[anfontan]

Originally Posted by S. Rock

welcome to gibson-talk, lunchbox. we're glad to see you here. I've seen you over on strat-talk, also.

don't know anything about your "minis". I've got a pair on my '73 Les Paul Deluxe. it has a great sound and that's all I know.

Here is a bit of info concerning the story of how the Les Paul Deluxe came to be and the mini-humbuckers that came standard in the Deluxes----

The DeLuxe was among the "new" 1968 Les Pauls. This model featured "mini-humbuckers", also known as "New York" humbuckers, and did not initially prove popular. The mini-humbucker pickup fit into the pre-carved P-90 pickup cavity using an adaptor ring developed by Gibson (actually just a cut-out P90 pickup cover) in order to use a supply of Epiphone mini-humbuckers left over from when Gibson moved Epiphone production to Japan. The DeLuxe was introduced in late 1968 and helped to standardize production among Gibson's USA-built Les Pauls. The first incarnation of the DeLuxe featured a one-piece body and three-piece neck in late 1968. The "pancake" body (thin layer of maple on top of two layers of Honduran mahogany) came later in 1969. In late 1969, a small "volute" was added. 1969 DeLuxe's feature the Gibson logo devoid of the dot over the "i" in Gibson. By late 1969/early 1970, the dot over the "i" had returned, plus a "Made In USA" stamp on the back of the headstock. By 1975, the neck construction was changed from mahogany to maple, until the early 1980s, when the construction was returned to mahogany. The body changed back to solid mahogany from the pancake design in late 1976 or early 1977. Interest in this particular Les Paul model was so low that in 1985, Gibson canceled the line. However, in 2005, the "DeLuxe" was reintroduced with more popularity due to its association with Pete Townshend and Thin Lizzy.

In 1978 the Les Paul Pro DeLuxe was introduced. This guitar featured P-90 pickups, instead of the "mini-humbuckers" of the DeLuxe model, an ebony fingerboard, maple neck, mahogany body and chrome hardware. It came in either Ebony, Cherry Sunburst, Tobacco Sunburst or Gold finish. Interestingly it was first launched in Europe, rather than the USA. It was discontinued in 1982.