The Dragon was a 1959 Telecaster with a stripped Ash body that Page painted. It was first owned by Jeff Beck’s school friend and Deltones bandmate John Owen, who bought it for £107 in 1961. That's about £2,400 in today's money
Beck used it when he was in the Yardbirds but gifted it to Jimmy in 1966. He added eight circular mirrors to the body of the guitar in February 1967 but didn't like the look of it so removed them that summer, painted it, replaced the black pickguard with a transparent acrylic one and inserted a sheet of diffraction grating film, which created a spectrum of colours when hit by light. Groovy.
It was his primary stage guitar through 1968 & 69, he recorded the debut Zeppelin album using it and he played the solo for 'Stairway To Heaven' on it. But it came to a messy end when returning from a US tour a pal had repainted it and in doing messed up the wiring, so only the neck pickup worked. Jimmy apparently still has it in its mutilated form.
EU Countries: You've heard of Brexit haven't you? If you haven't, I admire your ability to ignore the real world. It means if you live in the EU, you will have to pay VAT on your order to get it delivered. Please don't waste all of our time by ordering if you aren't prepared to pay it and don't send me indignant emails about it - I can't help it, I hate it more than you, believe me and I have told you!! Right?
