Should I buy a studio or a standard?!

[Aymara]

... sometimes a guitar will just speak to you.

 

Mine said: "Buy me, I want to flirt with your bass" ... LOL

[Rosemarie]

If you are able to, go to a music shop and play a Studio and a Standard. Play any and all models of Les Paul that you can get your hands on. Do you have a particular pickup that you are looking for in your guitar? Do you want a fat neck, thin neck? Coil splitting?

 

I agree with Bryan. Go out and try different ones. I personally have a Studio and I LOVE it. The neck is comfortable for me to play (I have small fingers) and I love it's sound and look. It is pretty subjective which is best. We can all tell you whatever we want, but we are not you. We don't play how you play or need the things you may need in a guitar. When you find the right guitar you know it. It feels right to you, it plays right to you, it sounds right to you.

 

I'm sorry if this isn't what you want to hear, but we all look for different things in a guitar. What you might like in a guitar someone else might find cumbersome or doesn't have the sound that THEY want.

 

Good luck and have some fun in your search! Searching for the right guitar is half the fun! :)

[kaicho8888]

Gibsonated:

 

Geeze... you already know what you want...studio satin, fat neck, and BB. So quit wasting time, get it and start playing. Don't worry, in the near future you'll earn more money and get GAS (guitar acquisition syndrome) like the rest of us. The main thing is to get that LP in your hands and play! ... no need to get anybody's opinions!

 

...have fun and live life to it's fullest.

[Superbutkus]

Hi gibsonated.

 

Yes; I double-checked the specs for the guitar in the link before I answered earlier.

 

Firstly;

Studios are held in very high regard hereabouts despite their relatively low price.

They were first introduced back in '83 specifically to be a low-cost, no-frills option for session-type musicians who had no need of 'bells and whistles' as the instruments were completely about TONE and not LOOKS.

For quite a while they shared much of their electrics and hardware with the (generally) top-of-the-range LP Custom model so it's no surprise they sounded good. Some have ebony 'boards into the bargain.

 

The model you posted has a 'Baked Maple' fingerboard which, although shunned by some, are very much liked by those people who actually OWN guitars so fitted. Don't be put off by anyone talking nonsense in this regard.

 

As far as the thin-coat Nitro goes;

Some players swear that the thinner the nitro the 'better' the wood breathes and the 'better' they sound. I have no opinion on the matter.

What IS certain is that the finish will wear-off quicker - especially where arms/wrists/clothes etc. comes into contact with the finish. One way to approach this is to accept it will 'age' sooner rather than later. As I'm not a fanatical believer in keeping my instruments in 'as-new' condition this is (IMHO) a Very Good Thing as it means you can disregard mollycoddling the thing and just concentrate on playing the bejeezus out of it.

And there is a great choice of colours from which to pick. I have two favourites from amongst them. Not telling, though.

 

You know about the BB Pros so no need to discuss those any further.

 

The 'Modern Weight-relief' pattern is possibly the best compromise yet between weight-reduction and tonal quality. Individual instruments will, however, vary in weight and there can be a very great difference between examples of the same model. This is one of the biggest reasons for trying as many as you can to see what, exactly, you like. Some of the previous style chambered guitars were so body-light as to be (again, IMHO) a bit neck-heavy but others have found these lighter examples to have a sweeter, brighter, tone.

You really DO need to try some out for yourself!

 

As far as the neck profile goes;

In the specs they mention (typically) 0.818" and 0.963" as the thicknesses at first- and twelfth-frets. This is actually quite slender for a '50s neck - more like a '59 than a '58, say, and should be very comfortable.

 

Nashville bridge; stop tailpiece and so on are all Standard-fare (pun) and I happen to prefer the green-key Kluson tuners over any other type.

 

All-in-all, not a single bad word to say about the guitars.

 

I prefer my Lesters bound and shiny but if you don't then I couldn't recommend the instrument featured highly enough.

 

All just my opinion, though.

 

P.

[/quote

I have the baked Maple on my Classic Plus and I love it. It's not even noticeably different in appearance from the Mahogany boards. The photos on the Gibson site can be misleading regarding the color of the baked Maple. If you want it darkened add a little lemon oil and rub.

[Bryan Sutherland]

Ha!

 

I'm sure you know this writer bloke, he'll tell you my name:

 

 

rct

 

Too bad the author isn't a dentist... haha