Ever since hitting the streets in 1983, Gibson’s Les Paul Studio has been the ultimate offering of traditional Les Paul performance with a modern, no-frills attitude. Introduced as a guitar mainly for studio musicians, the Les Paul Studio has become one of the most desired – and popular – Les Pauls for its tremendous harmonic and sonic qualities. All of the essential elements of a Les Paul Standard are there, including a carved maple top, solid mahogany back and genuine Gibson humbucker pickups. What the Les Paul Studio lacks in extras, it makes up for in performance.
Originally designed as a model for studio artists but adopted wholeheartedly by countless players of all stripes, the Les Paul Studio combines stripped-down appointments with the full tonal splendor and unrivaled playability of a Les Paul Standard at a significant financial savings. All the elements of the legendary Les Paul Standard are still there, including that fat and sweet maple-and-mahogany tone through two genuine Gibson humbucking pickups. By eliminating a little of the window dressing--namely, building the guitar without binding around the body top or fingerboard, and applying an elegant gold silkscreened logo in place of an inlay--the Les Paul Studio weighs in at a price that players have found irresistible for three decades. And it all looks great, naturally, in your choice of four hand-sprayed nitrocellulose finishes: Wine Red, Ebony Black, Alpine White or Fire Burst (Ebony and Wine Red also available left-handed).
Chambered Mahogany Body
The body of each Les Paul Studio is crafted from chambered mahogany, joined to a solid carved maple top with ultra-strong Franklin Titebond 50 glue. These classic tonewoods have yielded some of the most legendary sounds in the history of rock.
Mahogany is a medium-dense wood with excellent resonance and superior sustain, and it offers a rich, round, warm tone, but with plenty of high-end sheen and good mid-range presence. Add a solid maple top, and the guitar's tone is enhanced with added clarity, sustain and definition. The body's chambering also enhances its mellow acoustic resonance, and adds further air to the midrange content.
Set Mahogany Neck
The neck of the Les Paul Studio is constructed from solid mahogany, cut using the superior "quarter sawn" orientation for improved strength and resonance. The angled, classical-style peg head and mahogany neck work together to provide exceptional tonal richness and resonance from the neck, with a good string definition and sustain.
Gibson uses what is known as the Mortis & Tenon joint to bind neck to body so that the two pieces form one solid unit. This time-tested technique has been used for millennia in all the great woodworking arts--from shipbuilding to cabinetry--to create one solid wood unit from two separate sections, and has been proven to yield a stronger neck and body than if the instrument was made from a single piece of wood.
The Les Paul Studio carries two of Gibson's most popular humbucking pickups, a 498T in the bridge position and a 490R in the neck.
Vintage-style tuners with tulip buttons and an efficient 14:1 turn ratio.
Gibson Tune-o-matic bridge with stopbar tailpiece.
22-Fret Rosewood and Ebony Fingerboards
Ebony and rosewood has always graced the fingerboards of the world's finest stringed instruments, including many of today's Gibsons. The fingerboards on the Les Paul Studios are constructed from the highest grade ebony and rosewood on the planet, and are personally inspected and qualified by Gibson's team of skilled wood experts before it enters the factories. The resilience of these dense and durable woods make the fingerboards extremely balanced and stable, giving each chord and note unparalleled clarity and bite. The 12-inch radius of the fingerboard provides smooth note bending capabilities and eliminates "dead" or "choked out" notes, common occurrences on fingerboards with lesser radiuses.
The Les Paul Studio fingerboard carries acrylic trapezoid position-marker inlays, echoing the traditional look of the original Les Paul Standard.
Angled Headstock
The Les Paul Studio headstock is carefully angled at Gibson's traditional 17 degrees, which increases pressure on the strings and helps them stay in the nut slots. An increase in string pressure also means there is no loss of string vibration between the nut and the tuners, which equals better sustain.
The headstock of the Les Paul Studio is equipped with vintage-style tuners with green tulip buttons and an efficient 14:1 turn ratio. These tuners provide a classic look in line with the model's lineage, and smooth, robust performance.
Tune-o-Matic Bridge
In 1954, Gibson revolutionized guitar hardware when it debuted the Tune-o-matic bridge, setting a standard for simplicity and functionality that has never been bettered. Included on the Les Paul Studio, the Tune-o-matic provides a firm seating for the strings, allowing the player to adjust and fine-tune the intonation and string height in a matter of minutes. It also yields excellent coupling between strings and body, maximizing resonance, tone, and sustain. This bridge is made from Zamak then plated in chrome, and each one weighs approximately .118 lbs.
Every Tune-o-matic bridge is combined with a separate "stopbar" tailpiece, which is essentially a modified version of the earlier wraparound bridge that's designed to further enhance the connection between the strings and the body. The Les Paul Studio's stopbar tailpiece is made from Zamak then plated in chrome, and each one weighs approximately .24 lbs
498T and 490R Pickups
Gibson's 498T and 490R pickups ("T" for treble, and "R" for rhythm) have the traditional characteristics of the original "Patent Applied For" pickups of the late 1950s, with a few upgrades. These pickups take advantage of wax potting, which does away with any air space inside the pickup, therefore lessening the chances of microphonic feedback. The result is a humbucker with the tonal characteristics of an original PAF, with a slight increase in upper mid-range response. The Gibson 498T bridge pickup is the 490R's ideal complement.
Taking the 490R one step further, the 498T is wound a little hotter and also swaps the Alnico II magnet for an Alnico V, giving it more punch and greater emphasis on midrange and highs. The pole pieces on the 498T are also aligned a little further apart to accommodate the spacing of the strings at the bridge, which is different than the spacing of the strings at the neck.
A three-way toggle is included for pickup selection, and each pickup gets an independent volume and tone control.
Nitrocellulose Finish
The Les Paul Studio is hand-finished in nitrocellulose in a process that is carefully monitored to ensure minimum build-up, in an effort to produce a finish that breathes with the guitar and enhances natural resonance. The final coat is hand-buffed to a high-sheen gloss. Unlike many other manufacturers, who settle for a polyurethane finish, Gibson opts for a nitrocellulose finish that will encourage the natural vibration of the instrument for a purer tone. In addition, a nitro finish is very porous and actually gets thinner over time.
The Les Paul Studio is finished your choice of Wine Red, Ebony Black, Alpine White or Fire Burst.
Les Paul Studio Specs
- Body: Mahogany
- Top: Maple
- Hardware: Chrome
- Bridge: Nashville Tune-O-Matic
- Tailpiece: Stop Bar
- Tuners: Vintage with Pearloid Button
- Neck Pickup: 490R
- Bridge Pickup: 498T
- Controls: 2 Volume, 2 Tone, Three-way Toggle
- Control Knobs: Black Speed Knobs
- Neck: Mahogany
- Nut: Corian
- Nut Width: Standard Gibson (1.695" +/- .050")
- Fingerboard: Ebony
- Inlays: Figured Acrylic Trapezoids
- Frets: 22
- Scale Length: 24 - 3/4"
