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Gibson Les Paul DC Studio

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Manufacturer URL http://www.gibson.com/
Features 7.9 (45 responses)
Sound 9.3 (50 responses)
Action, Fit, & Finish 8.2 (47 responses)
Reliability/Durability 8.5 (48 responses)
Customer Support 9.4 (8 responses)
Overall Rating 9.3 (47 responses)
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Product: Gibson Les Paul DC Studio
Price Paid: US $800.00
Submitted 12/29/2002 at 08:48pm by Jason
Email: guitarman7372 at yahoo<dot>com

Features : 8
Manufactured in Aug '98,wine red, I bought it new and it has been my primary axe since. I am giving this an 8 because of the POS wrap around bridge. I had a Leo Quan bridge put on it several years ago and it was well worth the 65 bucks... It has individual ajustable string saddles. I would recomend this to anyone who owns this guitar. The studs for the leo quan are the same specs as oem so you can put it back to original anytime. I have pics that I can email to you if you would like to see what it looks like installed.

Sound : 10
I have been playing for 8 years, play a lot of different styles, and can use this one for almost anything. I wish it would have come with 4 conductor pickups so that I could put a coil tap in the bridge position to get a few more sounds out of it. I personally think this guitar has a sound all its own compared to other LP's.

Action, Fit, & Finish : 9
After 4 years the finish has clouded up on the upper half of the guitar, this is probably more my fault for sweating to much and not cleaning it as often as I should... I can't really speak for the setup from gibson as I play 10's and always have to get the guitar setup for them as soon as I buy it.

Reliability/Durability : 10
Has never failed me once with heavey use, I always have more than one guitar though... it would be stupid not to.

Customer Support : No Opinion
Never had to deal with them.

Overall Rating : 9
Other than the bridge - which is easily fixed - This is a great guitar.


Product: Gibson Les Paul DC Studio
Price Paid: US $650 used
Submitted 09/02/2002 at 12:38am by JD
Email: none

Features : 9
1998,USA made Gibson Les Paul DC Studio. Configuration is same as others, nothing extra. Emerald green finish. Lightweight. A very playable guitar. Have'nt had a problem with the plastic tuners other than they look a little cheezy. Love the double cut body.

Sound : 9
This is one melodic sonofabitch. The resonance is incredibly rich. Shines on chord work. I prefer a solid body for lead. Played through a Marshall valvestate 2000 and Digitech Genesis 3 set to value 15 for fullness.

Action, Fit, & Finish : 9
The neck had a little to much relief, quick turn of the nut, drop the bridge and done. Pretty good shape otherwise. Good balance.

Reliability/Durability : 9
Looks like it will stand the test of time, all instruments require a little care so don't drop it...

Customer Support : No Opinion
blagh, blagh, blagh "have you tried our website?"

Overall Rating : No Opinion
Love it. Will buy another just to have. For me it does what I want as do my other guitars.


Product: Gibson Les Paul DC Studio
Price Paid: US $699
Submitted 05/21/2002 at 11:23am by David

Features : 9
1998, made in USA, 24 frets, arched maple top, one volume, one tone, 3-way, 2 gibson Humbuckers, mahogany back and sides, rosewood fretboard, came with a wrap-around bridge (though I had a Bigsby installed), beautiful wine red finish

Sound : 9
This has one of the best humbucker sounds i've ever played. It's not as chunky as normal LP's (which is a good thing), it has plenty of bottom end and the middle position is gorgeous and super responsive. Turn the tone down a little and it's close to an ES335 or the like, not as airy, but much more powerful. The lead pickup is not as sharp and piercing as other LP's ive played which is the only drawback in the sound. Great for clean, strummy sounds, great dirty and overdriven. I play jazz, fusion, rock and they all sound great though this guitar. I had a top mounted bigsby installed a little less than a year ago and it has only improved the happiness I experience I have playing this guitar. The action is lower, the tone is fuller, but still funky. Man, bigsbys and LP's are great together. I highly recommend it.

Action, Fit, & Finish : 8
The action has always bugged me a little bit. it seemed like no matter what I did it was still too high. i've been told that living in Seattle, with the ever-changing weather from day to day, hour to hour really affects guitars negatively. The neck is well-finished, but a little sharp at the edges which makes scaling the neck quickly a problem. With the bigsby, though, the strings were moved farther back and the action has been lowered significantly. I like a really deep, bassy sound in the neck pickup, so i raised it a little and that made all the difference.

