Gibson Les Paul Studio - thoughts please

SpiritOfTheAge · June 2019

Hi Blackjack, another studio owner here. I always loved (and still do!) the white custom, pure sex in my book buy my budget was never there so the white studio with an ebony board also ticked most of the boxes. Eventually one came up at a great price (it had had a headstock/neck break) which I bought. The black and white is so cool, I love it! I also love gold hardware, loudly and proudly!

https://i.imgur.com/TcFO0EQ.jpg

Jez6345789 · June 2019

Appalling
people can be both that sexist and gear elitist.

Frankly I would save my money the Epi is just as good as a budget Gibson and I would practice practice practice and just make them eat those stupid words.

that said the numbskull that said it has probably not got his chat up lines beyond let’s be horrible to the girls in the play ground then they might notice me.

stay strong and be yourself

OilCityPickups · June 2019

Blackjack said:

Aw thanks guys! Your thoughts and inputs are very much appreciated indeed.

If if I am honest, I am really happy with my Epi Custom. It is VERY well made and finished especially for its price, it stays in tune incredibly well, it’s lovely to play, it has good pups in it and it’s capabilities far and away outstretch my humble skills. Plus, to my mind it looks pretty damn good too.

If I am totally honest, (and I want to be as you seem a really nice bunch), it is more about ‘acceptance’ than anything else. As a middle aged woman carrying a whole raft of confidence issues around anyway, trying to get accepted into the local open mic scene is hard enough anyway. There are not many women playing electric guitar around here, it is extremely male dominated. I have been on the receiving end of a couple of comments such as “ah, you have a pretend Les Paul’, “I guess being a girl you couldn’t justify owning a Gibson” and other such charming comments. I try to just tough it out but it’s not easy. They probably wouldn’t make those comments to a bloke but just because I have tits they seem to think it’s ok to say what they like!

I am not the kind of person who is brand orientated, I buy what I like not what is trendy but I guess I just want to try and up my chances of acceptance. It’s wrong and I shouldn’t have to do it but... My Tele is a Squier CV Custom and I wouldn’t swap it for any other Tele, it’s fab, and I have no problem owning and playing my Epi. Yes of course I would love a Gibson but right now this is more about others sadly.

Thank you you so much too for the support regarding my depression. I have read posts that several of you had made in the past regarding your own fights with it and that’s what gave me the courage to speak up. It’s a long hard fight and thank you so much for the support, it means a lot.

As a sufferer from depression since childhood myself, good on you for standing up and talking about your own ... it helps, believe me.

Ignore the sexist wankers who make negative comments ... firstly an Epi is a Les Paul ... and a very capable instrument. So is a LP Studio ... I have one as a pickup demo instrument, and it plays as well as any higher priced Gibbo ... HOWEVER don't buy a Gibson because of pressure from idiots ... if you want one ... and I mean really want one, buy one and enjoy it ... but you can be equally a good guitarist on an Epiphone.

gubble · June 2019

I had an Epi (56 Goldtop) and a Vintage V100 as my main gigging guitars.

Sold the Epi and bought a studio (2016 faded). I tried so hard to bond with it and realised i only really liked the name on the headstock. Sold it bought an epi custom and have never been happier with my guitar choices.

As everyone has already said do not feel pressure to get something with the posh brand name - it's what you do with the guitar that counts

CountryDave · June 2019

I've owned both over the years. A couple of Epi LP's and a couple of studios. All were great guitars, but honestly, the one I'd take back in a heartbeat was the Gold Top Epi I owned in the early 90's. I put a Duncan JB in the bridge and it sang.

The logo doesn't matter, plus while you are playing you don't see it either.

As for the comments you receive, they are harsh, but unfortunately the world is full of arseholes, many of whom are that way through jealousy. It's easier for them to criticize someone than it is to learn to play and get up there themselves.

Pick up your guitar, play and enjoy it. you are doing this for your own enjoyment. Focus on any of the people who are enjoying the music and ignore the ones who are clearly challenged.

TTBZ · June 2019

Studios are great guitars but they can feel a bit basic, with the lack of binding on the neck being the main problem I have with them. I've always felt like a Les Paul should have binding, just looks and feels more high end, however incorrect that might be! In some ways I'd rather have a higher end Epiphone (like yours) than a lower end Gibson. Then again you can get some great deals on Studios/Tributes 2nd hand, especially if they've had a pro repaired neck break so why not treat yourself to the real deal!

midlifecrisis · June 2019

https://spinditty.com/instruments-gear/Famous-Epiphone-Guitar-Players

ive had a LP studio for 9 years, for many of those years it was my main gigging guitar , until 18 months ago when i bought an epiphone 339 which is now my main instrument. I do miss the name on the headstock but in reality it doesnt matter, and it certainly doesnt matter to the audience. i have owned a few epiphones and theyve all been good.

pmbomb · June 2019

@blackjack if you love your Epiphone then perhaps put your time into that. Could well be your best path to where you want to be.

