From "This is Spinal Tap!"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-NgeXl-PPA
Does anybody have a guitar you never play because it is so nice? Well, this is almost embarassing.
I decided tonight that I will play it. How many times have I played it? Maybe a dozen. How long have I had it? 20 years. :oops: I dropped my first Les Paul (an XR-2 if you want to google it, forerunner to the Studio) and dented the head stock on my MXR Distortion + pedal. I traded it for this as I was sick every time I played it. Then I was afraid I would damage this. I have been eye balling Les Paul's lately so decided to do a string change and setup and use the thing. It roared through my Marshall. My son was like, "Holy expletive! what are you doing different!" I plan to play it alot from now on. Specs compared to new ones? MOP traps, Gibson is doing acrylic on most models now. Ebony board, they are using baked maple now on alot of them, I suspect the exotic wood scandal. Corian nut on the new low enders, this is bone. Gold hardware, 490R and 498T pickups. Nitro finish and lots of rain forrest wood ... it's 20 years old. All the other ones I find on line have black knobs ... mine are gold and look way better in my opinion. OK, I'll start using it.
"Work hard, rock hard, eat hard, sleep hard,
grow big, wear glasses if you need 'em."
-- The Webb Wilder Credo --
Sweet! I can't wait to hear it in another studio excursion or drunken stupor video. 8) 8)
Roy
"I wonder if a composer ever intentionally composed a piece that was physically impossible to play and stuck it away to be found years later after his death, knowing it would forever drive perfectionist musicians crazy." - George Carlin
Play that thing! Guitars get lonely and want to be played.
I do plan to start using it. Here is what my first "real" Les Paul was. http://www.guitar-museum.com/guitar-23240-GIBSON-LES-PAUL-GUITAR-1981-XR2-XR-2 Has anyone ever seen one? Flat top, body binding but no neck binding. Dot inlays, mini humbuckers with a coil tap switch. Funny, at the time I had a complex that is was less of a Les. I wanted the arched top, pick guard, trapazoid inlays, full sized humbucker ect. Then I dented it and it had to go. I got the black Studio and protected it like a mother hen. Silly huh? The one in the link I have above sold several years ago for over $900. It was only $600 new with case. To put that in perspective though a Standard was only $700 back then without case. Yes, I plan to play my Studio.
Oh! Check out this pic of the XR 2. That is the case it came with. I still have mine, my Les Paul Studio has been living in it for 20 years.
Mine has a brown plush lining though. The case is molded plastic, very tough and very light. Says Gibson on it.
I had what is in the pic above for 9 years, and here is what I have had for the past 20.
Did I do the right thing back in 1992? Kinda late now if I didn't. :lol:
Oh, and as long as I'm on the subject of this guitar, it is special aside from the age and story. As I mentioned, all the ones I see on line have black knobs. I think mine looks particularly nice with the gold speed knobs. The ebony board is special too, I read they stopped doing that on the Studios in the early 90's. Here is a link to one from the same year. You can see in the pic of the head stock it has a rosewood board, not ebony like mine. It seems to have sold for more than I paid for mine new as well.
http://www.guitar-museum.com/guitar-86158-GIBSON-LES-PAUL-STUDIO-GUITAR
"Work hard, rock hard, eat hard, sleep hard,
grow big, wear glasses if you need 'em."
-- The Webb Wilder Credo --
Very cool!! Jump on in there and play the thing!!!
I ply my Epi LP very little!! I realy like it. It playes, looks, and sounds great... but I hate to leave it out on the stand and have the kids knock it over... so it lives in the case. Mostly I play acoustic, and my steel body resonator lives on the stand. Kids can wack that with a 2x4 and it would not brake!!! One day ill drift back into the electric world, and she will come out... but for now its packed away
Paul B
No but I only play the Strat most of the time just because it feels the most comfortable and I never keep anything in pristine condition anyway so it wouldn't matter.
As for your guitar TR I do like the black it's sweet but honestly the gold ruins it for me. Same thing that is on the red EPI LP I have and I hate it but it's just a personal cosmetic thing for me never liked the gold look on anything
"It's all about stickin it to the man!"
It's a long way to the top if you want to rock n roll!
I like nickle or chrome myself as well, but not an option when I bought this. I think the gold hardware and ebony board was to make this the Les Paul Custom of the Studio line. Kind of ironic huh? Adding gold hardware and an ebony board to the no frills model? The first Studios had dot inlays not traps. Studios go for $1399 now. (Unless you get a satin or faded model) 20 years ago I paid $750 for mine. Inflation!
"Work hard, rock hard, eat hard, sleep hard,
grow big, wear glasses if you need 'em."
