| Gibson Les Paul Studio | |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Gibson USA |
| Period | 1983 — present |
| Construction | |
| Body type | Solid, Single or Double Cut |
| Neck joint | Set |
| Scale | 24.75" |
| Woods | |
| Body | Mahogany, Maple Top |
| Neck | Mahogany |
| Fretboard | Ebony, Rosewood |
| Hardware | |
| Bridge | Tune-o-matic |
| Pickup(s) | Dual humbuckers |
| Colors available | |
| Wine Red, Ebony, Platinum, Classic White, Fire Burst, Alpine White | |
The Gibson Les Paul Studio is an electric guitar made by the Gibson Guitar Corporation; it is a less expensive, stripped-down version of the popular model. Its users include Jade Puget of AFI, Paul H. Landers of Rammstein, Frank Iero of My Chemical Romance, Scott Kelly of Neurosis, and jazz guitarist Ulf Wakenius.
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The Les Paul Studio is designed for a studio musician. This means that the guitar is targeted toward guitar players more concerned with tone and playability than cosmetics thus eliminating unnecessary expenses that go into a model designed for performances. For this reason, the elements of the Gibson Les Paul that contribute to tone and playability (a carved maple top and standard mechanical and electronic hardware) are retained, while elements that do not (binding on the body and neck as well as ornate inlays) are not.
Early models from 1983-1984 featured dot fret markers on top of ebony or rosewood fretboards. The neck and body bindings were offered on the Standard and Custom studios. In the mid 80's the dot markers were replaced by trapezoidal inlay. In the early 90's the option of an ebony fretboard was discontinued, but they are now available on the classic, silverburst and alpine white finishes. The maple top on the Studio series is 1/8 of an inch thinner than other Les Paul models that feature a maple top. The Studio was made to hit a specific price point below the standard Paul, allowing novice guitarists to enjoy the pedigree, shape and image of a Les Paul at a greatly reduced price. Despite this fact, many professional guitarists (see above) use the Studio as their on-stage instrument of choice, usually citing its reduced weight.
The Les Paul Studio features the same electronics as the Custom model. This includes two pickups (one at the bridge position and another at the neck), a volume control unit for each pickup, a tone control unit for each pickup, and a three-way selector switch. A standard 1/4-inch guitar cable jack is located at the bottom rim of the instrument.
The pickups currently installed in this model are the Gibson 490R Alnico magnet humbucker in the neck position and the Gibson 498T Alnico magnet humbucker in the bridge position. The Studio Lite version of the Les Paul was equipped with ceramic magnet humbuckers (496R/500T).
As of late 2009, the "faded" model Studios (these have a slightly faded stain finish, as opposed to Nitrocellulose finishes) have BurstBucker Pro pickups installed.
All models made from 1982 until 1985, with the exception of Studio Custom and Studio Standard, featured bodies with a carved alder top and set maple necks.
The Vintage Mahogany model has a carved mahogany body, top and neck, a rosewood fretboard and Alnico V BurstBucker Pro humbucker pickups, the same humbuckers used in the Les Paul Standard model. The model is available in worn brown and worn cherry finishes. It has garnered a 9.5 rating out of 10 at www.ultimate-guitar.com and a 9.4 rating out of 10 at Gibson's website product page.
During 2000-2002, Gibson released a series of six guitars dubbed "Gothic" models. Guitars other than the Les Paul Studio in this series were the Gibson SG, Flying V, X-plorer and Nikki Sixx Blackbird Bass.[1]
The "Voodoo" series followed which included a SG as well as Les Paul Studio. The series was discontinued in 2005.[2]
The Gibson Les Paul Smartwood Studio is a variant of the Studio model. It is made from wood certified by the Rainforest Alliance. While the back and the neck are made from mahogany, the carved top each of the six models in the SmartWood line featured tops made from a different but equally stunning wood: Curupay has a deep chocolate-walnut richness; Peroba recalls the orangey hue of the old pine ceiling beam; Banara has a golden, banana-like glow; Ambay Guasu boasts the even lightness of maple; Taperyva Guasu is reminiscent of a sun-bleached rosewood, and Chancharana is a deep, warm-brown russet.and the fretboards are all made from "Curupay harvested from forests certified in accordance with the rules of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). The mahogany used in the construction of this model is from similarly certified forests.[3]
| Gibson Les Paul Swamp Ash Studio | |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Gibson USA |
| Period | 2003 — present |
| Construction | |
| Body type | Solid |
| Neck joint | Set |
| Woods | |
| Body | Swamp Ash |
| Neck | Mahogany |
| Fretboard | Ebony or Rosewood |
| Hardware | |
| Bridge | Tune-o-matic |
| Pickup(s) | Dual Humbucking |
| Colors available | |
| Natural Satin | |
The Gibson Les Paul Swamp Ash Studio was introduced in 2003 alongside the Les Paul Voodoo. These two instruments were essentially identical except for the Voodoo's dark finish, "Goth" aesthetic and different pickups.
