How useful will be totally individual... it doesn't sound like a strat, but it arguably adds a bit of versatility. I like having the ability to add some spice in a solo here and there, but I get that some people may only want to stick to the humbucker. I'm going to experiment with it and will do a sound demo in my deep dive review coming up.

Totally agreed with you until about a week ago when our band made this beautiful ambient intro to a song. And I randomly tried the neck single coil mode. It’s incredible. Definitely my favorite clean setting to play now. And a week ago I would have never guessed I’d ever use it. Most of my other guitars only have 1 volume knob and bridge pickup with a killswitch. Now look at me. Single coil neck pick upping. I guess this is growing up.

Couldn't agree more!

There are some great Epi's out there for sure. It seems they keep getting better. Between you and me, the best guitar I've ever played though was a Gibson Les Paul Custom - I just had an instant connection with it, but it was used £3,000 (about 3,500-800 USD/euros)... and at the time that was a bit steep for me. The Epi's are really really good and definitely punch above their weight for such a lot less money. This particular Studio is stunning - the playability/sound, it's really a great package.... I'm thinking of modding this one though anyway and taking it to the next level!

Yeah, the Epiphone version is just stunning for the price. I actually couldn't believe how good it was next to the Gibson. That's not happened for me before. Normally I'm like, hmmm, yeah... Epi and Gibson back to back usually there's a big difference. Not on the new Studio. Epiphone knocked it out of the park with this one. Full analysis incoming... it'll be interesting to really put it through its paces in a deep dive review.

​@appetiteforguitar I owned a 2020 Gibson LP Classic and picked up one of the Epiphone standards at GC. I was shocked how similar it played and sounded I almost left with it. I wanted something a little edgier sounding so I scooped up an Epi Adam Jones art guitar and that plays just as well. The prices are up there but it's hard to justify more for a Gibson when the quality of the Epiphone is almost on par.

Nice, Adam Jones has quite a few signatures these days... he's doing something right! They're just releasing another Epiphone one too (non-art with open book headstock). It's interesting to see that these Epi's are pushing into Gibson Standard pricing territory. Having said that, the Gibson Adam Jones is still twice that price. From what I've heard so far, Gibson intends to stop producing their lower end Gibson guitars in the US, and up the prices and quality of the Epiphones. With these Epi's, they've clearly already started doing that. Time will tell if the strategy pays off long term. So far I'm loving that the Epi's are getting better and better. This Studio is still at the budget end and has some nice high specs which is great. But, there's always room for upgrades... I have a Slash Alnico PU lying around, so I still think I'm going to stick that in the neck position of this Studio for fun. If I have time, I might do a video going a bit crazy on the upgrades to this one. Keep rockin'

Glad I stumbled on people who have listened (and apparently also played and tried?) both Epi and Gibson versions of this guitar. I just recently got myself the Epiphone version. I see plenty of people changing their pickups on their Epiphone but I'm curious about everyone's opinion here. Do you think with the current versions it's so similar there's no need anymore for any mods on the Epiphone Studio ? At least for this model

​@@rigodon97 I don't think you really need to change the pickups to get the tone and feel... but it depends on what you want out of them. I have a Gibson LP Faded (amazing guitar btw!) with 490R and 490T pickups in. This specific Gibson sounds naturally quite brash - in a good way - and in your face, so it's great for hard rock for example. They do have more 'bite' and clarity to them on similar EQ settings. I don't think it would take much with a bit of EQ tweaking to get the Epi very close. The Epi naturally has warmer pickups. I personally think they are lovely sounding. So much also depends on the amp and pedals you put it through as well. I have a Slash Seymour Duncan lying around and was planning on switching out the neck Epi pup for that. But having played it for a few months now, I'm probably leaving it as is. I'll likely save the Slash pup for something that really needs it. I recently did a full review of the Epi Studio if you're interested, and I've got a review of the Gibson incoming too. Epi review here: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/brKqqap6tbiYnYk.html