Here’s a little something from 30 summers ago.
On July 18, 1985, The Guitar Show visited Les Paul’s home in Mahwah, New Jersey, to tape Les and Jimmy Page for an episode. It was five days after Led Zeppelin’s reunion performance for Live Aid in Philadelphia, and Page was paying Les a visit.
In addition to filming the two guitar legends talking about guitars and music, the show’s host, Christian Roebling, got Page to talk about some of the guitars he'd brought with him, including his Gibson EDS-1275 double-neck and his Fender Tele equipped with a B-bender, namely a Parsons/White String-Bender.
The Guitar Show began broadcasting on August 27, 1984. It was taped in New York City and seen 11 p.m. every Monday on Channel 16 on Manhattan Cable TV. The first show featured Les Paul. Subsequent guests included Eddie Van Halen, Paul Gilbert, Danny Gatton and many more.
In the videos below, Page talks about the two guitars and demonstrates the B-bender. Page is clearly in a good mood and makes for an amusing guest, especially when he tries to explain the B-bender to his somewhat confused host.
For more about B-benders, check out Damian Fanelli's B-bender column, The Next Bend.