Gibson USA
Gibson has built upon its long-standing reputation for quality craftsmanship and durability to position itself in as a leader in both acoustic and electric guitars. More recently Gibson’s market approach with it’s electrics at least, has been to position itself as the Gucci of electric guitars in terms of pricing. The popular Les Paul Series has perhaps become one of the most sought after instruments of our time with some vintage early ‘60s models which originally sold for about $200.00 now being able to fetch up to $25,000.00 from some very serious enthusiasts. Although never coming close to the Fender Stratocaster in terms of units sold, the Gibson Les Paul is generally considered the Strats only true rival among critics and guitar connoisseurs. It has become a truly classic rock guitar due to it’s unique set of features which I’ll describe below.

Les Paul or Stratocaster
I was a Fender Stratocaster owner first (see my review entitle "Marriage of Form and Function") as I was able to pick up a very well cared for used Mexi Strat for a fraction of the price I would have had to pay for a new American made one. I quickly learned why the Stratocaster was held in such high regard by so many guitarists for it’s versatility, brightness and playability. However since my acquisition of the Stratocaster, I had always wanted to own a Les Paul as well in order to experience the differences of the two supposedly leading electric guitars on the market today. I had a chance to fool around with an Epiphone Les Paul which I guessed was close to the true Gibson version as the Squire Strat was to the Fender Strat, meaning the feel might have been similar on a superficial level, but there is no substitute for the quality of the real thing. There are some different models of Gibson Les Pauls, just as there are some different models of Fender Stratocasters, but the quality comparisons between each of the different model Fender Strats and the comparisons between the different models of Gibson Les Pauls are not the same thing. While Fender substitutes different woods and hardware features on the variety of models, the differences between say the Gibson Les Paul Standard and the Les Paul Studio are almost entirely cosmetic.

The Studio is a Full Fledged Member of the Les Paul Series
Both the Studio and the Standard Les Pauls come with a carved maple top and a mahogany back body, a mahogany neck with rounded profile, a rosewood 22 fret fingerboard with pearl trapezoid inlay. The scale and nut width are identical at 24 ¾” and 1 11/16” respectively. A tune-o-matic bridge and stop bar tailpiece are identical on both models as well as the pickups (490R and 498T Alnico magnet humbuckers). The only differences are that the Standard comes with a single ply binding around the body top and fingerboard and doesn’t come with the option of Gold Colored hardware (chrome only) as the studio does. The color options are also different on the two models as well as the price. In light of the differences being cosmetic, the price difference of roughly $1000.00 (at least where I live) amazes me and makes it easy to see why the Studio has become the most popular model in the Les Paul Series.

A New Love Affair
In accordance with my desire to own a Gibson Les Paul I had over the past few months familiarized myself with the local Gibson dealers and current pricing. The Studio is the lowest priced model in the Les Paul Series at between about $1500.00 and $1900.00 suggested retail at 2000 level prices. I had known from speaking with various Gibson dealers that the new pricing for 2001 was due out, and with the market the way it is was likely to contain a sizeable increase. I recently visited a guitar show highlighted by a large Gibson display. I learned from the sales rep that the 2001 pricing was out with a suggested retail of $2100.00 CDN for the Studio being the lowest for anything in the Les Paul Series. With this in mind I set out over the next few days to explore the possibility of locating a Studio still for sale at the 2000 price point. I found a brand new 2001 model in ebony with chrome hardware available for 1499.99 which included a deluxe combination-lock hard case. I paid cash on the spot and began a love affair with another musical instrument.

Les Paul or Stratocaster – Part 2
The Les Paul Studio differs from the Fender Stratocaster in many ways. While the Strat has a very versatile and bright sound, the Les Paul has a moodier, fuller sound with loads more sustain but somewhat less range in any single setting. The Les Paul at 13+ lbs. is about twice the weight of the Strat, but the weight feels good to play lending a feeling of stability and depth. The bridge is higher than on the Strat and this changes the action by putting the strings slightly higher in relation to the frets, but the ever so slightly wider fret board allows flawless fingering of notes with ease. The raised bridge also places the strings much higher at the bridge and actually slightly angled up and away as they pass over the picking area which I find facilitates faster picking and soloing overall. All and all the is a wonderful sounding guitar with a lot of versatility possible through playing with the tone and volume settings. I found on my Strat that I liked to pretty much stay at full volume and near full tone for all pickups and played consistently in the middle pickup selector setting. With the Les Paul I like the sound of playing at different volumes and tone settings for each pickup (each humbucker has a volume control on the Les Paul while one volume control affected all selected pickups on the Strat.).

Why Spend the Money
Gibson is retailing their Les Pauls (and all their electrics) for a lot more than could ever be reasonably attributed to production costs and / or pure demand. What I believe they’ve chosen is to solidify themselves as leaders in quality by producing a consistently quality conscious product which is priced higher than anything else in the marketplace. They’ve taken an already rising demand for vintage Gibson product and expanded upon it by pushing up prices year after year for their top products. This creates a market condition where, assuming prices for new Gibsons continue to rise each year, and the demand for ‘60s and ‘70s vintage rock nostalgia continues the trend into the coming decades, buying a top of the line Gibson product can be considered an investment as well as a way to obtain the absolute best quality precision instrument available today. To paraphrase Terry Burrows: 'A good guideline for any musician to follow is to always buy the best quality one can afford, for in terms of playability, reliability and sound production any perceived savings will prove again and again to be a false economy.' For the absolute beginner a Les Paul might be an expensive way to get started, but for someone who has a fairly serious and consistent interest, picking up a Gibson Les Paul early on will only serve enhance that interest as well as offer some liquidity should the need arise as it should maintain a good portion of it’s value for a few years and may even someday be worth more than you paid for it.

Some Things to Beware of
From reading other’s reviews of the Gibson Les Paul Studio and speaking with friends I’ve picked up on a couple of concerns which seem to come up again and again which I’ll share. The first of these is that the stain/paint used on the rosewood fret board of the Les Paul Studio and on the neck may be subject to breaking down after prolonged contact with oils in the skin, sweat etc. While this adds character for some attesting to hours of play, for others this may be seen to decrease the resale value putting the guitar in a state of less-than-mint condition. Repainting is always possible, but having it done properly and professionally isn’t free. Another complaint I’ve heard about is that the gold hardware on the Humbucker covers has a tendency to wear. This can be replaced rather cheaply or can be avoided all together by opting for the chrome hardware which doesn’t seem to have the same problem. One last common piece of advice is to obtain strap locks immediately if you plan to ever stand up while playing this guitar. The strap pegs are noticeably smaller than those of the Stratocaster and with the added weight your simply asking for trouble by trusting them to the leather slits of most straps. There were apparently some concerns with staying in tune on older Studios since their re-introduction in the early ‘90s but this has been remedied to the satisfaction of most by standardizing on Grover machine heads.

Conclusion and a Final Word of Caution
I am very satisfied with my purchase and use a combination of the Les Paul and Stratocaster now in my compositions depending on the needs of the piece. They both have their strong points and really compensate differently for a different sound and feel. I hope to be able to continue to view my guitars as Jeff Beck does, mainly as tools of the trade, and as long as I have an assortment of the best at my disposal I hope to make use of them all.

One final note of caution is to shop for this item alone and definitely hide the receipt from your wife, girlfriend, husband etc. If they discover how much you’ve actually paid for this they will potentially suffer through a whole range of self-doubt and you may find yourself in the situation I’ve been in for weeks now of having to consistently lie by saying that I still love my girlfriend more than my new Les Paul...



Recommended: Yes