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Gibson Les Paul Studio Session Electric Guitar - Honey Burst Certified Open Box

Solidbody Electric Guitar with Mahogany Body, Maple Top, Mahogany Neck, Ebony Fingerboard, and 2 Humbucking Pickups - Honey Burst
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Item ID: LPStuShHBd2
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Gibson Les Paul Studio Session Electric Guitar - Honey Burst

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Condition Notes:

There is contamination under the finish on the bass side of the neck around the 12th fret area. This guitar may also have fine scratches on various parts of the body that do not show up well in photos, if at all. This instrument comes with a user's guide, a shoulder strap, a polish cloth and a truss rod tool and a cream poker chip.

This item was thoroughly inspected by our factory-authorized service team and is backed by Sweetwater's exclusive 2-year warranty. These images are of the exact item advertised, and provide as accurate a representation of its condition as possible. If you need further information, please call your Sweetwater Sales Engineer at (800) 222-4700.

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Gibson Les Paul Studio Session Electric Guitar - Honey Burst
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Gibson’s Most-appointed Studio Model — Ever

The Gibson Les Paul Studio Session builds on the legacy of its no-frills predecessor with a well-thought-out selection of cosmetic, performance, and electronic updates. To start, the Les Paul Studio Session’s weight-relieved mahogany body is crowned with an eye-grabbing flame maple top. This solidbody electric guitar’s mahogany neck brandishes Gibson’s crowd-pleasing SlimTaper neck profile, which is bolstered by a modern contoured heel for easier playability and an upgraded bound ebony fingerboard. A set of ’57 Classic pickups provides you with supercharged PAF-flavored tones, which are reinforced by four push-pull knobs for easy access to coil tap, out-of-phase, and pure bypass options. You also get Grover Rotomatic tuners with Keystone buttons, head-turning acrylic trapezoid fingerboard inlays, a “Les Paul Model” headstock overlay, and a Gibson logo headstock inlay for authentic Les Paul aesthetics. The Gibson Les Paul Studio Session offers discerning players an appointment-laden real-deal Gibson at an accessible price that’s impossible to pass up.

A well-chosen selection of updates

The Les Paul Studio is typically regarded as a stripped-down, no-frills version of the Les Paul. That said, the Les Paul Studio Session sets itself apart from the base Studio model with a generous cache of player-preferred updates. For starters, the Les Paul Studio Session’s AA flame maple top gives it a spotlight-stealing look that far outshines its price tag. A bound ebony fingerboard elevates the Les Paul Studio Session into LP Custom territory; meanwhile, a modern contoured heel gives this solidbody electric guitar a level of playability suitable for styles that lean more toward the technical side. The Les Paul Studio Session houses ’57 Classic humbuckers, and its four push-pull knobs give rise to coil tap, out-of-phase, and pure bypass options. You also get upgraded Grover Rotomatic tuning machines with Keystone buttons. At this price point — and with these features — the Les Paul Studio Session enables players of all stripes to get their hands on a well-appointed, authentic Gibson Les Paul.

’57 Classic: supercharged PAF power

It would be a big mistake to assume that all humbuckers sound alike. The truth is that there are a number of Gibson humbucking pickups available, and each one has its own distinctive personality. With its “Patent Applied For” decal on the faceplate, the ’57 Classic is a near-perfect re-creation of a late-1950s humbucker, delivering a warm, even tone with full, even response. From clean to crunchy, the ’57 Classic delivers the kind of richness once thought possible only from an original 1950s humbucker. Used in the neck position, the ’57 Classic is the perfect complement to the slightly overwound ’57 Classic Plus in the bridge position. It features special Alnico II magnets, vintage enamel-coated wire, nickel-plated pole pieces, nickel slugs, maple spacers, and braided wiring. Thanks to modern production techniques, each ’57 Classic delivers all the tone you’d expect from a vintage Gibson humbucker.

Your conduit to effortless playability

Players who find vintage Les Pauls heavy and unwieldy (but who love them anyway) will be pleasantly surprised when they pick up the Gibson Les Paul Studio Session. Its Ultra-Modern weight-relieved construction shaves down the guitar’s total weight without affecting the natural acoustic tone of its maple-over-mahogany body. Its SlimTaper neck profile and modern contoured heel provide outstanding hand-cradling comfort. Finally, the Les Paul Studio Session’s bound ebony fingerboard ensures a smooth feel that’s guaranteed to yield hours upon hours of inspired playing. Simply put, the Les Paul Studio Session was tailor-made for marathon-length gigs; it’s a Les Paul you can play for as long as you want without repeated trips to the chiropractor.

