limited-edition Les Paul Studio Baritone—
and the results are no less impressive than
they were the first time around.
Devilish Details
Despite the original Les Paul Baritone’s
short life on the market, it found a lot of
fans. After it went out of production, prices for the original pewter-finished instruments more than doubled the original
price. The demand is rooted in much more
than novelty and collectability, though—
the marriage of Les Paul humbucker heft
and the long scale makes the Les Paul
Studio Baritone a unique and formidable
sonic tool.
This new bari Les Paul has a lot in
common with Gibson’s original release. It
employs the same 28" scale, which means
its one-piece mahogany neck is a full 3
1/2" longer than a standard Les Paul’s.
This keeps the string tension tight in lower
tunings such as C (C–F–B%–E%–G–C), B
(B–E–A–D–F#–B), and A (A–E–A–D–
F#–B), while retaining the percussive snap
and low-end tightness that you lose when
tuning a standard-scale guitar down that
low. It’s a sound and feel that cannot be
completely replicated by simply throwing
a heavier set of strings on your regular Les
Paul and dropping the tuning.
. . . the marriage of Les Paul humbucker heft
and the long scale makes the Les Paul Studio
Baritone a unique and formidable sonic tool.
Because of the extra 3 1/2" in scale
length, two additional frets have been
added, giving the Les Paul Studio Baritone
a 24-fret, two-octave runway. Like the first
Les Paul Baritone, the neck’s profile is the
company’s standard rounded ’ 59 shape.
And the body is finished with a thin coat
of nitrocellulose lacquer for maximum resonance and wood breathability.
The guitar’s chambered, two-piece
mahogany body is remarkably light,
thanks to internal tone chambers. Because
of that and the longer scale, I expected
it to be neck-heavy. But it remained balanced when I adjusted the strap to tilt the
neck a little higher than the body. The
beautiful two-piece maple cap is finished
in Honeyburst—the only color available
at this time—and the edges are stained a
lovely golden hue that gives the guitar a
subtly luxurious vibe.
Gibson made some very practical
changes to the electronics in the newest
belting out some power-chord-fueled metal
riffage, and the sound was tight and huge,
with the thick, solid midrange that Les
Paul’s are known for and highs and upper
mids that cut through like a bolt of light-
ning over the thundering low end. Rather
than an overbearing, sludgy tonality, the
guitar sounded firm and full, with the low
end serving as a foundation for the mids
and highs rather being the dominant qual-
ity. Tonally, this guitar is very balanced,
despite its specialized function.
’ 59 neck profile
Baritone. The original version had 490R
and 498T humbuckers with alnico 5 magnets and metal covers. However, because
a prominent treble response can give baritones a more balanced sound and keep the
inherently pronounced low-end frequencies
tight and audible while adding detail and
emphasis to highs that would otherwise
be a dull thud, Gibson installed a pair of
uncovered ceramic-magnet humbuckers—
a 496R in the neck position and a 500T
bridge pickup—this time around. The
496R and 500T are much hotter and
brasher sounding than the vintage-voiced
490R and 498T in the original, but their
ability to handle low frequencies and
enhanced highs alike gives them an edge
over their lower-output predecessors.
Lay It Down
I tested the Les Paul Studio Baritone by
plugging into a Bogner Brixton head and
a Bogner 2x12 cabinet. I couldn’t help