Reliability/Durability : 9
Despite some frequent string busting on nights of gigs a few monthes ago, it holds out well. I used to play 12's on this, then 11's, but I think that 10's satisfies both tone, intonation, longevity, and ease of palying for this guitar. I always use D'addarios. I always have a backup. I have a DeArmond S73 and a newly purchased Fender 69 Tele Thinline RI. Strap buttons are a little small, gibson straps fall right off them. I had to have the pickup selector fixed because there was some shorting out, but it turned out that just a couple screws were loose. no biggy.

Customer Support : No Opinion
I've dealt with private guitar techs and they've been the most help. I wouldn't recommend going straight thru with Gibson because most likely it will require a lot of shipping and time without you Gibby. My suggestion is to go to a Guitar center and ask for a name of a private guitar in the area. That's how i've found the two dudes who worked on my Gibson and I was more than satisfied with the results each time.

Overall Rating : 9
The sound of this guitar is truly the best part about it. It is a modest looking guitar, very pretty, but pretty plain. I wish it had a Gibson pickguard on it (the LP style, not the SG style). As far as humbucking sound goes, thsi one is terrific. The only other guitar i've played that has a good/better sounding humbucker is a PRS McCarty hollowbody, but it's like $2000 and in general, I think PRS guitars are not very attractive at all. Every guitar has the exact same body look and feel to it! No personality. The Gibson DC has a ton of personality and it gets a lot of attention wherever I go. Rare guitar, they don't make the studios anymore. I'm sure it will be a collectors item in like 2030.


Product: Gibson Les Paul DC Studio
Price Paid: US $650 used
Submitted 04/20/2002 at 11:11am by S. Baldric

Features : 5
1997 USA-made Gibson Les Paul DC Studio, basically similar to a Les Paul Studio with a few key differences. What makes this model stand out is the 24-fret neck, double cutaway, and tone chambers. The Studio model (discontinued in 1998) also has a wraparound tailpiece rather than the standard Gibson tune-o-matic deal. This model exists today as the Standard DC Plus, which is much more expensive but SOUNDS EXACTLY THE SAME (same pickups, body, wood, etc.) These guitars are hard to find nowadays (probably because no one wants to sell them). I was fortunate enough to find one of these in Gibson's classic Heritage Cherry Sunburst finish. So yummy. I give this guitar low marks for features because it has a simplified control layout (only one volume and one tone), plus just the typical Gibson three-way selector. But I should add that "more features" does not always equal "better guitar" (play a Parker Fly sometime and you'll see what I mean). In this case, simple is better.

Sound : 10
For me, this is about as classic a sound as you could ask for. I am a sucker for Gibson's standard Les Paul pickups (490R, 498T), as for me they capture the best of the "Gibson sound." Others have said that the pickups are dark-sounding, and I would certainly agree with that. They aren't what you would call "chimey," though the mid position is just sweet sounding. But I already have a Strat, you know what I mean? If I want "bell-like" yada yada, I'll just reach for the backwards F. I use this guitar for jazzy or bluesy music, as well as old-school overdrive stuff (think old AC/DC. For that, it's perfect. I wouldn't use it for real heavy metal stuff or clean rhythm strumming (Byrds, Beatles, Petty, etc.) just 'cause there are other guitars out there that do a better job for that stuff. But if you want a straight-ahead, natural-sounding "medium" (not PAF, not hot ceramic) Gibson sound, this is a great choice. Again, if you can find one!

Action, Fit, & Finish : 7
Well, I bought this guitar used, and I had a bit of a misadventure with a certain shipping company (hint: not UPS). Basically they dropped it on its head, and the guitar did what any decent Les Paul would do in that situation - the neck cracked. After a long and arduous period of general confusion and, honestly, incompetence, I was able to have the thing repaired by the store I bought it from and had it sent out again. I should be quick to point out that the store I bought it from (The Guitar Den in Florida) was absolutely excellent and went above and beyond the call of duty to get this guitar to me. I would highly recommend them to anyone in the market for a used guitar (www.guitarden.com). Anyway, it's not "as new" now, but it looks pretty darn good. The guitar was also very well set up (looow action!!) BTW. As for the guitar itself, it's typical Gibson quality - pretty good but nothing stunning.

