The Gibson Black Beauty debuted in 1953 as Mr Les Paul wanted an Ebony guitar to match the tux that a guitarist would wear at a formal “black-tie” function. In 1957 the Black Beauty was released in a 3 pick up configuration with with the option of a Bigsby “True Vibrato” unit. Jimmy Page used one extensively during his early years as a session musician and with the Yardbirds until it was stolen in 1970 while on an American tour with Led Zeppelin, the image shown here is the 2008 Gibson custom shop recreation of that very instrument.
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The Gibson Black Beauty debuted in 1953 as Mr Les Paul wanted an Ebony guitar to match the tux that a guitarist would wear at a formal “black-tie” function. In 1957 the Black Beauty was released in a 3 pick up configuration with with the option of a Bigsby “True Vibrato” unit. Jimmy Page used one extensively during his early years as a session musician and with the Yardbirds until it was stolen in 1970 while on an American tour with Led Zeppelin, the image shown here is the 2008 Gibson custom shop recreation of that very instrument.

Guitar Albums That Made a Difference… Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin III (1970) The third Led Zeppelin studio album was largely composed by Jimmy Page and Robert Plant at a remote cottage in Wales known as Bron-Ya-Aur. The cottage had no electricity so the album was mostly written on acoustic guitars and introduces an emphasis on folk music to the sound of Led Zeppelin. Robert Plant stated in Uncut Magazine - “[Bron-Yr-Aur] was a fantastic place in the middle of nowhere with no facilities at all-and it was a fantastic test of what we could do in that environment. Because by that time we’d become obsessed with change, and the great thing was that we were also able to create a pastoral side of Led Zep. Jimmy was listening to Davey Graham and Bert Jansch and was experimenting with different tunings, and I loved John Fahey. So it was a very natural place for us to go to”.
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Guitar Albums That Made a Difference…

Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin III (1970)

The third Led Zeppelin studio album was largely composed by Jimmy Page and Robert Plant at a remote cottage in Wales known as Bron-Ya-Aur. The cottage had no electricity so the album was mostly written on acoustic guitars and introduces an emphasis on folk music to the sound of Led Zeppelin. Robert Plant stated in Uncut Magazine - “[Bron-Yr-Aur] was a fantastic place in the middle of nowhere with no facilities at all-and it was a fantastic test of what we could do in that environment. Because by that time we’d become obsessed with change, and the great thing was that we were also able to create a pastoral side of Led Zep. Jimmy was listening to Davey Graham and Bert Jansch and was experimenting with different tunings, and I loved John Fahey. So it was a very natural place for us to go to”.