Gibson has announced a new signature guitar partnership with Jimmy Page, which will reportedly encompass multiple models, beginning with a Custom Shop recreation of his 1971 Gibson EDS-1275 double neck.
The electric guitar is synonymous with Page and is sometimes incorrectly assumed to have been conceived especially for him. However, it was actually launched in 1963 and had in fact been discontinued by the time the Led Zeppelin icon started to play them.
As such, Page’s instrument was a custom-made recreation of the earlier build, featuring six and 12-sting necks and finished in cherry red.
Page’s use of the guitar in the recording and performance of some of Led Zeppelin’s most thumping successes, not least live versions of Stairway to Heaven, pretty much single-handedly revived the double-neck’s fortunes, making it the ultimate symbol of stadium rocking success and, indeed, excess, in the process.
GW’s Editor-in-Chief Michael Astley-Brown was on the ground across the pond, as the announcement was made at the star-studded launch of the firm’s new flagship retail space, the Gibson Garage London.
The event was hosted by Gibson CEO Cesar Gueikian and featured a holy trinity of British rock royalty, with Page himself onstage for the launch and his peers Tony Iommi and Brian May sat in the front row.
“Jimmy deserves a very important part in the history books of Gibson,” said Gueikian, at the launch event.
“Because without what he did. I don't think that Gibson – well, it may have been around right now today – but it would be a different Gibson. And so it’s very important for us… We are going to do everything we can to pay tribute to Jimmy and everything that he's done.”
GW had heard whisperings new Page offerings might be on the way and as ever the CEO had dropped a tiny hint on social media – with the 12-string side of a natural finish EDS-1275 hanging out at the side of a recent Instagram post.
As you would expect, the model has exhaustively recreated Page’s custom double neck – measuring the original’s profile with 3D scanning technology and a process described as “almost taking MRI of the guitar” in order to determine its tonal properties and capture its feel under the hand.
The Gibson team reportedly visited Page at home in London to study the instrument and, as Gueikian recalled in the press conference, they got to play it, too...
“I remember vividly,” he recalled. “As we walked into your house, you had the case on the floor and you handed it to me – and then later you said, ‘No Stairway to Heaven!’”
“I really wanted to have something that was exactly the same as my one,” Page told the crowd at the new Gibson Garage.
“Because I’ve changed the controls but also the color of it. From my point of view, it had to be absolutely as close to the bones as possible. They took a lot of trouble and time to get everything absolutely right.
“It wasn’t a case of OK, ‘I’m Jimmy Page, make my double neck. That looks shit, now go and make it!’ It wasn’t like that… The Murphy Lab, the distressing – that looks like mine.”
Gueikian also explains the firm has the ability to study the weight, type and density of the original pickups’ magnets in order to accurately recreate the material, as well as tonal, properties.
“It’s been an absolute pleasure,” said Page of the experience – and he took the chance to share an anecdote regarding one of his flights to Nashville and being asked to meet someone from the flight deck.
“I was travelling with somebody and I said to them, ‘I bet it’s a guitarist…’” laughed Page.
“So he comes up and introduces himself. I said, ‘Are you a guitarist?’ He said, ‘Oh yeah! So is the Captain! And the Captain’s son plays guitar and also his brother…’ who was 19.’
“[Then he said] ‘My daughter’s just picked up the guitar, she’s 17 – and she’s picked it up to keep up with her friends. I thought, ‘I can’t wait to tell this story to Cesar, because I do believe there’s been a renaissance of guitar players… and from our point of view, that’s what we want. We want the guitar around forever.”
Judging by the warm words exchanged at the event, Page certainly seemed impressed by Gibson’s current mindset and output – and we’re told the stage is set for a whole series of Page builds.
We cannot confirm the other models in the new signature series yet, but it seems like a very safe bet to assume that Page’s #1 and #2 Gibson Les Paul Standards will be in line to receive comprehensive reissues.
The original #1 – famously purchased by Page from Joe Walsh in the late ’60s – is unarguably one of the most iconic ’Bursts in existence, thanks to its prior ownership and heavy Led Zeppelin usage.
Meanwhile, the early Gibson Custom Shop Collector’s Edition reissue of Page’s heavily-modded #2 Les Paul fetches near-vintage values in its own right, so we suspect there is appetite out there for a further run.
Indeed, Gibson’s VP of Product Mat Koehler discusses that very reissue in the new Guitarist magazine, describing it as “one of the most complex recreations in Gibson history.”
After seeing the people working at the factories and getting a connection with them, I knew that picking up that Les Paul Custom and the Doubleneck all those years ago was certainly the right decision
In a statement, Jimmy Page said: “When I met with Cesar and he explained what the future of Gibson looked like, I knew I needed to be involved. There is a spirit in the place; after seeing the people working at the factories and getting a connection with them, I knew that picking up that Les Paul Custom and the Doubleneck all those years ago was certainly the right decision.”
“Jimmy Page deserves a very important chapter in the history of Gibson,” added Cesar Gueikian, President and CEO of Gibson. “We think of Jimmy as an ambassador emeritus of guitars and a music trailblazer in the birth and evolution of rock! In many ways, Jimmy is responsible for the success, continued innovation, and evolution of post-Golden-Era Gibson.
“We are grateful for Jimmy’s trust in the Gibson team, and we look forward to paying tribute to him by bringing this epic collaboration to life.”
The Gibson Custom Shop Jimmy Page EDS-1275 is due for release in March 2024. Keep an eye on Gibson for more updates.
Finally, the other huge news from the opening is that Brian May now appears to be working with Gibson, with Gueikian telling the assembled, “We are so proud to have him in the Gibson family.”
Meanwhile, for more on the firm’s shiny new London retail hub, check out our preview of the Gibson Garage London to find out why it’s unlike any other guitar store.
