Jimmy Page’s Vox UL4120 Amplifier

Jimmy was seen using the Vox UL-4120 briefly with The Yardbirds around 1968, and with Led Zeppelin on their second US tour in the early summer of 1969. The amp was also photographed at Morgan Sound Studios in June 1969 where the Led Zeppelin were working on their second album.

Led Zeppelin I album

Jimmy said a number of times that he inherited a Vox Super Beetle from the Yardbirds, and used it on the first Led Zeppelin album. However, since there’s no evidence of him using a Super Beatle during the Yardbirds, and there is evidence of him using the Vox UL4120, it is likely that he made a mistake.

So most likely, on Led Zeppelin I, Jimmy Page used a Vox UL4120, played through a Sola Sound Tonebender MK II.

I actually had to finance the first Zeppelin album with money I had saved as a session musician. What I had as equipment was very minimal. I had my Telecaster that Jeff Beck gave me, a Harmony acoustic, a bunch of Rickenbacker Transonic cabinets left over from the Yardbirds, and a hodgepodge of amps—Vox and Hiwatts, mostly.

The first album was done totally with a Vox Super Beatle, so with just that and a Telecaster, a wah-wah, and a boost pedal, you can create a great variety of sounds. I used a depressed wah pedal on the solo.

Light and Shade: Conversations with Jimmy Page

But, in his own book “Jimmy Page: The Anthology” he stated that he used the Supro Thunderbolt on the album, but played the live work of the Zep I era with the Super Beatle through the Rickenbacker Transonic cabs. So, Jimmy’s memory of all this is probably a little fuzzy.

In any case, this Vox amp probably played a large role in the early Led Zeppelin sound, and it probably did end up on both of the albums, at least to some extent.