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Originally designed as a model for studio artists but adopted by countless players of all stripes, the no-nonsense Les Paul Studio electric guitar combines stripped-down appointments with the full tonal splendor and unrivaled playability of a Les Paul Standard–and at a more affordable price. It features a fat and sweet maple-and-mahogany tone from its two genuine Gibson humbucking pickups and it looks great in a Fireburst finish with gold hardware.

Key Features

Body and Finish

A solid, carved maple top and chambered mahogany body give the Les Paul Studio the same tonewood combination that has been helping Les Paul Standards rock for nearly 60 years. The Les Paul Studio follows the classic lines of the Les Paul Standard, with a gently arched top and a single cutaway on the treble side of the neck/body joint for improved upper-fret access. The body’s back is chambered to both reduce overall weight and enhance the guitar’s resonance.
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.
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.

Pickups and Electronics

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. Both are designed as updated renditions of Gibson’s famous PAF humbucker of the late ’50s and early ’60s, modified for improved versatility, and routed through the classic Gibson four-knob and three-way switch control section.
Used together, the 490R and 498T are one of the most versatile humbucking pickup sets available. In the neck position, the former yields juicy, warm vocal tones with outstanding clarity, while the latter in the bridge position excels at everything from bright jangle through a clean amp to wailing overdrive with near-infinite sustain through a high-gain amp. Selected together, the pair gives you everything from funky to greasy, depending upon amp and effects settings.

Neck, Headstock and Fingerboard

The Les Paul Studio is crafted in classic Gibson style with a glued-in neck made from solid quarter-sawn mahogany and topped with an unbound rosewood fingerboard (an ebony fingerboard with the Alpine White finish). The neck on the Les Paul Studio is carved to Gibson’s comfortable, rounded ’50s profile, which offers a smooth playing feel in the hand. This neck shape has been a favorite with many players since its arrival on the Les Paul Standards of the ’50s.
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.
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.

Hardware

The hardware set on the Les Paul Studio echoes that worn by Les Paul Standards since 1956, and includes Gibson’s hallowed Tune-o-matic bridge, stopbar tailpiece, and vintage-style tuners. A classic of 20th century guitar design, the Tune-o-matic provides excellent resonant coupling, while offering efficient independent adjustment of each saddle for precise intonation. 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.

What’s in the Box

Gibson Les Paul Studio electric guitar, black Gibson hardshell case, and owner’s manual. It’s covered by Gibson’s Limited Lifetime Warranty and 24/7/365 Customer Service.

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.

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: Gold
• 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″