Guitarsenal: Big Jim's J-200

For Jimmy Page it wasn't all Les Pauls and Telecasters, he was also a huge fan of acoustic guitar playing, and in the early years of Led Zeppelin, his choice instrument was a 1963 Gibson J-200.

This guitar actually didn't belong to Jimmy at all, the instrument was a loaner courtesy of his friend and fellow session guitarist Big Jim Sullivan. When it came time to record Led Zeppelin's first album and he needed an acoustic guitar, he asked Big Jim if he could borrow it for a time, to which Big Jim of course agreed. Jimmy was asked about the guitar by Steve Rosen in 1977: "That was a Gibson J-200, which wasn't mine; I borrowed it. It was a beautiful guitar, really great. I've never found a guitar of that quality anywhere since. I could play so easily on it, get a really thick sound; it had heavy gauge strings on it, but it just didn't seem to feel like it."

This particular J-200 was produced in 1963 and was fashioned with a spruce top, with figured maple used for the back and sides. The neck was made out of five laminated pieces of maple, and the fretboard is ebony with crest inlays. All of the hardware is gold plated.

Jimmy used the guitar to record all of the acoustic numbers on "Led Zeppelin I" from "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You" to "Black Mountain Side" and "Your Time is Gonna Come". Jimmy later brought it out for a solo appearance on the Julie Felix Show on April 26th, 1970 where he played "White Summer/Black Mountain Side". Shortly thereafter he gave the guitar back to Big Jim and began using a Martin D-28. It has been reported that the guitar has since been stolen and it's whereabouts today are unknown.

Below is a video of Jimmy playing the J-200 on the Julie Felix Show, enjoy!