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Sundragon introduces recreation of Jimmy Page’s Led Zeppelin II amp with the Super Dragon
Each head will be signed by Page himself.
Image: Theo Wargo / Getty
Sundragon has launched a recreation of Jimmy Page’s amplifier used for touring and recording from 1969 on the Led Zeppelin II album, and those that followed – the Super Dragon.
The release follows on from the successful launch of the original Page-inspired Sundragon amp, which recreated the combo used on Led Zeppelin I. It was released as part of a limited-edition run in 2019 and made permanent in 2020 as the Sundragon Standard.
Jimmy Page took part in a surprise performance on 3 November when he played Rumble after he inducted Link Wray into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. For the event, he played his Gibson double neck guitar and premiered the new Super Dragon amp.
The Super Dragon is also a limited edition run, with only 50 Super Dragon half stacks to be made available. Each will be hand built by founder Mitch Colby along with the Sundragon team, ensuring each one is an “exact duplication of Jimmy’s sound.”
The amps feature carefully recreated transformers, New Old Stock GE 6550 tubes, Iskra and Allen Bradley resistors and Phillips “mustard” capacitors as well as specially designed speakers and cabinets that recreate the response and feel of Page’s original. Each head will be signed by Page himself.
“The Super Dragon is a faithful recreation of my ‘Number 1’ amp. After recording the first Led Zeppelin record and creating sounds that define rock guitar, I needed an amp capable of reproducing this broad palette of sounds, including the light and the shade in the studio and a live setting,” says Page.
“Not only was the volume and tone important but it needed to have enough power to hear the subtlety of various aspects of my guitar playing. I experimented with different amps until hearing about a fellow in the States named Tony Frank, who was modifying Marshall amps. I sent Frank my favourite Marshall, a 1968 Super Bass, and the result was exactly what I was looking for.
“Frank’s modification enhanced the amp’s power of the dynamic range. This amp became the main amp for live shows as well as the principal amp I would rely on in the studio for all Led Zeppelin records from Zeppelin II onwards,” he concludes.
The amplifiers will be available as of December 2023 and built through the middle of 2024. Find out more information at Sundragon.