Jimmy Page is one of the most influential guitarists in rock and roll. Virtually every rock guitarist over the past 30 years has been influenced by Jimmy Page's guitar playing in the rock group Led Zeppelin. Jimmy Page is a rock guitar hero in the same class as Jimi Hendrix, and fellow guitarists for The Yardbirds, Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck. A multitalented and versatile musician, Page produced all of the Zeppelin recordings, wrote or co-wrote most of the songs, as well as lending several layers of guitar playing to the tracks. Although he is often identified with Gibson Les Paul electric guitars (Gibson manufactures a Jimmy Page model Les Paul), Page actually played several different guitars on the recordings, sometimes on the same song (listen to Stairway to Heaven and count the different guitars). These include, six and twelve string electric and acoustic guitars, nylon string acoustic guitars (classical or Spanish guitar), a harp guitar, and a 10 string pedal steel guitar.

First and foremost, Jimmy Page is a great studio musician, able to render several styles and shades of guitar, both acoustic and electric, onto great recordings. Best known as the Gibson Les Paul wielding guitarist in the rock band Led Zeppelin, Page's monolithic riffs served as a blueprint for what would eventually become heavy metal. He could not be pigeonholed to any single musical style, touching upon folk, country, funk, blues, and other genres (let us just mention here that we have an entire curriculum based on learning rock guitar, a rock rhythm and rock solo course. learn more here).

Jimmy Page has owned a lot of musical gear, including many vintage guitars and amps, much of it finding its way onto the stage for live performances or in the studio for his numerous recording sessions. Fender Stratocasters, Fender Telecasters, a Fender XII electric 12 string, a Fender 10 string pedal steel guitar, several Gibson Les Paul models including a "black beauty", a Gibson EDS-1275 double neck guitar, and a Gibson SG make up just some of his electric guitar collection. Some of Jimmy Page's acoustic instruments include several Ovation guitars (including 2 Ovation Elite double neck acoustics), a Martin D-28 and a D-45, a Gibson J-200, a Gretsch 12 string guitar as well as mandolins (a Fender and a Gibson), a banjo and a harp guitar.

(B. James Patrick Page, Jan 9, 1944, Heston, Middlesex, England) Jimmy Page's first guitar influences were rockabilly guitarists Scotty Moore and James Burton, who both played on Elvis Presley recordings, and Johnny Day who played guitar for The Everly Brothers. The Presley song "Baby Let's Play House" was an early favorite on his first guitar, a Grazzioso which was like a copy of a Fender Stratocaster. Page was also a fan of acoustic folk guitar playing particularly that of Bert Jansch and John Renbourn, and the blues guitar of Elmore James and B.B. King.

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