Gibson Pete Townshend 1970 Les Paul Deluxe Deluxe #9 2005, Cherry Burst

Although most closely associated with his iconic Gibson SG (and his signature windmill move), Pete Townshend played Les Paul Deluxes for a good chunk of his career as well. To make things easy for identifying his guitars, Townshend labeled them with bold numbers on the the lower bout, hence the "9" on this one. The humbucker mod gave Townshend full, powerful tone and now it's in your hands. A DiMarzio humbucker was installed in the middle position and paired with two added Les Paul–style three-way toggles mounted near the stock controls. One switch handled coil-tapping duties for the new pickup, while the other acted as an on/off selector to blend it with the existing pair. This clever setup became one of Townshend’s most inventive wiring experiments, inspiring a whole numbered series of guitars marked with Letraset decals—this Goldtop earning the designation “No. 3.”