-- The Webb Wilder Credo --
Did your xr2 have the mini's or the dirty fingers? I have never played one with the mini's - That is a guitar Gibson should bring back compared to some of the lousy entry level guitars they have had of late. I thought they were good guitars in their own right, not pretending to be a Paul or an SG like the faded and specials. The Faded and specials are okay guitars and make an okay sound, but their worth about half what they go for only for having the Gibson moniker.
I have never really liked the studios much - I think the necks are too thin and the pickups don't clean up well at all - but I have played a few I have liked, and oddly enough one of them was a black '92. Must have been a good sounding color that year, but I'm almost positive this one has a rosewood board (which I prefer anyway)
You guys mentioned cosmetics, I honestly think my biggest issue with the studio is this: I like bursts on Les Paul's - hate them on almost everything else - love them on 'Paul's. But the studio's burst's look TERRIBLE without binding. The black, gold tops and especially the white ones look passable without but... what the hell Gibson? Keep the MOP inlays, gold hardware and Kluson's if you want to separate the Studio's from the rest of the line. But binding? Go online and look at EVERY $200 LP copy out there, look at the EPI's - Binding! It seems to me that Gibson is trying to punish people for buying a lesser Les Paul instead of offering an entry level model. Say what you want about Fender, from 20 feet away an Eric Johnson signature looks just like a Mexican standard or a Squire vintage vibe for that matter. I can buy a set of burst bucker's for $250, and a standard runs $2300 - so Gibson seems to think a fatter neck and binding is somehow worth $750. Anybody that buys a new gibson ought to have their head examined. It's disgusting the way the price their instruments.
The XR 2 had what ever came on them?? They look like minis to me so I called them that. Might not have been. My Studio has a meaty neck. It's the 50's neck. I agree with the binding thing. Yep, no binding but gold Klusons, MOP inlays and an ebony board. Go figure?? In either case it sounds good and plays very well. They are pricey. As I mentioned, this one cost me $749. They go for $1399 now. Thats nuts! My Agile AL 3000 has abalone inlays on an ebony board, triple binding, AAA flame maple top, Grover tuners and cost $425. :lol:
"Work hard, rock hard, eat hard, sleep hard,
grow big, wear glasses if you need 'em."
-- The Webb Wilder Credo --
You probably had mini's then - I know they came with both either as options or at different times - I'm a big fan of mini's but I only have them on one guitar - a resonator to boot - so I rarely play it. $1,300 is what a standard should cost in my opinion. You can get a used standard for that, so why buy a studio? I'd like a nice gibson electric, but not for that much.
They are a lot of money. Don't get me wrong, I love mine but and don't regret buying it. 20 years ago it was $750 and except for the binding not a whole lot different than the Standard. The price today is a bit crazy. As for the faded finish ones, I have seen a couple. The SG and Flying V faded were terrible. I did play a faded Les Paul that played and felt really nice. The V and SG were rough feeling and cheaply constructed. I have yet to try a satin finished one. They are $800 but that is still a lot of money. A les Paul Standard is $2000 and up. That is just crazy. I'd love one but how do I justify spending that much?
"Work hard, rock hard, eat hard, sleep hard,
grow big, wear glasses if you need 'em."
-- The Webb Wilder Credo --
$749, played a dozen times - that works out at $62 (roughly) per play - that's one expensive guitar! Although $37.45 per year isn't too bad....
:D :D :D
Vic
"Sometimes the beauty of music can help us all find strength to deal with all the curves life can throw us." (D. Hodge.)
That's less then a rental.
I played it for over an hour today! :D Now it is vintage!
"Work hard, rock hard, eat hard, sleep hard,
grow big, wear glasses if you need 'em."
-- The Webb Wilder Credo --
They are a lot of money. Don't get me wrong, I love mine but and don't regret buying it. 20 years ago it was $750 and except for the binding not a whole lot different than the Standard. The price today is a bit crazy. As for the faded finish ones, I have seen a couple. The SG and Flying V faded were terrible. I did play a faded Les Paul that played and felt really nice. The V and SG were rough feeling and cheaply constructed. I have yet to try a satin finished one. They are $800 but that is still a lot of money. A les Paul Standard is $2000 and up. That is just crazy. I'd love one but how do I justify spending that much?
I tell you I played one of those newer Les Paul Studio ’60s Tributes.... I wouldnt call it a faded .... most a matt finish.. WOW it was SWEET!!!. I didnt have the $800 bucks to spend... but if I did, I would have got it. It was SWEEETTT!!! and I love me some P90's!!!!!
Paul B
