All user reviews of 3/5 for the Gibson Les Paul Studio (2012)

The Les Paul Studio is like a line of guitars of its own now. Before all the faded guitars and what not the Studio was the original budget model. It has all the features of a real Les Paul but isnt a JR model. There are many variants of the Studio now and this one is the model with Gold hardware all around. The body is chambered mahogany now. If you get an old one it might not be chambered. The neck is a fat 50s mahogany neck. The fretboard on this model is rosewood. On the white model it is ebony. Older studio models have dot inlays while the newer ones have trapezoid inlays. The tuners up top are non locking as is the bridge. 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

This guitar is pretty spartan all around. There is no binding anywhere and some of the fit and finish might be rough. I have seen un even frets on some Les Paul Studios. 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.With the non locking tuners and non locking bridge you get the traditional problems. The it may go out of tune on you and when you change strings the bridge and tailpiece will fall off. With the Gold hardware it is more prone to tarnishing. If you do not clean it after every session it will turn black on you or green. Tarnished gold hardware doesnt look cool like dirty chrome hardware it just looks bad.

SOUNDS

With the generic Gibson pickups you get a generic modern Gibson sound. A generic Gibson sound from 60 years ago would be really good. But a modern Generic Gibson sound is not so good. A lot of the base tone is lost due to the chambering as well. The thick mahogany body is part of the Gibson tone. This guitar has a big chamber inside it and although they say this chamber doesnt affect tone it really does. Some of the thickness is gone on these chambered models. It is especially noticable when you try one out acoustically. A good acoustic base is the key to a good amplified tone. Guitars that sound bad acoustically can sound good amplified but if you have a good base everything beyond that gets better. The pickups are decent all around pickups. They are more voiced for classic rock. If you are playing a more specialized type of music like metal you may want to change the pickups.

OVERALL OPINION

The gold hardware on this model does not make it any better than the other studio models. I would not recommend this model over a normal Studio model. I would normally not recommend a studio at all. I would only recommend this model if you come across a good deal used. For the price of these guitars New you can get a much better Japanese guitar or a guitar from another company with much better features. Of if you want a Studio you can get a guitar with the same features for much cheaper.

One of the coolest looking Gibson Les Paul Studio's that I have seen. This is basically double the price of a regular Studio guitar. Simple reason is that the top is a custom or exotic piece. I however don't think it is worth double the price. If you get a Fender Strat that has fireburst or what they call 3 tone sunburst is a $50 up charge. This one is double. This is a bit of a rip off if you ask me. Not worth double the price but hey that is where Gibson has been going lately with their chambered bodies and overpriced '59 VOS guitars costing upwards of $5000+.

Gibson Les Paul Studio Features:

* Built in Nashville, TN
* Fire Burst finish with rosewood fingerboard
* Vintage-style 490R and 498T humbucking pickups
* Quality maple and mahogany construction
* Tune-o-matic bridge and stopbar tailpiece
* Black speed knobs and green key tuners
* Chrome hardware
* Case included

UTILIZATION

Detail
Body Material Mahogany
Top Material Maple
Body Finish Nitrocellulose
Color Fireburst
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

I like a Gold top Les Paul the best but this is a sharp looking guitar. The fireburst is nice but not anywhere near the price they are asking for this instrument. This guitar has hr "59 spec rounded neck to this is going to be a pretty fat neck. Some people will like that and others will not. I guess it depends on whether or not you have bigger hands. I have smaller hands to I prefer the 60's style neck and my favorite neck has to be the Custom Shop Charvels standard necks. SO compared to this neck this is way too big for me. Some say that is has a better tone and maybe that is true with the extra wood involved but all of this stuff is so subjective anyway. The tone is very nice on this guitar and will serve its player quite well.

OVERALL OPINION

At new these guitars come in right around $1300, which is a bit much for this guitar. If it ere a $50 or $100 up charge for the sunburst then I would say ok, but knowing what the work involves and what other companies like Fender are charging for this treatment. I know that Gibson is price gouging. I would not suggest buy this guitar for that simple reason. They are over pricing this guitar. Shame on you Gibson!