Gibson Les Paul Studio 120th Anniversary Review
Eliecer Brathwaite
I have a 2014 Les Paul Studio in Honeyburst, not only is it gorgeous it sounds spectacular. I own 3 Les Pauls, a 2012 Traditional Mahogany Satin, a 2014 Les Paul Peace and the 2014 Les Paul Studio. The Studio is as good as any of them, it has a simplistic rawness that I find very appealing. If you want a great player you can't go wrong with the 2014 Studio. If you like the cosmetic bling of high gloss and binding it comes with a price, the studio has all the main ingredients that make a Les Paul sound like a Les Paul. I was a little concerned about liking the 490 pickups, but they do sound very good to me. So far the maple neck appears to be very stable.
Thanks for sharing that man,i used to have a Gibson les paul classic antique and a les paul standard ,after i sold both of them and got myself a 60s tribute and an LPJ but i couldn find the tone i wanted .However at the end i found the les paul studio 2014 this guitar really rocks im totally happy with it.
I just purchased a 2014 studio, pics below. I compared this instrument to Standards and a traditional and the tone from the Studio blows them out of the water, hands down. Very solid construction, excellent quality and it seems to me that the Studio for 2014 is a much better guitar than last years models. I specifically held off buying a 2013 model Les Paul because they seemed a little off to me, and the mid range stuff with granadillo fret-boards just did not do it for me. Highly recommend this guitar, however they should have left the 120th anniversary logo off, it just does not need to be there (not that I mind really).
yes agree with you i used to have standards and a classic antique however had to sell it cause i needed money at that time but now i found in that guitar a blowout guitar studios are my favourites and this one tops it out of the box i will record my new album with that guitar.
I just bought a Studio Pro and I can't believe how nice it is. Has a great neck and sounds outstanding. It's also a dream to play, for the money it is as nice to play as a Standard. Oh and the the candy teal blue is killer!!!
I bought a 2014 studio as I have always wanted a blue les paul and I love the look of the 2014 studio in blue. I really like the 490r/490t pickup set so that was a bonus. Wanted the 60's neck and wanted a light guitar. The thing I like least about this guitar is the amber plastic they put on it. But I can live with it. Here is my blue studio.
oh i havnt figured how to post pics but my studio pro is the candy tobacco color, i forgot the correct name for the color and came with light brown hard case with Gibson USA on it with pink fur inside and luv it, plays awesome
I have one arriving on Tuesday next, so I'll post a review then. Sold my 2013 Studio to finance the new one. The Maple/Rosewood neck appeals to me more, and a bit of flame on the front won't go amiss either.
I ended up purchasing one of the 2014 studios in Manhattan Blue. It is on backorder until May 2nd. I have seen alot of criticism about the new studios and the finish being poor and so on. What would you recommend i do? Return it and get a high end epiphone les paul? I paid 700 for the 2014. Thanks alot.
Here's mine purchased 2 weeks ago in Brilliant Red Burst. I had a 2013 Studio in VS, but the Maple neck and light weight of the '14 appealed to me more. Got to say its a great playing and sounding guitar. The finish isn't high gloss like to '13, but I like the Vintage Gloss just as much. Much prefer the Rosewood fretboard too. The '14 was much better set up out of the box,. One down side? It doesn't come with the Gibson hard case it deserves.
I got a 2014 LP Studio in Manhattan Blue and like it a lot. This is my first Gibson with coil taps. They do give it a single-coil vibe like two Strat pickups might sound on a LP. It is not brighter sounding as I expected. Does anyone else notice this? The maple neck is fine. Now I want a LP Melody Maker for some P90 sounds.
deeman and mystique are going to get tired of seeing me. haha. the 2014 studio is an amazing axe. it is a new beast of it's own. i wasn't too crazy about the 490T and R at first but after adjusting the pickup posts and the pickup height i love it. the action is super low and the sustain is unbelievable. the maple neck was new to me even though i know gibson has used them in the past. i hate to say this but the feel of the backside of the neck reminded me of a (cough) strat (cough cough). but tone wise and playability? man, you can't beat it. les paul through and through. the only people that are talking bad about the regular 2014 studio are those that paid extra for the pro.... all they got was a glossy finish, a hard shell case ($200 value and there are better cases out there for less), a different pickup config, and different tuners. about a $500 difference..... its actually been shown before that the faded and satin finishes on the regular studios resonate better than the high gloss finish. i only really liked one of the color options for the pro. i had a hard time deciding what color option i wanted on my studio.
i thought the amber plastics look best on your blue guitar. on my honey burst they are hard to see. try swapping the knobs and the toggle cap with amber knobs of your choice and it will balance the colors out. the black may be a neutral color but still clashes with the blue and amber.... IMO...
This guitar smells. Yeah and it smells really strong alright, you can barely pick it up before you can smell the strong yet soft and worm smell of mahogany. Sometimes I get serious flashbacks from the woodshop in school when i play it its really cool.
I had never heard how the les paul studio would sound like in real life, I had only heard it on the internet or on the TV but never in real time life. But i didnt bother to plug it in in the store.. I knew what I was buying and I their by I knew that I would be pleased with the sound.Bought the guitar, drove home, pluged it in and.....wow.
The thing is im 18 years old and I probably didnt understand what I was buying.. I totally underestimated the guitar and I think I still doFor a beginner guitarplayer this guitar might seem just like an ordinary guitar from an ordinary manufacture. They just dont have the experience to understand what kind of holy piece of craftmanship they are dealing with. And I think that was the problem with me in the beginning though im not even a beginner guitarplayer... but still
And I think that's some of the beauty with this guitar to me, everyday you look at it standig in its rack just begging to be played on. And that's a view at least my eyes never gets tired of.
The back of the neck gets uneven after you played it a while from dryed sweat, dirt and that makes it to me atleast a bit difficult to slide up and down the neck but, some Teakoil and a rag does the trick!
Another thing is that sometimes when you play chords with distortion it sound muddy and its hard for the ear to hear all the tones, this ofcourse is due to the 490R and 498T humbucker pickups and I know that humbuckers aint the n1 choise for those who want that clean tone.
Next thing some may think is an advantage rather than a disadvantage and that only apply to the guitars with the goldhardware. After a while the gold on the bridge and the stopbar is going to fade away making the guitar look kinda like an old reissue guitar and to me this is definitely an advantage!
About the guitars advantages I really dont have much to say that aint explained in the smelly text part of this review, the neck is perfect for med its the little thicker 50s neck yet pretty slim and fast sliding to me. Great great great sound from the 490R and 498T pickups i mean.. try it with maximum distortion just to feel and hear how fat and heavy this guitar actually can sound. Lower the gain to minimum and enyoy the sweet bluesy crunshsound, switch to clean channel and be stunded how your fat rockaxe just transformed to a jazzguitar
What im trying to say is.. With the 2 volume and 2 tone knobs, the 3 way swith, a decent amp you can get this baby to sound pretty much what you want it to sound like, its stunning really.
To me this is an incredible well made guitar that you really feel the history and love in it when you look at it and for that matter play it. So far I haven't found any flaws with it except for the ones mentioned above.