Gibson Les Paul Studio

This is a 1999 Les Paul Studio, black with chrome hardware. It has a 490R in the bridge position, and a 498T in the neck. You've probably seen the specs, so I don't need to go into them : http://www.gibson.com/products/gibson/LesPaul/1999/Studio.html. I give it an 8, but because i was specifically looking for basic, it's a 10 to me.

I play heavy and hard rock (Failure, Quicksand, Far, Black Sabbath) and this guitar suits that style perfectly. I'm also able to pull crystal clear tones from it as well, going through a Mesa Dual Rectifier and a Line 6 Flextone HD. This thing crunches and screams, and manages to sound full and classic at the same time. Its very quiet, even when my amps are ragingly distorted.

When i got the guitar, the set up was great right off the wall. Everything was perfect and it played awesome. My only complaint is that the clearcoat finish does tend to scratch easily, but it adds character to me....

I've been gigging with this guitar for 6 months without any sort of problems. I feel like it would last forever. I use a backup only because i tend toi break strings acting an animal onstage....

Never dealt with them.

I'm very happy with this guitar. I recommend it for someone who wants quality without frill, and needs dependability and flexibility.

costs at that time 22 frets,2 hb,black, golden hardware,

I'm a fingerstyle guitarist and play since over 15 years, started on classic, then moved towards jazz to and up in the fusion between rock, blues,funk and worldmusic. I played on Jazz Chorus 120, have a Hughes & Kettner Attax 200 but will sell this to , to end up with tube preamp(engl tube toner) and tube poweramp(peavay classic)Nowadays i play Godin lgx, which is much more versatile. the studio was ok, sounded less agressive than my first guitar(SD Curlee with 2 x hb dimarzio) but the sound had not that much soul. ones i played on a lp standard which has a different neck connections and it had so much more bottom. That day i decided to go to look for something else Most of the time i'm doing the rhythm part so in this Studio i only had 3 sounds now i have 11(10 electric and 1 acoustic) in the LGX. The Humbuckers sounded good but not brilliant and loud of course. I can not say i found much sounds that pleased me. The arm played well after i lowered the strings to have a faster attack.

I would discribe it as a supermarket guitar, like a car there are a lot the same but you can choose the color. So you think you 've got a personal one but i found it rather a usual guitar, let say that in those days i was misled by the name of the company. It looks well, everything is ok but at an average level. Compared to the Godin i have now, one can see that Mr Godin spends much more time on details.

As it has a simple layout, there is not much what can go wrong.

I never had prob lems with it out of the input jack whick i repaired myself

I choose for Gibson because i came from a classical guitar and the arm is not that small like Ibanez guitars. But in those days i had not much notice of how and what an electric guitar should be like or what music i would play with it. Gibson are good guitars but it is not worth its price. The only Gibsons i would like to play on are the full bodies( l5 and so) but i dont have the money for them

Usa made (of course), 22 frets, solid body, H/H configuration, ebony finish, pearl trapezoid inlays, Gold hardware, blah blah blah blah- just a damn well made guitar

amazing sound, suits almost every style, use it with a a crate halfstack (gx-600 head, 4X12 Cab) can go from mellow clean to crunching ear-bleeding overdrive instantly.

great set up, got it used so cant say how the factory did.

This guitars so heavy and well built I think only cockroaches could outlast it.

never delt with

This guitar just rocks, and has an excellent feel. I have played many guitars before including Fenders (bleeecchh!!), Jacksons, Ibanez, washburns, samicks, BC Rich, ETC. THIS GUITAR BLOWS THE COMPETITION STRAIGHT TO HELL! BUY ONE - however---
****Buy a used one! I have seen the new ones, and well-they are much cheaper and some dont even have the pearl inlay! Mine is a 1990 model w/gold hardware. I would say get one 1996 or earlier****

1994 model, you know the features. 490/498 alnico pu's, nice fat neck, trapezoid inlays, ebony fingerboard, chrome hardware, came all black (but i changed the plastic-parts for cream and it looks much better now), came with the gibson HSC with the weird pink plush. WAY HEAVY, but that's to be expected. nothing i miss in features.

