All user reviews for the Gibson Les Paul Studio

description is well established
+ point:
light guitar
sound (even though I actively changing the board microphones! personal I opted for the classic 57 classic and 57 +)

point:
the handle carved with an ax no regular hyper: | and finishes !!!!!!

UTILIZATION

les paul studio 57 + classic vintage sound at a good price guaranteed resonance (at the time)

SOUNDS

I use it for blues, funk, rock, hard rock, jazz (very interesting) by connecting a model fender concert
I mainly use the amp saturation of the boost that I sometimes with a Fulltone OCD
I was looking for a very distinctive grain vintage (paul person, acdc ..) so I changed the original pickups that I found rather impersonal

OVERALL OPINION

I use it since 1995 was my first "real" guitar, les paul remember my first) I had never tried before others.

it can be a good guitar at a reasonable price as long as it customizes some microphones and we take the time to try other

remaining big problems in finishing the series (I hope this slows down the rendering has been resolved), which did not justify such a price

I have been compared with models of vintage models 70 'and c the slap sound and very different anyway! Small studios are less dense so its a less compact
I do not regret my choice but I still got lucky they do not sound all like that
I would save would be to remake one more for a model with more range or into a home to a luthier (c my choice for 2012)

Made in the US, 22 frets if I do not talk nonsense, the rest is a gibson studio 92 what

UTILIZATION

When I bought it at the time, I found it very heavy, but I was immediately seduced by the "gibson", namely, full of serious, sustain, and so on. To the big rock, I have not found better.

Channel super nice when I do a solo on a song, it is what I use. I feel comfortable with it, but obviously, it's been 20 years (devil) that I have, it also plays a lot.

on the other hand, it is not super versatile, you must love his sound and not try to play like a telecaster for example.

SOUNDS

Settings for a long time now, I prefer the simple
guitar - cable amp.

By playing on the volume that I can vary the sound of a fat to almost clear (but beware, once again it is a gibson, even at a volume that task).

For now, I've played on Marshalls JCM, the Mesa Boogie tube and my faith deposit that severe. I hope to make it taste a Orange one day, but it will first deliver my finances afloat ...

OVERALL OPINION

For the low-end Gibson, I have found my guitar, but I play in a blues rock record, hard, rock and roll that lends itself to playing with this guitar, I'm not sure you can use in any style ...

I love his face (burgundy), sound, easy to play on the handle.

I also have a telecaster, a MusicMan Luke II, and a Hagström Viking, but to the Les Paul Studio that invariably when I turn my sound I want to print on a piece of me ...

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.

The Gibson Les Paul Studio is widely known as a very stripped down but still great sounding version of the venerable Les Paul guitar. Many of the core features are still the same such as the mahogany body and neck, the maple top, the dual humbuckers and the Gibson craftsmanship in the good ol' US of A. It features a mahogany body, mahogany neck, an arched maple cap, an EBONY fretboard with trapezoid inlays, Kluson tuners, a tune-o-matic bridge with stopbar tailpiece, dual Gibson humbuckers (490R/498T or Burstbucker Pros depending on the model), and the typical Les Paul cosmetics and construction, minus binding. Though the lack of cosmetics may be a turn off for some, the stripped down ethos and lower price tag of the Studio make it a viable option for many younger players who want the real deal but can't swing $2,000+ for a new Standard. This guitar features an ebony fretboard which is a cool change, offering a slightly brighter and harder tone than the rosewood. Plus it looks just like Randy Rhoads!






UTILIZATION

All in all the design of the Les Paul Studio is really simplistic and to the point, which helps to create a pure and true sounding Les Paul for not a whole lotta dosh. Since 2006 they've been chambered and this causes them to be much lighter and easier to hold for longer periods of time. The resulting tonal change makes the guitar sound a bit more akin to a hollowbody like a Gibson ES335, which some players may or may not like. The neck is a beefy but manageable '50s fat profile, perfect for really digging in and grabbing notes by the skin of their teeth.

