01-20-2016, 11:05 PM
(01-20-2016, 08:45 PM)BengalsRocker Wrote: I'm usually not a fan of the "Studio" models but have not tried this one.I haven't played much of the new stuff but it seems like a lot of people aren't all two impressed with Gibson's quality nowadays. Fwiw, I too just bought an Epiphone Standard Plus and absolutely love it. It's not the same feel to me as a real one, the weight and balance is a little different, but it plays fantastic. Fit and finish are good too.
Gibson really disappointed me in their mid-tier models. They feel kind of cheap IMO.
Which sucks when you dish out over $1,000 bucks for one.
It's kind of strange when a top model Epiphone Paul seems better made than the Gibson mid-tier ones.
My theory is that if someone is expected to shell out $600-$700 bucks for an Epi that it better be good versus a $1,000 and slightly above Gibsons you're at least getting the "Gibson Les Paul" name on the headstock.
The Gibsons that are upward of $2,000 and above, the quality jumps up.
This response isn't solely for you Reuben. I'm sharing some thoughts/opinions.
Just curious to what others might think to this...
And IMHO their pricing has gotten to the point where it's a little ridiculous. Street price on a Les Paul Standard is $2,799. A Les Paul Custom is $4,799.
Street. List is $6,800.Craziness. Off the top of my head, I think in around 2000 those Standards were about $1,800 and the Customs around $2,750. They've damn near doubled. The new studio is $1,499. When I worked at GC these could all day long at 899.Meanwhile, the quality of the imports has never been better. What you can get for 500 is pretty damn amazing.
For me, if I'm shelling out that type of coin and have to have a Les Paul I'd either look at Heritage (Original Kalamazoo plant) or I'm looking at a slightly older one. There was a Studio they did in the early 80's that they actually did in Sunburst, with binding. But it has the dot inlays instead of the trapazoid. And it's out of the old plant. I'm guessing you could get one of these for around the same price as the new ones.
