Gibson Les Paul

[lia01reg]

Hi there,

I'm looking to buy a Gibson Les Paul Standard but I've been looking around on Ebay etc and I've noticed that Les Paul Studios and Les Paul Double-Cutaways are a fair bit cheaper. It's the sound I'm after so as long as they sound like the Gibson Les Paul Standard then I don't care - does anyone know the difference between the three?

Many thanks,

Roshan

 

[SEDstar]

les paul's are H-E-A-V-Y.....

they are heavy. My buddy was looking to get an upgrade from his old off brand strat. Different guitars that look the same have other than different necks, different bodies. The different wood DOES affect tone and sustain of notes. Denser, heavier, thicker bodies are significantly heavier to wear. The guitarist i am speaking of is of a rather diminutive size. He was saving up for a real les paul, but after he finally got to play on in real life, it kinda broke his shoulder, and he went with something significantly lighter, though still with a double humbucking configuration. The best i can give you is to play other guitars, either in shoips or friends guitars. WHen you find one you want, THATS the one you want...no substitutes.

2 guys i know have identical looking strat type guitars, but the bodies are different types/grades/thicknesses of wood...they sound different too, noticably so.

 

[bixlmalta]

I am using a studio. It is a great guitar. One of the main diefferences between a studio and a standard is the finish. A standard has a nicer maple top. The Studio I am using suonds great. I think that the pick=ups may be a bit different as well. Go to gibsons web site and look at the specs for all of their Les Paul designs. It is pretty apparent that all of the Les Pauls shaers some of the same basic charateristics.

 

[Wide Awake]

The pickups in the Studio are the 490R and 498T. The Studio has a '59 rounded neck. (I have those same pickups in my 2001 Standard)

The Standard comes with a choice of 60's thin neck or a fatter/rounder 50's neck. It has Burstbucker Pro pickups.

I know the Standard comes with a hard case and I'm not sure if the Studio does....you might want to check on that first- (I would not transport/buy a guitar without a hard case). The best thing is to go to a store and try them out.

 

[lia01reg]

Gibson SG Standard

Cheers for the replies, I hear that the Gibson SG Standard has a more bite in the mid-range tone, a more crunchy sound, but still with the Gibson "growl", and it is 1/3 of the weight - would anyone recommend this over a Les Paul Studio? They look hard to find second hand.

 

[jonhall5446]

What the Hell is an SG?

My personal 2 cents...

If you want a Les Paul then for god's sake don't go out and by an SG man, you will never forgive yourself.

Not that there is anything wrong with an SG, but if you have your heart set on a Paul then don't stray.

I bought a Les Paul Custom on ebay. I have heard that you should never buy a giutar you can't play first, but I love my guitar. I bought it from a guy who has sold thousands of guitars on ebay and he had stellar feedback. He described the guitar in great detail and had great communication throughout the sale. Evertime I show my guitar to someone they compliment how great it looks and believe me it plays even better.

Any used guitar you buy will have some issues. I replaced both the pickups with SD Pearly Gates because they are miles above the gibson pickups. Had the action adjusted and bam, almost brand new les paul custom for around $1500.

Make sure you have the seller weigh the guitar on a bathroom scale. Then you will know if it is a backbreaker. I have seen some really light ones and I have seen some that are 11 and 12 pounds. Mine is about 9 pounds which is pretty light, but it will never be a strat in weight. Les Pauls are generally heavy guitars. As long as you don't get a backbreaker then you'll get used to it.

Go out and pick up a few standards and maybe even weigh them if you can.

 

[Farview]

Don't you have a guitar shop near by? Go to the store and test drive one. A les paul and an sg are not interchangeable.

 

[Chill]

And if you're looking for bang for the buck, look at the Agile and Nelsonic LP copies. Rondo distributes the Agiles, http://www.rondomusic.bigstep.com/homepage.html, and also puts them up on ebay.

 

[Light]

And if you're looking for bang for the buck, look at the Agile and Nelsonic LP copies. Rondo distributes the Agiles, http://www.rondomusic.bigstep.com/homepage.html, and also puts them up on ebay.

If you are going this route (and they are NOT as good as a Gibson), remember to do it soon, as Gibson is in the process of going after the importers of LP copies, and they will not be available for long.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi

 

[Doombot]

Cheers for the replies, I hear that the Gibson SG Standard has a more bite in the mid-range tone, a more crunchy sound, but still with the Gibson "growl", and it is 1/3 of the weight - would anyone recommend this over a Les Paul Studio? They look hard to find second hand.