Getting a good sound out of this guitar is simple enough. Gibsons don't have or offer a whole lot of different switching or control options... it's two humbuckers. So as a result you're getting a only a select few tones. The pickups suit a wide variety of styles from jazz to metal and they work quite well in this guitar. Like I stated above, the ebony fretboard of this guitar helps to change the sound somewhat. It's a bit more like an LP Custom (a bit brighter and not quite as warm sounding) as opposed to the Standard, which is a cool change.

SOUNDS

I've tried this guitar with a few different Fender and Mesa Boogie amplifiers. It is a fairly versatile guitar considering the limited switching options that you get. The neck pickup works really well for clean jazzier tones or some early Cream esque bluesy goodness. The combination of two pickups provides some hints of Fender tones overall... while it's not quite a Tele, it has that sort of idea behind it if you dial it in right. The bridge pickup is fairly bright and it works very well for many rock rhythm and lead, both clean and distorted. I've heard these guitars with both the 490/498s and the BB Pros and they both work very well in this guitar tonally. This guitar works for that slightly heavier tone that LP Customs are known for as well because it's very similar feature wise (minus the binding).


OVERALL OPINION

All in all I think the Gibson Les Paul Studio is a wise choice for anyone looking for a great Les Paul with the feel and tone of the higher end models on a budget. They're about $1,300 new which is a good price considering the value to quality ratio on a guitar like this. It comes with a nice Gibson USA hardcase as well. I personally prefer the unchambered Les Pauls myself, but it's all a matter of opinion. I prefer this model over other Studios and the combination of the white finish with gold and ebony makes it really classy.

The Gibson Les Paul Studio came about in the 1980s as a lower priced, slightly stripped down version of the famed Les Paul Standard. Many of the core features are still the same such as the mahogany body and neck, the maple top, the dual humbuckers and the Gibson craftsmanship in the good ol' US of A. It features a mahogany body, mahogany neck, an arched maple cap, a rosewood fretboard with trapezoid inlays, Kluson tuners, a tune-o-matic bridge with stopbar tailpiece, dual Gibson humbuckers (490R/498T or Burstbucker Pros depending on the model), and the typical Les Paul cosmetics and construction, minus binding. Though the lack of cosmetics may be a turn off for some, the stripped down ethos and lower price tag of the Studio make it a viable option for many younger players who want the real deal but can't swing $2,000+ for a new Standard.

UTILIZATION

All in all the design of the Les Paul Studio is really simplistic and to the point, which helps to create a pure and true sounding Les Paul for not a whole lotta dosh. Since 2006 they've been chambered and this causes them to be much lighter and easier to hold for longer periods of time. The resulting tonal change makes the guitar sound a bit more akin to a hollowbody like a Gibson ES335, which some players may or may not like. The neck is a beefy but manageable '50s fat profile, perfect for really digging in and grabbing notes by the skin of their teeth.

Getting a good sound out of this guitar is simple enough. Gibsons don't have or offer a whole lot of different switching or control options... it's two humbuckers. So as a result you're getting a only a select few tones. The pickups suit a wide variety of styles from jazz to metal and they work quite well in this guitar.

SOUNDS

I've tried this guitar with various Fender and Mesa Boogie amplifiers. It is a fairly versatile guitar considering the limited switching options that you get. The neck pickup works really well for clean jazzier tones or some early Cream esque bluesy goodness. The combination of two pickups provides some hints of Fender tones overall... while it's not quite a Tele, it has that sort of idea behind it if you dial it in right. The bridge pickup is fairly bright and it works very well for many rock rhythm and lead, both clean and distorted. I've heard these guitars with both the 490/498s and the BB Pros and they both work very well in this guitar tonally.

OVERALL OPINION

All in all I think the Gibson Les Paul Studio is a wise choice for anyone looking for a great Les Paul with the feel and tone of the higher end models on a budget. They're about $1,300 new which is a good price considering the value to quality ratio on a guitar like this. It comes with a nice Gibson USA hardcase as well. I personally prefer the unchambered Les Pauls myself, but it's all a matter of opinion.

Gibson offers several ranges of the Les Paul series guitars for the professional guitarist as well as the budget consumer guitarist. they have a vast range of Les Paul's for exotic looks as well as pretty bare-bones guitars. This is going to be one of those bare-bones Gibson Les Paul petards.