Reliability/Durability : 7
I certainly hope this guitar will last! I don't plan on abusing it any more than it has been already, that's for sure. As far as reliability, it's about the same as any Gibson would be. So I'm not as cavalier about it as I would be with my Strat, but providing that I take care of it, it should be just fine.

Customer Support : No Opinion
N/A

Overall Rating : 10
I've been playing for ...oh, twelve years I think. I play professionally now and have done so for the past two years. I actually used to own one of these and foolishly sold it. Then again, I now have a much cooler-looking one (the first one was black). :-) For me, this is a better Les Paul than a Standard. It's lighter, more comfortable, and has almost the exact same sound. The only differences come from less body mass (though this is nicely offset by the tone chambers) and the fact that the pickups are slightly closer together. However, this second difference actually makes for a sweeter in-between sound, if you're into that sort of thing. I am. It's a sweet axe - it won't do it all, but if you're looking for that, go buy a PR$ or something. If, on the other hand, you're looking for a great utility axe that can handle classic Gibson tones (rock, blues and jazz), it's hard to find a better value for the money. (Shoot, why do you think Gibson discontinued this model and replaced it with one costing twice as much? It's not because the DC Studio wasn't selling.) I agree with Ed Roman on this one - the DC Les Paul is one of the best and most creative moves Gibson has made in a long time.


Product: Gibson Les Paul DC Studio
Price Paid: US $450.00
Submitted 02/06/2002 at 09:10pm by Mike.
Email: mere4m<at>enteract dot com

Features : 9
97' Transparent dark ruby red / Gibson's sweet sounding 490R & 498T humbuckers / one tone - one volume control / rosewood fret-board...etc.
Got it through a local ad, the guy that had it didn't care for Gibson's, it needed a good setup bad (I mean bad), I straighten the neck - set the intonation and the pickup height, then I had to compared it to my 82' Les Paul Std, I did it for two week's, then put the Std back in the case, and give the shoulder a rest. I love my Cherry Sunburst Les Paul Std, but it weight it's toll on me through the long set's, This is one of the best model's Gibson has made, sense the SG that didn't break your back after 4 Hr's of Play time...
I love the feel the sound the auction looks awesome Yes it's to bad they retired this baby but who knows that could change in a heart beat too.

Sound : 10
Again it sounds Awesome and fits all styles of music, I play everything from Blues - Classic rock - Alternative - Metal.
It produces a niece clean overdrive that cut's right through, nice full reach tones and plays like butter.

Action, Fit, & Finish : 10
The wraparound bridge was ok, and is ok, if your ok with the D-G-B string being a little off tune of each other, but I cured that with a adjustable bridge/tailpiece, I got from SMD, and it made a big deference, and a lot cheaper then a PRS wraparound bridge, after this fix I would have to give it a 10.
It now feels & sounds better then sex... well almost.

Reliability/Durability : 9
This is a well made gibson guitar, and the finish looks great. I use strap look button on all my guitars, I don't want to drop my baby. This is one of my favorites, and has taken the place of my 82' Std, I like my girls a little light these days.

Customer Support : No Opinion
never dealt with them.

Overall Rating : 10
I been playing for 26 years sence I was 13 that maks me 36 wow I FnOld. I say it again,it feel's it palys it sounds Awesome. Things I wish I had,one in every color it came in.


Product: Gibson Les Paul DC Studio
Price Paid: US $530 used
Submitted 02/05/2002 at 09:35pm by Indiana wants me...

Features : 8
My first stray away from Fender in 15 or so years, a great re-introduction to the Gibson family...Though I believe that this model has been discontinued, what a shame.
A very cool variation on the Les Paul.
DC w/ a maple top
2 Humbuckers
Tone & Volume. Stripped down and ready to rock.

Sound : 8
Sounds really cool, especially w/ the simple wrap-around bridge, which, by the way, intonates perfectly regardless of what those other whiners say about it.
Bet it would sound cooler w/ a couple of those Gibson p-94's

Action, Fit, & Finish : 6
Plays great, the '59 slim-taper neck feels small for a Les Paul
Finish is average for a Gibson, not great, not bad...

