OK, I've been converted to Les Pauls...

joetele

I admit to not having a huge amount of experience with Gibsons/LPs - my mate at school had an Epiphone Les Paul which seemed OK but didn't feel right for my preferences, I tried a Gibson SG years ago in a music shop, and I had a Tokai Love Rock which although nice, again felt a bit plasticky and I didn't get with. So for years I narrow-mindedly dismissed LPs and Gibson stuff as not suiting me, preferring more Fender-style guitars overall. 

Last night I picked up my mate's Les Paul Studio which he bought in 1997 - so could have been made any time in the mid 90s. He claims lots of parts have been replaced over the years, and I noticed it had metal tuners/machineheads (which is my preference to the classic ones). It's been beaten up, has cigarette marks, chips, knocks, some bizarre decoration including what look like diamante studs at the bottom, and there's a hole where the pickup selector switch used to be (he's got a replacement lined up to fit). 

Apart from the somewhat devastating weight of the guitar, the neck felt great despite being a lot chunkier than I'm used to, and the finish matched the almost satin matt paint over the rest of the guitar so was smooth to play, and the tuning held fantastically despite me playing lots of bends - something my Tokai never managed sadly - and the pickups were great even through his little Peavey Backstage. Proper clarity, subtlety and brutal with gain. 

I found myself playing it for ages, not wanting to put it down. And now I want an identical Les Paul Studio (but in slightly better shape than his perhaps!) with the same satin feel neck, metal tuners and tuning stability. Any idea what it might have been, and what a decent equivalent at a sensible price might be? Second hand is fine. Also any guitars from other brands you think might give a similar feel (I know this is hugely subjective and wide open).

(I know, I should have taken a pic. It was ebony with black scratchplate but that could have been replaced at some point.)

Phil_aka_Pip

wis for your desire to enter the wonderful world of LPs. Sorry, I can't name the model from your description and they can be a bit variable anyway so I suggest looking around, playing as many as you can until you find one you like. I hope you enjoy both the search and the eventual ownership.

joetele

Phil_aka_Pip said:

wis for your desire to enter the wonderful world of LPs. Sorry, I can't name the model from your description and they can be a bit variable anyway so I suggest looking around, playing as many as you can until you find one you like. I hope you enjoy both the search and the eventual ownership.

Cheers Phil. It at least helped me cement a few things I'd like in a Les Paul - definitely the metal tuners because I'm not a fan of the Kluson style ones...and the kind of neck I like too. 

JayGee

If you can live with the tuners (or don’t mind changing the buttons on them) then it sounds a lot like the Tribute I bought a few weeks ago should suit you very nicely - it’s a lovely guitar which doesn’t need to make any apologies for its lowly position in the Les Paul hierarchy and the (no grain filler?) all over satin finish (mines a Gold Top) feels lovely and gives it it’s own identity beyond being a “de-contented” version of something more expensive.

joetele

How about some of the Epiphone LPs? How are they for tuning stability and quality compared to Gibbos? 

vasselmeyer

Some of my favourite players have done spectacular stuff with Les Pauls but I've never got one with them. I think I like the idea of them but that comes apart when I actually play them. Good on you for coming back to them.

joetele

vasselmeyer said:

Some of my favourite players have done spectacular stuff with Les Pauls but I've never got one with them. I think I like the idea of them but that comes apart when I actually play them. Good on you for coming back to them.

Honestly, most of the ones I've tried (admittedly not many, and nothing higher end) didn't feel right. But there was something about this one - the satin feel neck, the lack of binding, the tuning stability and the pickups...just felt right. Loved it. 

ICBM

90s Les Paul Studios are not rare or very expensive, just look for one of those.

They did use all-metal Grover machineheads at some times, although the tulip-key type are more common - it’s easy to change them in any case, no drilling needed, although it will leave six extra screw holes. (Not too hard to fill, especially on a black guitar.)

Most of them also had ebony fingerboards - slightly oddly for a cheaper model, but it was to use up lower-grade wood that wasn’t acceptable for a Custom. It does change the tone and feel slightly so if that’s what you like then you do need one of these and not any other model - other than a Custom.