This is Gibson Les Paul studio guitar which is the bottom as far as the price point goes. They're fairly inexpensive and they can come under well under $1000. That is a good intro price for someone who wants to step up to it good les Paul tone. These guitars are built out of mahogany wood most times with a rosewood fretboard.

UTILIZATION

These guitars are fairly easy to dial in and basically just crank up the volume on both channels I should say both pick ups and the volume knobs ups and the tone controls up to 10 as well. You have two volume controls and you have two tone control knobs as well as a pick up selector at the top of the guitar. It comes with the rosewood fretboard with the nice block pearl inlay for the frets. And you have a black headstock with the nice logo with Gibson at the top.

SOUNDS


The studio Gibson Les Paul guitar is a general Les Paul tone. It will get you just about any Les Paul tone that you've ever heard, but the feel of the guitar will be a little bit different than a standard Gibson Les Paul or even a custom Gibson Les Paul. There isn't much change in tone from guitar to guitar unless the top is changed. And what I mean by that, is that some of the standard plus Gibson Les Paul's will have a quilted or fingered maple top which balances out the mahogany wood a little bit better.

I generally like these guitars with a Mesa boogie or a Marshall amplifier. These guitars really come into their own with a good high gain amplifier more so than they would with a clean amplifier such as a fender twin reverb. They don't sound as good to my ears with the clean amps as much as they do with the gainey distorted amplifier.

OVERALL OPINION


You can find these guitars new for right around $799. That is a pretty good price for an entry-level Gibson Les Paul guitar. This is an all mahogany guitar with the Rosewood fretboard and have a good solid rock 'n roll tone. The guitar doesn't clean up as well as a Fender guitar would so these are going to be the guitars I would match with a Fender amp as much as I would high gain amplifier. I highly recommend this guitar if you're looking to get into a Gibson Les Paul and you have a budget under $1000.

This Gibson Les Paul is more of a studio type series guitar from Gibson and has a tight and thirsty tone. This guitar I think is all mahogany and there's no maple on the top which doesn't help with taming the overall meatiness of this guitar. The guitar itself. It's pretty nice to look at its ebony or black paint job finish and it has a rosewood fretboard and the matching black headstock with pretty average Gibson pickups installed in both the bridge in the neck. Overall it's an okay guitar, it's nothing to write home about but it'll do the job if you can get a good deal on it.

UTILIZATION

The tone of this guitar is pretty standard for Les Paul's. It's nothing spectacular but it's right in the range of a normal Les Paul tone. This is a pretty easy guitar to use if you've ever played a Gibson guitar before. It has two volume control knobs as well as two tone control knobs. In addition it also has a pick up selector on the top part portion of the guitar itself. A normal six string guitar and it does an okay job at drop tunings but it won't give you those highs that you've looking for if you have a Gibson Les Paul with the maple top on it.

SOUNDS

The tone is very studio quality in reference to the Gibson Les Paul studio guitars. They have a decent feel but not compared to the standards or the custom Gibson Les Paul guitars. The tone overall is pretty thick and not as balances as a custom or Standard with a nice fingered or quilted maple top.

I generally like the tone of the studio Gibson Les Paul with Mesa boogie dual rectifier amplifier. We have one in the band with this guitar and it sounded pretty decent for what he could do and it did the job that it was intended for.

OVERALL OPINION


These guitars you can find pretty easily on a use market and in classifieds. I highly suggested if you can get one for right around $7-$900. Gibson now is selling studio get Les Paul's for right at $800 new so that's another option aside from this one. It's a great guitar and it's fairly inexpensive guitar and it does the job quite well in my opinion.

The Studios are the guitars that are a bit more on the budget side, and considering some of the build quality on these, it's not really a surprise. The main difference between this and the regular Les Paul is that this doesn't have a maple top, and it lacks binding. The guitar features a mahogany body, mahogany neck with a rosewood fretboard, 22 frets, trapezoid inlays, pickguard, no binding, hard tail bridge, two humbuckers, two volumes, two tones and a three way switch.

