Gibson Les Paul Studio

2006 made in USA ebony with gold.When clean looks stunning. Usual Les Paul features, 2 pickups 2 tone and 2 volume and 3 way switch Moulded hard case ; Gibson logo. In my opinion the Studio looks better than the Custom; the plastic binding etc have dated somewhat. The specs on the electrics appear to be identical to the Custom, but in a more moden looking package.
The Gibson tuners look cheap, with greenish looking plastic knobs,but have caused me no trouble.
Resonably heavy, well balanced hangs perfectly on my shoulder.

Play mostly 60's 70's rock where this guitar suits well. The pickups are quite hot and giving brighter sound than the older 'Pauls which is a little dispointing. Having said that, many variations of sounds are possible. I am still coming to terms with the multiple controls especially with the selector in the middle position and having to operate two volume controls. My main guitar is a 69 strat so yes Ive had a sheltered life!! I went into the music store convinced I needed to buy a SG Gibson but when played side by side the Les Paul Studio is much better and offers many more sound options.
My amp is a JCM 800 50w 2X12 Marshall combo, no effects allowing a very powerful and full sound.

The factory set up was OK; slight alteration with intonation, action, a quick fiddle with the nut and a fret polish was all it needed. There is always going to be some individual adjustments regardless of purchase price. We are all different after all.
The finish was not up to the standard I expected from a premier manufacturer, the black finish is see through on some of the edges, but it wasn't purchased for its looks. Being black is very hard to keep clean, again my choice.
The neck becomes sticky when played especially when the hands begin to sweat, but in time this will improve as the solvents disappear from the laquer. Never polish the back of the neck or it will take ages for the neck to come good.

Very solid and robust guitar, I expect the thin laquer and the gold hardware to quickly wear.
The strap locks are extremely small and must be replaced with strap locks or at worst decent size buttons. Never use an old worn favourite strap without alterations. The peg head looks the weakest link and I suspect if dropped would be easily damaged and/or busted.As would the plastic tuners.
Always store guitar is its case or get a sturdy secure stand. Don't leave leaning against an amp or a wall.
I would have no hesitation gigging without a backup.

Comes with a lifetime warranty in USA, but outside of the US we get SFA.
I hope that I'll never need customer support from Gibson, however I would expect every effort would be made by Allans Music Australia should the need arise.

Been playing for 30 years. As stated above I have a 1969 Fender Stratocaster and 50watt Marshall along with an Ibanez ST50, Ovation and Takamine acoustic/electric and a 15w Marshall practice amp
I would certainly buy another Gibson Les Paul Studio, I'm not sure whether or not it would be black!

black finish , 2005 les paul studio

the sound is the best thing . whatever genre you like , you can guarantee getting a sound that you want - it is the best guitar for sound that i have ever played.

the action was ok at the start but that can be altered at the bridge.apart from that everything was fitted in perfectly.

this is the most reliable guitar i have used so i would definately use it without any backup.the strap buttons are solid and it has never fallen off while playing

n/a

overall rating for the price your paying a definite 10. it may not look the best guitar but definately sounds it.

see above...

don't let the cheaper price fool you. the Les Paul Studio sounds just as good as you'd expect any Les Paul to sound. it has that deep crunch that i was just never able to get with my telecaster. great for rock, blues, pretty much anything with the right sound settings.

the finish on my guitar isn't great, but i bought it new and it's ten years old. the guitar is solid though, very well built. the previous owner replced the black pick guard and the rest of the plastic pieces with cream which i love. i think it gives it more of a classic look. the pick up selector is a tad noisy and i have trouble get it to work right every now and then.

if i had to pick between my LP or my Tele to play a live gig, i would take the LP in a heart beat. the guiatar is real solid. i actually dropped it once and it against a table (i almost had a heart attack) but when i picked the guitar up it wasn't even dented. the thing is a rock.

never had to deal with customer support

i've been playing for 9 years and this is by far the best guitar i've ever played. i love the look, the sound, it's everything i was hoping it would be. anyone looking for a great guitar at a reasonable price should definitly look into a Les Paul Studio.

