Gibson faded mahog studio finish question

[spauldingrules]

http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/product/Gibson-Les-Paul-Studio-Electric-Guitar?sku=517030

Are the "faded" ones of these Gibsons what unfilled mahogany would look/feel like after it is stained?

 

[-CB-]

Depends on which faded you're talking about -

The faded charry is fairly rough, a semi matte finish.  It has minimal filling on the mahogany.  This finish will gloss out pretty well where you're hands rub on it, and if you rub the rest of the guitar, you can get this old looking patina to the whole thing.

The faded maple sunburst has the same fairly textured finish as a maple burst, and that part needs no filling.  Its a rough finish though.  The back is a darker version of the faded cherry. 

I've had BOTH finishes, as well as the faded brown on both mahogany and maple, and faded clear (natural) on maple.

The faded cherry is rather pinkish to my taste, but the faded tobacco burst on my LP Std Faded looked more like a faded heritage sunburst, with a bright yellow center... too bright, but it is what it is.

I refinished the brown SG with clear over its faded brown - GREAT results.  The faded cherry got refinished into "black cherry burst" and the LP Std faded got clear coated on its top only, to a rather soft shine, but using Deft semi gloss, and then rubbing it out to a nice soft shine.  I like it a lot.  Thats the factory escapee - that got out with a set of BB-Tak (Burstbucker Tak Matsumoto) pickups.  Very nice they are!

 

[Steve_Karl]

I've got one of those that's a faded mahogany but is a bit on the dark red-ish side. It's not brown. It's a 2003.
The picks are slight more (brighter) red than it really is.
http://sightsea.com/renders/2003_LP/

It's a rough finish ... seems like no grain filling was done ... but I like it.
Nothing bothers me about the way the wood feels under my hands.
Mine is starting to get a bit shiny which is ok.

What I really like about my lp studio is the pickups which are burst bucker pros.
They've got a very balanced tone and nice highs.
The neck feels a bit primitive compared to my warmoth strat but it's still ok.

 

[-CB-]

I'd call that the "light" finish actually, because the dark one is really really dark.  Maybe later I can dig out the lester and snap one for yas.