The Jimmy Page 1958 / 1959 Fender Dragon Telecaster

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Jimmy Page during a concert at the Grande Ballroom, Detroit, 3-4 May 1968, playing his 1959 Fender "Dragon" Telecaster, with violin bow and through a Fender amp and speakers, during one of his last concerts with the Yardbirds

"I love this guitar", Jimmy Page, April 2019.

The Jimmy Page 1958 / 1959 Fender "Dragon" Telecaster is an iconic guitar, used by both Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page in association with the Yardbirds and Led Zeppelin. A history of the guitar, from what is known of its initial store purchase through to recent restoration is presented below.

Before Jimmy....

Sometime during 1965, after having joined the English rhythm and blues and pop group the Yardbirds on 27 March of that year, and following the abrupt departure of Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck "acquired" (or borrowed) from his good friend John Owen a 1959 Fender Telecaster. Owen was rhythm guitarist in Beck's earlier band - The Delltones - and this Telecaster was one of the first to arrive in the United Kingdom from America. It was purchased new by Owen during late 1959 / early 1960 from the Jennings music store in Charing Cross Road, London. Due to an import band throughout the 1950s, American guitars and associated equipment were almost impossible to obtain in the UK. Hank Marvin of the instrumental group The Shadows was amongst the first to popularise one locally, with Cliff Richards acquiring a red Fender Stratocaster for him during a visit to the United States in 1959. When the ban was lifted at the end of that year, Fender, Gibson and other US brands of guitars and amplifiers slowly began appearing in London musical instrument shops such as Jennings and Selmers. John Owen was one of those who quickly took advantage of their availability. He, like Beck, had seen the Fender Esquire and Telecaster being played by musicians in American rock 'n roll era movies of that late 1950s such as The Girl Can't Help It (1956).

Lobby card for The Girl Can't Help It, 1956. Featuring Gene Vincent and the Blue Caps, with the guitarist on the left holding a Fender Squire.

They also saw James Burton using a Telecaster with the Ricky Nelson Band live on the Ozzie and Harriet television show from 1957 through to the early 1960s. 

James Burton playing a Telecaster on the song I Got A Woman with the Ricky Nelson Band, on the Ozzie and Harriet television show, 1963.

The British players were often unaware precisely what guitar they were hearing on US recordings. For example, Gene Vincent's guitarist Cliff Gallup played a Gretsch for the recording of the 1956 hit Be-Bop-A-Lula, but in the movie The Girl Can't Help It Vincent's replacement guitarist Russell Willaford was holding a Fender Squire as the band mimed the song. Further exacerbating the problem, this guitar was almost identical in design to the Telecaster.

Gene Vincent and the Blue Caps, miming Be-Bop-A-Lula in the movie The Girl Can't Help It, 1956. Duration: 2.31 minutes.

In a 2018 interview, Beck backgrounds his own encounters with Fender guitars during the early 1960s. In 1961, for example, he obtained a 1960 sunburst Fender Stratocaster on hire purchase for £147 from Jennings, London. He subsequently painted it pink / lavender (Bacon 2018). However, in those pre-Marshall stack days, the sonic qualities of the Stratocaster were limited. Instead, he took a shine to Owen's Telecaster and began borrowing it on a regular basis. Owen can be seen with The Delltones playing the Telecaster in 1961 in the photograph below, with Beck standing next to him on the Stratocaster.

John Owen (with blond Fender Telecaster) and Jeff Beck (Fender Stratocaster), The Delltones, Dowgate Hall, Tonbridge, 1961.

The John Owen Telecaster was a pale creamy white (blonde) colour with white nitrate pick guard. At various stages in its life the guitar bore a home-made black plastic pick guard. The Fender nitrate pick guards tended to warp and shrink, and were eventually replaced by plastic in 1965. In the meantime, players such as Beck - who was mechanically minded and liked, for example, to tinker with cars - would create their own more stable (plastic) replacements. Also, as the guitar aged, its blond finish attained a yellowish tint. The Telecaster had dual pickups as standard - one close to the neck, and another at a slight angle and close to the bridge. The neck of the Owen guitar bore the date "2/58" i.e. February 1958, however the guitar is usually dated 1959 and referred to as such by the present owner, Jimmy Page (Page 2020). According to Dave Hunter in his comprehensive history of the Telecaster, the dark coloured rosewood fretboard seen on the Owen guitar was glued upon the cream coloured maple neck that had been in use since 1950, but was subject to discoloration upon wearing (Hunter 2020). This new neck was first used with the Fender Jazzmaster in 1958 and the Telecaster from the following year. As was common with Fender guitars, the date of the manufacture of the necks and bodies often varied, as in this instance, where we have an early 1958 neck attached to a 1959 body.