Wishing you well.

pmbomb · June 2019

I have been on the receiving end of a couple of comments such as “ah, you have a pretend Les Paul’, “I guess being a girl you couldn’t justify owning a Gibson” and other such charming comments.

How horrible. What a bunch of losers.

Regarding finding people to play with and venues that's largely persistence and luck (which is a side effect of persistence). Where in the country are you?

merciful-evans · June 2019

Blackjack said:

Aw thanks guys! Your thoughts and inputs are very much appreciated indeed.

If if I am honest, I am really happy with my Epi Custom. It is VERY well made and finished especially for its price, it stays in tune incredibly well, it’s lovely to play, it has good pups in it and it’s capabilities far and away outstretch my humble skills. Plus, to my mind it looks pretty damn good too.

If I am totally honest, (and I want to be as you seem a really nice bunch), it is more about ‘acceptance’ than anything else. As a middle aged woman carrying a whole raft of confidence issues around anyway, trying to get accepted into the local open mic scene is hard enough anyway. There are not many women playing electric guitar around here, it is extremely male dominated. I have been on the receiving end of a couple of comments such as “ah, you have a pretend Les Paul’, “I guess being a girl you couldn’t justify owning a Gibson” and other such charming comments. I try to just tough it out but it’s not easy. They probably wouldn’t make those comments to a bloke but just because I have tits they seem to think it’s ok to say what they like!

I think you have addressed your own problem well here.

Should you seek the validation of patronising misogynists? No.

Even if you did, would using a Gibson properly address that? No.

Don't let me talk you out of a nice LP Studio. But as someone who gigged one guitar for 40 years, and then bought several more, I would say that a new guitar will make you feel good for a couple of days.

I love to hear female musicians (one of my favourite bands for many years was Pele Juju). Maybe finding a sister musician would be of more practical help/support here?

Good luck, and dont permit those blinkered blokes to stop you from doing what you want to do.

Adey · June 2019

As for the twats who want to tell you your guitar / you aren't good enough, a curt "Feck off you tit" usually puts them in their place.

I bet you have more balls than them anyway ! They probably haven't the bottle or ability to do what you are doing - You go girl !

And in respect of guitars - play what you want.

I do get the "Brand Kudos" thing though. I've got various obscure brand Japanese guitars from 80's, and they are all great. I've got a couple of Gibsons, and they are not better, they just have that less obscure "Brand" name that people recognize.

I would like an old White Les Paul Studio though... cos they look cool !

abw1989 · June 2019

I picked up an Epi Standard Les Paul for £180, the chap before had sanded the neck and it looked terrible. I put some time into it, flatted it back and polished it up to a satin finish.

I ripped the electrics out and replaced everything, all in it cost me about £300.

That Epiphone is now the most comfortable and best sounding guitar I own, including an MIJ Les Paul and Gibson Midtown. More over because it is 'mine' with the spec and look I wanted at a fraction of the cost.

Don't listen to idiots who tell you your guitar isn't great because of the name at the top of it. There are top guys out there who play 'lesser' brand guitars, Matt Heafy in Trivium uses his signature Epiphone a lot live; for as many vintage Les Pauls as Bernie Marsden has, he is often seen playing his PRS SE signature too; Noel Gallagher used Epiphones for years too.

Snags · June 2019

Just to echo what others have said - if you like the Epi, and are mostly hankering after a Gibson because of what random strangers at an open mic have said, stick with the Epi. Possibly relic it a little by twatting them round the head with it.

Also, find another open mic night!

I think you're a bit too far away for this to be viable, but there's one around my way (wee bit due north of London) that positively welcomes female participants, and has absolutely no gear snobbery at all - in fact I sometimes wonder if there's an unofficial competition to rock up with the cheapest guitar there and still sound good

FWIW, gear snobs will also turn their noses up at a Studio - I've had one for 20+ years and have had a fair few "So when are you going to get a proper Les Paul" comments. The response "When I'm enough of a shallow twat to value form over function" usually ends the conversation (or friendship

).

If where I hang out is in range, would be glad to point you at the open mic and/or let you have a whirl on a Studio ...

zepp76 · June 2019

Sorry to hear you're suffering from depression, I too suffer from it as a side effect to other mental illnesses. Talking about it is the first step to feeling better so well done for that.

Ignore the bell ends that make stupid comments like that, they're just jealous.

