The Gibson Les Paul Studio has been called the economy Gibson Guitar because it is one of the cheaper and more basic of the Les Paul studio guitars. It is true there are less fancy bits on this version of Gibson Les Paul guitars however it is just not to keep the cost down it is designed like this to fill the market for studio guitar players. One advantage of the studio version of the Les Paul guitar is that because it does not have all the fancy pieces that it does not cost as much as other Gibson Les Paul guitars.
The Gibson Les Paul is designed more for sound than looks and its stripped down appearance has not compromised the sound produced by the Les Paul Studio. In fact its stripped down style helps make the guitar easier to play and gives a slightly different tone to the sound produced. The studio guitar is also lighter than the normal Gibson guitars due to the maple being slightly thinner and as mentioned some of the cosmetic pieces not being present. However the guitar was made to bring the quality, shape, pedigree and style of a Les Paul guitar to novice and budget conscious guitar players. To do this Gibson designed and made the Studio version to a specific price range without trying to compromise the quality and sound of the guitar.
The Gibson Les Paul Studio was first produced in 1983 and featured carved alder bodies with a maple top, this lasted until 1985. Now the studio is made from mahogany body with a maple top, the neck is also mahogany and the fret board is ebony and rosewood. It also features the standard two pickups complete with both a volume and tone control for each one and a three way selector switch. There are variations of the standard style guitar which include the Gothic, Voodoo and Smart wood Studio which is made from wood from the Rainforest Alliance the mahogany has been topped with other woods such as Curapay, Peroba, Banara, Ambay, Guasu and Chanchurana.
In the 1990s they also decided to bring out a lite version due to complaints from studio players who said that the normal Gibson Les Paul Studio was too heavy. This had some parts of the guitar made from Balsa wood to reduce the weight and a new pickup combination of 2 humbuckers with a single coil in the middle. Another studio special which became very popular is the Swamp Ash studio which was introduced in 2003. This guitar has a carved swamp ash top over a multi piece swamp ash back with a mahogany neck.
There are also lots of other versions of the studio guitar all with different configurations; however the main stipulation for the Les Paul Studio Guitar is making it affordable to all guitar players. A standard Gibson Studio will cost in the region of $1800 for a new one. You can buy used versions for a lot less and if you look around you may pick up a cheaper new one on the internet, however take care to make sure you are buying from a reliable source as you want to make sure you are getting a true Les Paul Studio guitar.