All Gibson Les Paul Swamp Ash Studio guitars are built in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.
The body of the Swamp Ash Les Paul consists of a carved swamp ash top over a multi-piece swamp ash back. The neck is made from mahogany and is "set" into the body, as is the standard neck construction for all Les Paul guitars. The fretboard may be either ebony or rosewood, depending on production year.
Early Swamp Ash Studio guitars (approx. 2003 - 2004 model years) were produced with ebony fingerboards. These models are significant in that they lack any fingerboard markers.
Current models feature a rosewood fingerboard with dot inlaid fingerboard markers.
All of the swamp ash used in the Les Paul Swamp Ash Studio is certified environmentally "responsible" by the Rainforest Alliance via their SmartWood program. The Rainforest Alliance is accredited by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). Gibson is independently audited on an annual basis by the Rainforest Alliance to ensure that only FSC-certified swamp ash is used in the construction of the Swamp Ash Studio and Gibson's SmartWood line of instruments.[4]
As of 2006, Gibson only released production numbers for limited-run models with production set at the time of announcement. According to Gibson, the Les Paul Swamp Ash Studio is a "limited edition" model. Despite this, exact production numbers are currently unavailable.
Total production for Gibson's swamp ash guitars will depend on the availability of environmentally certified wood.[5]
The Gem Series of 1996 had P-90 pickups and special finishes in "gemstone" colors: Amethyst, Sapphire, Topaz, Emerald, and Ruby. The series was discontinued in 1998.
Gibson produced a small number of Les Paul Studio guitars using the leftover paint from the Gem Series. However, these are not to be considered original Gems, as they did not include the special P-90 pickups.[6]
The Studio Custom was produced during 84-85. It was introduced before the design of the Studio was finalized, and mostly had the features of a Standard with a variety of features mixed in from other models. It had a mahogany neck and mahogany body with a maple top, single-ply binding around the neck and three-ply binding around the body, and gold hardware with black pickup rings and pick guard. The 1984 models had two-piece tops, while '85 models had three-piece tops. The fingerboard was made from rosewood on some models, ebony on others, and had Mother of Pearl dots for inlays, instead of the usual trapezoids. The neck profile was slim-tapered, like a Standard, and the frets were low, like a "Fretless Wonder" Custom. According to limited information from guitar forums, some of these had the sought-after Tim Shaw pickups.
The Studio Standard was produced during 1984-86, and was very similar to the Studio Custom, including the "dot" inlays, but had a single-ply binding around the body, chrome hardware, and white pickup rings and pick guard. It was also available in different colors, such as Cherry Sunburst and Ferrari Red.
In the mid 1990s Gibson produced the Studio Lite and Studio Lite M-III. The Lite models were produced with balsa wood (referred to as "chromyte" in advertisements) portions of the body to reduce the guitar's weight, responding to some players' complaints about the heaviness of a standard Les Paul after several hours of playing. The Studio Lite M-III was produced with a new pickup configuration: two humbuckers with a single coil in the middle. The pickup selector switch gave five single-coil options in the "up" position, and four humbucker combinations in the "down" position, plus an "off" position. The name M-III refers to the Gibson M-III model, which was a Superstrat-style guitar, for which these electronics were originally developed.
In 2010 Gibson had a limited production of the "1950s Tribute". It looked basically like a 1955-57 Les Paul and featured a selection of "faded" colors, with P-90 soap bar pickups, a stop tailpiece, and a Tune-o-matic bridge. It lacks binding on the body and neck. The "Gibson" logo is silkscreened instead of inlaid and the fret markers are acrylic (Gibson had recently switched to acrylic fret markers on most Les Paul models). In 2011 produced a limited run of the "1960s Tribute", which was the same except that it had the 1960s-style "slim taper" neck instead of the more rounded 1950s-style neck.[7]
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