UTILIZATION

These guitars can really vary depending on what time of day they were made, how the luthiers were feeling, etc. This guitar had a few of the common issues that I usually find with these. The nut itself wasn't cut deep enough, and it was causing the strings to snag every time you bent a note. The frets themselves were fairly level, but the edges were a touch sharp. A quick filing with the triangle file should fix that no problem. Aside from that, the rest of the guitar was put together fairly nicely, although it was slightly heavy in terms of overall weight.

SOUNDS

The guitar didn't sound quite as good as a normal Les Paul, and I have a feeling that a lot of that can be contributed to A) the fact that this thing weighed quite a bit (dead weight which means a lack of resonance) and B) the fact that there's no maple top on this. These two things really define that standard Les Paul tone, and once they're missing, you get something that's a bit...different. It's not the worst sound in the world, but it's just not something that I'm looking for while searching for Les Pauls. The pickups in this were average and nothing to really write home about.

OVERALL OPINION

If you're going to get one of these, be sure to play through quite a few and find the one with the least amount of flaws. Also, make sure it's not too heavy and resonates nicely. There are some great players out there, but you have to hunt through them a bit to find the perfect one.

The Studios are the guitars that are a bit more on the budget side, and considering some of the build quality on these, it's not really a surprise. The main difference between this and the regular Les Paul is that this doesn't have a maple top, and it lacks binding. The guitar features a mahogany body, mahogany neck with a rosewood fretboard, 22 frets, trapezoid inlays, pickguard, no binding, hard tail bridge, two humbuckers, two volumes, two tones and a three way switch.

UTILIZATION

These guitars can really vary depending on what time of day they were made, how the luthiers were feeling, etc. This guitar had a few of the common issues that I usually find with these. The nut itself wasn't cut deep enough, and it was causing the strings to snag every time you bent a note. The frets themselves were fairly level, but the edges were a touch sharp. A quick filing with the triangle file should fix that no problem. Aside from that, the rest of the guitar was put together fairly nicely, although it was slightly heavy in terms of overall weight.

SOUNDS

The guitar didn't sound quite as good as a normal Les Paul, and I have a feeling that a lot of that can be contributed to A) the fact that this thing weighed quite a bit (dead weight which means a lack of resonance) and B) the fact that there's no maple top on this. These two things really define that standard Les Paul tone, and once they're missing, you get something that's a bit...different. It's not the worst sound in the world, but it's just not something that I'm looking for while searching for Les Pauls. The pickups in this were average and nothing to really write home about.

OVERALL OPINION

If you're going to get one of these, be sure to play through quite a few and find the one with the least amount of flaws. Also, make sure it's not too heavy and resonates nicely. There are some great players out there, but you have to hunt through them a bit to find the perfect one.

I have always been a fan of the Gibson Les Paul guitars. Some of them can be hit or miss thought at times, but overall when you get a good one you fall in love with it and never get rid of it. These are great guitars when you get a solid one. Buying off the internet won't necessarily get you a good one. I would suggest playing one before buying.


Les Paul Studio Features:

Color: Wine Red
Top: Carved maple
Back: Mahogany
Neck: Mahogany with 1959 rounded profile
Fingerboard: Rosewood with pearloid trapezoid inlays
Number of frets: 22
Pickups: 490R (neck); 498T (bridge)
Controls: Two each tone and volume with three-way pickup selector switch
Machine heads: Green Keys
Hardware: Chrome plated

UTILIZATION

Details
Body Material Mahogany, Chambered
Top Material Maple
Body Finish Nitrocellulose
Color Wine Red
Neck Material Mahogany, Set
Neck Shape '59 Rounded
Scale Length 24-3/4"
Fingerboard Material Rosewood, 12" Radius
Fingerboard Inlay Pearloid Trapezoids
Number of Frets 22
Nut Width 1-11/16""
Bridge/Tailpiece Tune-O-Matic Nashville/Stop Bar
Tuners Grover Green Keys
Number of Pickups 2
Neck Pickup Burstbucker Pro Alnico Humbucker
Middle Pickup No Middle Pickup
Bridge Pickup Burstbucker Pro Alnico Humbucker
Controls 2 x Volume, 2 x Tone, 3-way Pickup Toggle
Case Included Gig Bag

SOUNDS

This is a player's guitar. This guitar is not a showroom quality of custom piece, but rather a good gigging guitar and a cheaper intro guitar into the Gibson Les Paul world. You can get a decent tone out of this thing. It is chambered so there is going to be something missing in the tone if you have played non-chambered Les Paul for any given amount of time.

