colours vibrate, in this case mostly red versus green.
He replaced the pickguard with a transparent guard
that had a sheet of film underneath to enhance the
colourful vibe.
It was with this look that the Telecaster
accompanied Jimmy when he formed Led Zeppelin
and he used it to record the band’s first album and on
the gigs they played, from their debut in September
1968 through to April 1969. By that time, the road-
weary Telecaster was coming to the end of its days,
most evidently with a problematic pickup that was
beginning to get on Jimmy’s nerves.
Even the manager noticed: Peter Grant said later,
without too much exaggeration, that every night on
tour Jimmy had to get his soldering iron out to make
the Telecaster serviceable. What he really needed was
a different guitar to take him to the next phase of his
career with Led Zeppelin.
There was, however, at least one further outing for
the Telecaster with Zep. Around the turn of 1970
into ’71, the band were in the studio and one of the
pieces they were working on became Stairway To
Heaven. When it came to the solo, Jimmy pulled out
the Tele once more (no doubt checking first that the
pickups were delivering properly). About six minutes
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GUITAR MAGAZINE 61