Inventory of models of Les Paul Classic
Hey everyone, In '96, my first electric guitar was an Epiphone Les Paul Classic. In 2021, I bought a Classic again, but it was a Gibson this time. I've always loved Les Paul Classics for their mix of modernity and tradition. I've started collecting them now to own one of each Les Paul Classic mod...forum.gibson.com
Yes, first year was 1989.A forum member worked on (and posted pics of) a celebrity owned 1989 Classic, so we know that they exist.
I owned a 1990 all gold, and they were common in stores from that point on. “Les Paul Model” on the headstock, thin binding in the cutaway. The other colors I remember seeing were cherry sunburst and honey sunburst; plaintops.
I saw plenty of them. I was there.IIRC, more specifically, they started in 1990 with the (plaintop) Classic, introduced the Classic Plus (figured top) in 1991 and Classic Premium Plus (reissue grade top) in 1992. These years and early 1993 had the thin cutaway binding and Les Paul MODEL on the headstock. Unfortunately many of these were passed off as reissues with a little bit of common parts swapping. Mid-1993 they printed Les Paul CLASSIC on the headstock and might have also put in the GIbson USA thicker cutaway binding. Again IIRC they came in gold, faded sunburst, cherry sunburst, amber, cherry and purple. I've personally never seen a 1989 but apparently they exist.