/ These the differance between an SG and a Les Paul is night and day. Don't wory about the weight. I have a Studio Les Paul and although it is heavy you get used to the weight pretty quick. Remember that weight is part of the reason it has that tone you like. It really depends on what style of music you play. If you play blues or punk, a Les Paul is going to be your best friend. If your looking for more of a pure rock feel with less lead the SG is going to serve you better.

Haul your amp down to a shop and plug both in. In the end it's something that has to work for you, not what other people say SHOULD work for you.

 

[ebeam]

FWIW, I had some credit at GC from a piece I returned but could not get a refund on. I really had my heart set on an SG for a different sound then I get from my tele and so I played every SG in the store. I sort of liked the most expensive one (of course) but I wasn't that impressed. So, then I saw a used custom shop Les Paul DC with P90's, plugged it in and...WOW. The thing plays like butter and sounds so 3-dimensional...really made the SG sound like a crappy, flat, one-trick pony in comparison. Needless to say, I spent way too much money, but I can get so many different sounds and sustain for days. All the guitar dudes seemed really sad to see it go....

I guess my advice would be to play every guitar you can find and wait for one to jump out at you.

 

[lpdeluxe]

Amen to that.

 

[Necrothing]

Was having a look at some Les Pauls today, as I'm looking at getting one too (well until I get the money together I mostly drool on them) the double cutaway is hideous, it doesn't even deserve to have the name printed on it looking like that, the tone/treble switch is beside the control pots?? No wonder they are selling it so cheap, I haven't had the chance to hear one, but it would have to sound extremely sweet to get away with looking like that.

Think I'm going to go for a studio

 

[zazz]

lp

acctually the double cutaway les paul junior with p90s is quite a well respected guitar (its the only solid lp that keith richards plays these days) ...on a more broad note the lespaul is a one trick pony ..just one kind of sound. Maybe some fender generic with a humbucker and a single coil might serve you better for home recording. I tend to use a musicman more than the les in my home studio because it can do the lespaul sound as well as strat and tele. But the LP does play real sweet ..and yes it weighs quite a bit.

 

[steve350]

Go for the Les Paul Standard with the 60's neck, you won't be sorry. Try to play one first. Here is a picture of mine:
http://www.gibson.com/products/gibson/lespaul/images/lp5+6+hsnh_lg.jpg

 

[jonhall5446]

...on a more broad note the lespaul is a one trick pony ..just one kind of sound.QUOTE]

How can you say that? You obviously haven't noticed how many Les Pauls are being played out the in the world. Yes, a fender might give you a more twang sound to build on, but you can find les pauls in almost any genre of music. A lot of factors go into a guitar's sound. You can make an electric sound any way you want. "One trick pony"-Sheesh!

 

[zazz]

lp

well i know you can play lots of styles on a lp but i would love to see you sound like a strat or a tele on the bridge....but if i want to do a les paul sound then i simply use the humbucker instead....obviously les pauls are used a lot but my point i was making was versatility in the studio....

 

[bixlmalta]

A les Paul is very versatile in the studio. I don't understand how a guitar with three single coils is superior to a guitar with two humbuckers. Especially considering the noise single coils create.

 

[donkeystyle]

in the studio neither are superior....only different...........and also....on a LESS broad note, a strat will NOT give you the sound of a les paul, humbucker or not and a les paul will NOT give you the sound of a strat, single coil or not. i think both those guitars only do one sound. that doesn't mean they can't be used in any type of music, because they can.

the telecaster, and Firebird are both more versatile guitars sound wise.

 

[zazz]

options

well the musicman in particular (im sure there are many other such guitars) uses active noise cancelling circuits and taps to give a huge array of sounds and options including trem....look i love my lp custom but all im saying is that for me to have one guitar for the studio ( this is homerecording.org afterall) constantly plugged in then that aint it ..but if you were to have several then sure have a gibson. Ac/dc on a musicman..no problem...theme tune to james bond on a lespaul..no way.
The les paul has a particular sound that has more to do with the pickups than anything else...your stuck with humbuckers and you cannot come back from that..but singles can always be thickened up post...more of an uncoloured sound to startoff with or better still have a combinantion of all such pickups in one guitar...the musicman.

dont worry...i dont have shares in musicman...there are plenty of other worthy options out there.