i play classic/alternative rock, and after playing a us std. strat exclusively for a while, i started craving for something else. i still like my strat, but hey, this one's a different animal. can you say rich, full sound?! i mainly use a marshall jtm 45 ri (with a tubescreamer and a bit of delay at times) and it's a great match. tone and sustain for days (can't wait to go to rehearsal tonight!). there's quite some variety from warm and mellow to plenty of bite, and chimey sounds in between. unlike my epiphone riviera it has a very tight and solid feel to it, like the notes flowing right out of my fingers through the guitar and out of the amp (the riviera seems to have some kind of "delay"), very inspiring, indeed. it cleans up very nicely with the volume pots rolled off, the sound doesn't loose its sparkle like on so many other guitars. it's only noisy when i turn the amp up.

i bought it used and have no idea about the factory-job. the guy i bought it from had no idea about setting up a guitar (or what guitar he had in the first place), "dead spots" all over the place! it took me an hour of cleaning and setting it up and it`s a GREAT player now (hey i'm not an expert, but that guy just had no respect!). the finish has a lot of scratches from the previous owner, but - to my surprise - the neck is still flawless. i must say, though, that the fretboard-inlays are done, well, less than perfect. i'm not quite sure yet about the (gibson-deluxe) tuners.

it feels rock-solid. i always bring 2 guitars to a gig and i use strap-locks on my guitars, but i would depend on it - no problem. i like the idea that this guitar is a "work-horse". great sounds and reliability and nothing to worry about when you take it to a gig.

no idea

been playing for 17 years, own a us std. strat a mij tele, an old epiphone riviera and an assortment of marshall and fender amps. like any of you guys i was thinking about adding a les paul to my arsenal for some time, but never felt like shelling out a grand and a half to own one. i havn't had the chance to try a lot of "real" les pauls, but i had a (nice looking) epiphone les paul that i got rid of very fast, and have owned an old gibson "the paul" for some time (nice sounds, awful looks, impossible to tune). needless to say - this one kills them both/NO comparison in sound and feel. i got this because it was so cheap and to see if it could hook me to the gibson "vibe". i guess it did, and if this got lost, i'd get another one, but would probably look for an older standard model. favourite feature is - of course - the SOUND! I think this is a great guitar, and a great gibson "starter". generally, i think gibson goes way over the top with their current market prices - buy one used!

There are already a lot of reviews on this guitar but I decided to throw in my 2 cents. Mine is wine red with gold hardware, ebony fretboard and crown position markers, the usual mahogany body and neck with maple body cap. I like the ebony fretboard with crowns a hell of a lot better than the recent rosewood with dots versions, both for feel and looks.
I bought it new at the local Guitar Center in 1991, it was made in 1990. I never have liked the way the volume control for one pickup can turn off the volume for both pup's but I've have never bothered to get it fixed. The tuners that the guitar came with were pretty low quality and got worse with time. I replaced them with some $30 Grovers from StewMac and they are much better. Standard LP features - 7.

With the stock tuners and pickups, I'd give it about a 7. After replacing the tuners and the pup's, I'd give it a 9 or 10. This may sound a little hard to believe, but I think changing the tuners actually helped the sound a little. I noticed when I was taking the old tuners off, they were not screwed down very tight. When I put the new ones on, I cranked em down pretty tight and the guitar seems to resonate a little better.
But, obviously, the biggest change in sound came from the new pup's. I replaced the stock pups with Seymour Duncan Antiquities and they sound beautiful. The stock pup's had sort of a scooped-mid Guns & Roses type tone with a very edgy, raspy high end which I really don't like. The SD's give the guitar a much smoother, more musical tone that sounds great distorted or clean. I like a Duane Allman/Mick Taylor type of Les Paul tone and the SD's let me get pretty close to that with my low budget LP Studio.

The string slots in the nut are too shallow but not too bad. Not bad enough for me to bother getting it fixed for the last ten years. The factory setup was adequate but not great. There was a little buzzing when bending the high E around the 15th fret but I solved that by raising the action on the treble side a bit.

It's a solid guitar. It's been dropped a few times and keeps on ticking. The finish is the standard poly plastic on most electrics manufactured these days. The strap buttons are too small. I don't think anyone would have a problem gigging without a backup with one of these things. What's going to happen? The neck cracks off in mid-song?

I've never contacted Gibson.

