Gibson's Les Paul Studio offers traditional Les Paul performance with a modern, no-frills attitude. Introduced as a guitar mainly for studio musicians, the Les Paul Studio has become one of the most desired--and popular--Les Pauls for its tremendous harmonic and sonic qualities. All of the essential elements of a Les Paul Standard are there, including a carved maple top, solid mahogany back and genuine Gibson humbucker pickups. What the Les Paul Studio lacks in extras, it makes up for in performance. Ask any one of the thousands of musicians who call it their No. 1 axe.

The Les Paul Classic Plus is again available for a limited time, with beautiful transparent lacquer finishes over "AA" grade Maple Tops. High output ceramic humbucker pickups, a slim '60's style neck, and the clarity of a torrified maple fingerboard.

Gibson Les Paul Traditional Plus Electric Guitar, Heritage Cherry Sunburst

Improving a legend isn't easy, but it's happened. Introducing Gibson USA's 2008 Les Paul Standard--an elegant revision of a true classic, with upgrades and new features that make it the best Les Paul Standard ever produced. Based on consumer feedback and a drive to uphold and enhance the legacy of the Les Paul Standard, Gibson USA's 2008 model sets a new guitar benchmark for excellence and achievement. Play the new 2008 Les Paul Standard from Gibson USA and experience the evolution of the greatest electric guitar of all time.

498T and 490R humbucking pickups.

Gibson Les Paul Studio Swirl Limited Electric Guitar - Swirled Gold/Blue by Gibson USA

Tune-o-matic bridge.

Gibson Custom Zakk Wylde Signature Les Paul Electric Guitar From his early work with Ozzy Osbourne, to his seminal playing with Black Label Society, to his distinctive solo outings, Zakk Wylde has distinguished himself as one of the most fierce lead players in all of rock. A technique as furious and aggressive demands a guitar to match. Gibson Custom is honored to work with Wylde to create a guitar that features his trademark bullseye graphics, EMG humbucking pickups and raw, unfinished necks. The Zakk Wylde Les Paul from Gibson Custom is the ultimate weapon for guitarists looking to hack out anything from metal to grunge to the most raw shred styles. Body The guitar is constructed under close guidance from Wylde and built to the same specs as his original Les Paul Custom guitar, beginning with the Les Paul’s traditional carved maple top and solid mahogany back with multi-ply black and white binding around the top and back. The neck is a three-piece maple neck with no finish, giving the exact, slick feel of Wylde’s original. The neck is topped with a 22-fret ebony fingerboard with pearl block inlays, multi-ply black and white binding along the fingerboard, and Gibson’s classic rounded profile. All of the guitar’s hardware is finished in gold, including its Nashville Tune-o-matic bridge and stopbar tailpiece. The pickups are exactly the same as the ones in Wylde’s original guitar: an EMG85 in the neck position, and an EMG81 in the bridge position. The EMG85 has more measurable output, but its frequency response and string interface are different, yielding a warmer and more natural tone and delivering balanced and uniform string response. The wide aperture of the coils produces a beefier low end and fatter top end, with loads of output that doesn’t get muddy. The EMG81 is its perfect compliment, working best for high volume overdrive and amps with a master volume and producing a razor sharp attack with incredible sustain for brilliant soloing. Each Zakk Wylde Les Paul Custom comes with the standard Gibson Custom hardshell case, custom care kit and a Certificate of Authenticity signed by Zakk himself.

Zakke Wylde Les Paul/ Buy

The introduction of the Les Paul Model in 1952 provided the fundamental template for the design of what would eventually become the most revered stringed instrument in the world. Today's Les Paul Custom is based on the model from the mid-1950s, but with several modern appointments.

The Incomparable Les Paul Custom Guitar

Originally designed as a model for studio artists but adopted by countless players of all stripes, the no-nonsense Les Paul Studio electric guitar combines stripped-down appointments with the full tonal splendor and unrivaled playability of a Les Paul Standard--and at a more affordable price. It features a fat and sweet maple-and-mahogany tone from its two genuine Gibson humbucking pickups and it looks great in a Fireburst finish with gold hardware. See larger image. Angled headstock. 498T and 490R humbucking pickups. Tune-o-matic bridge. Included Gibson hard case. Click here for a larger image. Key Features Body and Finish A solid, carved maple top and chambered mahogany body give the Les Paul Studio the same tonewood combination that has been helping Les Paul Standards rock for nearly 60 years. The Les Paul Studio follows the classic lines of the Les Paul Standard, with a gently arched top and a single cutaway on the treble side of the neck/body joint for improved upper-fret access. The body's back is chambered to both reduce overall weight and enhance the guitar's resonance. Mahogany is a medium-dense wood with excellent resonance and superior sustain, and it offers a rich, round, warm tone, but with plenty of high-end sheen and good mid-range presence. Add a solid maple top, and the guitar's tone is enhanced with added clarity, sustain and definition. The body's chambering also enhances its mellow acoustic resonance, and adds further air to the midrange content. The Les Paul Studio is hand-finished in nitrocellulose in a process that is carefully monitored to ensure minimum build-up, in an effort to produce a finish that breathes with the guitar and enhances natural resonance. The final coat is hand-buffed to a high-sheen gloss. Unlike many other manufacturers, who settle for a polyurethane finish, Gibson opts for a nitrocellulose finish that will encourage the natural vibration of the instrument for a purer tone. In addition, a nitro finish is very porous and actually gets thinner over time. Pickups and Electronics The Les Paul Studio carries two of Gibson's most popular humbucking pickups, a 498T in the bridge position and a 490R in the neck. Both are designed as updated renditions of Gibson's famous PAF humbucker of the late '50s and early '60s, modified for improved versatility, and routed through the classic Gibson four-knob and three-way switch control section. Used together, the 490R and 498T are one of the most versatile humbucking pickup sets available. In the neck position, the former yields juicy, warm vocal tones with outstanding clarity, while the latter in the bridge position excels at everything from bright jangle through a clean amp to wailing overdrive with near-infinite sustain through a high-gain amp. Selected together, the pair gives you everything from funky to greasy, depending upon amp and effects settings. Neck, Headstock and Fingerboard The Les Paul Studio is crafted in classic Gibson style with a glued-in neck made from solid quarter-sawn mahogany and topped with an unbound rosewood fingerboard (an ebony fingerboard with the Alpine White finish). The neck on the Les Paul Studio is carved to Gibson's comfortable, rounded '50s profile, which offers a smooth playing feel in the hand. This neck shape has been a favorite with many players since its arrival on the Les Paul Standards of the '50s. The Les Paul Studio headstock is carefully angled at Gibson's traditional 17 degrees, which increases pressure on the strings and helps them stay in the nut slots. An increase in string pressure also means there is no loss of string vibration between the nut and the tuners, which equals better sustain. Gibson uses what is known as the Mortis & Tenon joint to bind neck to body so that the two pieces form one solid unit. This time-tested technique has been used for millennia in all the great woodworking arts--from shipbuilding to cabinetry--to create one solid wood unit from two separate sections, and has been proven to yield a stronger neck and body than if the instrument was made from a single piece of wood. Hardware The hardware set on the Les Paul Studio echoes that worn by Les Paul Standards since 1956, and includes Gibson's hallowed Tune-o-matic bridge, stopbar tailpiece, and vintage-style tuners. A classic of 20th century guitar design, the Tune-o-matic provides excellent resonant coupling, while offering efficient independent adjustment of each saddle for precise intonation. It also yields excellent coupling between strings and body, maximizing resonance, tone, and sustain. This bridge is made from Zamak then plated in chrome, and each one weighs approximately .118 lbs.