The construction of the Les Paul Studio is basically the same as the Standard model, except that it doesn't have binding on the body. It is mahogany with a maple top and has the 490r/498T pickup configuration. Mine is stock, except that I replaced the black plastic parts with cream pickup rings and switch parts, and put on gold bell knobs. It gives it a more upscale look more like a Standard. It is wine red with gold hardware which is a classy look. I would give it a 10 for features except for the "vintage" style tuners. They look nice, but I had tuning problems. I tried a new technique for stretching the strings that seems to help: hold down a note starting on the first fret and stretch the string. Move up to the next fret and stretch again going all the way up the neck. Return the string up to pitch, start at the first fret again and repeat going up the neck until the string no longer goes flat. Repeat on all 6 strings. This seems to work, but I bought this as a working axe not a museum piece. I am not afraid to yank them off and replace them with locking tuners if they give me any more trouble.

First I would like to comment on a previous post complaining about the lack of pcikup shielding. Believe it or not, I think there are actually some advantages to less shielding: (1) Better sustain especially at low distortion levels. (2) Better dynamic response. I also have a strat and a Gibson Explorer which I am quite fond of, but no other guitar I have owned sounds as "alive" as this one. It responds very well to dynamics, and I can get clean or dirty just by changing picking attack. To avoid squeal and feedback, don't use too much preamp gain. You can use as much distortion as you want, but more to color the sound, not too much boost. Anyone can get massive distortion by cranking to 11, and most guitars can get a good clean sound with a decent amp. It is all the subtle shades in between that are often hard to find and at which this guitar excels. Clean or distorted, it always sounds musical, not like a buzzsaw. Then again if your sound requires extreme gain, this might not be the axe for you. I sometimes agree with those who wish you could have a coil split or coil tap on the neck pickup. However, I found you can turn the volume down a little, but also turn tone down to about 7 or 8 and it cleans up nicely. It sounds strange, but turning the tone down cuts some of that humbucker edge.

Gibsons are famous for fit and finish, and their reputation is well deserved. Fit and finish is excellent and it is very comfortable tp play. I have carpal tunnel, and used to get pain in my wrist and forearm after playing my Strat for about 4 hours a night. I don't have that problem with the Les Paul.

I use it live almost every weekend, and it has held up well. Some of the gold finish has worn off, but not excessive wear. Having a set neck, it is probably not as sturdy as a bolt on. However, I actually dropped it once on a hard floor, and I cracked one of the tone knobs but otherwise it is fine. I promptly invested in a set of straplocks after that.

Never needed customer support, so I don't know.

I have been playing about 25 years and have owned many guitars. I also play a '79 Strat, and a Gibson Explorer. I have owned this guitar about a year and a half, and it quickly became my main guitar. I run the Les Paul into a Digitech Studio Tube multi effects unit, and a Cry Baby wah pedal, into a Marshall Valvestate 40 watt, or a '79 Marshall half stack w/Vintage 30 speakers.

Easy... everything is there where I like it.
The neck is comfortable to play.

go on the gibson site to check tech. details.

Good sounds, very fat and warm sounding, with chrunchy dynamics...
the way we all ilke it !! For all that want come in the Gibson world, this is the best and cheapest entrance. I have take the alu plates from the Humbuckers away and the result is a "opener" more fresh tone.
Also I have rub that "shining" finish away, the result is a more "woodyer","earthed" sound. And it looks cooler (mattblack).
The only shit thing on this guitar is the 3 way toggle switch
( sometimes it just dont work ) so I have changed this against a G??ldo toggle for 14 Euros.
I also play a Fender modded 70 Strat and a PRS single cut.
I use the Gibson almost for Live Gigs, because its that Rocking work horse, that is undestroyabl and has that earthquake sound.
The Strat is my backup and the Prs only for home or studios.
( But it beats the Paula 10 to 4 ).
But get attention ; A Paula is a heavy beast, not good for your shoulder...use security locks and a good leather strap.
My Amps are Engl Souveraign and Mesa Lonestar with 2x12 or 4x12 cabs.
TC vintage delay, Maxon Ts9, Morley Tremonti Wah for live playing,
in the studio + everything a pro studi has....

I play mainly ; Pearl Jam meets Soundgarden, AIC, Metallica and Creed stuff. But also sometimes a bit of Al Di Meola meets Gary Moore and Eric Johnson sounds. And the Paula has it all.
This is what I like the most about it...3 sound choices but they are enough to play anything.

The black finish is shit you see every finger tip and its difficult to polish, so I have rub that "shining" black finish away.
look inside and you see that its ok but can made so much better.
The rest ( fingerboard, mechanics ,etc ) is good.

Like a sad, a undestroyable working horse,in all the times I play it live, ther was nothing happend.

?

