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Led Zeppelin IV was the closing chapter in the band's initial four-album offering over the first three years that kick-started their career, starting with 1969's Led Zeppelin I and culminating with this classic untitled fourth album, commonly referred to as Led Zeppelin IV, or "ZoSo" after Jimmy Page's symbol designed for the LP.
This album contains some of the band's best known songs, including "Stairway to Heaven", and is one of the bestselling albums of all time, having shifted over 37 million copies to date.
Through the recording process of this album, Jimmy Page took a simple guitar setup and used it to create a multi-layered rock album that has inspired innumerable aspiring guitarists in the 50-plus years since it was released.
The recording process of Led Zeppelin IV was a unique one. After the band returned from Bron-Yr-Aur in Snowdonia, where they had completed the writing sessions for the album, they set up at Island Records' new studios, located on Basing Street in London. Here, they recorded the album's opening track, "Black Dog".
At this point, the band made the decision to remove themselves from a commercial studio setting and relocate to Headley Grange in Hampshire, where they would use the Rolling Stones Mobile Studio to record in a more homely environment.
Recording in a country house allowed the band to work all hours of the day and night, and gave them plenty of freedom to experiment and try new ideas, as well as capture spontaneous performances as they rehearsed the tracks.
The sheer size of the house was even used as a part of the recording process, most notably on the intro for the album's closer, "When the Levee Breaks". John Bonham was warming up on a drum kit that was set up in the entrance hall of the manor, and after hearing the reverb created by the height of the ceiling, Jimmy Page arranged for microphones to be hung from above to capture the massive sound. It has gone down as one of the most sampled songs ever, with Beastie Boys, Dr. Dre, Eminem, Aphex Twin, Massive Attack and many more using Bonham's epic drums as a solid foundation of their own.
Led Zeppelin completed all the basic tracking at Headley Grange before returning to Island Records in London to do the overdubs.
During the recording process of Led Zeppelin IV, Page used a pretty simple selection of guitars, most of which were guitars that were already staples in his live and studio rigs.
Jimmy Page's Gibson Les Paul Standard 1959 "Number One". Credit: Gijsbert Hanekroot / Alamy Stock Photo
The guitar we most associate with Jimmy Page is his 1959 Gibson Les Paul that he referred to as "Number One". This is the guitar he purchased in 1970 from Joe Walsh, who had already got the '59's chunky neck shaved down to a slimmer profile.
As the name suggests, "Number One" was the main guitar used for anything humbucker-related on the album, and was even plugged directly into the mixing desk on several occasions.
Jimmy Page's restored "Dragon" Telecaster: the original body with a new paintjob. Credit: Scarlet Page / Sundragon
The "Dragon" is a 1958/59 Telecaster that Jeff Beck gifted to Jimmy Page in 1966 as a thank you for recommending him for the Yardbirds gig after Eric Clapton left. This guitar was a major part of the sound of the band's first album, and was a regular throughout the early years of the band.
The guitar, originally a blonde finish with maple neck and rosewood fingerboard, was modified by Page in early 1967, when he added seven small round mirrors to the body. A few months later, he decided to strip the finish and hand-paint the dragon motif. He fitted a transparent acrylic pickguard with diffraction film underneath.
As well as being the main guitar Page used on the band's debut album, the most notable use of this guitar on Led Zeppelin IV was Page's solo for "Stairway to Heaven". Legend has it that he achieved this in a single take.
Shortly after, while he was touring the US, a friend decided to suprise him by refinishing the guitar, which he had left behind. Unfortunately, the new paintjob ruined the guitar, according to Page in an interview with Guitar World in 1998, who claimed that afterwards, only the neck pickup was working.
Page reused the neck, but the body only resurfaced in 2019 after restoration work
Alongside the classic Page combo of a Les Paul and a Telecaster, he also used this Fender Electric XII 12-String for all the 12-string parts on "Stairway to Heaven". When it comes to 12 strings, Jimmy Page is most closely associated with his use of the Gibson EDS-1275 twin-neck guitar, which he used live so that he could combine 6- and 12-string parts on a single instrument. But in the studio, he used the Fender Electric XII. This guitar was reported to have been plugged directly into the mixing desk for the recording of this track.
Page often experimented with different acoustic guitars for different parts on Led Zeppelin albums, however, the majority of the acoustic parts on Led Zeppelin IV were recorded with his Harmony Sovereign H1260, which has been dated to 1962 based on its serial number.
This guitar was often used by Page to write songs on, but from Led Zeppelin III onwards, it also became a firm favourite for tracking in the studio.
The Danelectro DC59 was the guitar Jimmy Page often picked up for alternate tunings and slide guitar parts. He had owned this guitar since 1963, when he was a full-time session musician, and it was used during his tenure with the Yardbirds.
The DC59 has appeared on many Led Zeppelin songs over the years, ranging from "Black Mountain Side" on Led Zeppelin I through to latter-career tracks such as "Kashmir" and "In My Time of Dying".
On Led Zeppelin IV it was used on "When the Levee Breaks" with a tuning of C-F-C-F-A-C, a variation on Open F tuning which involves detuning all the strings to the notes of an F Major chord.
There isn't a lot of documented information about what amps Jimmy Page used in the studio for Led Zeppelin IV, however based on amps he was known to be in possession of and amps he would play live, we can make a few assumptions of what he would have likely had on hand at this time.
