Jimmy Page’s 1960s Fender Stratocaster (Lake Placid Blue)

This is one of the very few Stratocasters that Jimmy actually played and recorded with. He bought it in 1975 and first used it out of necessity on “Over the Hills and Far Away” after a string broke on his Les Paul during the show at Earls Court on May 23, 1975.

What’s interesting about this particular guitar is that the guy who actually sold this Stratocaster to Jimmy is an active member of The Les Paul forums. His nickname is Plankspanker, and he claims that he presented the guitar during the TSRTS mixing sessions at the Electric Lady Studios.

It’s an extremely nice ’64 LPB Strat that came from Sam Ash on 48th St. Lenny the store manager called me up about it.

It was brought down to Electric Lady Studios during the time Robert and Jimmy were mixing vocals with Eddie Kramer on TSRTS. JP plugged it into one of the studio’s BF Fender Twins, and it met is approval. One thing that always impressed me about that particular strat, aside from it being light and well balanced, was the pickups, even thru a TR, they had that sizzle.

originally posted on Les Paul forums

It’s hard to find when exactly all this happened, but it’s a known fact that he left the Electric Lady Studios sometime in 1975. Obviously, we know that the album was released in September 1976, and the first time that Jimmy used the guitar is May 1975 – so everything fits, assuming that the mixing sessions don’t predate Earls Court concerts.

Not a ’64?

Based on the images, Jimmy’s blue Stratocaster has a slab fretboard, which would mean that it’s a model made between 1958 and 1962. In 1964, Stratocasters had thinner, veneer fretboards.

So, either the person who told the store on the Les Paul Forums got the year wrong, or Jimmy replaced the original neck that came with the guitar. The former however seems like a more likely scenario.

Usage

This guitar was apparently used in the studio on “For Your Life” and “Hots On For Nowhere” from the 1975 album Presence (although this might’ve been a different white Strat given to him by John Paul Jones), and later on “In the Evening” from the 1979 album, In Through the Out Door.