These guitars sound great when coupled with a good Marshall style voiced amp or even a solid sounding older UK made Vox. I love the tone you can get with a good beefy Les Paul and a nice Vox Ac30. Use a nice booster pedal or a tube screamer and you will get some solid classic rock tones. Slap a good sounding analog delay in there and you will get a solid sustaining tone that will be fitting for most musical styles.

OVERALL OPINION

At new you can pick these guitars up for right at around $1320. Not a bad price for the intro to Gibson Les Paul guitars. This is a third of the price for a custom one and half the price of a standard one. It is double the price for a faded series studio so there are some even cheaper than this. I would recommend getting an older one as I don't particularly care for the chambered sound.

The ebony look on the Gibson Les Paul is a very classic look and one of the most recognizable colors that you would see on a Les Paul. I am not a fan of the look of this guitar. The Gibson Les Paul has such a unique soul and when you strike a note you just feel the resonance and vibe that can only be an LP. The black look is just too plain for me. I like the look of a Goldtop LP the best but many other like the vintage white and quilted top are some of the best looking Gibson's made. This black ebony just does't give me the look that I think matches the soul of a Gibson Les Paul.

Les Paul Studio Features:

* Color: Ebony
* Top: Carved maple
* Back: Mahogany
* Neck: Mahogany with 1959 rounded profile
* Fingerboard: Rosewood with pearloid trapezoid inlays
* Number of frets: 22
* Pickups: Two humbucking pickups with Alnico magnets
* Controls: Two each tone and volume with three-way pickup selector switch
* Machine heads: Green Keys
* Hardware: Chrome plated

UTILIZATION

Detail
Body Material Mahogany
Top Material Maple
Body Finish Nitrocellulose
Color Ebony
Neck Material Mahogany, Set
Neck Shape '59 Rounded
Scale Length 24-3/4"
Fingerboard Material Rosewood, 12" Radius
Fingerboard Inlay Pearloid Trapezoids
Number of Frets 22
Nut Width 1-11/16"
Bridge/Tailpiece Tune-O-Matic/Stop Bar
Tuners Grover Green Keys
Number of Pickups 2
Neck Pickup 490R Alnico Humbucker
Middle Pickup No middle pickup
Bridge Pickup 498T Alnico Humbucker
Controls 2 x Volume, 2 x Tone, 3-way Pickup Toggle
Case Included Hardshell

SOUNDS

The tone on these guitars don't vary too much. The ebony won't sound any different than the alpine white or the faded cherry, but these guitars do vary in feel from one another. I can't tell you how many times I have walked into a music shop and pickup about 5 or 6 Gibson Les Paul's and each one feels completely different from one another. That is the problem with buying a Les Paul is that so many other them sound good and so many of them feel good but getting one to sound good and feel good can be a task. I would never buy this guitar or any other Gibson Les Paul off the internet or without playing it first. Each one comes of the production line a little different from the one before it. So I wold suggest playing the guitar first before you buy. So many guitar hit the classifieds very quickly form people blind buying these guitars. There are enough of these guitars out there to try before you buy.

OVERALL OPINION

You can pick these guitars up new for right around $1320, which isn't a bad price for a new Gibson Les Paul. These guitars are very good entry point for a Gibson Les Paul. The custom will cost more than double this price and the standards will cost at least double the price of this guitar. So this will get you into the game. Still not cheap but other than the faded version that cost $799 this is the only way to go.

