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Gibson Les Paul Studio - Ruby Red!?


Guest Jonathan Beal

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Guest Jonathan Beal

Hi guys,

 

I'm a guitarist from the UK South Coast, and am in possession of a bit of a unique Les Paul Studio (or so I'm lead to believe!), serial 02920612.

 

I bought this beauty in around 2004 for around £400 ($486) and didn't really think about what sort of Les Paul she was, I just knew from the second I played her that she was incredible.

 

I guess what I'm looking for is a bit more info on the guitar's background. I'm never going to sell her, but I'm just curious, as all I seem to find out about is the JEM series (which this isn't), and Ruby red LP's with dot markers and buckers or P90's.

 

If anyone can shed any light, I'd be so grateful!

 

Kind Thanks,

 

http://postimg.org/image/43nd3tovb/

http://postimg.org/image/qtmhwt82v

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Hi and welcome.

 

From the Guitar Dater site;

"Your guitar was made at the Nashville Plant, TN, USA on October 18th, 2000. Production Number: 312"

 

The Studio range was launched in 1983 as a nothing-fancy-but-with-all-the-important-bits series.

Your instrument was built in 2000 (first and fifth digits from the serial number).

 

The 3/4-sized Crown inlay markers were used on the Studio during 1999 and 2000.

As a general rule full-sized Crown inlays were used from 1990-98 and 2001-on (before 1990 Dot markers were used).

Mr. Bacon, in his book about Les Pauls, says about LP Studio finish options for this period; "Sunburst, Natural or Colours.."

 

I believe they came with the 490R/498T p'up set. Nashville bridge and regular stop-tail are correct as are Grover 'Kidney-Bean' tuners.

Not much more to say, really. The red finish isn't nearly as common as ebony, obviously, but there are still quite a few out there.

 

Studios are highly regarded hereabouts. The p'up pairing, for instance, is the same as found on the Les Paul Custom so despite their lower price-point they are still very much a 'proper' Les Paul.

 

Pip.

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Guest Jonathan Beal

Pip, thanks so much. I actually found the 498/490 combo very effective but perhaps a bit hot - i switched them for a set of handwound Creamery PAF's and they sound fab! Can you tell me, are these Les Paul's chambered?

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I've read some good stuff in the 'Lounge' sub-forum regarding the Creamery PAFs. They seem to be an excellent choice.

 

As far as 'chambering' goes the answer is no; it's got what's called 'weight-relief'.

Chambering, where a very large amount of wood is removed, didn't come in until late 2006. 'Weight-relief', OTOH, started in late '82. During the late Norlin period (say mid-'70s) the supply of lighter mahogany dried up (no pun intended) and some LPs were tipping the scales at ridiculous figures (there have been photos posted of Customs weighing over 15lbs!) and Gibson had to find some way of reducing the mass of the guitar without changing the tone. Weight-relief was the answer.

There are different types of w-r these days but yours will be the 9-hole ('Swiss-Cheese') version as the others came along quite recently. Famously no-one knew of the practice - Gibson didn't exactly advertise it - until a musician saw his guitar passing through an x-ray machine at an airport...

 

Chambering;

Chamber_BFG_2007.jpg

 

9-hole 'Swiss-Cheese';

1998LPstandardradiograph.jpg

 

Every USA-line carved-top Les Paul made since 1982 (with the notable exception of the 2013/14 Traditional) features either some form of w-r or else is chambered. The re-issues are the only LPs made using solid mahogany body-blanks. To all intents and purposes w-r makes not the slightest bit of difference to the end-tone of the guitar. Chambered instruments usually seem to be a bit 'livelier' but with less 'meat' to the tone in a back-to-back comparison.

In a live situation, of course, no one could tell the difference between any of these instruments...

 

Pip.

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Guest Jonathan Beal

Pip, thanks so much for your brilliant info. Really getting to grips with it all. By all accounts, it's a superb guitar. Recently I was thinking of buying a higher range LP but to be honest, other than being more satisfying and pretty visually, I can't see there being a massive point in buying another. The PAF'S are so delicate in their sound, and we're made to my specs for a Peter Green esque tone with alnico II mags... I'll have to post some samples. They were also engineered so that in the middle position when combined, I wouldn't lose as much output as Green would have. Highly recommended!

 

Jon

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