Snags

If it's a Studio from the late 90s then as far as I can remember that is the model designation.  There wasn't quite so much variation back then!

You basically got a red one or a black one, with silver hardware or gold hardware.  Them's wuz da choices, man.

It's about the only thing that's fixed in my brain, because I got my LP Studio (wine red, gold hardware) in '98 so was paying attention, as it was more money than I felt I had any right to spend on a guitar at the time.

joetele

ICBM said:

90s Les Paul Studios are not rare or very expensive, just look for one of those.

They did use all-metal Grover machineheads at some times, although the tulip-key type are more common - it’s easy to change them in any case, no drilling needed, although it will leave six extra screw holes. (Not too hard to fill, especially on a black guitar.)

Most of them also had ebony fingerboards - slightly oddly for a cheaper model, but it was to use up lower-grade wood that wasn’t acceptable for a Custom. It does change the tone and feel slightly so if that’s what you like then you do need one of these and not any other model - other than a Custom.

Snags said:

If it's a Studio from the late 90s then as far as I can remember that is the model designation.  There wasn't quite so much variation back then!

You basically got a red one or a black one, with silver hardware or gold hardware.  Them's wuz da choices, man.

It's about the only thing that's fixed in my brain, because I got my LP Studio (wine red, gold hardware) in '98 so was paying attention, as it was more money than I felt I had any right to spend on a guitar at the time.

Thanks chaps, this matches with the guitar I played - all black, silver hardware and possibly Grover machineheads, I think I'll be scanning Ebay over the coming months to see if I can find a similar one. Sadly none of the music shops nearby really stock much variety of second hand stuff. 

Snags

There are a couple of 90s Studios on Ebay at the moment; not sure how optimistic the prices are:

Sunburst

Red and Gold; humorous price expectation

Black

They're all the metal+plastic tuners, and the hard cases will be after-the-fact (they came with gig bags).

joetele

Snags said:

There are a couple of 90s Studios on Ebay at the moment; not sure how optimistic the prices are:

Sunburst

Red and Gold; humorous price expectation

Black

They're all the metal+plastic tuners, and the hard cases will be after-the-fact (they came with gig bags).

For some reason only the first link is working...

RMJ

Beware....the road to custom shop is an expensive one...

joetele

RMJ said:

Beware....the road to custom shop is an expensive one...

Financially I'm in no danger of that 

ICBM

£500-£600 should still get you a decent one privately. A shop might ask a bit more.

As Snags said, they originally came with a gig bag which is a Very Bad Idea - or at least the Gibson one is, it actually stresses the neck rather than protecting it - so budget for a decent hard case if it doesn’t have one. (Or a better gig bag with proper neck protection, but they’re actually more expensive than a hard case.)

For this reason, Studios with repaired head breaks are common, and if done well doesn’t affect the strength or tone of the guitar, but it should bring the price down a bit.

Musicman20

A 2017/18 Les Paul Tribute would get you there, then replace the tuners...

RMJ

joetele said:

RMJ said:

Beware....the road to custom shop is an expensive one...

Financially I'm in no danger of that 

Neither was I.....

meltedbuzzbox

I'm gonna be that guy...

keep an eye out for an Edwards Les Paul. Very good guitars that are often cheaper than the Gibsons and come with Seymour Duncans as standard. 

joetele

I think this might be the guitar (not the exact one of course) - looks identical to the one last night apart from missing a scratchplate. 

fftc

Could you cope with a PRS?

The current SE Bernie Marsden has a lovely chunky satin neck and is IMHO nicer in almost every way than the Gibson tribute Les Paul I also own. Granted, the tuners are a strange green plastic, but if that is the only issue it's an easily changed one.

https://www.andertons.co.uk/prs-se-bernie-marsden-ltd-edition-vintage-sunburst-2018-sebmsnvs

Snags

@joetele Oops, sorry.  Can't get them to work in preview, but cut'n'paste these bad boys:

Black:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Gibson-Les-Paul-Studio-1995-Black-with-HSC/192617691170?hash=item2cd8e8b822:g:f0YAAOSw35FayJMd

Expensive red:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Gibson-Les-Paul-Studio-1993/292670229127?hash=item4424814a87:g:RE0AAOSwoNhbQ7Jo