I play since 16 years, as a semi pro ( means I play lot of gigs, studio sessions and earn money, but not so much that I can live from that ). If some one steal my Paula, Im not sure if I buy one again. Because I have the PRS...
The Paula is simple, has a great sound, good build quality and its comfortable to play it.
So 10 points for the Rock history time machine.

See above......

2000 model with light burst finish, a great combination of tobaco sunburst and yellow burst, realy unique. I'm into a Dave Meniketti/Y&T, Late Jimmy Page sound, in other words I like a guitar to SOUND like a guitar. So many of the newer "active electo, ungo duma flage, sooper scooped, bla bla bla" jobs have lost the ability to achieve sustain through stability and ring out a true wood resonate sound. If it wont sound full clean, it wont sound real through the rack. This girl knows how to sing. PERIOD!
I've come to a conclusion, if you dont like Les Pauls, then you won't like a Les Paul. I read some of the reviews and I notice that if they wanted a PRS or a Charvel Strat thet their not happy with the way a Les Paul feels/sounds. DUH!!!
These things are the standard for quiet. When your just holding them with your hand resting in the damping position there is NO NOISE. No hum, no sizzle, no BS. It just waits for you to tell it what to do.
The sound possibilities are quite vast. It's all there unless you have a penchant for the "out of tune, rattle trap, cheapo depot" tone. If thats your thing, dont look here. They are a PACKAGE, everything has been matched up for effect. The 490 pickups compliment the nature of the body and hardware.Dial the output down a little and it's clean and full, providing plenty of output to cue your chorus/flanger and be sensitive to your attack. The peak to cut response is just great. Dial it up and the blast of dynamics is ALL IN without being ALL PROCESSED. Use a good tube amp alone, a healthy dose of classic balls to the wall is there for you, process it with enhansment in mind and you won't loose the real guitar aspect. Process it with color control in mind and it will provide all the basis needed to drive any effect combination rather that needing the effects to give the sound character.
I like it. I don't dislike it.

Mine came from a reputable on line seller. It should have needed a bunch of set up work, right? WRONG! I opened the case, put my strap on it, plugged it in, tuned it up and it was just right. It fit my hand, it felt welcoming under my fingers. I use 10's and it was a very low, buzz free action all the way to the top.
The maple top looks like one piece, and the finish is stellar. Fret wire is well dressed, pickup height was dead on correct. The selector switch is lightly coated with dilectric grease and makes no noise when moved (nice touch!)Pots are scratch free and smooth.Tuning pegs are smooth and functional, it goes into tune and stays there.
Dont you believe all the BS about Epiphone Les Pauls being a equal alternative, THEIR NOT. Their not even close. You can put a pig in a pant suit and call it Hillary, but it wont be the senator from New York.

There is the rock of Gibralter and there as the Gibson Les Paul, Just don't drop on its head. It's the one to have when your only having one.

I have yet to need to deal with GIBSON but I did find Music Gear Garage to be very easy to communicate with and extreemly helpful.

23 years of bending strings, I also have a great old ES-235 I realy love to plunk around on and a wonderful old Alverez acoustic.
My electric setup is:
Carvin X-100 B with the 1B mod in the lead circuit
Carvin 4-12 slant cab with Celestion red backs and a pirated cab effect module from a 3212 for direct into the board (these things are GREAT, find one, try it, WOW!)
Rack with:
Roland GP-8 & FC-100 controller
ART 70, full octave Eq.
Behringer Composer pro XL compressor/noise gate
Aphex Aural Exiter 204
The Les Paul works well with my stuff, and I dont have to add a lot of processing, mostly using the chorus and delay, very little compression and even less noise gate (mostly to keep the rack quiet) The Aphex is there to return the dynamics lost in the Roland, EQ to get it all right with the venue.
If I lost it, I would find it (I know DOG the bounty hunter!)
I would like to get an old gold top hollow body with P-90's just to dink around on, but.......
Further more I would like to say....
STEWIE FOR GOVENOR!!!!

It has everything you expect from a Les Paul:
Two humbuckers (a Gibson 490R and 498T) which are ok for stock pickups, but i have changed the bridge pickup to a Swineshead Runaway and added a push/ pull (the knob was to big for the push/ pull pot, thats why one is uncovered) and will change the 490R to a GFS Mean- 90.
It has chrome hardware, a Tune o matic bridge
Mahogany body with a maple top
A set mahogany neck with a rosewood fretboard.
The tuners was changed by the owner before my friend to non locking Grover kidney's
Ive added Schaller straplocks.

