Crafting Jimmy Page's “Heartbreaker” Solo Tone In The Box

AS I KID, I SAT FOR HOURS IN FRONT OF my turntable constantly dragging the needle to the middle solo section of “Heartbreaker” (on Led Zeppelin II), trying to learn what Jimmy Page’s nibble fingers were athletically accomplishing, as well as how to recreate the devastating attitude of his guitar tone.

- Brian Tarquin

Today, thanks to digital amp modeling, I can emulate the sounds of my favorite players from “inside the box” with a computer and software.

First, I zero in on the components of the tone I’m trying to emulate. To achieve Page’s “Heartbreaker” lead tone, I determined that I had to craft a sound with the following components:

The biting tone of a plexi Marshall.

The singing quality of a humbucker bridge pickup—which is especially true with Page’s picking style, where you can taste the bite of the treble frequencies.