**The Story Behind Jimmy Page’s Legendary “Number One” Les Paul – Courtesy of Joe Walsh**
In the late 1960s, as Led Zeppelin was rising to power, Jimmy Page was still relying on the same Telecasters he had played during his days with The Yardbirds. Though they had served him well, he was searching for a sound with more punch and sustain—something heavier and richer that matched Zeppelin’s evolving sonic force. That’s when fate, and Joe Walsh, stepped in.
At the time, Joe Walsh—already a respected guitarist with the James Gang—was a Les Paul devotee and had two prized Gibson Les Paul Standards. Page, frustrated with his fruitless search for one that felt just right, turned to Walsh for help. Walsh recalled: “Jimmy was still playing the Telecasters that he played in the Yardbirds. He was looking for a Les Paul and asked if I knew of any, ’cause he couldn’t find one that he liked.”
Walsh didn’t just make a recommendation—he made a delivery. Choosing to keep the Les Paul he personally favored, he packed up the other, flew across the Atlantic, and hand-delivered it to Page. “I laid it on him and said, ‘Try this out.’ He really liked it. So I gave him a really good deal,” Walsh said, noting he only charged Page for his travel expenses. “I just thought he should have a Les Paul, for godsakes!”
That guitar would go on to become known as “Number One”—Page’s iconic sunburst 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard. It was the primary instrument he used to record *Led Zeppelin II* that May, and it remained his go-to guitar for much of his Zeppelin career. Its thick, expressive tone became the cornerstone of his legendary sound—a sound made possible, in part, by Joe Walsh’s remarkable gesture.
