All user reviews for the Epiphone Les Paul Studio

Made in China (very good quality, very good maintenance agreement)
Tune-O-Matic with Stop Tail piece Free (original and never had any problems)
round form "C"
micro Epiphone original replaced with Seymour Duncan Blackout for a big sound very metal!
2 volume, 2 tone, 3 position selector 1 (Les Paul what!)

UTILIZATION

the handle is thick enough, but not unplayable, perfect for playing with the thumb over the button, but it does not hurt when the thumb down behind the key.
Ergonomics is the Les Paul type, so quite heavy (I use a comfortable wide strap!) but very balanced, the head "dips" when the guitar is not loose.
Access to acute is not the best, it's still a Les Paul! you can easily arrive to the 19th fret, further should not be too low.
and a blues sound, microphones origins are perfect, I play metal and I immediately replace micro for Seymour Duncan Blackout, and then no worries ^ ^.

SOUNDS

then as mentioned above, for its hot and bold blues, original is nikel! I have chosen more for its comfort and price, so I changed the pickups for the asset.
I play on a Crate V33 amp with pedal Rocktron Metal Planet, and I get a precise and chased her, very powerful.

OVERALL OPINION

I used it for a year and a half before I buy a VGS (bridge eEverTune).
It is a thunderbolt, I saw, I left with!
What I like about her? Les Paul shape and playing comfort
What I like least? microphones!
Value / price exellent! it is a nice guitar playing reliable, and that's not afraid to scratch!
and I would do without hesitation that choice! Les Paul for a tight budget.

Classic Rock. Played for years at home. Few gigs. Some solo

Pawn Shop. $180. The pickup selector switch had a bad connection & I replaced the switch. I had the frets dressed and I re-set the intonation myself after the setup man was finished with it. He hadn't got it right.

This is a bolted-neck model. The pickups are the best part about the guitar. The humbuckers put out far more than single coils. With a little tube screamer for warmth it sounds wonderful.

This unit has some intonation issues, it is on the verge of needing a compensated nut. Being a short scale, tuning will always be an issue. The open chords are always just a tiny bit off in the G and B string. As I say I think a compensated nut would help. The fretboard is just too flat. It almost feels concave. While good for chording, the flatness makes it difficult to play leads without catching the other strings, despite the wider fretboard. Above the 12th fret the lack of precision in the fretting makes the intonation get very sour, especially above fret #17 . You simply cannot do the very high leads with this unit. Stay in the neighborhood of fret #12 and you will be alright.

It's solid. The finish is very nice, black, the hardware is fine, the bridge and the anchor are first class. The tuners are a little loose. The volume knobs are out of the way. The chord receptacle being under the bottom is hard to reach, you have to tip the unit up to get at it. nothing fancy, no edge bead, no big inlays.

Not a bad unit for a beginner who wants a Les Paul appearance and not a cheap knockoff. It's not going to allow you to develop a very quick lead style because of the fingerboard limitations. Chording suffers somewhat from intonation issues due to the short scale and lack of precision fretting. If you tune to the bar chords and play power chords it will crank some very fine sounds.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

Hey, I'm Fabian Spoelman.
I'm 21 years old, born and risen in Haulerwijk, Netherlands. I play guitar for about 6 years now, and I'm in a band called Thanks4Nothing (www.thanks4nothing.nl).
We play a whole variety of covers from artists such as ACDC/Guns & Roses/Nickelback/Status Quo etc.

I bought this Les Paul at a local guitar shop for about €400,-. I traded in my Ibanez Ergodyne series, as I'm sick of getting my guitar detuned due to the Floyd Rose system. Above that, I like a Les Paul sound way more then a Ibanez sound, since I play classic rock mainly.

I really like everything about this guitar. Body, neck, tuners, bridge. A lot of people think the tuners look awful on this guitar. Well, I don't. I think the creamy greens look kinda vintage on this Les Paul, and they really stay in tune for a long. long time! The pickups are great, not noisy, and the bridge pickup just sounds superb!