By the time Beck was seen using the Owen Telecaster with the Yardbirds during the first half of 1965 the guitar had a distinctive, and significant, U-shaped paint scratch on the top front leading edge. Beck was a physically aggressive guitar player, especially during the 1960s, and in all likelihood he was responsible for the scratch. However, the Telecaster was known for its hardiness, being constructed of a thick solid block of wood, with a neck bolted on to the body, rather than glued. Guitarists have commented over the years on the fact that it could be dropped, bumped, scratched and generally subject to rough treatment, but remained playable. On the other hand, Beck had "knocked" his more fragile 1960 Stratocaster at some stage during the early 1960s and broke it in half. He subsequently "fixed" it, using his girl friend's nail polish as an adhesive. He then sold it back to Jennings without informing them of its history and damage.

Following his stint with The Delltones and other bands such as The Nightshift during the early 1960s, in September 1964 Beck joined The Tridents. According to band member John Lucas, Beck used the Owen Telecaster during the 25 October 1964 Eel Pie Island live BBC recording of the band. That recording reveals much of the playing that we would hear from Beck during his time with the Yardbirds.

Tiger in Your Tank, The Tridents, Eel Pie Island (live audio), BBC, 25 October 1964. Duration: 5.55 minutes.

Good guitars were a rare commodity in the UK at that time, and Beck held onto the Telecaster despite the surface scratches and the fact that it was not his. He apparently later came to some sort of arrangement with Owen regarding use of the Telecaster, eventually giving him another guitar in exchange. When Beck joined the Yardbirds in March 1965 he briefly made use of the red Telecaster provided by  management and previously played by Eric Clapton.

Eric Clapton using the Yardbirds' red Telecaster that Jeff Beck briefly used in March-April 1965.

However, he quickly returned to the Owen Telecaster. It can be seen in the promotional film clip for For Your Love, produced on 16 June 1965. It was mimed outdoors and highlights include the band members dressed in medieval clothing, with Dreja playing a harpsichord and Beck in a large, very silly hat.

Beck can also be seen playing the Telecaster in an early Yardbirds colour promotional photograph from 1965. Therein, the band members were all attired in Beatles-like cream coloured suits. The distinguishing large scratch on the front leading edge of the guitar is clearly seen in the photograph below.

Jeff Beck with John Owen's Fender Telecaster, Yardbirds, early 1965. Note the black pick guard and large paint scratch on the front top leading edge.

According to the aforementioned 2018 interview, Beck loved playing the guitar and did not bother to return it to Owen when he became a Yardbird. This fact, and the subsequent history of the guitar, would suggest that it had special playing qualities. The invitation to join the Yardbirds in March 1965 and leave The Tridents followed on a recommendation by his good friend Jimmy Page, who was also asked. Page declined at that stage as he was heavily involved in session work and learning the craft of record producing and engineering. The previous year he had declined an invitation by John Mayall to join the Bluesbreakers - the band Clapton joined after leaving the Yardbirds. Page was also in a relationship with American singer and song writer Jackie DeShannon at the time, and about to head off on his first visit to the United States with her (Salewicz 2018).

O 6 August 1965, at the 5th National Jazz and Blues Festival, Richmond, Beck used the Owen Telecaster and a VOX amp feeding - for the first time - into a large PA system. Part of the performance was filmed and later televised on the US Shindig program, with Beck's aggressive use of the instrument on full display during the extended rendition of Hang on Sloopy.

Yardbirds, For Your Love and Hang on Sloopy, 5th National Jazz and Blues Festival, Richmond, 6 August 1965, live recording for the television show Shindig. Duration: 7.59 minutes.

Yardbirds performing at the 5th National Jazz and Blues Festival, Richmond, 6 August 1965. Beck can be seen on the far right playing the Telecaster. His VOX amp is feeding into a large PA system (not seen).

Yardbirds at Richmond, 6 August 1965. Photograph: Chris Morphet.

