The Gibson Les Paul Deluxe appeared in 1969 as a version of the Les Paul Standard gold top. Initially, it had a pair of mini-humbuckers and the gold top. The mini-humbuckers use the same cavity as the P-90 pickup, and in fact are mounted in modified P-90 covers.
By the mid 1970's, full size humbuckers were available, but these are not common. In 1971, other finishes including natural, sunburst and wine appeared. In 1985, the Deluxe was discontinued, but was reissued in 1999 for its 30th anniversary. There have been other reissues - in 2006, a Pete Townsend Number 9 model was built in a run of 75, and from 2000 to 2005 a 1969 Reissue was available. Many examples of the Gibson Les Paul Deluxe were modified to accept full-size humbucking pickups.
This example dates to January 30, 1980 and was built in Gibson's new Nashville plant, during the transition from the historic Kalamazoo plant. It features the wine red nitrocellulose lacquer finish and mini-humbuckers!
;){kind=link}