I am pleased to say that I cannot find one thing about this guitar that I don't like. Its very solid, stays in tune SO well and sounds terrific

Like I said, it's very solid. It stays in tune great, its sounds amazing. Sometimes I dont believe its just me playing this thing :D I have it in combination with a Behringer Blues Overdrive stompbox and a Marshall VS65R Amp.

For those that are really into buying a Gibson, but can't get the money together, this guitar would be the perfect choice. If you replace the pickups by EMG's or Duncans, you probably have a guitar better then the Gibson itself. I suggest this ones a must for every guitarist1

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I bought this Guitar for myself as a present for not smoking for one year. I picked it up at the Guitar Center in Cherry Hill New Jersey. I paid almost $1,300.

First, It's a Gibson. Second, This Guitar is an awesome instrument. The weight of this Guitar was lighter than I thought it was going to be. The finish is Wine Red with Gold Hardware, WOW! What a combo for colors...

The finish almost looks as though it has depth to it. The color is transparent enough that just the right amount of grain shows through. The electronics speak for themselves when plugged in.

The Action is typical of Gibson (Outstanding). The tone and sustain from this Guitar are about as good as it can get. The factory strings are good enough to keep.

Haven't found anything wrong to make a comment here.

The contsruction of this Guitar is solid. It has a Mahogany Body with Maple Top. Wine Red color with Gold Hardware. Humbucker Pickups Gold Speed Knobs, Gold Tun-O-Matic Bridge and Tail piece.

As for quality of this Guitar I'd give it on a scale of 1 to 10 a 10.

Nice investment, Not only for the money but the future of playing. This Guitar is built to last a life time. Very wise choice.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I aquired this guitar mail order from Peter Cooks Guitar World (London). I first spotted it on their web site. Price paid £679 (GBP) including black Gison HSC.

This guitar is in a limited run Saphire Blue. It is a lovely colour. It is built like a tank as you would expect from Gibson. The finish/setup was near perfect out of the box. I only had to make a slight intonation and pickup level adjustment. The pickups are the 490R/498T. These used to be on the Les Paul Standard until they were replaced by Burstbuckers. The sound is superb. The bridge pickup has the fat powerfull tone ideal for 70's rock riffs through a valve amp. The neck pickup can be backed off to get the rich
Claptonesque 'woman' tone. The guitar has also been blasted through my Boss GT6 and a friends POD liveXT and it can handle acoustic simulation to the fatest Zakk Wylde tones although i believe it is at it's best direct into a valve amp. This guitar has chrome plated hardware and has no top, or binding. I also own a Les Classic which has a nice top, binding and nickel hardware with the higher output 496R/500T pickups but I feel the Studio is as good if not better. The pickups on the Classic can be a bit 'hot'. The neck is slightly fatter than the slim taper neck on the Classic but still very playable even with my small hands

Not a lot I don't like. The hardware is cheaper than on a Classic or Standard but this is reflected in the price. If you want the features double your money.

I have no complaints about the construction or quality. It is heavy and robust. It will outlive me.

A fine rock/blues instrument with good tone and playability. Half the price of a Standard too.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I bought this guitar (Wine red with gold hardware) for £730 from JG Windows in Newcastle (including case and whole bunch of polish, cables etc.)

First of all looks: I didn't really think I would ever buy a Les Paul as I didnt like the look of them and I was going to try out an SG. When I tried the two out together I found the les paul was more comfortable to play, sounded amazing and was perfect for my style of playing. It's got a really nice finish (Gibson use nitrocellu- something on les pauls) which is great but needs alot of care to maintain. It sounds amazing and changing the tone on the guitar loses absolutely no volume (unlike alot of other gutars I have played in the past).
I play it through a Marshall MG100dfx and the two go really well together.

The guitar does need to be polished after extended periods of playing (but it's worth it) and the gold ontop of the bridge is faded slightly where I halve been palm-muting notes, but apart from that, it's awsome.

This thing will is solid, and it weighs a tonne! The manual says it'll outlast the buyer and I f***ing believe it! I'll probably be palying this guitar for the rest of my life.

