Has anyone any experience of the gibson les paul studios from thommann:

http://www.thomann.de/gb/search.html?xsid=78522fa00b9e15efdb6bae24bba4bf4a &KF=on&gk=gieglp&oa=ala&bn=GIBSON&pr=400a800&wgfid1=7611&wgf76 11=&wgfid2=9382&wgf9382=&wgfid3=9383&wgf9383=&wgfid4=7613&wgf7613= &wgfid5=7612&wgf7612=HH&wgfid6=9387&wgf9387=No&wgfid7=9388&wgf9388 =&wgfid8=9389&wgf9389=

prices seem very very good. what is the deal with the 'exclusively made for thommann'? does this mean lower quality materials? More peices to the body? They also come in both all mahogany and mahogany plus maple top. I can't find used LP studios for much less, what's the catch?

cheers

I've bought an LP Studio from Thomann in the last year, and I think they are the best prices for the particular model. Of course you always take a risk when you buy mail-order for a guitar - before this I only ever bought a guitar I'd played already, but I was overall quite satisfied with this one.

I'm not sure what the 'made for Thomann' details are, but there are many different varieties of Les Paul Studios, so do make sure you're getting what you want. The main differences to look out for are:

- as you mention, the body can be just mahogany or with the added maple carved top. Many think the maple adds brightness to the sound and like that, but others (e.g. Mick Ronson!) don't like the maple (he actually stripped his LP down and removed the maple top! This was the LP he played on the recently discovered Jean Genie TOTP clip)

- the pickups vary a lot, from single-coil P90-ish (on the 50s & 60s tributes) to the full humbucker, with BurstBuckers being the latest incarnation on the top models. Many of the Studios feature various combinations of the 498T and 490R (T for treble, or bridge position; R for rhythm or neck) pickups, which were standard issue until the BurstBuckers came along, and which a lot of people still rate above the BurstBuckers for preference

- the neck profile is a choice of the 50s or 60s profile, with the 60s being a bit slimmer. The full-fat LPs have a new assymetric taper that is supposed to be easier on the hand, but this isn't on the Studios as far as I know

- the other variations include the types of knobs and tuners, the gig-bag vs. hardshell case, the neck dots, chambered or solid body, coil-tapping, and finish.

You can get all the low-down, as well as aggregated user ratings, here:

http://www2.gibson.com/Products/Electric-Guitars/Les-Paul.aspx

When I was choosing, I thought the swamp-ash studio, the studio faded, and the standard studio in sunburst all looked very nice models!

In the number of different options there, something I would keep in mind would be getting a 'proper' fingerboard eg rosewood/ebony. Some of the new models have obeche fretboards, which I myself wouldn't spend that kind of money on...

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http://soundcloud.com/earwighoney

interesting. what about baked or toasted maple fingerboards?
How does the fingerboard wood affect things?

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interesting. what about baked or toasted maple fingerboards?
How does the fingerboard wood affect things?

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I was wrong of sorts. I would be fine with a obeche or a toasted maple fretboard. I confused 'obeche' with another of Gibson's fretboard material. They've started 'richlite' on a few of their new models which is a kind of high pressure paper mache of sorts or something, which I myself wouldn't too keen to own if I had a choice of a proper wood fretboard instead. Obeche is a tropical wood, and I'm sure that'd be fine.

This is the model which has a richlite fretboard.

http://www.thomann.de/gb/gibson_midtown_custom_an.htm

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http://soundcloud.com/earwighoney

i just pulled the trigger on this:
http://www.thomann.de/gb/gibson_lp_studio_50_tribute_gt_db_tm.htm

been looking for weeks and not found anything comparable for the same price - even second-hand. Now it's in the lap of the gods as to whether she's a good one or not. fingers crossed!!

Good price, good buy and good work!



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http://soundcloud.com/earwighoney

Looks like a great choice! Be good to hear how you find it when it arrives.

Be very interested to hear how you get on. That's the exact model I've been looking at with an itchy wallet... However the missus wants to go on holiday!

