End of an era: Les Paul Studio discontinued

It had a good run.

Interesting, the new ones sure won’t be within reach for me. 
That’s ok, I’m a telecaster guy anyway.

Already are, SW has them for $2499.

RIP.

Hopefully Gibson is getting a better sense of the labor hours that are in instruments. The studio MOSTLY saved money by lacking binding, and that does save some time both in building and in finishing... but not to the tune of more than a thousand dollars. Silk screen logo instead of inlaid too, but inlays are pretty easy in production these days. A chance to use pieces of wood they might not use on Standards was probably nice, but I doubt it actually saved money.

A "standard faded" makes more sense. You can do the same thing with woods that you did with the studios (though the picture I'm seeing is still a flame top), and the finishing is probably the biggest time sink. "Faded" is probably the only option Gibson has without going poly to save $$$ there (except maybe whatever Eastman did on Leftee's new guitar).

The pickup choice on the Standard Faded is interesting, too. Burstbucker 1. Not that it matters THAT much to anyone here, but '80s and '90s LPs really seemed to chase the super chonky rock LP sound, while more recent ones go for a brighter tone like the originals, aluminum tailpieces, and so forth. Those studios were definitely hard rock machines, so it is an interesting marketing decision that they're going to more of a classic/lighter/bluesier thing.

According to the website, some special formulation from Dana Bourgeois, who had his own customers that would never accept poly but he got sick of huffing lacquer fumes. I don't know if it is something really lame, but it is definitely a HUGE missed opportunity to find a third way for a hard finish that isn't quirky lacquer or sprayable epoxy. Finish is not only a giant time suck in production, but it is also the biggest time suck for rework, and the biggest culprit for flaws on outgoing instruments.

I think some of that is that lacquer formulations keep getting weirder and weirder. They get softer and gummier to make them easier to sand, but they also heat up and plug paper faster, and streak more when buffed. That's another rant, though.

From $550 to $2,200!? I guess they are giving up this ground to Epiphone. A very decent guitar for $550 and there are a ton out there.

Oddly enough I've never owned a Studio. I have a Tribute and had a Trad and a Standard.

If that is the case, then I DO own a Studio. 😂

There were SOME Studio Tributes, but mostly just..Tributes.

That line was TOTALLY axed a month or two ago.

It was the "Melody Maker" price point with multi-piece etc being common.

Yea, which is why the 'getting rid of Studio normal" doesn't make any sense to me when it's been the consistent thing.

The whole "classic" thing was a bit confuzling too.

Just speculation on my part, but it seems kinda like Fender and Gibson are on a parallel course with satellite and cable TV. What I mean is the latter loses more and more of their customer base every year due to more and more streaming options popping up. And, while “knock off” Gibsons and Fenders have been around forever, the quality of these get better and better every year. This leads me to at least ask the question: How much of the price increases for Fender and Gibson are due to shrinkage in customer base due the gap in price relative to gap in quality between them and the knockoffs.

Yeah, there’s definitely a percentage of Gibson owners that suffer from Harley Davidson syndrome, meaning they will be loyal no matter what, because of the name.