Gibson Les Paul Studio

Usa made. Pretty much this is an LP standard with less appointments and different pickups. Also the white model I have has an ebony fretboard. I bought this with the intention of it being a touring guitar since most of my other Gibsons are too nice to take on tour and destroy, which I typically do. I compared it to a few upper end models like the standard and traditional. It's pound for pound the same thing besides a few minor features. The big one is the pickups and the lack of a maple cap. Although I've heard that now these actually do come with some sort of a maple top. I'm not really sure.

UTILIZATION

There's not much to say on this. It's a les paul. I do have some gripes though. I've been touring it for roughly a year and the finish has started to wear through to the wood. This has never really happened to me before. I would like a more durable finish. I guess if you want a well aged guitar it's not an issue but sweat seems to really eat through the paint on these. Also I think my neck has warped to some extent. My action has become very unstable and bad no matter what setup I give it. I think the neck angle has become misaligned with this bridge breaking angle. I understand this happens to guitars if they are exposed to elements. But I never really let that happen to mine. May be a bad piece of wood who knows.

SOUNDS

The stock pickups are alright but I'm not a huge fan. I replaced mine with burstbuckers and like them a lot better. Most people seem to be happy with the stock ones though, I'm just very picky. To me it sounds like this guitar has a maple cap. I have a 2008 model fyi. I usually play it through a hughes and kettner statesman 50 into a matchless 2x12.

OVERALL OPINION

Seems like Gibson got cheap on the finish for mine but other than that and the neck warping I'd say this is a great value. Don't take my example as final word I'm sure I just got unlucky. But the finish issue I've heard is somewhat common. Take it for what you will. This is still a good deal on a perfectly good les paul guitar.

This is the left handed Gibson Les Paul Studio. The Studio is the workhorse of the Gibson line. Before the faded guitars and all that came out the studio was the budget model. Today even still its the cheapest Les Paul that still has all the features of a real Les Paul. Being lefty thats even more important because the after this model the left handed versions of the higher end Gibsons are rediculously priced. The features on the current Studio are pretty much the same as they have always been. Its pretty much a Standard without the binding. The guitar has a chambered mahogany body with a set mahogany neck. The neck is the fat 50s profile. The neck on this one has a rosewood fretboard with 22 frets. Older ones have dot inlays but now they come with the trepezoids. It comes with standard gibson 490R and 498T pickups. It has the standard Les Paul control layout with a volume and tone for each pickup and a 3 way toggle switch.

UTILIZATION

You get all the real Les Paul feel with this guitar the good and the bad. This guitar has the huge old neck profile that some people love but most people hate. ecause of the set neck design there is a large neck tenon and joint. This can make the upper frets hard for some people to reach because the body essentially joins the neck at the 17th fret. After the 17th fret you are reaching around the body to get to the frets. Because there is no binding the guitar will be more likely to have sharp fret edges when you first get it. This guitar is a lot lighter than most Les Pauls due to it being chambered. This means they cut wood out from the inside of the guitar so it is almost like a semi-hollow.

SOUNDS

The pickups in this are what you get on most Gibsons now a days. These mid to lower end Les Pauls do not have the classic Les Paul tone in my opinion due to the chambering. The chambering mixed with the mediocre pickups means the tone on a lot of the mid to lower end Les Pauls is lacking. If you play a chambered model next to an older non chambered model you will hear the difference. The neck pickup is a bit smooth. The output is pretty low for modern standards. It wouldnt be bad if it was going for a PAF type tone but its just bad low. The bridge is a bit hotter. It has a wide open crunch sound to it. It has more of a classic rock voicing. You can get a screaming lead tone if you use the bridge position.

OVERALL OPINION

At 1500 USD this guitar is way more expensive than it should be just because it is left handed. You can get a brand new Les Paul Studio for as low as 800 dollars at this time. The most expensive right handed Les Paul studios are still 1300 dollars and they have way better features than this model. It is pretty sad how guitar makers can still get away with this. You can get a fully custom left handed Carvin for less than this and they do not upcharge for left handed units. If I had 1500 dollars to spend on a Gibson style guitar I would get an Edwards and probably save around 400 dollars. Nowadays the best way to get a Gibson is to buy something else.

Before there were a million different Les Paul models there were about 3. You had the Custom at the top, the Standard in the middle and the studio was the budget model. Nowadays there are many more models and there are Les Paul models cheaper than the Studio but the Studio to me is the cheapest real Les Paul, any cheaper than this and you are getting very spartan models that are lacking finish. The only thing the Studio is missing compared to the Standard is binding and lots of people like the clean unbound look. This is the alpine white model which I think is the best in the line up. This model has a chambered mahogany body with a maple top. It has the fat 50s mahogany neck with an ebony fretboard. Only the white model comes with an ebony fretboard. You get chrome tuners and a tune-o-matic bridge with standard Gibson pickups. The controls are standard Les Paul with a volume and tone for each pickup with a 3 way toggle on top.