Despite Beck's initial enthusiasm for the Owen Telecaster, the 2018 interview and Jeff Beck's Guitar and Gear webpage both note that it was rarely used during his time with the Yardbirds. Instead, he preferred a workhorse single pickup blond 1954 Fender Esquire with a similar black, or white, pick guard and pale rosewood fretboard. Part of the rosewood body had an unpainted section on the top rear face which further distinguished it from the dual pickup Owen Telecaster. The Esquire can be seen in the two photographs below.

Yardbirds era image of Beck and his Esquire, circa 1965, with a white pick guard plus VOX amplifiers and speaker cabinets.

Jeff Beck with his worn 1954 Fender Esquire whilst reading the 25 March 1967 edition of the US pop music newspaper KRLA Beat. Note the black pick guard.

The Esquire had been purchased by Beck in April / May 1965 for £74 from John Walker of the Walker Brothers, who had himself purchased it from a store in California. Beck is seen holding and playing the rather battered and bruised Fender in numerous live and mimed television performances from 1965 through to early 1966.

Yardbirds, Heart Full of Soul [live on Dutch TV], September 1965, duration: 2.21 minutes. Jeff playing the 1954 Esquire with a white pick guard.

By 15 March 1966 Beck had retired both the Telecaster and Esquire from live performances with the Yardbirds and is seen using a 1959/60 Gibson Les Paul cherry red sunburst guitar with a black pick guard that he had purchased from Selmers, London. The purchase of the guitar likely followed on the famous use of one by Eric Clapton from June 1965 with John Mayall's Bluesbreakers. This culminated in the 22 July 1966 release of the groundbreaking John Mayall Bluesbreakers (Beano) album. Clapton had acquired a 1959/60 Gibson Les Paul with a white pick guard - the famous Beano guitar - shortly after he left the Yardbirds in March 1965. Both Beck and Clapton are seen on stage playing Les Paul guitars during a gig at the Marquee Club, London, on 15 March 1966.

Clapton jamming with the Yardbirds, Marquee Club, London, 15 March 1966. Clapton is playing his original Gibson Les Paul 'Beano' burst which was stolen during early August whilst rehearsing with his new band Cream.

The Marquee gig was around the time of the recording of the Beano album when Clapton was using a Marshall amp. Beck cannot have failed to be impressed by Clapton's playing at this time. It seems from the photograph that Clapton used one of the band's VOX amplifiers on the night of the gig with the Yardbirds, along with a speaker stack next to him. Beck's own 'Burst features on the Roger The Engineer LP, also released in July 1966. By this point Clapton had left Mayall's Bluesbreakers to form Cream and was replaced by Peter Green, who also used a 1959 'Burst. The Gibson Les Paul had a thicker, more distorted sound than the higher pitched Fenders, especially when plugged into a Marshall. By the end of 1966 all the major and upcoming British rock guitar players were using a 59/60 "Burst" - Clapton, Beck and Green amongst them. Clapton's original Beano 'Burst was stolen mid year during rehearsals with Cream, and never recovered. Beck can be seen playing the 'Burst in a number of photographs and film clips from the first half of 1966, including miming on the steps of a London monument to You're a Better Man Than I, and during a live version of Train Kept a Rollin', both in May 1966.

Yardbirds, You're a Better Man than I, mimed film clip, London, circa February 1966. Recorded in the US at Phillips Recording, Memphis, during September 1965.

Yardbirds, Train Kept a Rollin & Shape of Things, live at the New Musical Express Awards, London, May 1966.

Jimmy Page had been using a 1958, triple pickup, black Les Paul Custom for much of his studio session work during this period, and did not take up a 'Burst at this stage in his career. He did not prefer it for live work, perhaps baulking at the weight of the Les Paul.

Jimmy Page with his Les Paul Custom, Beat Instrumental, August 1965.

Page's Les Paul Custom provided a greater variety of tone for his studio work, as opposed to the power and distortion used by Clapton and Beck for high volume live performance and recording. The beloved black guitar was stolen during 1970, whilst Page was on tour with Led Zeppelin. Fortunately, it was returned to him in 2016.

