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Question about new Gibson Les Paul Studio; Tangerine Burst vs. another Gibson

John Learner

New member
Joined
Sep 6, 2020
Messages
6
Hello. I'm new to the forum and a beginner. I hope this is the correct forum for this post. I'm torn between two guitar choices.

I'm 5'3" with small hands looking to buy a new Gibson Les Paul Studio, which gets me the shorter 24.75" scale and a "slim taper", which are very important to me. From "google", I gather that Gibson's slim taper is a flat style C profile about .765 to .80 from 1st to 12th frets, which looks great. My preference is for acoustic, but I want to have an electric to expand my options, plus my fingers get sore on the Martin and Taylor acoustic guitars that I have. I prefer "clean" sound and typially play in a living room situation with a little modeling amp called Spark 40 by Pattern Grid. I don't go for high volume and dirt.

One aspect that concerns me on this new LP Studio guitar is the 490R/498T humbucking pickups. I realize they are coil split, but I wonder how well they'll sound "clean" when in single coil mode. Will they be too muddy? After all, the the pots and caps will still be 500K and .002uF, I assume. I just don't have any idea. Because of this crazy Covi-19 PITA, and caring for an elderly person, I really can't go play one anywhere. I'm gonna have to roll the dice and order online.

Does anyone have experiance with this model ( https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/LPSTTNCH--gibson-les-paul-studio-tangerine-burst in single coil mode as to whether it may sound good playing clean?

I'm also looking at used 2010-2015 Les Paul Studio '60's Tribute (slim taper neck/ (2) P90 pickups), which area about $800-$900ish on Reverb. I know the P90s sound good played clean, but don't know about the humbuckers, when split to single coil.

If tone were the deciding factor, which would you get? Any advice appreciated. Thanks so much!
 

Scozz

New member
Joined
Sep 6, 2020
Messages
11
Well, all Gibson Les Pauls have a scale length of 24.75”. Another thing is all Les Pauls sound great except the ones that don’t. Lol, what I mean by that is, all the Les Paul models sound great but all models also will have a few dogs,... that for whatever reason, don’t sound as good as some others.

The Studio line, to me, over the years has been one of the best loved LPs, most people that own them love them. It wouldn’t surprise me if the Studio line was the model with the least amount of problems and returns. Over the years I rarely hear about issues with Studios, going back to when they were released, I think it was 1983.

It’s always best to play a guitar before buying, but that can’t always be done. Sweetwater has an excellent return policy, 30 days no questions asked for returns. And the staff at Sweetwater is very helpful and will discuss the concern you have about the neck.

I would give them a call, just to get some feedback from them about your choices. I also have small hands but I’ve never had any issues with neck size except the really chunky early 50s neck, and any Les Paul made in 2015.

Give Sweetwater a call, you’ll be happy you did. Best of luck going forward. :2cool
 

Musicman

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 27, 2002
Messages
1,909
I had a 50's Studio Tribute that was a great player. If you are looking for used ones they made a 60's version too. Also, in that $1500 price range you can find Classics and Traditionals. Good luck with your search!
 

John Learner

New member
Joined
Sep 6, 2020
Messages
6
Well, all Gibson Les Pauls have a scale length of 24.75”. Another thing is all Les Pauls sound great except the ones that don’t. Lol, what I mean by that is, all the Les Paul models sound great but all models also will have a few dogs,... that for whatever reason, don’t sound as good as some others.

The Studio line, to me, over the years has been one of the best loved LPs, most people that own them love them. It wouldn’t surprise me if the Studio line was the model with the least amount of problems and returns. Over the years I rarely hear about issues with Studios, going back to when they were released, I think it was 1983.

It’s always best to play a guitar before buying, but that can’t always be done. Sweetwater has an excellent return policy, 30 days no questions asked for returns. And the staff at Sweetwater is very helpful and will discuss the concern you have about the neck.

I would give them a call, just to get some feedback from them about your choices. I also have small hands but I’ve never had any issues with neck size except the really chunky early 50s neck, and any Les Paul made in 2015.

Give Sweetwater a call, you’ll be happy you did. Best of luck going forward. :2cool

Thanks Scozz. Your comments are helpful. The folks at Sweetwater are helpfull; great crew.

Yea, I'm a caregiver to an elderly person so it's hard to get out to stores to see guitars like I prefer, due to covid 19 risk. But I got on Reverb and a few seller's were kind enough to use a caliper to measure their necks on the older 60s Tribute studio models. I was surprised how much variation there was, but I heard this would be the case due to inconsistent production. The slim 60s spec is published at .800 to .875, I believe. One fellow's neck on a 60s tribute model with a slim 60s taper neck was .85 to .99 - wow! Perhaps the new CEO will be successful in improving consistency. If he plans to grow internet sales, especially to smaller-handed women , that could help Gibson remain viable as a going concern over time.

I did get out recently to Sam Ash and Guitar Center here in Tampa. I really liked the Gibson Les Paul Classic in honeyburst, but the only one left at the store was beat up pretty bad, so I left it with them. The next day, I found a 2019 Classic honeyburst in "mint" condition off Reverb for $1,500 and bought that, with a case and Gibson strap. It's on the way.
 

John Learner

New member
Joined
Sep 6, 2020
Messages
6
I had a 50's Studio Tribute that was a great player. If you are looking for used ones they made a 60's version too. Also, in that $1500 price range you can find Classics and Traditionals. Good luck with your search!

Good call! Thanks

I bought a 2019 Classic in honeyburst for $1,500 with a HSC and Gibson strap. Wow, the electronics that model are really something! I can't wait to get my hands on it.
 

El Gringo

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 8, 2015
Messages
5,657
Greetings , sounds like you are on your way to sonic nirvana . I have a Les Paul Classic myself from 1994 . One thing that stands out to me in your post was that you wanted the coil splitting option for some single coil sounds , which I don't believe the Classic has that feature ? I could be wrong ? I was going to say that I believe you would like and be happy with just having the humbucker sound and still have that sparkly clean sound all day on all 3 settings on your pickup selector switch . Either way good choice and I know you will enjoy your new Les Paul Classic . Best Wishes !
 

grimlyflick

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 27, 2005
Messages
1,276
Greetings , sounds like you are on your way to sonic nirvana . I have a Les Paul Classic myself from 1994 . One thing that stands out to me in your post was that you wanted the coil splitting option for some single coil sounds , which I don't believe the Classic has that feature ? I could be wrong ? I was going to say that I believe you would like and be happy with just having the humbucker sound and still have that sparkly clean sound all day on all 3 settings on your pickup selector switch . Either way good choice and I know you will enjoy your new Les Paul Classic . Best Wishes !

Current 2019 Classic has coil splits. :salude
 

John Learner

New member
Joined
Sep 6, 2020
Messages
6
Thanks guys. I appreciate your comments.

The 2019 Gibson LP Classic has more electronics than I'll need. It comes with 2 push/pull volumes (coil-tap) and 2 push/pull tones (pure bypass/phase) and 61R/61T (Zebra) pickups. I'll use the taps for sure. Because I have some background in electronics and math, I enjoy learning about the electrical aspects of the guitars and associated equipment. But I can see from my reading that guitar mods can become a bit of a rabbit hole that I want to avoid until my ears are far better trained. It's fascinating.

I bought a little modeling amp Pattern Grid's Spark 40 to get started that's works as a great bluetooth stereo also. Time to hunker down and put in the hours practicing. I'm doing two sessions per day; 1.5 hours total per day.
 
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