Gibson Les Paul Studio Session Features:

  • Sets itself apart from the base Les Paul Studio with a well-thought-out selection of cosmetic, performance, and electronic updates
  • Weight-relieved mahogany body with a spotlight-stealing AA flame maple top
  • SlimTaper mahogany neck with modern contoured heel provides maximum playing comfort
  • Slick-playing ebony fingerboard is bound for a smoother feel and added visual appeal
  • ’57 Classic pickups provide you with turbocharged PAF-flavored tones
  • 4 push-pull knobs give you access to coil tap, out-of-phase, and pure bypass options
  • Top-quality Grover Rotomatic tuning machines with Keystone buttons
  • Head-turning acrylic trapezoid fingerboard inlays, “Les Paul Model” headstock overlay, and Gibson logo headstock inlay
  • Eye-grabbing nitro lacquer finish

Why Buy Your Guitar from Sweetwater?

See how Sweetwater goes to great lengths to give you the very best online guitar buying experience. From our online Guitar Gallery that allows you to see and select the exact instrument you want to our 55-point Inspection process and our in-house guitar techs, we take the guesswork out of buying your next guitar online.

What is Certified Open Box Gear?

At Sweetwater, we're so picky that what we call "Certified Open Box" is actually better than what most music retailers sell as "new" gear! Our gear hasn't endured hundreds of people a week plunking away at all the keyboards, fumbling through Stairway to Heaven on every guitar or playing with every fader and knob on a mixer or control surface.

Certified Open Box (also known as a demo) means we’ve had it out of the box for our YouTube channel, displayed at events, tested in our studio, or maybe it was in a customer’s hands for a few days and isn’t ‘factory fresh’ as a result. Every Certified Open Box item we sell has Sweetwater’s 2-year Total Confidence Coverage™ warranty and has been tested and verified up to ‘new’ specs by our factory-authorized technicians to make sure it’s in perfect working order before we ship it to you.

When you buy a Certified Open Box item at Sweetwater, you get:
  • 2-year Total Confidence Coverage Warranty™!
  • Products inspected and tested by our factory-authorized techs, guaranteed to function like new (or better)!
  • FREE shipping on most items
  • Equipment that will MEET or EXCEED your expectations!

Click HERE to browse our current inventory of Certified Open Box equipment. Purchasing Certified Open Box gear from Sweetwater is a smart and safe way to save!

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Tech Specs

  • General
  • Model Studio Session
  • Number of Strings 6
  • Left-/Right-handed Right-handed
  • Body
  • Body Type Chambered Solidbody
  • Body Shape Les Paul
  • Body Material Mahogany
  • Top Material Solid AA Maple
  • Body Finish Gloss Nitrocellulose Lacquer
  • Color Honey Burst
  • Neck
  • Neck Material Mahogany
  • Neck Shape Slim taper, Modern contoured heel
  • Neck Joint Set Neck
  • Radius 12"
  • Fingerboard Material Ebony
  • Fingerboard Inlay Trapezoids
  • Number of Frets 22
  • Scale Length 24.75"
  • Nut Material GraphTech
  • Hardware
  • Bridge/Tailpiece Aluminum Nashville Tune-O-Matic, Aluminum Stop bar
  • Tuners Grover Rotomatic
  • Electronics
  • Neck Pickup Gibson '57 Classic Humbucker
  • Bridge Pickup Gibson '57 Classic+ Humbucker
  • Controls 2 x volume (push/pull coil-tap), 1 x tone (push/pull phase), 1 x tone (push/pull pure bypass)
  • Switching 3-way toggle pickup switch
  • Miscellaneous
  • Strings Gibson, .010-.046
  • Case/Gig Bag Softshell Case
  • Manufacturer Part Number: LPSTAA01HBCH1

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Reviews

Beautiful guitar
Always wanted a Les Paul, finally purchased one and I couldn't be more pleased. The guitar is beautiful - its even better than the pictures, sounds fantastic, and was playable out of the box after a quick tune. My SE, Alex Verbitskiy, was super helpful throughout the whole process. People like him are why I am comfortable buying from Sweetwater.
Very impressed with the guitar, and the sales experience.
I was looking for one of these for a few months, Jason advised me to place an order to hold my spot for when they came in. Just received it this weekend, after getting plek'd. Action is perfect and I couldn't be happier. Double boxed with air bags shipped and received with zero damage. Everything works and sounds great. This won't be the last guitar I buy from Sweetwater.
Incredible value and tones

This is a unique guitar in the lineup. The highest version of an LP studio that borrows the standard's 2A maple top and the customs ebony fretboard. While getting some wonderful 57 classic pickups with the bridge pickup being the plus version for a little extra kick.

