So, I have played a 90's Am. Strat for the last couple of years. Always loved it!
But then I suddenly got into these old Cream-records and I got an insane craving for a Lester! So I bought myself a Gibson Les Paul Traditional, and I thought I was in heaven.. THIS MUST BE THE ULTIMATE GUITAR! I thouht... And this christmas I had a gig, and I thought I should use my strat for once, because I felt kinda sorry for it lying under my bed!
And wow! What a guitar!! I mean, the playability, the sound, the look! So the past days I have A-B "tested" my old strat to my relatively new Lester, and my conclusion is: no more Gibson for me! The price does NOT match what you get.. Anybody else in here that have the same experience?

Pardon my bad english, I'm Norwegian..

Yes, the LP Standard is too expensive for what you get. But ... it doesn't really matter, because enough people seem to be able to afford it. And yes, a decent Gibson costs almost double the price of a very decent Fender.

Cheers

David

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"Humans think they are smarter than dolphins because we build cars and buildings and start wars etc...and all that dolphins do is swim in the water, eat fish and play around. Dolphins believe that they are smarter for exactly the same reasons."

Yes. Surely, Les Pauls are grossly overpriced and are a "one trick pony" albeit a very nice "one trick". Notwithstanding, nothing beats the versatility and comfort of a Stratocaster, especially one nicely tweaked.

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You dig?

The Epiphone Les Paul Standards aren't horribly expensive, and are a fair approximation of the Gibson LP Standard.

I was able to pick up a New Epi LP Standard Plus Top for $299 from Sam Ash over the Holidays. It was a "B" stock with a negligible cosmetic flaw, but plays and sounds fantastic. I think the A stocks are about $450 or so, so not horrible. Decent way to scratch the LP itch without dropping excessive coin.

These are neck-through bodies, mahogany with an alder cap (flame maple veneer on the "plus" tops and higher), chambered, with grover tuners. I believe the bridge and saddle are more or less identical to the Gibson LPs.

Anderton's Music UK did a nice comparison between the Gibson Standard LP, Epi LP Standard Plus Top Pro, and Gibson Studio. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzM9dvV-VJU. The Epi held up quite well, and showed sustain that rivaled (or arguably buried) the Gibson. Yeah, the Gibson was judged the superior guitar, but the Epi made a good case for itself.

A number of folks buy 'em, upgrade the pups, and hit the stage with 'em.

Eh, they got their own character. The fat, full sound of the neck pickup on the Paul can't be matched by the Strat, but the Strat has it's own thing going for it.

Best solution: Own one of everything.

To be fair, as much as I'm not a Les Paul fan (absolutely love the way they look, owned a few, sold them all!), an LP is pretty much as versatile as the player, much the same as a Strat or any other guitar - for instance, I don't think Les Paul himself, Jimmy Page or Robert Fripp sound much alike.

Yeah, they're generally a bit pricy, but if you take the Studios as being the base US model, the range actually starts cheaper than US Strats.

Only ever played one that I really felt comfortable with though - and that had a price tag which made me put it very gently back on the stand when I was done.

problem is the LP studio looks like wha it is - bargain basement bottom rung gibson entry. i recently got myself an epi les paul pro, and although the gibson studio LP i tried sounded marginally better, the epi looked better, had a nicer finish, the fretboard is actually real wood, played perfectly AND coil tapped both pups. and was very very much cheaper.

comparing a poverty spec les paul to an american std strat is not even in the same ball park. side by side the US std strat will make the studio LP look like a kids toy. yes the LP will sound great, but looks, materials and overall 'impression' wise, id take a US std fender everyday. to be honest youd have to try very hard to convince me not to take a mexican fender over a LP studio. they had to strip SO much off a LP std to bring the price down, you're left with hardly anything nice.

Moochy13 your bias is showing. LP Studios are fine guitars, and they do have "Real Wood" fretboards. You try to justify your Epi LP as better but the Gibson LP Studio "Sounded Marginally Better"? Sounds like looks are more important...listen with your ears! As for stripping it down? Yes they did, but they left the things that affect the tone the most...pickups and wood....binding and coil taps with all else being equal don't affect tone much...might affect versatility. Sounds to me like you're just upset that LPs cost so much. I agree they do, but don't bash the cheaper models to justify your own bias and choices.

T2

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What time is it? It's Fender Time.

