power stage to the room and the mic technique, not just picking a favorite. The small Supro Coronado used on the first Led Zeppelin album has a much lower headroom ceiling than a 100W Marshall — cranked in a stairwell and mic'd at a distance, it breaks up at a manageable volume that a Marshall stack simply can't reach without becoming unworkable in a small space. That's specifically why the debut album's tone is rawer and more compressed-sounding than the Marshall-driven tracks on Led Zeppelin II.

The Maestro Echoplex EP-3 does double duty that's easy to miss: it's a tape delay, but the tape-driven preamp stage ahead of the echo circuit adds its own subtle saturation and compression even when the wet/dry mix is set low or the repeats are barely audible. Page used it as much for that preamp coloration and as a boost into the front of the amp as for the delay effect itself — which is part of why some of his tones sound subtly "pushed" even on passages with no audible echo.

Running the Les Paul's bridge pickup with the tone knob rolled back to around 7, rather than wide open, takes some of the harshest top-end off a pickup position that's naturally bright and aggressive — letting the humbucker's output still drive the Marshall hard while keeping the overall tone from becoming shrill at the high gain levels his cranked-Marshall setup produces.