PJ

Just bought a 2012 Sheraton.....should have waited, had I known. But, I'm happy with the one I got. Might have to spring for one of these, though. Just for the Frequensator! And, the pickups, of course.

I ran across an Epiphone Tele in the used section at GC, and as a Tele player of the past 40 years, I would say it was pretty nice. Not at all a bad guitar. But, not really a Tele. They come from the other guys. Don't know much about the Strats, but the Tele was OK.

Midi-Man.....that's a very nice example of the Walnut SG. I've seen a couple with some funky grain and wood-joins, but yours looks terrific. Be sure to keep that one. They don't get any nicer than that - to look at anyway. I might have to find one of those, but they're pretty scarce. Not sure why Epiphone doesn't make these models regularly, over the faded red and brown models. These would certainly be in higher demand - at least from my POV.

I'd been Jonesin' for a Gibson Swamp Ash model, but the 2 college tuitions keep me out of the grand-plus range thesedays. When I saw the Walnut carved-top Les Paul, I thought I could tweak it a little and perhaps changeout the pickups. But, the stock pickups are fabulous. I've been playing Teles for 40 years, since I was 15 and they're great for just about anything you can throw at them. But, they really can't do that quiet but jangly middle-stop tone a Les Paul can, nor give you that bridge pickup overdriven slide tone that slide-players are after. Granted, Sonny Landreth and Bonnie Raitt do just fine with Strats, but a good slide-tone isn't something I've ever been able to coax out of my Teles or Strats. So, I appreciate Epiphone offering this model - I did have one of their '56 GoldTops years ago, but the P-90s were all too similar to the single-coils in my other guitars. A couple of hummers in this Walnut plank do the trick quite nicely. I think Epiphone might be missing a boat with their Les Paul product planning. I'd rather see them do more of this type of Les Paul than tricked-up USB-jacks and pretty veneers. It's all about the tone, for me anyway. And, this one sounds just terrific.

If you go to Guitar Center's website and search "Epiphone Studio" it looks like they'll still get one to the store of your choice. I haven't tried it, but I might grab another one of these and try some different pickups in it. Not that the stock units are lacking in any way - they sound terrific. Here you can see the bone nut I added - I had some issues with the stock nut. And, I had a set of Grover Tulip-Key Tuners around so, they found their way on to the Studio, as well. A bone nut makes a big difference in tone and tuning stability. I am liking this Les Paul immensely. BTW....GC wants $399 for this model. Worth it, a few times over. It does a lot of things I can't get out my Telecasters. Especially for slide-stuff.

I'm not sure why this Les Paul Studio model didn't last long, but after a few tweaks and upgrades, I'm enjoying this one. Just fabulous tone, great pickups and a terrific neck profile. Thanks for a good one, Epiphone. But, you really should have kept this model going...I just might have picked-up a couple more.