This guitar is the best thing I have ever heard or played! I've played Ibanez, Fender, Jackson, ESP's and a whole bunch of other gibsons but this thing is the best! Even if you don't like the look of them, try them out because they are great!

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I got this guitar off ebay for $410 Canadian. I had eben playing acoustic for about 2-3 years off and on, and i finally saved up some money for an electric. I had originally wanted a standard epiphone les paul but i couldnt afford it, so after reading the reviews on both the studio and lp-100, i decided to go with the studio since i preferred the look of the trapeziod inlays and alnico pick-ups (which they recently stopped stocking the studios with), and the reviews seemed to think that the studio had a sound closer to the standard than the lp-100

i love this guitar! i have had it for about 2 months, and ive already had so many compliments on it. The guys at the local music store like the rare colour of my studio (its like a tobacco sunburst). I play punk rock, emo, and alternative rock and this baby screams. I run it through a crate gt15 practice amp and my friend's marshall mg15, and its rad. the rhythm pickup is a little too muddy, but i normally use the treble (which sounds good but i plan on upgrading) so its all good. and this baby stays in tune. my guitar teacher was amazed becaue my guitar was the only one out of his student's that manages to stay in tune for weeks, even with the everchanging weather (i did upgrade the tuning machines to grovers though)

like i said before, the rhythm pickup is a little bit too muddy, but still screams. and the pick guard does stand high off the body of my guitar between the pickups (i know its supposed to be elevated at the one end, but the other end is still a little bit high off the body) but that miught just be because it might have got warped in the mail... it can be replaced anyway

the quality is amazing, i did put one dent in the back of the guitar already though, which cracked the finish, but thats because i wacked it hard on the arm of my computer chair. otherwise this baby is built to last. it never cuts out on me or anything, even when switching the pickups. and, like i said, it stays in tune very well. i havent broken a string yet either, and the strings i am using have been on there for more than a month! very good quality.

amazing guitar! i'd probably recommend this over the lp-100 (i havent played much of the lp-100 but the guys at the music store, who i didnt even buy my guitar from, said that the lp-100 specials are poor quality and the studio is much better). i'd still like a standard, though, because of the binding and maple top, but this baby works just as well probably... since they both have the same stock-pick ups (or they used to, now they have downgraded the studio pickups from alnicos to standard humbuckers it looks like).

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I purchased my used Les Paul Studio at Guitar Center in 2000 for $899. The original reason I purchased it was that it had been autographed by Jimmy Page. And yes, I conducted an exhaustive research on the autograph's authenticity.

Like other reviews that I have read concerning the Les Paul Studio model, it is every bit tonally as good as any high-end Les Paul that I have ever played. It sounds amazing whether playing Metallica or mellowing out to some Allman brothers. I highly recommend the ebony neck for the added feel that it provides when digging into the fretboard...When I play my LP Studio through a Marshall TSL100 head with a 4/12 cabinet, it transforms itself into the Zeppelin tone that so many people are looking for!

Others have complained about the aging that the white finish has on this model, but I like the character that it give the guitar.

Its a tough and brutish guitar that can handle the rigors of being knocked over time and again only to get back up and start fighting some more.

If you are on a budget, but want the tone, go and find a used LP Studio with the ebony fretboard! Its got the tone you are seeking, and it is of much better quality than Gibson's new entry level models that they are releasing in 2004.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I purchased my Gibson Les Paul Studio at Christmas 2003, from a shop in Glasgow, Scotland. After playing many guitars around this price range, including the Fender American Series Strat I decided this was the best guitar for my money. I had everything i wanted. I paid £699 for it which is about $1272 a very good buy (I think)!

I simply love the Gibson, others had told me it was rubbish but it is a brilliant instrument. The action is fantastic, it is so easy to play. High notes, bends even more simple chords are easy to pull-off. Apart from the brilliant playability the Studio has an immense sound, of course, not the quality of a classic or standard but it does not disapoint. I would, like Gibson, reccomend using their strings the tone is improved as well as the playability.
Not only is this guitar great to play....it looks fantastic! Mine is in the Wine Re finish and looks great !
DO NOT think you are buying a guitar that isnt gibson quality..this guitar is fantastic!