There is nothing wrong with a good Epiphone, I've had one and very much enjoyed playing it, great guitars. It took me the best part of 25 years before I could afford my first Gibson ('04 standard) but the guitar I play most is my Gibson 70's Tribute studio, it is a fantastic guitar and they are very affordable but I would advise against buying one purely because of what some horrible little urchin has said, buy it because YOU want it no other reason.

If you find yourself in the pit of depression and need someone to speak to private message me and I'll send you my mobile number so you can text and let off some steam, my ears are always open to help if I can.

Good luck on your search and I hope things start to get easier for you.

OilCityPickups · June 2019

PS on my previous comments ... if you are ever in London Look us up and pay a visit to Oil City pickups in Leyton. Free coffee and a tour of the workshop will be something the idiots at your Jam/Open Mic nights are unlikely to have had!

I've had a 40 year playing career, and seven years running a successful pickup making company in spite of depression. I still have my 'Black Dog Days', but the help and support of the many nice people in the music industry ... and on this forum have made those easier to cope with. You'll find lots of nice people here ... and the odd numpty ... but hey, nowhere's perfect!

Many women get 'put off' the guitar by the negative attitude of some men (and men in music shops ... they tend to be the worst) ... I used to teach guitar and have seen it happen. We need more women in this forum, playing guitar on stage, and playing guitar in general. As a business, the more folks who are playing the more I earn ... but more than that: I have a granddaughter ... and if she wants to 'rock it out like Gramps did' when she gets older, she should and must have the same opportunity as any lad ... she must also get the same respect!

Kittyfrisk · June 2019

^ +1
At the risk of getting off topic, I wonder if there are any amongst us that have not suffered/be living with/know someone with a mental health issue?
First one to say 'no' earns a virtual custard pie

Grangousier · June 2019

They probably wouldn’t make those comments to a bloke but just because I have tits they seem to think it’s ok to say what they like!

Pretty much, although I'm the sort of bloke who attracts the same sort of thing (though it's definitely much, much worse for women!), and I know the kind of comment you're talking about. People who can only bolster their own sense of status by putting down other people, who probably feel threatened a bit - not least because they've put a lot of store in what's written on the headstock of their guitar, possibly more than they put into what their fingers can do with it. They can sense the doubt and move in on it. Parasites, not worth the energy.

Seconding the suggestion regarding non-Gibson brands - for a long, long time I had an idea that only a black Les Paul Custom would do (which is nonsense, not least because I discovered I much prefer Fenders, but...), and a Greco I got on here successfully scratched that itch.

Also - a totally un-asked-for suggestion, and I hope not too crass, but: If you were ever tempted to move away from the Les Paul, by the way, my wife has free rein of my pile of guitars, and the one she's fallen in love with is the Jazzmaster - also liking the Jaguar and the Fret King Ventura. The common factor here being that they're all offsets - I think they inadvertently address the same ... um ... anatomical issue that Annie Clark considered when designing her St Vincent guitar as well as looking very cool and being very playable. Of course, the sound is completely different (from each other and from the LP), but you could take the opportunity to play as many different kinds of guitar as possible to see what you like - I'm sure many of us on here would be glad to help and you might be surprised. Like I say, I thought all I wanted was a Les Paul, but it turns out the perfect guitar for me is a Telecaster (with the strat coming in a close second). If I'd known that in 1980 I'd have saved a lot of time and money, and maybe not even forgone too much fun!

But ultimately it should be the guitar you want, and if the one you want is your Epi, so be it.

BeardyAndy · June 2019

You own a great guitar, nothing wrong with Epiphone's at all (I don't even get all the hate over the headstock shape) but it's just nice to own a Gibson, in the same way as its nice to own a BMW but when your sat at 30mph on the M25 your no better off than the driver of the Kia behind you!

The Studio is lighter though so if you find the Epi' a bit of a lump, as I do, then maybe the Studio is a good option. I'm sure it's been said before me on this thread but play a few and go for one you like. Who knows, you might even end up with a Telecaster (you really should, they're just better!

)

Dave_Vader · June 2019

An old twat at a jam night I played at last year insisted that my 30 year old strat copy couldn't possibly be that new, or a jap fake because it looked too old, and he had already admitted he liked my playing.

I'm not sure he could reconcile his first impressions with the reality of a cheap old thing that wasn't vintage being good.

OilCityPickups · June 2019

Kittyfrisk said:

^ +1
At the risk of getting off topic, I wonder if there are any amongst us that have not suffered/be living with/know someone with a mental health issue?
First one to say 'no' earns a virtual custard pie

As well as battling it myself, my son (now 30) suffers from depression ... my daughter had severe post natal depression, and I have many friends who battle with mental health issues too.

Howdy, Stranger!

Categories

In this Discussion

Become a Subscriber!

Gibson Les Paul Studio - thoughts please

Comments