I've been playing for over 20 years, off and on. I've got more equipment than anybody really needs but, hey, I love guitars. I've got 3 strats, a USA Fat Tele, a PRS McCarty, an LP Special with P-90's, the Studio, and a Marshall 50 watt plexi reissue with a 2X12 cab that makes them all sound great. The Studio is probably the best LP value out there right now, especially if you can get an older used one with the ebony fretboard. LP's are ridiculously expensive and a Studio with replacement pickups (and you'll probably want to replace the tuners also) gets you a hell of a nice LP for $650 to $900. The woods and pickups used on the older Studios are exactly the same as the ones on the Standards so it's essentially the same guitar with crappy tuners. If it got lost or stolen, I would probably buy an old one and do the same pup swap, maybe with some Fralin's or SD Seth Lovers just to try them out, or get an LP standard.

It is a std without the binding. Sturdy gig bag. White body Gold covers ebony board and black plate on this one. Nice contrast of colours.(Something Fender should look at)

It is a very one dimensional sound. Plug in to a Marshall. Turn up the gain and go. I wanted a mid priced guitar that does everything. I got seduced by the full on sound and didn't realise that the clean sounds had no life or snap. 1 or 10 depending on your point of view.

Vendor set it up.

Well contructed. White finish lasts better.

Vendor excellent

I traded this for a Strat 3 days after purchase. Its only a Mex one and it suits me even though it is not as well built. Moral of the story. Look at (hear) what you want out of the guitar. Buy the guitar that gets close to how you envisage your sound. This was a case of I can't do what you want but I can do this. Don't be fooled. A wise man learns from his mistakes. A genius learns from other peoples.

Yet another review of the Les Paul Studio. This one's a 1985 model. White finish which has become a bit jaundiced from healthy usage. Basically a Les Paul without the bells and whistles. A few differences from modern versions - the pickups sound closer to classic PAF humbuckers than the pickups on the current make. Dot inlays on the fretboard. Chrome hardware, black controls. Gibson Deluxe tuners. No special features, but you don't buy one of these for special features. Some players complain about the weight. Don't wear it around your knees or spinal trouble will definitely follow. Comfortably positioned around the midriff, you would never know it was there.

This 80s LP Studio has a classic sound that may not be quite as clear and precise as the newer LP Studios, but are, in my humble opinion, warmer and more attractive. You're not going to get Strat-style top-end bite, and you're not going to get Telecaster jangle. Anyone looking for those sounds should know to stay well away from a Les Paul. These Les Pauls may be cheaper than LP Standards, but lack nothing in tone. They are incredibly versatile and can produced sweet, full-bodied jazz tones, classic dirty blues, and, most importantly, a variety of killer classic rock tones. Played clean, it has a rich tone - the neck pickup adds a powerful rumbling bottom-end presence, the neck pickup has great treble character without sounding weak, pretentious or annoying. A guitar with a soul.

Being a second-hand guitar, I had to make a few minor adjustments to get the setup right. The neck has a nice width to it. Everything else was in order. Playbility is odd - this guitar has all the elements, but is not one of those guitars that beg to be played. It lacks idiosyncracy as far as playbility is concerned. Perhaps it's too perfect - so accomodating and so refined that it lacks those little quirks that make some lesser guitars more of a joy to play. Fortunately, the sound more than makes up for a somewhat sterile playability.

This guitar has been through hell and back, and a part from a slight overall discolouration to the finish, which gives it a nice aged look, it's in perfect condition. I'm certain that it would comfortably survive the nine-and-a-half metre drop from my top balcony to the ground.

Never had to deal with Gibson, but I find it hard to believe that a company of their standing could jerk customers around and get away with it.

I've owned this axe for three years. It's utterly dependable, and has just the sound I need. No added frills - if you want a nice spiffy looking Gibson, buy one of the more expensive ones. If, however, you want a high-quality high-performance tool that you intend to use frequently, and you're not overly worried about the looks, buy one of these. New, they're great value. Second-hand, they're a steal. If you're in the market for a top-end Epiphone Les Paul, save up that little bit extra, and get a second-hand LP studio. What you lose in looks, you gain thousandfold in sound. I'm seriously considering buying another of these, real soon.

well i got this about 2 weeks ago and its one pretty guitar.its blood red,has dual humbukers,2 volume,2 tone knobs,mahogany body and top(carved),rose wood fret board, yadda yadda yadda...nice features,pretty basic stuff,love it.