There is very little I can say against this guitar. But probably just the adjustment I had to make due to the finish as it needs more care than my old guitar. It does need polished due to the nitro-cellulose finish but I only do this if i have had a long session in the cold garage or if i have been sweating a large amount !

The constrution is faultless like most Gibson guitars it is hand made, so naturally there are little bits that are different but this just adds to the feeling that this guitar is an object of desire - not just a guitar ! It is of top quality, made in the USA so is not cheaply mass produced in Mexico or Japan. The guitar is of true Gibson standard (not the guitar)

Simply: The Best Guitar For The Money !

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

ok, this is my first electric.(i had a cheap acoustic) reading many many reviews and playing guitars, i got this epi les paul studio. i heard from other people taht this guitar was awesome. i ordered the ebony($350) with a 25 r frontman($130) from musicans friend(free shipping).

when i opened the box, i was amazed. this kind of guitar for 350! the quality was great! everyone says to beware of green tuners when you get the ebony lp. but i got GROVER TUNERS!! but instead i got pearl dot inlays which is fine with me. i hooked it 2 the amp and started jamming it sounded great! the distortion sounds sooo good. when you play clean, if you set the tone correctly, it sounds so much like an acoustic. i played 3 housr everydfay for 3 weeks and nothing brokeded. this is a solid guitar. I LOVE THIS GUITAR!!! good jop epiphone!GET THIS GUITAR! WHAT ARE U WATHIN FOR?!!

i don't see anything bad for this lp

great pick ups, great body, GREAT tuners, the tune o matic bridge is so cool. if you get ebony, i recommend u get white pickgard. it looks cool on it. also as you no the pckups don't have cases and that's y the lp is so cheap for epie's. overall this guitar is solid and nothing getting loose or anything. finish is great.

the bottom line? BUY THIS GUITATR! i no it's a little expensive. me i had 200 and was gonna buy an ibanez but i looked a this babe and i saved up to get this. this guitar is for beginners, intermediets, and so on. you are gonna love it .WELL WAT R U WATIN FOR?! GO BUY THIS GUITAR!!!!

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I bought this guitar at a german internetstore called musik-produktiv.de for about 350€.

I like this guitar a lot. It's playability is just great. The action is set just right(they do that in the store for free before shipping...) and it looks beautifull. I got the wine-red model. The tone is very good to my ears. Nice bass, clean highs and a good sustain.

Nothing Actually. Not even the tuners. The guitar i have stays in tune for quite some time...

It is very well build, can't complain there. It is just a little bit heavy.

If you're a beginner or a moderate player buy this one. for the price you can't go wrong. I just love mine!

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I bought it from Musiciansfriend.com for about 350.

I like pretty much everything, it sounds good, and looks good. Very good guitar (especially for the money). If you're thinking about getting it, do it.

The only really bad thing is the tuners. But they aren't that bad...just could be better. I've seen lots of reviews about the cable plug being loose and stuff, but it's not loose at all on mine...maybe I just got lucky.

Very well made, no complaints here. Except the tuners. But if needed, they're easily replaced.

Very good guitar, good price, good everything.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I purchased this guitar new for around $1300 at Guitar Center in Charlotte, NC.

The craftsmanship of this guitar is astonishing. The neck is very smooth playing with the '59 Les Paul neck profile. So if you don't have $5,000 to dish out on a '59 this is the way to go. It is a very sweet fat sounding guitar is great for all styles. I use it in my metal band and again in school for Jazz. The wood is very sturdy and nice looking.

The weight is a little bit of a turnoff weighing in around 9 lbs it is a back breaker. Other than that I love it.

It has a '59 Les Paul neck profile and a beautiful finish. It has a mahogany back and neck with a carved maple top. It has a tuned o matic stop bar tail peice configuration. It has a rosewood fretboard with pearl trapezoid inlays.

