On his 1950s Les Paul Junior guitars, he swapped out the high E strings from his standard packs of La Bella Electric Guitar strings with. In addition to his unusual choice in amp, Leslie's guitar string set-up was equally unconventional.
The tone that came out was so amazing, he made it his own and used it to record Mountain's 1970 debut Climbing! – the album that featured their most successful single of all time, 'Mississippi Queen.' Used to Marshall amps, Leslie doubted that he'd be able to get any good sounds out of what he now had to use - but he plugged in, cranked it up, and promptly had an epiphany. Instead of a guitar amp, he found himself staring at a Sunn Coliseum P.A. When Mountain flew out to San Francisco for their first gig at Fillmore West in 1969, guitarist/vocalist Leslie West didn't quite get the gear he expected.