Reliability/Durability : 10
I have used this guitar exclusively for 6 months now, feel so confident about it that I don't even bring a back-up.
The wrap-around bridge has no sharp edges to break strings on.
Though it isn't as ridgid as my Fenders I don't feel like it's too flimsy.

Customer Support : No Opinion

Overall Rating : 10
A bad som-bitch that I would miss dearly if something ever happened to it.
Cranked through a full stack of marshalls it's well, traditional.
I play loud fast punk rock & roll.
I recently met a guy who has only owned one guitar in 18 years, a black Les Paul Custom. I admired his dedication to his instrument and hope to have the same with this Gibson.


Product: Gibson Les Paul DC Studio
Price Paid: US $800
Submitted 12/04/2001 at 05:55am by eirik

Features : 5
I got this one about 2 years ago.It has a transparent ruby red finish on a mahogany body with a carved maple top. Neck is mahogany
with a 24 fret fingerboard...which I think is great...not many gibsons offer that! It has one volume control one tone control and a 3 way toggle switch. The humbuckers are a 490R and a 498T. So far so good. What I don't like about it, is the intonation defection which comes from the IDIOTIC wrap-around bridge! I found this to be a big problem, cos when the guitar was tuned right, and I went up the neck..it sounded aweful, so I had to spend 1000NOK (about 110$) to replace it with a PRS bridge with intonation possibilities for each string. It has a hollowed out back, which makes it very light on your sholder compared to other les pauls. Which is good.

Sound : 9
I play all kinds of music, from hard rock to country and blues. And I've found out that this guitar is very flexible. The sound I get when I play it through my POD is great! I can get very heavy tones from it, and a nice clean sound, especially when using the bridge pickup.
Whats not as good, is that I think its a little quiet compared to other les pauls I've tried. This can be because of the hollowed out back, but as long as I turn the volume up it's not really to complain about.

Action, Fit, & Finish : 5
Everything is great...except for the wrap around bridge !

Reliability/Durability : 6
This guitar has a sligh problem staying in tune.


Customer Support : No Opinion
never had to deal with them.

Overall Rating : 8
I've been playing for about 8 years, and tried alot of guitars. For me this guitar was a bit hard to get used to, but not its the only guitar I use. It's not as comfortable as I wished it was, but with the sound i get from this baby, it's worth it.


Product: Gibson Les Paul DC Studio
Price Paid: US $800
Submitted 11/01/2001 at 06:48pm by Anonymous

Features : 9
Mine is a 98, emerald green finish. Mahoganey body, maple top. Mahoganey neck with 24 fret rosewood fretboard. Hollowed out sound chambers in the body so it is a little lighter. Double cuttaway body like the old specials. 2 humbuckers, 490 and 498. Alnicos. 2 knobs, 1 tone, 1 volume. Pickup selector in the same vicivity. Very simple and straight foward. I like that.

Sound : 10
I mostly play rock, hard rock, and blues. Have 7 amps including a 66 Fender Bassman, Marshall JCM 2000 TSL 100, Fender Tone Master, Yamaha T100 Soldano designed head, Mesa Heartbreaker, and VHT Pittbull. WOW!! This thing rocks!!! Very resonent neck and body. You can just feel it vibrate when you strum an chord Has that perfect Les Paul sound. Sounds very similar to my 80 Custom. Maybe a little brighter because of the chambers. Sounds great clean with the neck pickup. Bridge can get that great crunchy rock sound like a Les Paul is known for. You can go from a sweet warm clean to raunchy crunchy overdrive with the volume control. Not super versitile, but it's a Les Paul.

Action, Fit, & Finish : 10
The emerald green is beautiful. Just as good as my PRS. Set up perfect from the factory. THis is my first guitar with a wraparound bridge. I really like it. Smooth action, fast neck. The neck is just the right thickness. Not too thin, not to fat. Not the flame top version like the standard but the maple top is very pretty with some figuring.

Reliability/Durability : 10
I would take this live in a heartbeat. Very well built guitar. The new Gibsons really are great. Some people knock them but I love the new stuff they are making. Everything is solid. Seems very dependable.

