Jimmy Page and Sundragon Amps have teamed up once again for another meticulous recreation of a holy grail guitar amp – and they don’t come any more holy grail than Page’s number one amp for all albums from Led Zeppelin II onwards.
It’s called the Super Dragon and is a modded 1968 Marshall Super Bass in all but name – the amp that Page turned to in ’69 as he was seeking a broader canvas for his electric guitar tone.
“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.”
There is not a lot of reliable information on Frank. There is something about the maverick tube amp modder that lends them to mystery – you can file the legendarily secretive José Arredondo under that category, too.
But legend has it that Frank tweaked Jimi Hendrix’s Marshalls to give them more power. Whatever he did to Page’s amp worked a treat. When he got the Super Bass back it cemented itself into the backline.
“I sent Frank my favorite Marshall, a 1968 Su-per Bass and the result was exactly what I was looking for,” says Page. “Frank’s modification en-hanced 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.”
Now, that is a guitar sound. You may also want to take the opportunity as Page did to deploy a new model onstage and in the studio. Page went for a 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard so don’t be afraid to set your sights high; if you get yourself a Super Dragon, one of only 50 worldwide, you’re in for a real treat.
As to what it sounds like, well, Page has already recorded the demo video for a watching TV audience of millions as he performed Rumble at Link Wray’s inauguration ceremony at the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame 2023 awards show. And, if you didn’t catch that, then Led Zeppelin’s recorded output from 1969’s sophomore album is a decent enough reference.
Needless to say, like the Sundragon, which was a “forensic replica” of the modded Supro Coronado Page that Page used on Led Zeppelin I, Sundragon's Mitch Colby has left no stone unturned in making this as close to the original Super Bass.
The transformers have been reverse-engineered to match the original. Under the hood you’ll find NOS GE 6550 tubes, Iskra and Allen Bradley resistors and Phillips “mustard” capacitors.
The matching speaker cabinet has been voiced to deliver the same feel and sound as Page’s original rig. And each of the 50 Super Dragons will be signed by Jimmy Page himself.
For more details, head over to Sundragon. Orders open from December,. These will no doubt sell in no time, and if that’s the case, fingers crossed we also see a standard edition as we did with the Sundragon, which is available direct for $3,875, or for an extra $1,000 if you want the NOS tubes.