I'd hardly call a Studio 'poverty spec' - it's a nicely built working instrument made in the US by a major manufacturer, with no excessive frills. Just like the US Standard Strat - it's a superb basic working man's Strat, but if you want 'vintage correct' details on a US Strat, the price racks up nearly as quickly as the Gibbo.

Sure, if all that's important to you is the finish, binding, etc, then an Epi will be better for you. Modern Epiphones are actually pretty damn good for the money! But if you like tone and playability, then the US Studios are a very good deal indeed for a working musician, and about as far from being a 'kid's toy' as you can get.

the difference between the guitars, including the sound, i dont think was enough to justify how much more the gibson studio costs.

yes the visual appeal of a guitar is personal, but i suspect im in the majority that would like their LP to at least have a gloss finish. the one i played was custard yellow and the quality/look of the paint finish was no diffdrent to a piece of skirting board. it was rough, pitted and matte/satin finished. id call it 'orange peel' if it was on a car.

the one i played was either the baked maple or the man made mix of wood fibres i read they started using. either way it wasnt as nice to look at as RW or maple, and certainly didnt feel as nice under the fingers.

at no point did i say my epi was better than the gibson. but having brought the epi i dont feel ripped off and am happy with the whole package. if id have brought the studio based on sound, id have woke up everyday, looked at it, and wondered why i brought this hideous thing for far more money than my epi cost me, which is more than enough for my talent level and use.

my epi has scratched my LP itch, i couldnt care less what a gibbo costs because at this moment i have no desire for one. to be honest, i only got my epi because my mate works in the shop so it was cheap, and it was on 9 months 0% finance.

also, i dont know if you guys are in the US, but lets bare in mind how much extra everybody else has to pay for US guitars. might be a good deal for US customers, not so much for everybody else.

I'm in the UK, so I'm very familiar with having my wallet assaulted in horrible ways by gear purchases.

Sounds like you tried one of the 'Tribute' or 'Faded' series Studios - I agree in part, they're not anywhere near as nice as the basic Studio is, for some reason. They tried to make them look a bit more nifty for the money, and somehow just end up looking cheap. I actually tend to forget those even exist.

When I say 'Studio', I mean the model Gibson has made for years - gloss finish, looks particularly nifty in the dark cherry, and is pretty much just a Standard with no binding and basic colour choice. Lovely things if you're after an LP, and they occasionally pop up second hand for less than you'd pay for a new upper end of the range Epi LP.

Nothing really wrong with the baked maple boards - far better than a low grade rosewood, and a fair few manufacturers are trying it out now, including PRS. I think Gibson are playing it rather safe on that front after the whole endangered wood raid thing last year.

I certainly wouldn't consider the work of Carlos Santana, Slash, Gary Richrath, Martin Barre, Jimmy Page, Phil Keaggy, and so so many others to be a "one trick pony".



Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY

The easiest way to get a Les Paul for cheap is to wait six months for Gibson to discontinue it due to poor sales. Got a new les paul studio deluxe for $799 this year. Love the sound and neck. Sam Ash had SG standards on clearance for the same price.

Hey guys! It wasn't my intention to "badtalk" Gibson as much as it may seem in my first post! Or however I should say it.. I dig the sound of a Lester. I really do, I just feel that I'm having trouble justifying the price against what you really get! But they are awesome guitars.. I should say that since I own one.. It was written in the heat of the moment!

I Didn't perceive your comments as "trash talk". Like you said, it's more about the price/performance ratio. The LP's do suffer from inflated costs, partially due to the carved top and neck-through-body design. You go for the LP standards and higher, you are also paying for premium woods, finish, and binding. Oh yeah, and the mahogany or "mahogany-like" woods and the maple caps (especially the figured woods) that they use tend to be a little pricey.

The strat, on the other hand, uses a bolt-on neck, less exotic body woods (for most models), and they don't have to carve the top (carving increases the amount and cost of wood used). This lowers the cost of production considerably.

Both guitars are awesome, but the end result is that the Strats (in general) are less expensive to produce, but still have that classic sound and are a joy to play.

I think this is why the thread turned to a discussion of low-cost alternatives to the Gibson LP, such as the Epiphone LP Standard. I think we can all relate to the sticker shock of the Gibson LP's, despite our lust for the model.

No love lost here. I've enjoyed the thread so far.

My "cheapo" Epi Les Paul surrogate.