Looking for advice/feedback on the Gibson Les Paul Studio 70's Tribute

Xcaliber

Xcaliber

New member
I have a chance to pick up one of these for $600 brand new. I've played it twice and I love it, but I'm curious if anyone knows anything else about them. I'm a lefty so it's rare to find these and such a good deal. I might snatch it up for that price. It would be my first Les Paul.
 
What's not to like.
The price is good, It's a leftie, and you like it.

So, if you can pick it up without jeopardizing finances, do it and don't look back.
 
RFR said:
What's not to like.
The price is good, It's a leftie, and you like it.

So, if you can pick it up without jeopardizing finances, do it and don't look back.
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This ^^^^^

That's a solid guitar at a helluva price; go for it, especially if you've had a chance to play it (and love it).
 
My wife and I don't see eye to eye on these types of purchases. We have the money, but she sees it as an unnecessary purchase. Which of course it is. I already have "too many guitars" as it is.
 
Seeing eye to eye on those things is rare.

My first post still stands. :-)

For a Gibson, 600 bucks will usually get you a used faded studio.
And good luck finding a leftie.

Here is a new one. Pull the trigger. :-) Despite lack of seeing eye to eye, I'd say the universe is conspiring in your favor.
 
I guess one thing that's "bothering" me about the guitar itself is the mini-humbuckers. I've never owned or played a guitar with those before and this is the only guitar I've ever seen with one (I'm sure they're not exclusive to this guitar though).

I play mostly rock/metal and some blues.

Of course I could just be looking for an excuse to not sleep in the dog house tonight. :) They're holding the guitar for me until tomorrow.
 
Xcaliber said:
I guess one thing that's "bothering" me about the guitar itself is the mini-humbuckers. I've never owned or played a guitar with those before and this is the only guitar I've ever seen with one (I'm sure they're not exclusive to this guitar though).

I play mostly rock/metal and some blues.

Of course I could just be looking for an excuse to not sleep in the dog house tonight. :) They're holding the guitar for me until tomorrow.
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I have those same mini-hums in an SG. They're pretty mild. Good midrange, chimy, cutting, but not high output. I like them that way. I kind of think of them like a P-90 without the noise. They're fine for rock and blues, but if you're looking to go high gain metal, you're gonna need to ramp up the amp's gain or use a pedal in front.
 
Mini Humbuckers are cool.
they also give you options. You can put in p90s cause the routes are compatible, and Duncan makes hotter minis if that is your flavor.

Plenty of good winders also make replacements.

But as is, a mini is great.

We are expecting NGD pics, and maybe pics of your doghouse . :-):-)
 
Right, same route as P-90s. I've been going back and forth about swapping some P-90s into my SG. But I have no complains with my mini-hums, so I never pull the trigger.

These modern production Gibson minis are more like the vintage Firebird style minis. Dual blade, like two rails, with Alnico II mags. PAF level output, but brighter and attack-ier because the rails are closer together than standard humbuckers.
 
Johnny Winter made a good living and a lot of great records with minis. :-)

One of the best Les Pauls I've owned was a 74 DELUXE with the pancake body and the minis. A beautiful tobacco burst. Alas, long gone.
 
Well, I pulled the trigger. Didn't have to sleep in the dog house either. I convinced my wife it was an amazing deal so she said to just go get it. It will be a while before I can do that again though. I'm having a little bit of buyers remorse to be honest. The mini humbuckers in this thing are super hot. I can understand where you guys are coming from when you talk about rolling off the volume. On my other guitars rolling the volume pot back affects the tone in a negative way, but with this thing it really affects the tone differently. It's not as "harse" a difference and it just evens things out. I'm getting a good tone out of my Fender Roc Pro 1000 head, but it's 100w and I don't play through it often. Not liking the tone coming from the VHT 20w combo I have. I guess I need to play with it some more.

Here are some pics:
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Dude, that's a nice guitar... Hopefully that buyer's remorse will go away once you get more used to how the LP plays; that really was a solid deal you got on it. Congrats!
 
Thanks. I know it was an amazing deal and I like the way it plays (it needs some new strings, but otherwise it plays beautifully). I've been struggling with my tone for a while, it's not really specific to this guitar I guess (now that I think about it). I need to post in the Tone thread and get some advice. I think I need to add some effects/distortion pedal(s) to get the tone I want on the budget I have.
 
Cool guitar. Congrats.

I don't know what you mean by the pickups being hot though. Those pickups are not *supposed* to be hot. They're generally a little less flubby in the lows, have tight mids, and real clean highs.
 
$600 is a good price on LP studio. I like mini humbuckers. They used to put those on Les Paul Deluxes. Like Greg said if you want a very hot modern metal sound you will have to use a pedal
But....
It's easier to get a high gain metal sound out of a mild output humbucker than it is to get a decent vintage or clean sound out of a super hot over wound humbucker. The mini gives you more versatility than any other pickup because you can also put a p-90, or 2, in that that guitar without having to route.

I would buy the guitar in a second and not give the mini humbuckers a second thought
just my 2 cents

oh, I see you pulled the trigger. It's a fine looking Les paul...congrats
 
Greg_L said:
Cool guitar. Congrats.

I don't know what you mean by the pickups being hot though. Those pickups are not *supposed* to be hot. They're generally a little less flubby in the lows, have tight mids, and real clean highs.
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^^^^this^^^^^
mini buckets are usually really sweet vintage sounding pups ....not harsh.
someone may have loaded the guitar with a hotter aftermarket mini humbucker sized pickups.
 
I believe its a new factory stock guitar.

To the op, Congrats!!!!!!

Why buyers remorse? Before owning it you said you loved it.

Minis are generally not hot pups. What are you used to using pickup-wise??
 
Here's what they have to say about the pickups on the Gibson website:

To help the Les Paul Studio '70s Tribute rock with unparalleled character and articulation, Gibson USA loads it with a pair of Dual Blade Alnico Mini Humbuckers. Entirely new pickups from Gibson USA, these units improve upon the best attributes of the former Mini Humbuckers seen in the Les Paul Deluxe in the '70s, and the different Firebird Mini Humbuckers of the early '60s, in an efficient design that uses dual steel blades and an Alnico magnet for a vintage voice that still retains plenty of chime. These pickups are calibrated for balanced output between the neck and bridge positions, yielding everything from singing bluesy neck tones to crunchy and wailing leads, and are dressed in solid chrome covers. They are routed through the traditional four-knob and three-way switch wiring set up, and partnered with a Tune-o-matic bridge and stopbar tailpiece for optimum sustain and precise intonation.
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Are these different than the ones you guys are accustomed to? It's a brand new guitar so these are the factory pickups.
 
Xcaliber said:
Are these different than the ones you guys are accustomed to? It's a brand new guitar so these are the factory pickups.
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Yes. This is is a new design. Probably trying to compete with full size hb.

Bottom line a new lp, a lefty to boot for 6 bills is a steal.
you said you loved it.

A pickup swap is no big deal if needed.

Both Duncan and Jason lollar make excellent vintage style pups.

But the question remains. What are you used to?
 
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