LP Studio Lite MIII

[websitevelocity]

Hi everyone!

I just signed up for the forum and thought I'd post this. I searched everywhere trying to find out what type of guitar I had and finally found the answer here in a post. It is a 1992 Gibson Les Paul Studio Lite MIII that I bought new and love playing.

After learning this I searched yahoo and google for hours trying to find out more about them. There is very little reference to them anywhere. Either they didn't make many, didn't sell many or people don't care enough about them to mention them on the internet. All three instances I found pictures with (old Ebay and Craigslist posts) show it in a translucent blue color. I couldn't find mine, transblack which looks brownish gray really, so I'm posting a few pics here. Hopefully it will help someone else in the future looking for this.

(I apologize for the poor quality of the images. I grabbed the cheap digital on my lunch break and snapped a few...)

Sorry this is so dark... see camera statement above...

I contacted Gibson about this to get more information and all they could come up with was the spec sheet on it. This shows that it did come in transblue, transblack, and transred. You can view this here: Spec Sheet

What I don't know is what switch position does what? It says that in single coil mode the switch works just like the original MIII electronics. Anyone know what those do and can enlighten me? Also, is this a rare piece? (I don't care how much it's worth and I don't equate "rare" to mean "desirable". I won't sell this guitar. I love it and it represents more that just music to me.) I'm just curious since it was so hard to locate info about it.

Thanks in advance!

Jason

 

[badform]

Even though this is a Les Paul, you might find out more about the MIII by posting in "the other Gibsons" section of the forum.

Is the toggle switch a coil tap?
Is the blade switch 5-way or 3-way?

I've always been a bit curious about these.

 

[jeffc]

Welcome to the Forum !

One question...If you bought it new, why did you have to make a lot of research to know what it was ? :wah

 

[Browneyes]

I always wanted one in Red. If anyone has one or knows of one....

 

[Browneyes]

STUDIO LITE WITH M-III ELECTRONICS:

Pickups:
Rhythm 496-R ceramic magnet humbucker
Middle nsx single coil
Treble: 500T ceramic magnet humbucker

Controls:
Two volume
Two Tone
5-way switch
Two position mini Toggle

Hardware:
Black chrome or gold

Scale/Nut width:
24 3/4"/1.6875

Fingerboard/Inlay:
Ebony
22 Frets/Trapezoid

Neck Shape:
1960 Slim Taper
Binding: body/neck

Bridge Tailpiece:
Tune-o-matic/Stop Bar

Materials:
Maple Top
Mahogany Insert
Mahogany Neck

Finishes:
Black Hardware Only: Translucent Blue, black and Red
Gold hardware Only: Heritage Cherry Sunburst or Vintage Sunburst

 

[marc1kim]

Are the body on these thinner than a Special?

 

[wernerg]

Snakebite - I have an MIII "Burst

Neck is extrememly slim tapered, that takes a little bit of getting used to. The versatility of the electronics is amazing.

 

[05hummer]

:welcome Cool looking guitar....:salude :salude :salude

 

[77CUSTOM]

From what I remember of these guitars, they were the same as a studio lite, with different electronics. My studio light is thicker than my special because of the carved maple top on the lite. But, edge to edge they are the same thickness.

 

[Phlip]

I have that exact guitar. It's my favorite out of all. The electronics are simple. If you still need help there is a youtube vid of a guy explaining the controls that made it real easy to understand and remember. If you go there just type in the same thing as the title here and it comes up, wait till you see the 93 he is showing you on. Wish I had that one too. Luck to ya and enjoy that beauty. I play mine as much as I can.

 

[ICR]

Just saw this thread. I also have a Les Paul Studio Lite with M-III electronics. I got mine because I already had a M-III Standard, so I have the pair.

 

[ICR]

Here is the Gibson datasheet on the pickup electronics. In case anyone finds this thread and wants to know how to work the switches. The "Enhanced Tone" is the neck pickup in series with a 0.005 uf capacitor and a 0.5H choke. Simulated hollowbody tone.

 

[websitevelocity]

Talk about a dead thread bump. I'm the original poster and I want to say thank you to all those that commented on this thread. Very valuable information I couldn't find. It also led others to me to talk about the guitar over the years that found this thread. And finally, 12 years later and I still own this beauty. If any of the original responders see this, thanks.

 

[Deetles]

I saw at one point you were asking what the switches do

I have a Gibson MIII deluxe from 1992

The two positions switch can be weird

Basically, in one position, all the pick ups are single coil, and it makes the 5 way work like it would on a Stratocaster.

When the 2 position switch is in the other position
It goes from all the way down to all the way up-

Bridge
Bridge and neck together
Neck
Neck w/ “tone enhanced” (rolled down)
Killswitch

At least that’s how mine is.

I think of it as one position is a Strat

And position 2
- 1st three settings are like a Les Paul 3 way
- then those two extra settings for leads, muting or whatever.

 

[Big Al]

Even though this is a Les Paul, you might find out more about the MIII by posting in "the other Gibsons" section of the forum.

Is the toggle switch a coil tap?
Is the blade switch 5-way or 3-way?

I've always been a bit curious about these.

No, this is exactly the right place.

 

[Amp360]

I love these! Always wanted one. A friend in college had one. Hope to find one someday!

 

[metropolis]

I had the blue one in an early 90s Gibson sales brochure on my wall, I totally forgot about it until this thread! What an interesting guitar.

 

[Amp360]

I have a cassette that Gibson sent to dealers explaining the MIII electronics. This is an audio cassette, not a video. I can digitize it for you if you would like.