UTILIZATION

This studio has the classic Les Paul playability, if you like it that is up to you. Having an ebony fretboard is nice compared to the Rosewood you get on every other model. The neck is still a fat 50s baseball bat. This might be uncomfortable for some people. Because there is no binding the guitar will be more likely to have sharp fret edges when you first get it. This guitar is a lot lighter than most Les Pauls due to it being chambered. This means they cut wood out from the inside of the guitar so it is almost like a semi-hollow.

SOUNDS

The factory tone of the guitar isnt great. It has generic Gibson pickups and since the whole body is chambered out you lose the thing mahogany base tone that real Les Pauls have. You can compare a chambered Les Paul to a non chambered Les Paul and you can really hear the difference. A non chambered Les Paul will sound more solid. The mahogany wood give the guitar a really deep sound even though the body is not that big. If you want to play heavier music you may want to change out the pickups. The Gibson pickups are medium output and are voiced more for classic rock. You can get a decent crunchy sound from the bridge pickup. If you put on a ton of gain you will lose definition in the notes though. The neck pickup is bright but kind of smooth. It is not really the neck position sound I go for personally. Putting in some Classic 57s is what I would recommend or some Seymour Duncans.

OVERALL OPINION

If I was looking for buy a Les Paul and It had to be a Gibson I wouldnt buy anything lower than A Studio. The Studio has all the stuff the standard has that effects the actual sound of the guitar. The faded models with the lack of finish on them are not as durable and the different finishing methods effect sound. If you are looking at a Studio I would recommend also Looking at Edwards guitars. They cost about the same and for the price of a real Gibson Les Paul studio you can get an Edwards Les Paul Standard or Custom.

This guitar is basically the introduction for someone who wants to get into a Gibson Les Paul guitar. This is the Gibson Les Paul studio guitar which is basically a standard version but with without the quality wood components et cetera et cetera. It's still a great sounding guitar and you get a very Les Paul tone no matter how you play or with whatever amp you're playing it with. These are a lot less expensive compared to most of the custom guitars and their standard plus guitars.

This is a fine instrument for the budgeted musician and it's a great sounding guitar with its wine red color, it's almost looks like it's swirls in the paint job. It's a darker red color so it's not a Ferrari red or a racer red color but more of a black mixed with a red swirl. It's a nice-looking guitar with the black knobs in the pearl block inlays for the fretboards. Overall it's a good guitar for someone who doesn't want to spend a whole lot of money or wants to keep their budget under a thousand dollars.

UTILIZATION

Manufactured in: Nashville, TN

Top Species: Carved Maple top

Back Species: Mahogany

Neck Species: Mahogany

Profile: '59 Les Paul Rounded

Peghead Pitch: 17 degrees

Thickness at 1st Fret: 0.818 in.

Thickness at 12th Fret: 0.963 in.

Heel Length: 0.625 in.

Neck Joint Location: 16th fret

Fingerboard Species: Rosewood; Ebony on Classic/Alpine White and Platinum

Scale Length: 24-3/4 in.

Total Length: 18.062 in.

Number of Frets: 22

Nut Width: 1-11/16 in.

Width at 12th Fret: 2.062 in.

Inlays: Pearloid trapezoid, none on Platinum

Hardware Plating Finish: Chrome

Tailpiece: Stopbar

Bridge: Tune-o-matic

Knobs: Black Speed

Tuners: Green Key

Neck Pickup: 490R Alnico magnet humbucker

Bridge Pickup: 498T Alnico magnet humbucker

Controls: 2 volume, 2 tone, 3-way switch

Case Interior: Dark Grey Plush with Black Shroud

Case Exterior: Black Reptile Pattern Hardshell

Case Silkscreen: Silver 'Gibson USA' logo

Strings: Brite Wires .010-.046

SOUNDS


The tone of this guitar is very Gibson Les Paul no doubt about it. It sounds like any other Les Paul you you have ever heard before. It's a guitar that features a mahogany body and mahogany neck with the rosewood fretboard. You get nice pearl block inlays within the frets to volume control knobs and two tone control knobs.

This guitar sounds spectacular with a Mesa boogie amp or a Marshall JCM 800 amp, or just a solid high gain amplifier that just mixes very well. We had this exact guitar in our band for a while and it sounded very good through our Mesa boogie Mark lll and our marshall DSL hundred watt amp. It's a great rock 'n roll tone and the pickups we had it were the normal burstbucker pickups. I'm not really a fan of the burst bucker pickups but this sounded really good in this guitar. I highly recommend this guitar to anyone you need to get solid mahogany rock 'n roll guitar.

OVERALL OPINION

These guitars come in new right around $1300 or you can find them on the used market for just a little less than this if it's this model but some of the older Gibson Les Paul studio guitars that were not chambered usually run a few hundred less than this price new and sound a little bit better then these new chambered studio guitars. I recommend this guitar to anyone who wants to get a Gibson Les Paul tone and doesn't want to spend more than $1500 to do it. This is a great guitar a great sounding guitar and will serve your needs very well for gigging or recording session.