What can i say? Classic Les Paul tone. Teamed up with an all tube Marshall and you have one of the worlds finest crunch. The tone is extremly fat, but the maple top adds a bit of top end and makes it very balanced. it has a wide range of tones, from jazzy cleans to some metal. In the bridge ive got a Swineshead Runaway gives it amazing classic rock sounds and hard blues sounds. Think Led Zeppelin, Cream and so on. The push/ pull is ok, but now i have a Strat to cover single coil tones. The sustain is awesome. I tried to test its sustain, but gave up since i got bored waiting (it feels like it can sustain forever). Im gonna put a GFS Mean- 90 in the neck since i want P-90 sounds. The Strat have better cleans, but when i want crunch, this delivers it perfectly.

Well i bought the guitar used, so i cant tell how it were from the factoryThe build is very solid and everything is top notch (exept for paint, they only have a thin layer of paint, and my friend i bought it from had played with a spike bracelet, meaning that he exposed alot of wood (since that made it look like cr*p he sold it quite cheap). No sharp edges on the frets no fret buzz, its just a dream to play it. Since the paiting is not the best it gets an 8.

Ive played live with it lots of times, and it works great. I haven't used any backup for it and haven't needed one. The finish has worrn ff alot (epxlained in the above post). Ive replaced the strap buttons with Schaller straplocks. This is a guitar i can really depend on.

Since i bought it used i can't judge this.

Ive playing for about 1,5 to 2 years. I was gonna get an Epiphone Les Paul but got my friend to sell me this for the same price. The gear i use is an Ibanez TS-9, a Russian Big Muff and a vintage Phase 90 copy. I don't miss anything on it TBH. My overall imression is great, even if it looks like sh*t, it sounds and plays awesome, which is more improtant. I bought it because i wanted fat humbucker tone and it was exactly what i wanted. It works great for gigs and i can easly walk around with it (i have an extremly fat strap, that feels like a pillow).

standard gibson electronic setup.

AAA flame maple top (factory mistake)
mahogany body.
22 frets
wine red
no binding, but it suits the guitar.
chrome hardware, black knobs/pickup rings/pickguard

what else is there to say?

This thing sounds great man. I'd been playing different gibsons in Long and Mcquade for a while, while i was saving and deciding what guitar to get, this, and the deluxe really appealed to me. I think the deciding factor on this one, was someone at quality control reaaaaaaaaaaally fucked up...Ive got a flame top on mine (studio's are supposed to have plain tops) and it plays a million times better than any other studio or sg i'd played. When i got home, and got a chance to crank it, you really notice how great the tone is. I play alot of different styles, from punk, hardcore, and ska, to rocknroll, rockabilly, blues, and some jazz/surf kind of stuff too. The neck pickup is realllllllllly smooth, amazing cleans. When distorted it's got a pretty standard humbucker tone, surprizingly round and kind of bluesy when you turn down the gain. the bridge humbucker is alot hotter i guess, awesome distorted tones, it tottaly screams man. You can get alot of different sounds out of it, unless you're going for really twangy or bluesy, this guitar works great.

I didn't give it a 10, because I kind of wish i could get that growley single coil kind of tone out of the bridge...buuut I guess they're humbuckers, not single coils eh?

great setup.

no finish flaws
no bindings, but it's kind of a simplistic beauty.
gorrrrrrrrrrgeous wine red with a flame top. its...its beautiful really
good action
accidental flame top
i think a slimmer neck? not sure...it feels alot faster than the other studios
the only problem is a bit of sanding was left kind of fucked up on top of the headstock (not where the gibson logo is, at the very end of the guitar between the d, and g tuners...ya know what i mean?)

its great man.
it's really heavy though, and the strap buttons are really small and lame. I bought strap locks right away, and it's goin way better. I've already got alot of scratches and stuff on the back, and I've had it for about a month, I've had an Ibanez AF75 for 2 years, and the finish is holding up way better than on my les. You'd think that for $1600 or whatever after tax, theyd be able to put a more solid finish on it. I'd use it to gig and record.
But who would play any gig without a backup?

warranty is a lifetime warranty i think? not sure, i havent read it. I've never dealt with gibson, but I've heard from some people that they're great with customer support, and I've heard they're really bad from other people, so i dunno, mang.

yo, I got a free setup with it, that's pretty rad.

I've been playing for about 5/5 and a half years, and this is probably one of the most solid guitars i've played. Comparing it to other LP's(classics, deluxes), SGs, and explorers, it's wayyy above them. But like i've said 500 times, I think mine is a one of a kind...still a great guitar for sure, but I've heard alot of horror stories about the lower end gibson models.

