Hey guys, recently i've been looking at alot of gibson guitars and was wondering on some input. right now i've got a fender american standard strat and an ibanez rg 550 so im used to guitars with not so thick necks. i've been looking at the Sg or the LP but im not a fan of how heavy LPs are and like a lighter guitar. I've also seen that Gibson had made a Lp Double Cutaway was wondering if anyone had played one of those and how their tone was. what you would suggest if i'd pick one up?

also i guess my budget would be in the ballpark of 1,000-2,000 k

Les Pauls are supposed to be heavy. There are lighter and weightreliefed ones but they also don't sound like a real massive Les Paul.

I would try a LP Standard from 08 or after with a 60s neck. They are lighter and the neck is not thicker than the one on your Strat...
It is still a fairly heavy guitar though!

Gibson make them with chambers so they are infact a bit lighter than they used to be. They also make "original" LP's, which don't have these chambers but solid wood like always before, and they charge more for these...

The double cutaway is an LP, same thing just a fist full less of wood. They don't make them anymore.

Between an SG and a LP I would chose the LP every time. SG's are a bit limited, don't you think? A one trick pony almost, forget about the same good cleans you can get with a LP.

ya i know what you mean with the Sg. it seems like its lacking something and its probably somewhat closer to the playability of the fender being a lighter guitar so i could go jump around and stuff while im playing lol. but other than that im not sure. ya i was looking on ebay and i kind of liked the look of the cutaway they seem alot cheaper too but if im gonna buy one i would like to try it out in the store before buying it. looks like a prs never played one of them though to much money for me lol

SG's are beset with problems mate, they tend to be neck heavy on the strap and suffer from tuning issues due to the lack of contact between the body and neck.
The LP's are great guitars, the 08 standard was the one I had and is the updated version of the long standing design, it does have chambers which makes it slightly lighter but make no mistake, carrying a LP around for a couple of hours and you will feel it!
The traditional is slightly cheaper than the standard but has no chambers and is a lump and a half but sounds great, as do all les pauls in my book. The only trade off for me was the weight and the neck heel which is a traditional heel glued in to the body, it make upper fret access a chore to be honest and was the reason I offloaded mine.
I maintain that the sound of a Les Paul is the best rock tone about, however for playability there are virtually identical singlecuts that offer the same character and short scale playability with simply better thought out ergonomics for the player, have a look at the PRS SC245 (Discontinued I beleive but still widely available) the Lag Imperator (I have a mastershop one and it is staggeringly good!) and maybe even the ESP eclipse range although ive never tried one of these.
For a leftfield choice maybe have a look at the 09 Gibson Nighthawk, a much smaller bodied guitar with a gibson burstbucker bridge and a P90 in the neck, very tempting!

i think im one of the few here that LOVES sg's, i had two in the past my mistake to sold them yeah.., they're amazing guitars, not that heavy but punchy.

But if you ask me now for a gibson, i'm in love with the flying v, just amazing guitars, try one yourself

You are not alone mate

SG standard is not that neck heavy, I've got both an Epiphone (very neck heavy) and a Gibson, the Gibson Standard is much heavier and is well balanced, almost as much as my strat. It stays in tune no matter what, even when changing tuning from standard to half step down, with 9s and 10s gauge strings... it just doesn't get out of tune, ever! I'm using it with a hybrid 9-46 set of strings lately, and it works pretty well.

SGs are like night and day compared to strats, check them.
As for clean sounds, they've got classic humbuckers, same ones used in LP Supreme models, so no problem in that department. Same bridge, tuners & pickups. Made of mahogany as LPs, just thinner and with no maple top. Much lighter and best fretboard acces ever with the cutaway. Just because they are used for rock mainly doesn't mean they can't play jazz, metal or whatever you throw at them!

If you check an SG check the 61 reissue though. The only thing I don't like so much about mine is that Standards have a 50s thick neck, which is thicker than standard strats & much more thicker than Ibanez wizard necks.

i know what you mean i've played a standard sg and the neck seemed like a baseball bat heh. its tough man gibsons have so many options and they all seem good thats why im hesitant to go out on a limb and just pick one guitar ya know. definately will always be a strat fan though i love the sound of the neck pickup.

oh and just a random question what string brands do you guys use i've been trying to experiment with diff brands. on my strat i have everly b52s and i really like them alot. they seem to last forever and they play like their brand new.

I bought a 2003 LP Standard that has a 60's neck, it's fairly smooth comparing to the baseball-bats, but I also agree that the 2008-LP necks maybe is even better since they are phased into the body. However, its also true that the real heavy ones has a bit fatter tone, I guess its therefore Slash wears it nearly his knees - if he wore it high, he might has to stand on his knees playing it....

//Staffay

I use elixirs mainly because they last long and are always shiny

I use my gibson les paul studio and it's very comfortable. The neck is thicker than the custom and standard models. Before that I used to play on my ibanez rg 520. It took some weeks to feel comfortable with the gibson but now I'm in love and I rarelly use the ibanez.

One other possibility to consider particularly if you want a double cut is to go for a Gibson semi - an 335/345 etc. An ES335 is a very versatile guitar and the build quality tends to be very good.

I'm new to Elixirs and I love them now, they sound new for a long time so far....considering that my old strings lasted me 2 days! with new sound

That double cutaway looks sweet to me, but I doubt it will sound like a "real" Gibson. My only and best advice - go into store and try at least 10 of them - after that you will get a pretty good idea what you like and what not.

as ivan suggested i will also recommend you go try a lot of gibsons out..

I'd definately recommend a full fledged fat LP with no weight-relief.. I think the weight of my LP is around ~4 - 4.5kg.. It's not that bad really.. if you try another guitar after playing the lp you will definately notice the lighter weight.. but to me the weight is a part of the lp "experience"..