When bassist Paul Samwell Smith left the Yardbirds following the Oxford University May Ball performance of 18 June of 1966, he was immediately replaced by Page, who was at the gig with Beck. Page, like Beck, had been playing the guitar since the late 1950s and was now weary of working in the studio for middle of the road and pure pop recording artists. He was, in fact, excited by the opportunity to join the Yardbirds. During his initial two months in the band he used Samwell-Smith's bass guitar whilst Chris Dreja learnt to play bass outside of gigs. Beck continued to use his Les Paul.

Jeff Beck with his 1959/60 Gibson Les Paul guitar, VOX amplification and speakers, and singer Keith Relf, Indiana, United States, 12 August 1966.

This was a busy period for the Yardbirds, for in amongst the filming of Blow Up and a brief UK tour supporting the Rolling Stones, the band undertook two US tours, from 4 August - 15 September 1966 (4 1/2 weeks) and 21 October - 4 December 1966 (7 weeks). They also did some studio recording, producing Stroll On, Psycho Daisies and Happening Ten Years Time Ago. During the initial US tour as a 5-piece, Beck got sick with tonsillitis and meningitis and became unable to play, forcing Page to take over his duties and move from bass, passing those duties over to Chris Dreja. At the 22 August 1966 concert at Santa Barbara, California, Page used Beck's Les Paul in what was one of the band's first outings as a four-piece.

Santa Barbara, California, 27 August 1966. Page uses Jeff Beck's Les Paul whilst Dreja played the band's Epiphone bass.

The following day, at Catalina Island, southwest of Los Angeles, Page repeated the task when Beck pulled out due to equipment problems, though this was also a reflection of his deteriorating physical and mental state, being both sick and love sick. It was quickly realised that Page was wasted on bass and now able to carry the lead and rhythm duties in Beck's absence, due to his superb musicianship, youthful energy, experience and stage presence. Dreja was now also competent on bass. As such, a twin lead guitar setup was proposed for when Beck returned and, for a brief period during October-November 1966 the Yardbirds were fronted by the two stellar guitarists, with Beck using the Gibson and Page the Fender.

From Beck to Page

When Beck joined with the band upon their return from the US tour at the end of September 1966, he took back his Les Paul, leaving Page without a lead guitar for live performances. At some point during late September - early October Beck briefly lent "his" now little-used Owen Telecaster to Page. The latter can be seen playing it in the clip from the Antonioni film Blow Up (1967), recorded in London between 12 - 15 October 1966. After filming, Beck took the guitar back.

Yardbirds, Stroll On, from Antonioni's Blow Up, filmed 12 - 15 October 1966. Duration: 4.00 minutes.

According to an account by Page in a 2017 interview, Beck, with money received in connection with the filming of Blow Up, purchased a silver Corvette Stingray, and it was in this car that he subsequently drove up to where Page was living in London and finally handed over the Owen Telecaster to him, saying, "I suppose you should have this now." It is unclear precisely when this took place, though it was likely sometime in late October 1966, prior to the band, including Beck and Page, heading off on their second US tour of that year, commencing on 21 October.

Yardbirds, Staples High School, Westport, Connecticut, 22 October 1966. Photograph: Cindy Gough Stalnaker.

During November, whilst on a tortuous Dick Clark Caravan of Stars tour across the US, Beck's illness and disenchantment with life on the road flared up again and he decided he had had enough. He left the band and headed to California to spend some time with his girlfriend, before returning home to the UK. He was subsequently fired from the Yardbirds due to his unreliability. Page took over the guitar duties full time and completed the US tour, utilising the Owen / Beck Telecaster now in his possession. By this time, it once again bore a white pick guard, though still had the distinctive scratch.

Jimmy Page, Springbrook Gardens Teen Club, Lima, Ohio, 4 December 1966 (above and below).

 

The Yardbirds remained a 4-piece until they disbanded in July 1968 (c.f. Yardbirds 1968 - The final days). Throughout this period, from late December 1966 through to July 1968, the Telecaster was the main guitar used on stage by Page, though he also on occasion played a 1965 Danelectro and a 12 string 1966 Vox Phantom XII, especially on the instrumental White Summer and for slide guitar work. He obviously preferred the lighter Telecaster over the Les Paul especially as he was energetic on stage, both in his playing and movement of his body.

Yardbirds, circa December 1966. Page holding the ex John Owen / Jeff Beck Telecaster, with a white pick guard.

It is not clear what additional guitars Page made use of in the studio between 1966-68, either with the Yardbirds or on his numerous sessions for other artists. The Les Paul Custom remained his favourite instrument for session work throughout the 1960s, prior to it being stolen in 1970.

