Les Paul Studio or Standard? Buyer's Guide

Added: 2026-05-31

[00:00:00]I'm going to help you decide whether the studio or the standard is right for you.

[00:00:04]Let's take a look at the lineup of studios and standards before we get plugged in. So, the studio I'm showing you today is also the giveaway guitar, don't forget. So, hit subscribe so you'll be in it to win it. To win this guitar, you've got to sign up down below and you must be subscribed to the channel. But, the Les Paul Studio starts at $1599. Now, you also have the Les Paul Studio double trouble, which is new. It's basically the same except you have uncovered double cream bobbins, which is really nice. It's just a different aesthetic and it's a little bit more open aggressive sound than the covered humbuckers you find on the Les Paul Studio. Now, these are Burstbucker Pro pickups on the Les Paul Studio and it's exactly the same on the double trouble. It's just that they're uncovered instead of covered. Now, if you want to save some money, I will of course point out the ever popular Inspired by Gibson Custom line because while this is an Epiphone guitar made in China, it does sport an open book Gibson headstock. It still says Epiphone, of course, but you've got great premium features like a rosewood fretboard and check this out. This is actually a step up from Gibson even. You got mother pearl trapezoid inlays and this is a huge deal. You got a set of Gibson Custombucker humbuckers. This is a $500 set of humbuckers right here. Now, it's not going to be finished in nitrocellulose like you'll find on a Gibson USA guitar. It'll be finished in poly. But, this what will this will come with a hard shell case and at $1299, it's certainly tempting. And my personal favorite of all the studios is the Les Paul Studio Session. This bourbon burst is going to give you a double A flame top. It's going to give you 57 humbuckers, which are absolutely some my favorite Gibson humbuckers. And it's actually going to give you an ebony fretboard, which is a nice touch on a Les Paul along with beautiful hardware and this is what I call the works. This is one of the best production guitars that Gibson USA makes and it's under $2000. In fact, look at this. You can get 18 months no interest payment plans.

[00:01:48]For 111 bucks a month, you can own the Les Paul Studio Session. That is really worth taking advantage of. Now, when we move up to the standards, there's actually a way to save money, which is often overlooked. And that is if you go with the satin finish. The faded series is going to be in every way a Les Paul standard except for one thing. It's going to have a satin finish, which is more of an eggshell or flat finish compared to a gloss nitrocellulose finish. It takes a little less production time instead of buffing it to a high sheen gloss, they go with satin.

[00:02:17]And the key here is not only does that cost less cuz it takes less time and labor, but more importantly, some players prefer the feel of satin. So, this is not worth overlooking if you want that feel, and it's at $2299. Now, the Les Paul Standard 50s kind of the marquee Les Paul Standard is going to be the 50s with the thicker neck or the 60s with the slimmer neck. In either case, it's going to be $2799.

[00:02:38]The Les Paul Standard 50s at $2799 in iced tea is beautiful, but the 50s is also going to give you the option one of my favorite things, which is the gold top. And within the gold tops, if you want to go old school, you can go P90 gold top. And P90s are old school single coil pickups. They sound distinctly different than a Fender single coil pickup, and you've got to own a guitar with P90s. They sound absolutely fantastic, particularly in a Les Paul.

[00:03:01]And something kind of odd here to point out is that it actually costs 200 bucks less to get the gold top with P90s rather than humbuckers. So, take advantage of that. And the best-selling Les Paul Standard has got to be the Les Paul Standard 60s. A lot of players like that slim neck. It's a beautiful bourbon burst finish. And I'll tell you that of all the burstbucker pickups, actually it's the 61s that you find in the Les Paul Standard 60s, which are my favorite. These are Alnico 5 magnets, and it has a more modern a little bit harder edge tone, which I really love.

[00:03:32]And I'll tell you that probably sound-wise, my two favorite Les Pauls in production in terms of the pickup sounds would be either the Les Paul Standard 60s with those burstbucker 61s or the Les Paul Studio Session with the 57s.

[00:03:45]Those are my favorite sounding Les Pauls. But what I wanted to do is go and take the spectrum of Les Pauls and show you the basic Les Paul Studio at $1599 and now plug it in and compare it to a premium top Les Paul Standard 50's, the one from my personal collection. And I've got everything dialed in. The pickup height is exactly the same. Amps you're about to hear, everything is exactly the same. The only difference is the guitar. Let's get plugged in and find out. I'll remind you if you're in the market for any of these guitars or any gear, shop that gear using my link, scan this QR code, take advantage of those no interest payment plans, fast free shipping. And by the way, you help me make these videos when you buy gear using my link. So I really appreciate it. The question is this, how different do they sound? And that's what we're going to find out today as we plug these guitars in.