i think it rocks. i play guitar for a metal/emo band reminicent of converge,botch,cave-in....even though no ne can compair to them)it sounds great for that style of music.it also sounds good when i switch channels for the emo parts of the songs and never dissapoints when i do all the weird little sounds(whatever you want to call them). it also sounds great playing cover stuff,anything from punk(misfits,expolited,ramones...) to power violence/grind(spazz,hellnation,acme) to classic rock(CCR,kansas...)i play it through a fender stack,i use a boss metal zone pedal,and a ibanez black noise pedal.ive played lots of guitars from sg's,to vertigos(great guitar),to 3,000 dollar fenders,and this things sounds just as good as most of them.the only time i switch to my trusty fender stratocaster is when i play surf.otherwise it gets the job done.

i got this guitar set up great,the action was low,everything was in place and its solid as can be.looks beutiful too.

well its only been 2 weeks so we will see.

havent had to deal with them,its got a warrenty though,thats always nice.

ive been playing a few years now and it was time to step up to a real guitar.and i think ive found that in the studio.i love the sound,feel,and just how damn heavy it is.if it was stolen id be sad,then i would go head stompin.i would buy it again,or a vertigo if it got stolen.overall its a great guitar if you want a heavy,dual humbuker axe,like me.go buy one,be happy.

Finish is Wine Red, used to be nice. I bought it new as a 97 model, But after only 2 years of mild playing, this guy has seen better days. Standard features, 2 tone, 2 volume. Nothing special..

This guitar sounds awesome... WHEN I CAN KEEP IT IN TUNE! I swear, by the time I get this p.o.s. in tune, the gig is over, and everyone's gone home. The pickups on this guitar are amazing, and i crank it through a Hughes and Kettner Tri-amp 212 combo. I'm thinking about just buying a cheap epiphine and performing a pickup transplant...

The action is way too high, but when I attempt to lower it, i get this god aweful buzz on the 12th fret of the d and g strings. Like I stated above, i have in no way abused this guitar, but it looks like it. The transparent finish scratches when you breath on it. Add to that the fact that I already need an intonation adjustment because the open string notes don't exactly match up to the 12th fret harmonics, and this guitar is imposible to keep in tune

This guitar has barely withstood 2 years of mild home playing... I hardly think it could take live gigs. Luckily, the other guitar player in my band happens to have an extra De Armond (really awesome guitar)that I use for shows, cause there's no way i could trust my Paul for a show. I've had to take it in 3 times now to fix faulty wiring problems. When ever i switch the pickup selector, the volume cuts in and out (no, it' not because i have my volume knobs turned down). And again, the fact that it's impossible to tune doesn't help. I've been playing guitar for 5 years now, and if there's one thing I can do in my sleep, it's tune a guitar... But tuning this one is impossible.

I always deal with the store where I bought it from

The only thing this guitar has going for it is it's pickups. The finish is cheap, trying to tune it is impossible, it's heavy, and with my own experience, the wiring sucks. I had the choice to buy either the Paul Studio, or an SG Standard at the same price, $899. Why I didn't buy the SG instead is something that's going to haunt me for the rest of my life. To anyone who is deciding between the two, take the SG. Or, for a few hundred dollars more, go for the Guild Bluesbird, my personal favorite. Buying the Paul Studio was a waste of my hard earned money. I know i'll probably get some hate mail for this, but i just don't agree with the masses on this one. I'm sure the Paul Standards and Classics are awesome guitars, but the studios are not worth the money. De Armond makes some seriously kick arse guitars for around $625. My point is, there are so many better buys out there than the Paul Studio.

98 Gibson Studio - Wine Red Transparent Finish 22 Fret with LP Standard Inlays Gold Hardware. 2 Standard Humbuckers w/ Standard Gibson stop bridge. Fat neck, medium width, mahogany. 3 way swith (Rhythm, Lead, Clean).

Very versatile sound. Deep basses and high high ends, while being crunchy when needed. SUPERB SUSTAIN, almost cause problems on transitions with other instruments (Guitar into Bass leads).
Playing straight through to a Marshall JCM 900 head with a 60's Vintage straight cabinet.
Quiets down well, for clean playing.

Action is a little high, but no buzzing what-so-ever. No flaws, and REAL easy to tune, but goes out of tune somewhat easily.

Had some problems with the electronics, but covered by a lifetime warranty.
Would bring a backup to a live gig, just in case... But wouldn't feel uncormfatable without a backup.

Warranty though the store was great, in and out in 48 hours. Fixed in-house. No dealing with Gibson direct.

All around great instrument for the price. The first time playing it, you know you have something special.
One tip, try and demo a backroom model. Gibson's are played and abused a lot on the floor.