Following the band's return to England from the US tour of December 1966, during January 1967 Page introduced into the live act the violin bow during solos and began experimenting with other effects, utilising wah and fuzz pedals plus tape loops and sound recordings. Page first encountered the violin bow back in January-April 1965 whilst working as a session musician on Burt Bacharach's initial UK album. David McCallum, a violinist with the London Philharmonic Orchestra at the time, suggested he experiment with the idea, as a supplement to his solos. Ever interested in effects devices and new sounds and techniques, use of the violin bow ultimately formed an important part of his act, with lengthy augmented solos in the Yardbirds live performance of Smokestack Lightning and I'm A Man, original recorded compositions Tinker, Tailor, Soldier Sailor and Glimpses, and the magnum opus Dazed and Confused which he carried over into Led Zeppelin, along with songs such as on How Many More Times.

By the end of January 1967 the Telecaster was distinguished by the addition of eight circular, mirror discs placed on the face of the guitar by Page. This is clearly seen in photographs taken by Bob King from the band's Sydney Stadium, Australia, concerts of 21 - 23 January 1967.

Jimmy Page, Sydney, 21-23 January 1967. Photograph: Bob King.

Pink Floyd guitarist Syd Barrett had done a similar thing during 1966-7, putting mirrors on his 1962 Fender Esquire after acquiring it in 1965.

Syd Barrett of Pink Floyd with his mirror-disc Fender Esquire, circa 1966 (above) and 1967 (below).

During interviews in 2019 Page refers to his own reason for adding the mirrors, in part to react with the psychedelic light shows that were becoming increasingly common during rock concert performances around the world. The guitar can be seen in action in a live television performance from Germany recorded on 31 March 1967, shortly after the Australasian tour.

Yardbirds, German TV, live, I'm a Man, 31 March 1967, duration: 6.22 minutes. Great sound and shots of Page playing the mirrored Telecaster, including with a violin bow. Part pf 14 minutes concert clip.

The German TV footage from 31 March 1967 (above) shows a number of close up shots of the Telecaster. The guitar is definitely battered and beaten about, with the scratches on the face and the pick guard very evident. The guitarist puts a lot of energy into his playing, and the Telecaster performs brilliantly.

Boom Dancing Centre, Aarhus, Denmark, 12 April 1967. Source: Facebook.

The Yardbirds, Holterhallen, Holte, Denmark, April 1967. Photograph: Jorgen Angel/Redferns.

It appears that the mirrors only lasted about six months, because at a Paris outdoor concert on 30 April 1967 they had been removed, and Page appears to have put a clear plastic pick guard with foil backing on the guitar, in place of the white. This would prove to be the initial stage of a new, psychedelic transformation of the guitar.

Yardbirds, Paris / Chaville, Fête du Muguet, live, 30 April 1967. Duration:  18.24 minutes.

30 April 1967 - Note the removal of the small circular mirrors, replaced by a reflective pick guard.

During the first half of 1967 Page apparently decided to turn the Telecaster into a more psychedelic guitar. On 30 April at the Paris concert, the guitar has been stripped of the small circular mirrors seen at the Sydney gig, replaced by a large, clear plastic pick guard backed by silver foil-coated board to enhance reflections from light shows and the audience. Sometime between the beginning of May and July 1967 he then stripped the body of its original white (blonde) paint and added a new, hand drawn, multi-coloured Chinese or Japanese dragon design on the front face, around the edges of the pick guard. The earliest evidence of the Dragon Telecaster guitar in action is from photographs taken during the two shows at the Fifth Dimension Teen Club, Ann Arbor, on 8 August 1967.

Jimmy Page and Keith Relf, Fifth Dimension club, Ann Arbor, 8 August 1967. Photograph: Tom Copi.

The earliest colour photograph of Page with the newly stripped and painted Dragon Telecaster, 8 August 1967.

8 August 1967.

These latter two photographs were posted on the Facebook Yardbirds (Official) Fan Page during August 2021 by  Erminio Umberti. The Dragon Telecaster is also seen in images of a performance in New York on 25 August 1967, and at Huntsville, Ontario the following day, from a postcard image.

Jimmy Page, Greenwich Village, New York, 25 August 1967 (above and below).

Huntsville, Ontario, 26 August 1967.

