Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page recently paid a visit to Fender‘s Custom Shop in Corona, CA, where the famous rocker also spent time discussing one of his most well-known instruments–his Dragon-painted 1959 Telecaster.
Related: Watch Jimmy Page Flawlessly Perform A Chopin Prelude While Smoking A Cigarette
The video interview, which was shared to Fender’s YouTube page, opens with Page being shown around the guitar production factory with a sense of excitement in his voice similar to that of a kid in a candy store. Page then sits down for an intimate conversation where he discusses the excitement he felt upon initially hearing the birth of rock and roll in the 1950s through his radio. Fast forward a few years and Page alongside his English guitar-playing colleague Jeff Beck are being recruited into The Yardbirds, which led to the latter gifting his 1959 Telecaster–later to be known to Jimmy as a thank you for bringing him into the famous band’s lineup.
The guitar, which was gifted as a factory White Blonde lacquer finish, was eventually transformed into what was known as the “mirror guitar” before eventually being hand-painted into the now-famous “Dragon Tele.”
Watch Page discuss his history with the famous guitar in full below.
Fender – In Conversation With Jimmy Page
[Video: Fender]
The famous Dragon Tele is currently showcased at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City as one of the many dozens of guitars included in the museum’s “Play It Loud: Instruments of Rock and Roll” exhibit.
Page and his former Led Zeppelin bandmates have stayed busy over the last year as the rock band celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2019. More recently, however, it was reported that the 2016 decision by a federal jury in the state of California which saw the famous rock band acquitted of plagiarism on their 1971 hit “Stairway To Heaven”, will soon undergo further legal examination in appeals court.