SilverLesterStd Posted December 23, 2008 Share Posted December 23, 2008 Slinger, I'm with you. I really don't believe Gibson USA makes many "entry level" guitars. Each guitar has a different character. My son's LP Studio VM is a screamer that plays like butter! It happens to have BB Pros. However, we played several of the same exact models (even down to the same color) that each sounded quite different. I don't know if it was the density of wood, pickup adjustment, fretboard hardness, etc. that made the difference. Another point in your favor is that most LPs came with the 490R, 498T combo for years. Much great music was played by these guitars. Also, most of the LP Customs come with this same configuration now! If these pups are good enough for the $3,400 luxury model... The Studio is basically the same guitar as a Standard without the binding. I would bet that quite a few Studios sound better than Standards. To me, an entry level guitar is one with less than desirable noise, sub-standard tuners, poor intonation, muddy sounding electronics, etc.. Jerry Cantrell can take a properly setup LP Studio and blow your mind with it. He can just afford the Custom, so he USUALLY plays a Custom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guitar slinger Posted December 23, 2008 Share Posted December 23, 2008 A 52 RI Telecaster has no intonation adjustment Yeah, you are pushing it. Single coils that hum Was it a gibby SG classic or perhaps a ES with p90s I bet you would find it sweet. A round neck that frets out I see you don't like it. It's cool, you don't have to =) An '08 Studio is a lesser guitar? NO WAY! Only in the Gibson line. Then, yes. No offense here as well, mate =) Regards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guitar slinger Posted December 23, 2008 Share Posted December 23, 2008 Slinger' date=' I'm with you. I really don't believe Gibson USA makes many "entry level" guitars.[/quote'] Yeah, I don't know how it works in your country. All I know is that HERE, IN BRAZIL, the entry-level guitars are Squier, or something cheaper than a Squier, like a Condor, Strinberg, Eagle or something. And I have to tell you something. Those guitars are GOOD. Why would I say that when I have in my bedroom two awesome Fenders and a Gibson Custom shop? Because 10 years ago, when I started playing, things were different. And 15 to 20 years ago, it would be even more different. People would KILL for a Squier or any other guitar that gets in tune, where the frets are not completely wrong and the tuners worked like average. Of course that a lot of people here start with PRS, Gibsom, Fender. They are not the standard, believe me. But I think that in the US the entry-level is something like Squier, or Daisy Rock. Otherwise, why would they sell it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobv Posted December 23, 2008 Share Posted December 23, 2008 That's the set I've got in my Epi Dot 490R/490T in my Dot, mostly because that's what they put in the Lucille model. Nice pickups, hotter and more midrange but not a dramatic difference necessarily. They're all good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retrosurfer1959 Posted December 24, 2008 Share Posted December 24, 2008 Ok the term entry level doesn't always equate with cheap or bad. Gibson stripped a lot of the handwork to shave cost and compete more in a head to head price range with Fender. hell almost all high end mfg make a line for consumers and a price break on lower cost models to get the new crowd to buy. Porsche didn't start out only with the high end and neither did Harley Davidson saying a Studio is a entry level guitar is similar in my mind to saying a sportster is a entry level Harley. sure some people stick to sportsters and spend a whole life happily riding sportsters and nothing else. Most riders however spend two or three years on a sportster as a young rider then move on up. No difference here. sure you could spend a whole life playing only studios but Gibson is counting on that being the unusual player not the norm... I stand by my statement Studio's are a entry level (GIBSON) guitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcooper830 Posted December 24, 2008 Share Posted December 24, 2008 I'm not a big fan of the Les Paul Studios with their stripped down look and no binding. But I came across a really good deal on a beat up old 1991 LP Studio with hard case and I couldn't pass it up. I LOVE this guitar!!! It plays and sounds smooth as butter! I find it doesn't growl quite like my Burstbucker PRO equipped Les Pauls......... but it has a nice smooth warm tone all it's own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AXE® Posted December 24, 2008 Share Posted December 24, 2008 I wonder what guitar_dandy has to say about the 498T ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichCI Posted December 24, 2008 Share Posted December 24, 2008 My impression of Studios is that they're just as good as classics but with less frills. Let's face it, if you're buying almost ANY Gibson guitar, you're paying for flash and brand recognition as well as an instrument. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saturn Posted December 24, 2008 Share Posted December 24, 2008 Yeah Murph. I got tired of defending Studios a while ago, so I just let everyone say what they will about them and the 490R/498T. Personally I love mine (it is a Plus) and have never played a Studio that didn't play and sound fantastic. I forget exactly what kind of Studio you said you got for your daughter, but I didn't think Studios were chambered, just weight relieved. I know mine is weight relieved but still weighs 10lbs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flight959 Posted December 24, 2008 Share Posted December 24, 2008 Guys, As some of you may know I treated myself to a nice brand new Gibson LP Studio (worn cherry) two weeks ago as a present to myself.. I bought this guitar based on peoples opinion and general reviews. I can honestly say that this is a very fine guitar indeed. Its well made, light, punchy and best of all its not complicated...It does what is says on the tin... Its about to overtake my other guitars including my Gibson's on popularity. I have the 490 and the 498 on my Gibson LP Goddess where I think they seem to have a sharper edge that the ones in the Studio..... The Gibson LP Studio is without a doubt a very fine guitar.. Regards Flight959 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murph Posted December 24, 2008 Author Share Posted December 24, 2008 It's an '08 Fireburst. Everything points to it being chambered. I haven't weighed it, but it's heavy for a 9 year old. It was a Birthday present for early Dec., she plays it every day. She solo'd with it singing "Silent Night" at her school's Christmas show. 3rd grade. I snuck it out to gig it, because of some of the crap I'd read here about Studios. And just to spend some time with it as a gigging bar musician since the 70's. I got my first Gibson at age 12. The '61 in my sig. She's ahead of me. In many ways......... But I stand by the fact that an '08 Studio is a FAR BETTER guitar than a Fender 52RI Telecaster dipped in epoxy that WILL NOT INTONATE to save your a$$. And has a post hole digger handle for a neck. And the pickups are freakin' noisey too...... How ya gonna argue these points? The reason they kept improving those Teles are because the old ones sucked. Murph. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guitarooster52 Posted December 27, 2008 Share Posted December 27, 2008 Was it a gibby SG classic or perhaps a ES with p90s I bet you would find it sweet. Regards An ES with P90s...like maybe an ES339 with P90s.....hmmm! That would be a cool experiment!:) Anybody hear of such an animal? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uyasgali Posted December 27, 2008 Share Posted December 27, 2008 I don't know how anyone could call a Studio an "Entry Level Guitar". A Melody Maker is an entry level guitar. An Epiphone. A Squier. As a gigging musician for many decades I would have no problem gigging' date=' or recording, with this "08 Studio. It's a far better guitar than an American Standard Telecaster. Carved Maple top, Mahogany, Rosewood, Inlays. Is an American Standard Tele an "ENTRY LEVEL GUITAR"? What is it, that makes it "entry level"? Wood? Pickups? Frets? Pots? Switches? Educate me...... Murph.[/quote'] No jewelry or makeup... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MReynolds Posted December 28, 2008 Share Posted December 28, 2008 An ES with P90s...like maybe an ES339 with P90s.....hmmm! That would be a cool experiment!:P Anybody hear of such an animal? There've been several ES models with P-90s. The ES-330T/D, ES-350...can't remember any of the others at the moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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