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King Loudness « Lotsa tone, not a lot of $$$ »
Published on 08/10/11 at 18:03The Gibson Les Paul Studio Faded was designed as a slightly lower market version of their famed Les Paul Studio model. What it offers differently is that the finish is not shiny and glossy using many buffed out coats of nitro lacquer, but rather it just uses pore filler and a couple of thin coats applied over top of it to provide a thinner "faded" finish. It is more satin in the feel so it is a bit slicker and faster to play and hold in my experience. Often Gibsons feel glossy and sticky after hours of play, but that's not the case with this guitar. It's made in the USA and features a mahogany body and neck with a rosewood fretboard, Kluson tuners, tune-o-matic bridge and stopbar tailpiece, and a pair of Gibson Burstbucker Pro humbuckers. Just stripped down and great.
UTILIZATION
The design of the Les Paul was never one that I'd have considered ergonomic at all, because of it's rather clunky/limited upper fret access, the heavier weight, the single cutaway, and the fact it only has 22 frets. However, this guitar bucks a little bit of that because of the chambered body that it features (something Gibson has started doing as of 2006 to it's LP guitars) as well as the thin finish that makes the feel a bit faster.
Getting a good tone out of this guitar is dead simple. It's an all mahogany plank of wood... turn every control to ten, plug into a good tube Marshall and hit an open A chord and it will sound amazing... the LP into a Marshall is the pinnacle of rock guitar tone.
SOUNDS
I've tried this guitar through many different amps and to me, the solid mahogany construction sings best when plugged into a high gain British voiced amp such as a Marshall or Orange. The Burstbucker Pros take very well to that classic seventies/eighties school of arena rock esque tones and when you give 'em the juice, it is a glorious wonder! I wouldn't say that the sound of this guitar is overly versatile... IE: Cleans were fairly one dimensional to my ears, and I don't really care for the tone of the guitar for anything but raunchy rock flavours.
OVERALL OPINION
All in all I think Gibson's onto a winner with the LP Studio Faded. It's a great guitar for the $850 that it costs and hey, it's a USA made Gibson with good woods, good pickups and that unmistakeable Gibson sound. Though it's not the most versatile rig ever, it certainly sounds rockin' to my ears.
Definitely give one a whirl!
UTILIZATION
The design of the Les Paul was never one that I'd have considered ergonomic at all, because of it's rather clunky/limited upper fret access, the heavier weight, the single cutaway, and the fact it only has 22 frets. However, this guitar bucks a little bit of that because of the chambered body that it features (something Gibson has started doing as of 2006 to it's LP guitars) as well as the thin finish that makes the feel a bit faster.
Getting a good tone out of this guitar is dead simple. It's an all mahogany plank of wood... turn every control to ten, plug into a good tube Marshall and hit an open A chord and it will sound amazing... the LP into a Marshall is the pinnacle of rock guitar tone.
SOUNDS
I've tried this guitar through many different amps and to me, the solid mahogany construction sings best when plugged into a high gain British voiced amp such as a Marshall or Orange. The Burstbucker Pros take very well to that classic seventies/eighties school of arena rock esque tones and when you give 'em the juice, it is a glorious wonder! I wouldn't say that the sound of this guitar is overly versatile... IE: Cleans were fairly one dimensional to my ears, and I don't really care for the tone of the guitar for anything but raunchy rock flavours.
OVERALL OPINION
All in all I think Gibson's onto a winner with the LP Studio Faded. It's a great guitar for the $850 that it costs and hey, it's a USA made Gibson with good woods, good pickups and that unmistakeable Gibson sound. Though it's not the most versatile rig ever, it certainly sounds rockin' to my ears.
Definitely give one a whirl!