Guitarsenal: The One That Got Away

A 1960 Gibson Les Paul Custom

Everyone speaks about the one that got away, for Jimmy Page it was his 1960 Gibson Les Paul Custom, also known a "The Black Beauty". Jimmy bought this guitar in the early 1960's and used it as his main instrument in his session work days.  It has a mahogany body with three Patented Applied For Pickups, two volume knobs, two tone knobs, a three way selector switch, and is equipped with a bigsby tremolo system.

There is an apocryphal legend floating around that he got the guitar from Keith Richards, but there is no real evidence to back this up. Sometime in 1970, Jimmy had this guitar modified by a technician name Joe Jammer that added some extra switches, presumably in order to provide a more diverse range of pickup combinations. The wiring was done by guitarist and later Led Zeppelin roadie Joe "Jammer" Wright.

Jimmy had this guitar for a while, even through the early years of Led Zeppelin. In an interview with Guitar World magazine conducted in January 1991, when asked what guitar he used to record "Whole Lotta Love" Jimmy responded that it was his "Black Beauty", a claim that is backed up by studio engineer Eddie Kramer who worked on the recording of "Led Zeppelin II"

The guitar itself was stolen in April of 1970 during a Led Zeppelin tour in America. It is presumed to have been taken in an airport, possibly by the baggage handlers, but of course nothing can be proven. It's whereabouts are still unknown to this day. Distraught, Jimmy decided to post an ad for the missing guitar in Rolling Stone Magazine.

  

 Jimmy had this to say about the guitar in the same interview with Guitar World in 1991:

"[The] Black Beauty, which got nicked (stolen) in the States. It disappeared in airports, somewhere between Boston and Montreal. A lot of my studio work had been done with that guitar. I didn't want to take it out of the house. Funny that once I did take it out, it got nicked!"

On the bright side, in 2008, Jimmy teamed up with the Gibson Custom Shop to replicate his beloved missing "Black Beauty". The first twenty-five of these guitars released, out of a lot numbering 500, were signed by Jimmy himself. Of course these guitars don't come cheap, and they have only increased in value since their release, but, you have to imagine, a guitar this highly prized by Jimmy Page would be worth the asking price.