Gibson unveils new Pete Townshend Deluxe Gold Top ’76, inspired by the Les Paul he smashed on stage in 1976.
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This guitar is basically a replica of a broken guitar, well not just any guitar, but a Les Paul Gold Top that Pete Townshend played on at the Boston Garden, when his band The Who performed in the 15,000 capacity venue.
This new release is described by the company as a celebration of Pete’s career and the many live shows that he has performed on. I just hope that impressionable students don’t get the wrong message, that breaking guitars is cool. Well it would probably be cool if you have the popularity and resources as The Who had at the time.
The press release mentioned that the parts of the broken guitar is currently on display in London’s Victoria and Albert Museum, but they did not say if they actually studied the parts to get the replica right. Gibson decided to make this limited edition replica extra special by actually utilizing the same construction techniques that they had back in the ’70s. This basically means that the instrument will be handcrafted using premium tonewoods.
The Pete Townshend Deluxe Gold Top ’76 starts off with a with a mahogany body that has a walnut strip sandwiched in the center. The official descriptions says that the single cut-away body features a 7-piece construction, and wrapped by a smooth/hi-gloss 90 Sheen Lacquer finish in Gold.
Installed on the body are two mini humbuckers on the neck and bridge position, while a DiMarzio Super Distortion humbucker sits in the middle position. This pickup configuration will provide interesting tones, even more so with the modified circuit and controls that the pickups are wired to. The guitar has two volume knobs, a single master tone knob, and a middle pickup blend knob. Traditional 3-way switching is provided for the two pickups, while an extra 3-way toggle switch is also provided for the middle pickup, allowing you to use any of its two coils individually, or use them together.
The neck is crafted from 3-piece mahogany, has a rounded profile and a rosewood fingerboard. It has a total of 22 frets across its 24.75″ scale length, while the nut follows traditional Les Paul width of 1.695″. All these specs follow after the specs of the Les Paul Deluxe units that were released back in the mid ’70s.
Other features include wireless ABR bridge, stop bar tailpiece, vintage style tuners with chrome buttons, thumb wheel style strap buttons, and Les Paul square jack plate. Gibson added a commemorative “Break Here” sticker right behind the 8th fret marking the position where the original guitar’s neck broke. Wrapping up the features of this bass are cream body and fingerboard bindings.
Note that only 150 Gibson Pete Townshend Deluxe Gold Top ’76 guitars will be produced, so only the elite few who can afford its premium price tag will be able to get this guitar for themselves.
The MSRP for the new Gibson Les Paul Deluxe Pete Townshend Gold Top ’76 is just under $4000. For the complete specifications, you can head over to Gibson
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