If you are in the market for a Gibson Les Paul Studio then you want to spend as least as you can to get that Les Paul tone. If you absolutely need a color then you will pay almost double the price. If you don't care what the look of this guitar is, then I would suggest the faded version which come in right at around $799. Where the painted ones come in at $1300+. This is a player's guitar and at this price it is still good for a Gibson Les Paul.


Gibson Les Paul Studio Solid body Electric Guitar Features:


* Carved maple top over a mahogany body gives you authentic Les Paul sound and feel
* '50s-profile mahogany neck with luscious ebony fingerboard plays like butter
* Two Alnico magnet humbuckers give you original PAF tone, with a slight upper-midrange boost
* Pearloid trapezoid inlays give your Les Paul Studio that authentic LP vibe
* Durable Nitro finish feels great and gives your axe stunning good looks
* Crafted by Gibson in the USA

UTILIZATION

Details
Body Material Mahogany
Top Material Maple
Body Finish Nitrocellulose
Color Alpine White
Neck Material Mahogany, Set
Neck Shape '59 Rounded
Scale Length 24-3/4"
Fingerboard Material Rosewood, 12" Radius
Fingerboard Inlay Pearloid Trapezoids
Number of Frets 22
Nut Width 1-11/16"
Bridge/Tailpiece Tune-O-Matic/Stop Bar
Tuners Grover Green Keys
Number of Pickups 2
Neck Pickup 490R Alnico Humbucker
Middle Pickup No middle pickup
Bridge Pickup 498T Alnico Humbucker
Controls 2 x Volume, 2 x Tone, 3-way Pickup Toggle
Case Included Hardshell

SOUNDS

These necks are pretty beefy. So if you like the feel of the 50's neck or just a thick neck then you will jive with the feel of this guitar. I prefer the feel of a Gibson Les Paul with the 60's profile style neck. So this neck is a little too much for my hands but its is still a good feeling guitar. I love the way the Gibson Les Paul feels and dos even though I am partial to the 60's neck I still like the feel of this guitar.

The tone of this guitar is very nice like most Les Pauls. This guitar is chambered which I hate and fee it is a cheap out for Gibson to make guitars with a sub standard built quality. I think Les Pauls sound the n=best with a Marshall voiced amp. I love the way they feel and respond to the voicing of a Plexi or an 800 style amp. They just blend perfectly together.

OVERALL OPINION

At new you can pick these guitars up right at around $1320, which is a great price for a Gibson Les Paul. I would suggest getting the faded studios ans they come in at around $799. So you will save a good chunk of money of you don't mind the bare wood look. This is a cool looking guitar with the white alpine look. I love white LP's as they just have a cool vibe to the paint job.

The Les Paul Studio is always one of those guitars that a lot of people tend to stay away from as it lacks the true construction that a normal Les Paul has. I tend to agree, but these are still pretty solid, especially for their used prices. The guitar features a mahogany body, mahogany neck with a rosewood fretboard, 22 frets, trapezoid inlays, pickguard, no binding, hard tail bridge, two humbuckers, two volumes, two tones and a three way switch.

UTILIZATION

These guitars seem to be built fairly nice, but I experienced some fretwork issues on a few that were in the store. Gibson still has some QC issues, so you really need to play all of these before ultimately buying them. The good thing is that they were all fairly resonant sounding. That means that any fretwork issues or nut issues can usually be corrected by a competent luthier without too much of a hassle.


SOUNDS

This guitar actually had EMGs installed in it, so I'll be going by those instead of the standard pickups. The guitar had an EMG 81 in the bridge and an EMG 85 in the neck. The 81 in the bridge sounded thick, but it had enough bite to cut through without a problem. It worked awesome for metal tones; in fact, it was crushing. I was really surprised how nice it sounded. The 85 in the neck was super thick and worked awesome for those legato and shred leads. The clean tones were pretty awful on these, but that's fairly typical with EMGs. However, since it's geared towards metal, the clean tone doesn't really matter that much.

OVERALL OPINION

If you swap the pickups in these models, you can get a super fat sounding guitar. It won't have that top end sparkle that the normal Les Paul has, but some people like the darker tone of the all mahogany models. It really depends on what you're going for, but I find that these can be pretty solid if you find one used in good condition. Just be sure to check the frest and nut as those'll be your biggest issue.

