I bought this guitar a few months ago. First of all, I should disclose that I've mainly played S style guitars most of my life; even though I've always appreciated Les Paul's. I never owned one before; mostly because of the price point. However, I've reached a point in my life where I can kinda afford one and I wanted to round out my collection with my first Gibson- wanted that sound and feel in my toolbox. The day this guitar got here, I didn't know what to expect; you do hear so much negative buzz about Gibson online after all.This guitar is absolutely beautiful. The stock photo online does not do it any type of justice. It has a sorta natural binding on the edges and the grain pattern on the top is beautiful. If you were to swap the truss rod cover, you'd honestly think it was a Standard model or something other than a Studio from a distance. Nothing plain about its appearance. It came perfectly set up for standard tuning; or in my case, half step down tuning. Can get clean full step bends on the high frets with ease, without it choking out. Plays amazing and the sound is absolutely excellent. Nails all the LP tones. Stays in tune, plays in tune. Fit and finish is flawless. Doesn't weigh a ton- weight is just right in the comfort zone. My ONLY complaint or criticism is about the push/pull coil splitting feature. I dont know why they included that. I dont use it personally. Not only is is not comparable to a real single coil sound; but it just doesn't sound good to me in general.… read more I reckon it was just an easy way to add a feature to add more appeal, but I personally dont like it at all. Very underwhelming; especially if you are somewhat of a conneseur of single coil tones like myself.The gig bag is really nice. Overall, I can't knock this guitar. The quality DOES justify the high price. If you are ready to finally own your first real Gibson Les Paul guitar, I highly recommend this one. Fantastic instrument. I love playing it and I look forward to many more years of putting it to work.

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