"Number One" Les Paul Standard
On loan to The Met
This work of art is currently on loan to the museum.Jimmy Page purchased this instrument in 1969 from Joe Walsh, who was in the band James Gang at the time and later became a member of the Eagles. When Page received it, the neck had already been shaved down to a thinner profile. It has been Page's main guitar throughout his career, used in every Led Zeppelin performance and recording from 1969 to the 2007 reunion and in his post-Zeppelin work with the Firm and others. It remains in active use today as his primary guitar.
Technical Description:
Mahogany body and neck, carved maple top, rosewood fingerboard; 24¾ in. scale; sunburst finish with cream binding; set neck with pearloid trapezoid inlays and cream binding; mother-of-pearl Gibson headstock logo and gold silkscreened “Les Paul” signature; two PAF humbucking pickups, three-way selector switch, two volume and two tone controls; nickel-plated ABR-1 tune-o-matic bridge and pickup covers, gold-plated Grover Rotomatic tuners, clear and gold plastic knobs, cream plastic pickguard; Neck shaved to thinner profile, push-pull pickup phase switch added, bridge pickup cover removed, tuners replaced
Technical Description:
Mahogany body and neck, carved maple top, rosewood fingerboard; 24¾ in. scale; sunburst finish with cream binding; set neck with pearloid trapezoid inlays and cream binding; mother-of-pearl Gibson headstock logo and gold silkscreened “Les Paul” signature; two PAF humbucking pickups, three-way selector switch, two volume and two tone controls; nickel-plated ABR-1 tune-o-matic bridge and pickup covers, gold-plated Grover Rotomatic tuners, clear and gold plastic knobs, cream plastic pickguard; Neck shaved to thinner profile, push-pull pickup phase switch added, bridge pickup cover removed, tuners replaced
Artwork Details
- Title: "Number One" Les Paul Standard
- Artist: Gibson (American, founded Kalamazoo, Michigan 1902)
- Artist: Jimmy Page (British, Heston, born 1944)
- Date: ca. 1959-60
- Geography: Kalamazoo, Michigan, United States
- Medium: Mahogany, maple, rosewood, nickel, plastic, mother-of-pearl
- Dimensions: Length: 39 1/4 in. (99.7 cm)
Width: 13 in. (33 cm)
Depth: 2 in. (5.1 cm)
Weight: 9-10 lbs. (4.1 - 4.5 kg) - Classification: Chordophone-Lute-plucked-fretted
- Credit Line: Collection of Jimmy Page
- Curatorial Department: Musical Instruments