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MGR/Joe Viviano « Gibson Les Paul Studio »
Published on 02/25/03 at 15:00I purchased my Les Paul at the guiar store in Mississauga, ON (HIGHLY recomended, they will take care of you. 905-274-5555). It cost be $1595 Canadian... with tax about $1700. I went to the shop, played a few Gibsons and settled on the Wine Red Model for its appearance.
Gibson puts out an excellent guitar. All chrome hardware which is VERY slick, Wine Red transparent finish which lets the wood grain shine through (even though the best maple goes into the Standards and Customs, the Studio maple top is still very slick). Black Pickguard, Perloid Trapazoid inlays etc. It has a "stripped down" look from the Standards, but it still looks very classy, albeit more "Modern" then the other Les Paul models.
But what about sound? The LPS is overflowing with tone. It is a very versatile guitar, which is one thing I love about it. The stock 490R/498T is a good set up, although it will not satisy everyone. It is a lower output, more vintagey sound, although purists will want to replace them with PAF's anyways. The stock pickups arent bad but they can be replaced for arround 200 dollars, so if you down the road decide to slap on some Seymore Duncans then thats always an option. Keep that in mind. The individual tone knobs for the trebel and rythym enable the guitarist to unleash hundreds of tones from the guitar. The gibson tuners keep the guitar in tune for weeks, and the tune-o-matic bridge deserves special mention. It's great!
A couple things rub me the wrong way about this guitar, but its very insigmifigant.
1) The finish on this guitar shows ALL body oils and scratches VERY easily. In other words, unless your a very tactful and calm player, don't expect it to look mint long. Sure, it can be re polished, but there are a LOT of light scratches from my picks on the upper side of the guitar. I don't mind it because it looks used, and i'm a very vigorus player. But those who wish their guitar to look like new forever should be VERY careful.
2) The pickups aren't the BEST in the world.
Lets face it. Gibson could throw better ones on here. But they arent bad and im sure they are amazing for some people. Tone is a personal thing and everyone had their own preference. The standard gibson pickups are just the "happy medium" between them all.
3)I dont know why they dont just do this, but the knobs on the LP are just too tiny. If you try to play it with a strap, the guitar will fall. And then it will break. There goes all your money. BUY STRAP LOCKS WITH YOUR GUITAR.
4) Its just not as pretty as a Standard. But hey, thats the ONLY difference between a Studio and Standard... appearance. In my oppinion, the added athetetics of a Standard are NOT worth the $1000 extra dollars they charge.
This thing is solid as a rock. The finish is perfect, no screw ups. I did that myself later. Its heavy, sure, but in a good way. I can't see anything giving out any time soon, and even if they do the great guys at Gibson will fix it under warranty.
This guitar is worth the money. If you want the Les Paul sound, veratilliy and quality, then buy it. The studio is NOT in any way worse then a standard, aside from looks alone. Go for it and it will last you a lifetime.
This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com
Gibson puts out an excellent guitar. All chrome hardware which is VERY slick, Wine Red transparent finish which lets the wood grain shine through (even though the best maple goes into the Standards and Customs, the Studio maple top is still very slick). Black Pickguard, Perloid Trapazoid inlays etc. It has a "stripped down" look from the Standards, but it still looks very classy, albeit more "Modern" then the other Les Paul models.
But what about sound? The LPS is overflowing with tone. It is a very versatile guitar, which is one thing I love about it. The stock 490R/498T is a good set up, although it will not satisy everyone. It is a lower output, more vintagey sound, although purists will want to replace them with PAF's anyways. The stock pickups arent bad but they can be replaced for arround 200 dollars, so if you down the road decide to slap on some Seymore Duncans then thats always an option. Keep that in mind. The individual tone knobs for the trebel and rythym enable the guitarist to unleash hundreds of tones from the guitar. The gibson tuners keep the guitar in tune for weeks, and the tune-o-matic bridge deserves special mention. It's great!
A couple things rub me the wrong way about this guitar, but its very insigmifigant.
1) The finish on this guitar shows ALL body oils and scratches VERY easily. In other words, unless your a very tactful and calm player, don't expect it to look mint long. Sure, it can be re polished, but there are a LOT of light scratches from my picks on the upper side of the guitar. I don't mind it because it looks used, and i'm a very vigorus player. But those who wish their guitar to look like new forever should be VERY careful.
2) The pickups aren't the BEST in the world.
Lets face it. Gibson could throw better ones on here. But they arent bad and im sure they are amazing for some people. Tone is a personal thing and everyone had their own preference. The standard gibson pickups are just the "happy medium" between them all.
3)I dont know why they dont just do this, but the knobs on the LP are just too tiny. If you try to play it with a strap, the guitar will fall. And then it will break. There goes all your money. BUY STRAP LOCKS WITH YOUR GUITAR.
4) Its just not as pretty as a Standard. But hey, thats the ONLY difference between a Studio and Standard... appearance. In my oppinion, the added athetetics of a Standard are NOT worth the $1000 extra dollars they charge.
This thing is solid as a rock. The finish is perfect, no screw ups. I did that myself later. Its heavy, sure, but in a good way. I can't see anything giving out any time soon, and even if they do the great guys at Gibson will fix it under warranty.
This guitar is worth the money. If you want the Les Paul sound, veratilliy and quality, then buy it. The studio is NOT in any way worse then a standard, aside from looks alone. Go for it and it will last you a lifetime.
This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com