The Supro Coronado is an amp that had been with Page since the first Led Zeppelin album, but at some point in its life, it unfortunately fell off the back of a truck and got damaged.
The amp was rebuilt with a number of changes: the original 2x10 speaker arrangement was switched to a single 1x12 speaker, a new baffle and grille cloth fitted, and some circuit changes which altered the feel of the amp.
Page used the Supro Coronado along with his Dragon Telecaster to record the "Stairway to Heaven" solo.
By this point, Page was mostly using Marshall amps for the band's live shows, paired with his 1959 Les Paul. It's very likely that this now-legendary pairing would have appeared in the recording sessions for some of the album's heavier moments.
The earliest instance of Page being known to use a Marshall in the studio was in 1969, when he used a Super Bass to record "Heartbreaker" on Led Zeppelin II. That gritty, midrange-heavy overdriven tone is one that we've heard repeated in other Zeppelin rockers: we can safely assume this amp would have been used on "Rock and Roll", for example.
There are a few instances where we know Jimmy Page plugged a guitar straight into the mixing desk during the album sessions. One of these occasions was during the recording of "Black Dog". His Les Paul was plugged straight into the mixing desk and the overdrive was achieved by running a pair of 1176 Compressor units in series to create that harsh clipped drive tone.
Another known instance is when Page plugged his Fender Electric XII directly into the desk to record the clean 12-string parts for "Stairway...".
DI'ing a guitar into the analogue mixing consoles of the day typically gave a very neutral, clean signal - unless the signal was overdriven by pushing the fader and applying lots of compression.
For the 12-string parts on "Stairway to Heaven", the DI approach provided a very clean, Piezo pickup-style tone without any EQ changes being introduced by an amplifier. In the context of the song, it was a very effective sound which contrasted with the heavier overdriven guitars which came in as the song built to its crescendo.
As with his amps. there is very little documented evidence of the guitar pedals Page used during the recording sessions for Led Zeppelin IV, however he had a few select pedals in his live rig which are quite likely to have also seen some use in the studio.
In 1970, Jimmy Page began using the Maestro Echoplex EP-2. Live, he would use a pair of units: one for his Theremin and one for his guitar.
As well as being used as a tape echo, the EP-2 was used to drive the input stage of an amplifier harder to achieve additional overdrive.
The Tone Bender was a big part of Page's sound in the early days, especially in his pre-Marshall period. He is reported to have kept the Tone Bender in his rig until the early '70s, at which point he preferred to get his tone entirely from the amp.
It is not known for sure whether Page used a Tone Bender on Led Zeppelin IV, but with there being many layers of overdubs, he might have used it for additional texture somewhere.
A great starting point to any Jimmy Page inspired rig is a Les Paul of some sort. There are Les Pauls to suit all price points these days, ranging from Epiphone's more entry-level pricing to Gibson Custom Shop recreations of classic guitars from the 1950s.
If you want to keep the budget on the friendlier side, you can check out Epiphone's range of Les Pauls. The Epiphone "Inspired by Gibson 1959 Les Paul" would be a great starting point.
If you want to recreate Jimmy's Telecaster tones on a budget, a Squier Classic Vibe Telecaster or a Fender Player II Telecaster are really good places to start. If you can stretch your budget, Fender also make a replica of Page's Dragon Telecaster for just under £1,500!
For those of you who want the visual look of the twin neck but without the price tag of a Gibson EDS-1275, check out the Harley Benton DC-Custom II, an affordable take on this classic twin-neck design.
Harley Benton DC-Custom II. Credit: Harley Benton
The good news is that both Supro and Marshall have amps available to buy that can easily get you into the tonal ballpark of Led Zeppelin IV.
Supro has a small 15w 1x12 combo known as the Amulet, which is the perfect size for cranking to get those pushed valve tones. Supro also offer the Amulet as a 1x10 combo if you want to chase some of Jimmy Page's earliest Zep tones.
Marshall's Origin range of amps are available as combos or heads, and are low wattage, affordable, vintage voiced designs which are a great starting point for that classic Zeppelin crunch. If you want to dig a little deeper, check out the Marshall Studio SV20H head, which is a 20W amp based on the 1959 Super Lead which was a mainstay in Page's live rig.
Although Page is not reported to have used much in the way of guitar pedals on Led Zeppelin IV, there are some pedals which emulate the preamp of a mixing desk and could be useful for recreating some of the DI tones on the album, such as "Black Dog".
The JHS Colour Box gives you those classic '60s and '70s DI tones of a mixing desk preamp pushed into saturation, which are impossible to recreate with a conventional amplifier setup.
DRUNK BEAVER Taras Bulba V2
The Taras Bulba is a dual-mode Mk 1.5 & Mk II Tone Bender bristling With modern features. The Mk II is renowned for its smooth sustain thanks to its 3-transistor design, while the Mk 1.5 (an unofficial name given to the transitional 2-transistor circuit) was an inspiration for the Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Face. Some of rock's greatest names have used a Tone Bender, including Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck and Mick Ronson.
DRUNK BEAVER Lighthouse
The Drunk Beaver Lighthouse is a tape-style delay offering up to 700ms of delay time, a switchable Echoplex preamp-style EQ response, and a modulation section. Perfect for vintage-inspired sounds!
1. Black Dog
2. Rock and Roll
3. The Battle of Evermore
4. Stairway to Heaven
5. Misty Mountain Hop
6. Four Sticks
7. Going to California
8. When the Levee Breaks
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