Customer Support : 10
I've emailed Gibson probably 6 times with different questions and they always get back to me in a few days or so.

Overall Rating : 10
When the standards came out I always wanted one. I just love the DC look. I really love it. Sounds great, good weight, plays like a dream. I've been playing for 13 years and this is a great addition to my large collection of guitars. I would buy one again in a heart beat. I highly recommend these especially for the price you can get them used.


Product: Gibson Les Paul DC Studio
Price Paid: US $549.00
Submitted 09/24/2001 at 02:45pm by tim
Email: timbones9965 at yahoo<dot>com

Features : 6
1999 dc in red...beautiful maple top with some grain, mahogany body with sound chambers, lightweight...24 frets..wraparound bridge, wish it had a tune-0-matic but for the price it stays in tune ok..put heavier gauge strings on and have it professionally dialed in...what do you want for around 600 bucks i guess. Nice rosewood fretboard, played nice right out of the box but I did have it set for .010's right away. A very basic guitar but all u need and looks good... pickups sound great.. 490r and 498t in bridge, i like gibson humbuckers, fat tone.

Sound : 9
Use it with a jcm900 50w and 1960a cab...great together for that rock sound...really like the 498t pickup...too bad gibson doesnt make affordable guitars like this anymore...the 496r gives me a decent clean and blues rock sound....but use the 498 and volume control the most..i plug right in and only use my tube screamer and acoustic pedal with it...i also have a lp classic and lp standard and this is lighter and looks good and fun to play, so much so i drag it on stage once in awhile but this guitar i got for a practice workhorse and its done the job.

Action, Fit, & Finish : 9
action was good out of the box but i had my tech set it up with .010's right away, action needed to be lowered and it was kinda a bitch to dial in with just that wraparound bridge but i am a simple guy and it seems fine to me...pickups were set up good and i love the neck..plays nice...real pretty guitar, mine is red and you can see the grain in the maple top...nice for a cheap guitar..overall came very clean and set up well.

Reliability/Durability : 9
had it a year...its a gibson...its well built...i take care of my stuff too...bass player bashed into it hard..only a small paint ding..
would gig it w/o backup...overall once again a decent guitar

Customer Support : No Opinion
came with warranty card...never sent it in...

Overall Rating : 9
been playing over 20 yrs...have a lp classic, charvel/jackson model 4, lp studio, gibson songbird deluxe, ibanez destroyer 2, ibanez acoustic and fender tele...for the price id buy one again..needs tune-0-matic bridge but overall great gibson for the price but they are gone...thought about selling it because i have so many guitars but i really do like it


Product: Gibson Les Paul DC Studio
Price Paid: US $700.00
Submitted 09/03/2001 at 06:58pm by John Brandt

Features : 8
It's a real shame that Gibson discontinued this model. I bought mine in 2000, and it was one of the last of the 1999 DC Studios made before production ceased. It has a transparent ruby red finish on a mahogany body with a carved maple top. The set neck is mahogany with a 24 fret rosewood fingerboard. It has minimal gingerbread, which is what I like - no binding, just a volume and tone control, and a 3 way toggle switch. The covered humbuckers are a 490R and a 498T. The tuners are vintage style Klusons. It has a simple wrap-around bridge. In other words, it has everything you need for great tone, but not costly extras which only add to the cosmetics. As for me, I like it simple.

Sound : 10
The sound is the classic signature Les Paul tone. I play through a Mesa Boogie .50 Caliber and a Fender Deluxe Reverb RI. My other axe is a Fender American Std Strat. With this setup I can get any sound I need. The LP through the Mesa gives me that heavy overdrive for ZZ Top, Led Zeppelin, and Cream tunes. It also does a fair approximation of Santana. The Strat plugged into the DRRI does what I need for blues.

Action, Fit, & Finish : 8
I had to do very litle adjusting. Straight out of the box, she was ready to play. I only needed to lower the pickup height a little.

Reliability/Durability : 10
It has served me without a single problem for the past year. I can't ask for more.

Customer Support : No Opinion
N/A

Overall Rating : 10
For most of the past twenty years, I've been a Fender guy. But I've needed that LP tone from time to time and I could never get it from a Strat. This LP Studio is perfect for what I wanted. An affordable, good looking Les Paul with that unmistakable tone. I love it!

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