1976 Les Paul Delux

[EarlBrother]

i have had this since 1980.It is 0033028.The truss rod plate says Artist on it.Its wine red.Where the serial # is on head stock says Delux.So i just need to confirm that it is a delux.Been in the basement for years and i am back to attempting to restore it.Then tuners were never screwed on so no holes except where the originals were.Any way gonna start with them first.So i assume its a Delux.Thanks.

[starjasmine]

Gibson LPs are notoriously hard to date; s/n alone usually won't do it. There are a number of websites that can give you guidance. A combination of s/n on the headstock, s/n on the pots, and a variety of other distinguishing characteristics (volute/no volute, made in usa on headstock, silkscreen Les Paul vs decal on headstock, dot (or not) on the i in Gibson, solid or filled o in Gibson, inlay shape, knobs, pup style) can help to narrow it down.

Also, just for grins, here's a Reverb search and a random article on the Artist model that says the RD Artist was launched in 1977 and turned into the Artist in 1978. This article has pics of the Artist's very distinctive headstock and PC boards that provided an onboard Moog synthesizer.

The article says nothing about a Deluxe version, but that might not mean anything. You might have a non-artist Deluxe that someone changed the trussrod cover on or you might have an Artist, or maybe something else.

If you can post some pics, that'll help.

[EarlBrother]

yep thats what he did and from my research my guess was '76 thanks I have pictures from year ago when i thought i was gonna work on it, on this site haha thanks!!Just found it under 'restore or not to restore''on this site.

[Tidewater]

Of course there are always exceptions. But in 1976, the vast majority of Gibson's used decals on the rear headstock that includes the make, model, Made in USA, and the serial number. Gibson used this format also in late 1975 (SN prefix '99') and early 1977 (SN prefix 06).

In 1976, the Gibson SN prefix is '00' followed by 6 numerals, for a total of 8. The photo below is from a 1976 Gibson Les Paul Deluxe.

Don't take my word for it though. Validation can be found on the web.