It is the sweetist guitar I own and it is an awesome all around guitar.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I got this guitar from a local music store for $430 (Canadian). I knew the guy who worked there so he gave me some free stuff to go along with it.

This guitar sounds great. The bridge pickup is good for rock and metal, and sounds great with a lot of gain. The neck pickup has a better clean sound for blues or jazz I guess.
The les paul studio is lighter than most other les pauls, but it's still pretty heavey, which is good for the tone. The sustain is really good because of the set neck.
The overall appearence of this guitar is really nice. The finish is perfect and the chrome hardware is spotless.

The tuners are green :sigh:

Also the imput jack is kind of loose, which might give me some problems in the future.


Like I said, the imput jack is loose, and because of that, the sound cuts out once in a while. You have to wiggle the imput jack a little to get the sound back.
The rest of this guitar is really solid, just the imput jack is a problem.

This is a good beginning or second guitar. If I ever get really serious about music, I might but a better one, but this is good for now.
I might get the imput jack fixed in the future, but right now its not a huge problem since I don't play live shows with it. I would recommend getting this guitar if you are looking for a cheap guitar that sounds good.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I 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

I bought my Les Paul Studio at First music in Eskistuna Sweden. I paid 3500 kronor for it, its about $350 (second hand). I'v always liked both the looks and the sound of the Gibson guitars. Beeing a student and all a Gibson guitar was out of the question. So bought a solid black les paul studio by Epiphone instead.

First of all, the sound is perfect.
I play with a quite small Roland amp still the sound comes out just as I want it too.

Secondly the weight of the guitarr is quite heavy, always a sign of quality.

and finely it looks so cool.

Nothing really, great guitar

See above

I think this guitar is a guitar for both the beginner and the more advanced guitar players. Its a lot of guitar for a little price. Sure if you have lots of money there's better guitars out there, but im satisfied.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

Acedemy of Sound, Nottingham. £350

Well this was my first guitar and i'd say its an excellent guitar to start playing with due to the value for money. I really love the fret board on this compared to all fenders/jacksons/squires in the price range. Tapping is easy and fun whereas on other guitars in the price range i find it really hard. Easy to put new strings on. Sounds amazing with my Digitech RP300.

After about 2 years of intense use parts such as the selector toggle are starting to go a bit weird, although i don't consider it a problem. The surface finish over the entire guitar is still mint. Another thing i don;t like is the machine heads, the guitar can go out of tune pretty easily. Pickup came lose, easily fixed with a screwdriver.

Very Robust, dropped a few times and no damage.

For the price this guitar is amazing, get one. I still play mine everyday and it gives amazing sound.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I got this guitar for christmas. My parents got it from Zzound.com, it coast $1100

EVERYTHING. Kick ass color, wine red, chrome hardwear, feels great, amazing tone, with my digitech RP50 and the two alnico gibson pick-ups you can make this guitar sound just like any bands sound, really stays in tune. perfect stock action for stardard tuning and pretty good for down tuning. and its a gibson of course so you get great quality, sound, and heritage. and it comes with a case with a combo lock!

not much, getting strap locks are a must, and the last 2 frets are a little hard to reach, pretty damn heavy, and cleaning and care is needed very much to keep it looking clean.

great, its heavy so its very solid. there was however a wear mark where my arm rests on the body since its about 1 3/4 inchs thick, i dont know if it came like that, but i dont care because i love this guitar.

KICKS ASS, if you want a les paul and you can aford this one get it, unless you can get a more expensive one, then get that one

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

purchased used, a '98 model in '02 for $464 including shipping ... I'd been playing cheap guitars and was frustrated with the lousy sound, so when this came up I sold my Fender Stratocaster and jumped on it

The humbucker pickups are absolutely awesome, especially after playing through single coils. The depth and power of the sound is more than I had expected and even with my little Peavy amp it sounds just like I'd been wanting a guitar to. And there is some indescribable quality about the neck that I think has to with just the perfectly rounded shape to make everything that much easier to play and with unexpectedly smooth transitions.