The Les Paul Studio is always one of those guitars that a lot of people tend to stay away from as it lacks the true construction that a normal Les Paul has. I tend to agree, but these are still pretty solid, especially for their used prices. The guitar features a mahogany body, mahogany neck with a rosewood fretboard, 22 frets, trapezoid inlays, pickguard, no binding, hard tail bridge, two humbuckers, two volumes, two tones and a three way switch.

UTILIZATION

These guitars seem to be built fairly nice, but I experienced some fretwork issues on a few that were in the store. Gibson still has some QC issues, so you really need to play all of these before ultimately buying them. The good thing is that they were all fairly resonant sounding. That means that any fretwork issues or nut issues can usually be corrected by a competent luthier without too much of a hassle.


SOUNDS

This guitar actually had EMGs installed in it, so I'll be going by those instead of the standard pickups. The guitar had an EMG 81 in the bridge and an EMG 85 in the neck. The 81 in the bridge sounded thick, but it had enough bite to cut through without a problem. It worked awesome for metal tones; in fact, it was crushing. I was really surprised how nice it sounded. The 85 in the neck was super thick and worked awesome for those legato and shred leads. The clean tones were pretty awful on these, but that's fairly typical with EMGs. However, since it's geared towards metal, the clean tone doesn't really matter that much.

OVERALL OPINION

If you swap the pickups in these models, you can get a super fat sounding guitar. It won't have that top end sparkle that the normal Les Paul has, but some people like the darker tone of the all mahogany models. It really depends on what you're going for, but I find that these can be pretty solid if you find one used in good condition. Just be sure to check the frest and nut as those'll be your biggest issue.

Everyone knows what a Les Paul is. The Les Paul guitar has been an icon in the guitar world for nearly 60 years now. The shape is a classic shape and the design is timeless. There have been countless version of the Les Paul released. Many are short lived but there are a few variations that Gibson has decided to make regular. The Les Paul Studio has been a common model for the last 20 or so years. The Les Paul Studio is a no frills version of the Les Paul. The guitar is pretty much a Les Paul Standard without any extras. There is no binding anywhere to be found. Most models come with a rosewood fretboard but some have ebony which I do not understand. They have 22 frets with trapezoid inlays now. They use to come with dot inlays. The neck is the baseball bat 50s style. It comes with standard gibson 490R and 498T pickups. It has the standard Les Paul control layout with a volume and tone for teach pickup and a 3 way switch.

UTILIZATION

No frills reaches into the area of playability also. With the 50s style neck some players might have some problems. They have put the 50s profile Gibson neck on this guitar so the neck is huge. People call the 50s profile neck the baseball bat neck. This may make it hard for some people with smaller hands to play. Because 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. If you x-rayed the guitar it would look like it was made out of swiss cheese with little circles cut out of it. Gibson still isnt putting locking bridges on their guitars. When you change strings the bridge can come off because it is held on by string tension. If this happens make sure you put it on the right way because you can put it on backwards and your intonation will be horribly off. When this happens your guitar will sound in tune on the open strings but any chords you play will sound off. Companies like ESP have been putting locking tune-o-matic bridges on their guitars for years.

SOUNDS

Being a low end Gibson it has the generic Gibson pickups. These pickups are not anything special. With the chambering the natural tone of the guitar is really effected. 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. Putting in some Classic 57s would be okay if you want to keep it all Gibson but I recommend some Seymour Duncan pickups for a guitar like this.

OVERALL OPINION

This guitar sells for about 800 dollars. At that low a price there are better guitars out there if you are not just buying it for the Gibson logo on the headstock. A high end Epiphone which would be about 100 dollars less is just as good if not better than this guitar. The money you save getting the high end Epiphone you can put towards some nice pickups and you would have a much better guitar then. You can find some Edwards guitars for this cheap and they would also be much better since they are non chambered and come with aftermarket pickups and ebony fretboards stock. If you are looking for a cheap Les Paul and it has to be a Gibson they dont get much cheaper than this.