Les Paul Deluxe (serial no. 185993)

Pete Townshend exclusively used Les Paul Deluxes onstage from 1972 to about 1979, replacing the SG Special guitars he had favored until Gibson discontinued that model. These deluxes were numbered with handwritten stickers by guitar technician Alan Smith, denoting different tuning and capo settings. This guitar was part of a group of six to eight instruments that were taken on the Who’s 1973–74 tour, during which Townshend broke the headstock off. The original headstock was later reunited and restored with its body.

Technical Description:


Mahogany body and neck, carved maple top, rosewood fingerboard; 24¾ in. scale; cherry sunburst finish with cream binding; set neck with pearloid trapezoid inlays and cream binding; mother-of-pearl Gibson headstock logo and gold silkscreened “Les Paul” signature, “Deluxe” inscribed on truss rod cover; two mini humbucking pickups, three-way selector switch, two volume and two tone controls; nickel tune-o-matic bridge, pickup covers, and Grover Rotomatic tuners, clear and gold plastic knobs, cream plastic pickguard; tuners replaced, headstock break repaired