The tuners are already worn out and won't hold. I bought a set of Grover self lockers from Stewart McDonald for $43 at the same time I was buying six cans of lacquer to refinish it. For a $1400+ list price it seems reasonable to expect that Gibson would have put a better finish on these things as well. Every black one I've seen looks like kid painted it with a spray can and could only afford one can of paint.

It's built like a tank and will probably outlast me. Despite all my criticisms about the less significant things, this guitar is solid and feels like it will survive things that would destroy lesser instruments.

This was my seventh electric guitar. When I got it though, the Fenders went up for sale and I bought an Epiphone standard model to back it up. While refinishing it I'll reshape it a little to keep it from gouging into me so much where the edges were just left sharp. But the sound makes up for all the little ills. Pick one up and play it and you'll feel what I mean. The sound and the way it feels in your hands eclipse all the lesser guitars out there.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

Purchased this guitar at Guitar Center for $970, including a SKB hard case.

The fit and finish is immaculate. Overall sound is excellent. After adjusting the action and intonation, great playability. Very straight neck: no buzzing even with low action.

The intonation of this guitar was way off. I adjusted it shortly after bringing it home. You'd think this should have already been done at Guitar Center... I also had to lower the action significantly, since it was almost like an acoustic off the shelf.
The guitar has been going out of tune very frequently. I hope this is due to a poor string job from the factory. And very important: be very careful if you have one of those hard shell SKB cases.. I returned mine. It is very easy to bump the edge of the guitar on the metal edge of the case. This is a really poor design. It would have been so simple for SKB to extend the liner slightly above the aluminum edge. Good example of some mechanical engineer who slept during classes!

Everything is classic Les Paul. Fine job.

Overall fit, finish, tone.. very good. At a price just under $1,000 this seems like a very good value. The dealer should have properly tuned this guitar at time of purchase.. they just shovel out product.. Beware. I spent the extra cash for the Gibson case: much better than the "other guy".

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I bought it at a local music store, Engel Music & Supply in South Dakota. I bought my Les Paul because its a guitar I've always dreamed of owning ever since I saw one slung around Jimmy Page. I paid $1,200 for it.

I honestly love everything about this guitar...but what still 5 months later still gives me the most pride of owning one is the massive tone these guitars produce. I've always heard to tone on recordings from everything from Led Zeppelin to ZZ Top, but when you YOURSELF actually achieve that tonal nirvana...it makes you at a loss for words. Its playability is incredible too...I haven't touched it at all since I first pulled it out of the box - its set up is really great right off the cuff. I also love the idea of having separate volumes and a 3-way toggle....it makes it possible to do some cool "kill" sounds when you keep one knob at a volume and turn the other off and flick the switch back and forth. I even love the heaviness of it - which is quite a change considering for the last 5 years I've played only an American Fender Stratocaster...but its not an uncomfortable heaviness...there's just no mistaking that its there.

I really don't have any dislikes about it....I've found though because of the laquer finish on the body...onstage when I play the body gets really kinda gunky and cruddy from sweat and oils...but its an easy fix with a soft polishing towel and some liquid polish.

The Les Paul Studio I bought has a Carved Maple top, with a Mahogany back.
The Neck is Mahogany '59 Rounded Les Paul style..with Pearloid trapezoid inlays on a rosewood fingerboard. Equipped with a standard Tune-o-matic stop bar tailpiece. With the Studio model you can pick between
Chrome or Gold hardware...mine has chrome.
And the pickups are:
490R Alnico magnet humbucker
498T Alnico magnet humbucker

*Plainly put, the construction and quality on this guitar are flawless and immaculate.

What it comes down to is this: If what you want out of a guitar is a singing, full, thick, powerful, beefy, warm tone - this is the guitar for you. It can play jazz, blues, rock, country, metal, whatever you want it to...the Les Paul can do. Its american made and you can't beat that...yes the price tags on Gibson aren't always the least spendy...but after 10 years of jonesing for one of my own...its worth the money...don't wait...its well worth the money, and if you don't believe me; go down to the nearest music shop that has a les paul and plug it in...you'll know exactly what I've been talking about.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com