Gibson has unveiled the Les Paul Studio Session, its third remix on the stripped-down single-cut in 2024, offering yet more fresh finish options, a new electric guitar pickup configuration and a AA figured maple top for a more upscale look.
The Les Paul Studio Session arrives with a pair of Gibson’s own ’57 Classic humbuckers at the neck and bridge. You can get it in Honeyburst, Bourbon Burst Cobalt Burst, and Translucent Ebony Burst, all in high-gloss nitro.
It has a bound ebony fingerboard with a 12” radius, 22 medium jumbo frets and the acrylic trapezoid inlays like the rest of the family. And it makes that decision as to which entry-level US-made Les Paul is best for you all that more difficult.
This is the third Studio variant of the year, each with its own distinct take on the Les Paul. Launched in February, the Les Paul Studio Modern came with that ergonomically sculpted neck heel and compound radius ebony fingerboard of the more high-end Les Paul Modern Figured.
The Les Paul Studio Modern has a rounded neck profile, plain maple top, a pair of ever-dependable 498T/490R humbuckers that had coil-splits, a push/pull phase voicing, and a Pure Bypass mode that takes the signal from the bridge pickup and bypasses the controls entirely, just sending it raw, undiluted, straight to your amp. Quite radical.
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Then in September, we had the refreshed Les Paul Studio. Again, we had the plain maple top, but there was no Modern Contoured neck heel. It reverted to the 12” radius rosewood fingerboard and had a SlimTaper neck. You could split the coils on its Burstbucker humbucker pairing but there was no phase or Pure Bypass feature.
And now this, the Les Paul Studio Session. It is once more switches up the recipe and yet is very much a sibling to these Studio variants.
All are among the most affordable US-made Gibson guitars that you will find – only the (most excellent) Les Paul Modern Lite is cheaper – and all have Ultra-Modern weight-relief making that traditional maple-on-mahogany tonewood recipe a little lighter, a lot easier on the back.
Again, it is a player-friendly proposition. It has the SlimTaper mahogany neck, less timber on it than on a ‘50s-style neck shape. There is also an expectation that players are going to want full access to all 22 medium-jumbo frets, and so, as per the Les Paul Modern et al, we have that generously sculpted neck heel.
Reflecting the slightly more expensive price point (a Studio Session will cost you £1,899/$1,999 whereas the Studio is priced £1,599/$1,599), we have this expanded control setup that offers not only the dual volume, dual tone configuration that makes Gibson electric guitars so versatile – so many EQ options before your signal reaches the guitar amp – but all those phase, coil-splitting and Pure Bypass options too.
This has a regular Gibson 12” radius fingerboard that is ebony and bound. It’s a handsome looking guitar. It has an aluminium Tune-O-Matic bridge and stop-tail, Grover Rotomatic tuners with Keystone buttons.
Thee are a lot of familiar touches. The scale length is 24.75” on all of these Studio variants. The core tones are unmistakably from the Les Paul family. These all have glued-in set necks.
It’s just that, well, with those coil-splits and phase features, you can get some new sounds out of it, they come in a little cheaper – and lighter – than a Les Paul Standard, and even the purists might get used to that sculpted neck heel.
The Les Paul Studio Session ships in a soft-shell guitar case (see above for pic), inside which you will find an uninstalled switch washer, and is available now. For more details, head over to Gibson.
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