If this got stolen, I'd cry for a while, then Id save for a long time and buy another les paul of some kind...but it's hard to say. If i had the money, id probably go for the standard, but my studio is much higher quality in terms of sound and playability than the deluxes and classics i was playing. And about 800 bones cheaper.

If there was any way i could make this baby better, Id say it'd be a body/neck binding (but its not THAT big of a deal) and a P90 in the bridge...or a coil tap or something like on that jimmy page custom model.

and like i said before, flame top, super fast neck were the deciding factors on this one, not the price, because i had the $2200 for the deluxe.

USA made, 22 frets, rosewood fretboard, maple top, 2 humbuckers. In my opinion, it is the best looking and best feeling guitar in its price range, but it is not without shortcomings. It is a Les Paul, so it is very heavy and can be character-building when it is hanging off your shoulder for 2 hours at a gig. The machine heads are also cheap plastic (I am replacing mine with Sperzels). I am also replacing the PUPs (see below). All in all, a solid guitar, but requires some modification if you are a serious musician that's going to use it for giging and recording.

My band plays stuff that ranges from Beatles to the Buzzcocks. The pickups sound full and boomy, which is great on clean, but they are terribly muddy with distortion. I want a clear and articulate sound on both channels, so I am replacing the neck pup with a S.D. SH-2 Jazz and the bridge pup with a S.D. SH-4 JB.

The action is great with .09 and .10 strings. I like to play with thicker strings, but .11's don't work too well on here. You you get a lot of buzzing that requires that the neck be adjusted and that the action be raised high. So I'm sticking with .10's to keep the action low. The fretboard is flat and has a very different feel from a Strat. It's a matter of personal preference as to which type guitar feels better to your fingers.

Compared to other guitars in its price range, it seems to me to be the most solid and durable (with the exception of the machine heads, which are cheap plastic). When I go to guitar stores and try out other guitars, most of them seem poor quality and breakable by comparison. I only find guitars that measure up when I hit the $2500 price range.

I've been playing 20 years and have owned a Les Paul Studio for 10 years. It is not a perfect guitar, but the best for the price. I have looked many times for a replacement (to find something not as heavy), but nothing measures up and I always come back to the Paul. If you play professionally, it cannot be your only guitar. You'll also need something with single-coils like a Tele to have more tones at your disposal and to give your shoulder a rest at gigs.

Alpine White, SE (Special Edition) with an '59 profile neck shape, Ebony Fretboard and Gold Hardware. All other features are normal Les Paul Stuido features.

I am a very picky about tone all of my amps are Fender, Marshall and Mesa tube amps and my pedal board consist of mainly Fulltone & Voodoo Lab analog effects. I mainly play Fender guitars but I do like the sound of a good Les Paul. I bought this guitar mainly because I wanted a Les Paul to get all of the classic LP tones. I also have a preference for hard maple or ebony fretboards as apposed to softer rosewood boards. I was very disappointed with the sound of the stock 490R & 498T pickups so I replaced them with a Dimarzio Super Distortion in the bridge position and a Dimarzio Fred in the neck position. But although I like the tone of the Fred I was not happy with the SD in the bridge it sounded good on some things but it was to hot compared to my other guitars and caused much adjustment of my effects and amps when switching from guitar to guitar. So the guitar was stored for some time until I read an article that stated Warren Haynes uses S.D. Pearly Gates pickups in his Les Pauls. Being a big fan of Warren Haynes? guitar tone I bought and installed a pair of Pearly Gates pickups and now the tone is perfect. I don?t understand why Gibson would put such bad sounding pickups in their guitars when the S.D. Pearly Gates is a copy of one of their own designs the P.A.F. With the new pickups the guitar sounds great and is being played a lot I would rate it as a 10 if it had come with these pickups. But if this pickup change had not worked out I was planning on getting rid of the guitar.

The Action and fit was very good for this modestly priced Les Paul. It setup with 10s and even though it was shipped the intonation was not far off. I love the feel of the '59 neck and the ebony fretboard.

The Guitar feels real solid and I have not had any issues with it other than the pickups.

I have not had to deal with them.

I have been playing off and on for over 25 years. I have had and do have many other nice guitars, amps and gear. After the pickup change I am very happy with this Les Paul and if lost I would replace it with another LP with a Ebony fretboard and I would also install the S.D. Pearly Gates pickups.