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www.sda-audio.co.uk

What exactly is going on with the neck joint here - it looks a little odd!
http://www.thomann.de/gb/media_bdbviewer_AR_271698.html?image=10

Hmmm looking further it's a bit of an optical illusion. The joint is set back but looks like it's coming off the side.

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www.myspace.com/shambolic-charm


Edited by Shambolic Charm (08/01/12 10:17 AM)

FWIW Martin have been using a sort of resin-impregnated sawdust for fingerboards and bridge parts for some time.

I have a 000-16 with this stuff for the fingerboard and frankly I defy anyone to tell the difference tonally or feel wise.

But there again this is on a £1200 instrument, not a £3200 one!

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Me? But I`m such a loveable old bugger!

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What is the deal with the 'exclusively made for thommann'? does this mean lower quality materials? More peices to the body? They also come in both all mahogany and mahogany plus maple top. I can't find used LP studios for much less, what's the catch?

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It doesn't mean anything at all I'm afraid: Gibson will often approach their bigger outlets and offer them a job lot of guitars on an "exclusive" deal. It certainly won't be guitars made specifically for Thomman, they'll come off the production line at Gibson and at that point Gibson will try and sell them on an exclusive basis.

Over and above that, I'd never buy a guitar mail order at that price, I'd always, always want to try it first. It doesn't really matter that you can return it, the whole point is that you'd want to hear that guitar and others like it, all at the same time.

Gibson finishing is very, very patchy too, I'd want to inspect, amongst other things, the finishing into the neck before I even contemplated buying it: you can't do that with mail order.

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been looking for weeks and not found anything comparable for the same price - even second-hand

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You obviously didn't look at GAK, PMT, or any of the other UK-based outlets as they're all doing them for around this price, if I recall PMT are selling them for £559.

Quote IvanSC:

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FWIW Martin have been using a sort of resin-impregnated sawdust for fingerboards and bridge parts for some time.

I have a 000-16 with this stuff for the fingerboard and frankly I defy anyone to tell the difference tonally or feel wise.

But there again this is on a £1200 instrument, not a £3200 one!

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Good to see you back here Ivan and to read of your account of the material being decent for it's use....

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http://soundcloud.com/earwighoney

I fell over the doorstep on my way to www.russiangirlswithbiglats.com - someone had moved the doormat.

But do bear in mind I am a bass player so anything I say about a proper guitar, especially one of those treewood ones has to be taken with a pinch of salt.
But you should see my newly-arrived hand made Mandouki.
Or is it a Boouzola?

(hoping to get google to acknowledge the existence of these two words)


Aha! Made it on under a week thanks to SOS!

http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=bouzola&source=web&am p;cd=1&sqi=2&ved=0CB8QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gearslutz.com%2Fboard%2Forches tral-ethnic-world-instruments%2F679770-bouzola-mandouki.html&ei=MaodT_yaCI7U8QP-rIzDCw &usg=AFQjCNFE_4wI6jPBk_u7o0S_Mxt1c_NLjw

Edited by IvanSC (23/01/12 06:43 PM)

Quote TheChorltonWheelie:

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been looking for weeks and not found anything comparable for the same price - even second-hand

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You obviously didn't look at GAK, PMT, or any of the other UK-based outlets as they're all doing them for around this price, if I recall PMT are selling them for £559.

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cheapest at GAK is £649 for the studio faded, which is £110 more than thommann.
and the cheapest LP studio at PMT (£599) is not only more expensive than thomann, but more importantly, is all mahogany as opposed to mahogany plus maple top.
I.e. I did look.

yes, you are correct that buying unseen is not ideal. But actually the 30 day money back guarantee does provide some leeway, and at least you get to try it with your own amp at gig and recording volumes.

In my case, I am very happy with the sound of the guitar, but a little uneasy about the quality of aspects of the finish and set-up for a guitar this price. I'm yet to decide whether to keep it.