Gibson is appealing to the masses of traveling guitarist with the modern weight relief as well

Combine this all together and we have an absolute killer tone machine. I can compare this to a 20 year old standard of mine that also has ebony fretboard: it was perfect out of the gig bag.

It does have the Gibson quick connect system. Electronically it's one of the most advanced LPs with all the options

I've historically been a PRS man. But this guitar is a much better value than PRS S2 594s. And can easily compete with the core versions. Aside from the head stock and the acrylic inlays: there is little to distinguish the tones and feel from a $ model. And to be honest I like the yellow tinge to the acrylic inlays as it matches well with the honey burst and cream binding in this model.

My only peeve: choosing chrome as the finish for the hardware. I'm a nickel guy because I like to see a natural wear with age. So I swapped all the chrome parts for nickel. But that's pure asthetics and nothing functional

And boy can this guitar sing when she is plugged in. The 57 classics are wonderful. So much better than the 490/498 or burstbuckers I've had on previous Gibsons.

Shoutout to my rep Daniel for the hookup. I am one happy man.

When all your expectations and hopes are exceeded
I have wanted a Gibson Les Paul for a long time. My son bought me the Epiphone Les Paul Slash Anaconda, and I love the guitar. I have always wanted a Gibson. However, I have seen several reviews and criticisms of Gibson's quality control, which made me nervous about making the investment. Purchasing through Sweetwater has always been a great experience, and my sales engineer, Jason Sain, is the best I found myself in the position to finally make the purchase, and the Studio Session has exceeded all my hopes and expectations.

One difficult decision was the color choice, and it was a toss-up between the Honey Burst and the translucent ebony burst. The Honey Burst was the winner, and I was able to look at and select the one I wanted. I found a beautiful top with great fingering that came in at 8lbs 6ozs. The edge of the maple top give a natural binding effect on the Honey Burst. The bound fretboard and fretwork on the guitar are flawless. The Graphtech nut and Grover tuners have provided great tuning stability as well.

The ebony fretboard (my preferred choice) and SlimTaper neck make playing smooth and effortless. The guitar has great resonance, and the sound 57' Classic in the neck position provides great tones. The 57' plus in the bridge position is a powerhouse, especially when you go direct with pulling the tone knob up. In the middle position, using the phase and coil tap options, you find so many tones to accommodate any playing style.

The soft case is awesome, in my opinion, if I had one critique, while case candy is not a big thing for me, I would have rather there been a nicer pouch or bag rather than a plastic bag to hold the poker chip and adjustment tool. The strap that comes with it is not something I will use, and I would have preferred a nicer bag to hold items.

The Gibson Les Paul Studio Session has been everything I hoped for in my first Gibson guitar. Gibson has delivered on all my expectations and made me a loyal Gibson player for sure. I look forward to many hours of playing this guitar and for the next Gibson to join my collection.
One Nice Les Paul
Looks like Gibson has stepped up there game on this one. There QC has really gotten better I couldn't find a single flaw on mine. It looks, feels, and plays like a proper saw dust off the floor Les Paul, I've had Standards that weren't this nice, if your on the fence about the extra cost as compared to a more affordable studio it's worth it, It's definitely the nicest Studio I've ever owned no question. The only thing that was lacking was a proper setup but that not a problem for me, it was impressive that it was actually intonated which almost never the case with past Gibsons I've owned, sounds fantastic love the 57 pups one of my favorites from Gibson, oh on a side note the poker chip is not installed on the guitar but it comes with one, to install it, you'll have to remove the switch plate on the back, very carefully remove the locking ring on the top which will free your switch up, there are 4 washers on the threaded part of the switch, remove 2 of the washer and leave 2, this will allow clearance for your poker chip when you thread your locking ring back on, for me it's a must
Music background: 35 year guitarist

From rockers to jazz cats, there are generations of guitarists right here at Sweetwater who swear by Gibson guitars. Not only do they make many of the most iconic solidbody electric guitars of all time - the Les Paul, the SG, the Flying V - but they also produce classic hollowbody and semi-hollowbody models and some of the most iconic acoustic guitars on the planet. We play them all! Our close relationship with Gibson often allows us to stock exclusive models and rare finds, and we're always happy to turn players and collectors on to the gems in the Sweetwater Guitar Gallery. We also have access to all the latest Gibson hardware, and the Sweetwater Guitar Repair Shop has upgraded countless guitars with their top-of-the-line humbuckers, classic P-90s, and more.