The ESP Guitar Company

Yeah man go for a LP, pure tone :hat

The LP studio is appealing more and more to me these days. And for once I'll be trying out a brand that every store on the planet'll have :lol

I'm not sure what to use as a reference for judging each one tone-wise though...hmm

if i were in the market for a studio axe i would look for anything that has either set neck or neck thru and string thru, natural wood finish (no gloss or anything of that sort), pickups of choice that are screwed into the wood (that is mahogany, and possible maple top)and a TOM bridge.

specs like that are way more pure tone than any LP, guitars like this though are slim to none, i know that ibanez makes some like this...the MM1 is a perfect example, which have specially designed pickups that are a tad bit hotter than a 59. Pups arent mounted to the body, but thats an easy fix

if you wanted to put in a little bit more money, you could go for a warmoth, however you wont have a set neck

Well, the LP studio is pretty close to the spec you just listed there, and the very subtle tonal differences aren't as important to me as the general overall sound. I just want something a little more organic sounding for recording so some nice passive pickups in a really resonant mahogany guitar is where i'm starting from.

"Studio" guitar???? whats that mean???

based on what ur asking for (passives, not $2000, etc)

EC400VF with SDs
there are also two EC1000 with SDs. Im not a Gibson fan, esp. their cheaper models.
You could look at a Michael Kelly Patriot (Mahogany body), dont know how the pups are in them. Ive never played one but hear they're great for price.

I'm not after EMG's, I have other guitars for that. :p

I've actually taken a shining to the Potbelly, or rather the PB-500...anyone know if its nice and thick like a Les Paul? The STG looks sexy as hell...might get one actually

Budget is a slight concern, but If I have to compromise I'd rather wait until my budget is expanded.

The SE's aren't what I'm after, this guitar needs to have a really great tonal quality about it. I'm thinking somthing very resonant, I'd probably string it up with slightly heavier strings just to get that nice volume out of it, just so more of the guitar's natural sound shines through rather than a set of EMG's sledgehammering the preamp.

So far the ones I've considered are:

PRS Custom 22 (Waaaay out of price range)
Gibson Les Paul Studio (heard a 50/50 mix of good and bad reviews)
LTD PB-500 (really hard to try one out, but looks like it would lly do the job, plus I already trust the brand)
LTD EC-400 VF (as above but slightly less hard to find)

Thing that's got me curious is the fabled "Les Paul tone" that everybody rants on about. I've never bothered in the past because comfort has always come first for me and LPs are the most uncomfortable things I've ever played. However I wouldn't be too bothered with this one as its merely a recording tool to add some different textural flavours rather than just having track after track of EMG-esque tone.

Don't get me wrong, the Eclipse has some sick tone. I'm just curious as to how far I can go in finding something close to this "Les Paul tone", which comes from a huge heavy block of Mahogany and a pair of PAFs.

On a side note, even though I hate fanboyism coming into it, I know that a lot of my favourite bands that don't necessarily endorse Gibson track with LP's in the studio, and get some fat sounds. Mr Wilson in particular. :p

Dammit I wish I had £2000 spare for that PRS...

Mmm...I've never liked SG's personally. Nothing about them really appeals to me - the look, the sound, the feel...nah, I'm after something more robust and powerful.

I'm not after "bang for the buck", I'm looking for a guitar that will be an investment, something I can still take into the studio 20 years down the line because its got "that tone" that I can rely on. I am pretty much after the huge LP tone you mentioned, but I thought I'd see if there's any real contenders out there first.

I do love the SE's, but again I only like them because of the "bang for the buck" factor, and right here I'm looking for a large proportion of the money I spend to go to the "tone" factor of the guitar (hence the Custom 22 being out of the window :()

I would buy used but I rarely if ever buy guitars without trying them out first. In fact I've only ever done it once, but it was an LTD so I knew exactly what I was getting. I've heard so many horror stories, and an equal amount of praise, about Gibson which makes me slightly hesitant, plus there is the obvious Brand Name price hiking involved.

I mean, an EC-400VF or a PB-500 would probably have most of what I'm looking for. But I've always wondered if a nice Les Paul, the real deal, the whole shebang, would be just that bit better, just the icing on the cake that I'd love to pieces every time I plugged it in and hit record.

I love my Eclipse, but a fatter, heavier body with more wood and PAF style pickups gets me wondering.

Cheers for the input man ;)

Imma head down to the local tomorrow before college (and maybe after :P) and see what Studios they have there to try out.

Dammit, why can't the '08 models be out already? Now would be an AWESOME time to try an LTD PB-500 STG :(

Randy Rhodes' were Alder last time I checked. But the fact that its a much smaller, thinner body and the bridge is a floating trem means that it would sound massively, massively different to a Les Paul.

:lol

if your so obsessed with gibson tone why not save up and get a les paul custom?

I was scouting for possible alternatives with a similar result. And an LPC is a lot of money for some unnecesarry bling.

I'm not obsessed, I'm merely curious.

^^ I was thinking exactly that, if the stocks weren't up to the job then a '59 would go straight into the neck, I migh choose a less hot pickup for the bridge though.

For a studio guitar you're after the wrong things. You want something ULTRA-easy to play, and with a huge array of tones. A Les Paul is good for this, but you'll want to avoid the Studios (junk), and you'll need to do the Seymour Duncan 'spin-a-split' mod on at least one of the tone knobs. That'll give you the usual LP tone, along with the snarlier LP Jr P90 sound, and even tele tones with both pickups fully tapped.