Gibson Deluxe 30th Anniversay Les Paul

I've owned two of these in my lifetime (both Gold Tops). The first one I bought was when they first came out in 2000. I loved the tone of Johnny Winter's Mini Humbucker Thunderbird, but I lalso loved the look of a Gold Top. So I bought and gigged the Deluxe for 2 years. But then I had to sell it to a super happy kid a few years later since after our first child was born the missus asked me to start reducing my collection But then I was forutnate enough to find a second one recently that was in immaculate condition, 8.7 lbs and had absolutely no wear or scratches on it as it was a Closet Queen. And for $2100, these guitars have seemed to keep increaing in value as more players realize they are a great value, build, that they have a unique yet familiar sound and they are just top notch guitars.



I personally think these are "sleeper" guitars. First, everyone I've either seen with one or based on the two I'vwe owned has been built with such detail. For example, all the binding was perfectly smooth around the edges. The frets were dressed, the buffing left no "Orange Peel" signs, the Rosewood Fretboards were moderately dark with very nice grain patterns and the Mohagany bodies (with Gloss Finish) had some of the best grain patterns of any Gibson's of any era IMO.

The best part is that I can use the Deluxe in a band with another guitar player that uses a Standard LP as the Mini Humbuckers stand out just enough (especially in the Bridge position) as it has more "bite" to the tone, and when set in the middle position, you get more of a Tele type sparkle. And using my Tone Control, I can roll off the high frequencies of the Neck Pickup and get a nice Jazz Tone and excellent lead tones when used in conjunction with a Fuzz.

Here's a great clip of what it can do. Enjoy!