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tjon901 « Clean white studio »
Published on 10/19/11 at 12:00Before 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.
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.