Epi LP Time

As an owner of both a Gibson Les Paul Custom and a Gibson Les Paul Studio, I can concur with what eSGEe said.

However, in many cases the Studios have the same electronics and pickups as the more expensive Les Pauls. The original idea behind the Studio was to make a Les Paul that was as fully capable as it's more expensive cousins, but at a lower cost. Hence, the name "Studio." The marketing idea being this would be a good guitar for a studio, where looks don't matter as much as performance.

My Studio lacks nothing on my Custom, from the standpoint of playability, comfort, or performance.

I assembled my Studio from a husk, but the main differences really come down to the decorative and cosmetic features. There may be some structural differences. For example, my Studio is heavily chambered, whereas my Custom is not. Both are 2007 models. I don't know what kind of chambering they do today.

If you're looking for an LP, but don't want to drop the money on a Custom, a Studio will do very well for you. I really like mine.
 
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You don't have to go all the way up to a Custom to get a little bling. The Standards have nice wood and binding on the body and neck, too. The main visual difference is the Customs have a more highly decorated headstock.

Standards have an unbound headstock and usually have a "Les Paul" script in the headstock. Customs have a fully-bound headstock with a mother-of-pearl split diamond inlay. But the bodies and binding on the rest of the guitar are pretty similar between the two. Also, you'll often find that the Standards have trapezoidal inlays on the fret board, with no inlay at the first fret position. Customs will have large, rectangular inlays with a first fret inlay, as well.

Standards are more expensive than Studios, but less expensive than Customs. However, Standards will also have much of the cosmetic detail you find in Customs.
 
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