Jimmy Page, Vancouver, 10 November 1967.

The move from mirrors to psychedelic artwork was very much as sign of the times, and probably related to Page's exposure, along with other members of the band, to the hallucinogenic drug LSD. In the above photographs, Vox Wah and Tone Bender pedals can be seen at the guitarist's feet, helping provide the unique Yardbirds sound of that time, with fuzz and enhanced sustain. Page in turn began to develop extended solos and jams, with the band slowly abandoning their pop and rhythm and blues based repertoire for a heavier, more psychedelic and freeform heavy rock sound. This was obviously the result of their extensive touring in the United States during the years 1966-68, and use of hallucinogenic drugs such as LSD and hashish. The transformation of the Telecaster was a similar sign of the times, with Eric Clapton's 1964 Gibson SG perhaps the most famous, and earliest, of the painted guitars from this period. Originally owned by George Harrison of the Beatles, who gifted it to Clapton, the guitar was given a psychedelic paint job in March 1967 by a group of Dutch artists known as The Fool. It then premiered on Cream's first US tour later that month and can be seen in the lesson section of the film Farewell Cream (1968).

Eric Clapton with his painted Gibson SG, nicknamed 'The Fool', 1967.

Page's Dragon Telecaster paintwork was a follow on from that trend, though in this case the artwork was hand painted by the guitarist himself. Jimi Hendrix performed at the Monterey Pop Festival in June 1967 with a similarly hand painted guitar - a pink Fender Stratocaster which he subsequently set on fire. He also hand painted a Gibson Flying V which he used extensively during 1967.

Jimi Hendrix with his hand-painted 1967 Gibson Flying V.

The psychedelic art scene had exploded in Britain and the United States during late 1966 and throughout the first half of 1967, as had the use of LSD and other hallucinogenics by rock band members and associates. Page reacted to this by making use of poster paints in painting his beloved workhorse Telecaster. Australian Martin Sharp, then resident in London and co-author with Eric Clapton of Cream's psychedelic Tales of Brave Ulysses, was one of a number of contemporary young artists who had produced a series of posters printed on silver and gold foil card. This not only enhanced the printed image, but also reflected the world around, just as the mirrors on Page's Telecaster had done. Page turned his pick guard into a similarly interactive surface, reflecting some of the lights generated at the time through spectacular light shows in halls such as the Fillmore and Avalon in San Francisco, and even the UFO club in London.

Close up of Page using the Dragon Telecaster with a violin bow on Dazed and Confused, French TV, February 1968.

Anderson Theatre, New York, 31 March 1968.

Page used the Dragon Telecaster with the Yardbirds from the latter part of 1967 and throughout 1968. He is seen with it in their final television performance, filmed for the American program Upbeat on 25 April 1968. Therein they mimed Heart Full of Soul.

Yardbirds, Heart Full of Soul, on the US Upbeat TV program, 25 April 1968, duration: 2.27 minutes.

Page carried on using the Telecaster with his new band Led Zeppelin during the second half of 1968 and on into 1969. It was integral to the first Led Zeppelin album, recorded in October 1968 and released in January 1969. A March 1969 televised performance from London of Dazed and Confused by the band features the Dragon Telecaster and a violin bow solo.

Led Zeppelin, Dazed and Confused [live], London, March 1969. Duration: 7.34 minutes.

Led Zeppelin, Denmark, early 1969.

Around June 1969 Page began using a 1959 Gibson Les Paul, purchased from American guitarist Joe Walsh, though he continued to employ the Telecaster in the studio. For example, it was used to record the lead break on Stairway to Heaven in 1970.

Whilst Page was in the US during a later tour in 1972/73, the Dragon Telecaster was left with an artist friend in England who, without his permission, over-painted it and thereby also ruined some of the wiring and the bridge pickup. This greatly disturbed Page. As a result, the guitar disappeared from active use, with no reference to its whereabouts or fate for some 25 years. Page finally brought the guitar back to light in 1998 during a Guitar World interview:

“I still have it (referring to the Dragon Tele), but it’s a tragic story. I went on tour with the ’59 Les Paul that I bought from Joe Walsh, and when I got back, a friend of mine had kindly painted over my paint job. He said, ‘I've got a present for you.’ He thought he had done me a real favor. As you can guess, I wasn’t real happy about that. His paint job totally screwed up the sound and the wiring, so only the neck pickup worked. I salvaged the neck and put it on my brown Tele string bender that I used in the Firm. As for the body… it will never be seen again! (laughs)”

This over-painting so upset Page - who felt that there were mystical elements to the instrument and the process by which he acquired it - that he retired the guitar, did not speak openly of it, and did not bring it out for restoration until 2017. For almost 50 years its true fate remained a mystery, though Page had continued to make use of the guitar's neck during that period. In 2018 he released a special amplifier which aimed to replicate some of the early Led Zeppelin sounds, and this resulted in an initiative to restore the Dragon Telecaster as a complimentary instrument.

Original, restored Jimmy Page Dragon Telecaster, 2018.

In collaboration with an artist friend, the guitar was repainted during 2017-18 as precisely as possible, based on original photographs and Page's memory of the process and paints used. Subsequent to that, in 2019 Fender cloned the guitar and made it available for purchase. Thereafter, cheaper Chinese knockoffs also appeared.

Jimmy Page Dragon Telecaster, left-handed, Chinese copy, 2020.

 

In addition, Fender cloned a blond and mirrored version of the guitar for sale. An animated history of the guitar was also released that year by Fender, narrated by Page.

The Mystical Journey of Jimmy Page's '59 Telecaster, video, Fender, 2019. Duration: 3.50 minutes.

Page provided two interviews to Fender around this time which referred to the history of the Telecaster and its subsequent cloning.

In Conversation with Jimmy Page, Fender, 5 August 2019. Duration: 10.24 minutes.

The Making of the Jimmy Page Mirrored and Dragon Telecasters, Fender, 23 January 2019. Duration: 7.02 minutes.

In April 2019, in association with the It Might Get Loud exhibition at The Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art, New York City, Page presented a demonstration of his guitars and amp setup. During this he noted of the Telecaster: 'I love this guitar.'

In regards to the gifting of the guitar from Beck, Page states that it was given to him by the guitarist as a gift for getting him in the Yardbirds. The claim of ownership by Owen was largely unresolved, though he appeared to be content with its ultimate fate. To this author's mind, the Dragon Telecaster will always be associated with the final days of the Yardbirds, alongside the definitive, and powerful, March 1969 filmed performance of their and Led Zeppelin's version of Jake Holmes' Dazed and Confused.

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References

Bacon, Tony, Jeff Beck on giving Page the "Stairway" Tele and other tales from the a life in guitars, Bacon Archives, Reverb.com [website], 21 June 2018. First announcement of the restoration of the Dragon Telecaster.

Dalton, Andrew, Guitarist Jimmy Page looks back at 50 Years of Led Zeppelin, AP News, 31 October 2018.

Hunter, Dave, Fender Telecaster & Stratocaster: The story of the world's most iconic guitars, Voyageur Press, 2020, 320p. Introduction by Tony Bacon.

Jimmy Page quietly revealed his restored original Dragon Telecaster for the first time in 50 years, Led Zeppelin News [blog], 24 January 2019. The following comment was made on this article:

Mark R. Garner | 30th January 2019 at 10:15 am | The Dragon Tale as recounted here lists 1969 as the year Jimmy’s “friend” maimed the Dragon in an attempt to refinish it. In an account I read years ago the time frame was approximated as between 1972 & 1973. This later date would seem more likely if this Tele was the one used to record the solo to “that song” on Zep IV. Postscript: And it makes me wonder… Large parts of ‘Houses of the Holy’ were recorded using a Tele, obviously on Song Remains The Same, Rain Song & The Ocean. Also the title track & The Rover (Both are ‘Houses’ outtakes that showed up on ‘Physical Graffiti.) I’m Tele-Sensitive and it sounds like I hear a Tele somewhere on every track. So, was it the Dragon or the Brown Bomber that Jimmy was later seen using on stage during the 1975 US Tour? (When it still had a maple fretboard.) ‘Houses…’ was recorded in 1972 when one account has the Dragon still breathing fire. Who knows?

Page, Jimmy, Jimmy Page: The Anthology, Genesis Publications, London, 2020, 400p.

Raul, The tragic end to Jimmy Page's 1958 Fender "Dragon" Telecaster guitar, Feelnumb.com [website], 10 January 2011.

The Tone Bender Timeline History [webpage], page 4, 2009.

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Last updated: 29 December 2023

Michael Organ, Australia