1 1/2 Serious Questions - 1 1/2 Off the Wall

Hi.
I recently succumbed to Gibson Fever and plan on buying
a Les Paul Studio sometime in my lifetime(maybe within the year?)
For some stupid reason, I didn't ask the guy at the store this, But...
Just what is the difference between a studio model and a standard?
I know right off the bat - weight and finish, but what about the electrics?
Am I making a good decision buying this, or is the Studio model
an epiphone with a different head stock?. I didn't get to play much on it,
I didn't have time to plug it in :( , but from what i did do, I really
fell for this Axe.

Studios are much more similar to standards than they are to their Epiphoney cousins. First mention here should be wood choice: The woods in a Studio are identical to what's in a standard: maple on mahogany. Epiphones generally feature "Unspecified Hardwood". Second is electronics: The Studio features the exact same configuration and components that are currently featured in the Standard and Custom. Gibson's are finished in Nitrocellulose, I don't believe Epiphones currently are, could be wrong on that one though.

You'll hear people say they can't tell the difference in feel and build quality: I think a lot of those folks haven't spent serious time with a Studio to know. There are certainly duds in both varieties, but I have a really nice feeling/sounding studio, and I haven't played an epiphone that could hold a candle to it. I've also felt some '59 reissues that blew it away, but I'm not that rich yet... :D
Ok that was the serious one.
now for the half serious one....
I race online quite a bit. I have a FF wheel from Logitech (Black MOMO). If
anyone here races then you know that the wheel is good, but the pedals don't hold up to hard core racing...Anyways....
What actually makes the "car" accelerate and break are little 10ma potentiometers.
I'm designing a home built set of pedals as decent after market ones cost more than an average strat ( I wanna LP, remember?).
I would like to avoid the little pots if possible and thought of using
some from a Guitar (the volume knob.) Anyone happen to know what amps a standard volume pot is? I consider this half serious because
it's kinda off topic, But who knows. maybe there's a fellow racer here :)

I don't know what they use for amplifiers. Guitar volume pots are generally either 250k, 300k or 500k, and you see a 1 meg pot every now and then. Guitars feature both linear and audio taper pots, and I'm not sure which is right for your particular application...
Ok... Last AND least......
Uhh has anyone ever tried to put a floyd rose type whammy bar
on a semi hollow body guitar? Don't laugh. Semis have a solid
piece that runs the length of the body. No I don't
want to do that to a semi, I'm just curious about the idea.

Any comments to this post would be greatly appreciated - especially the
pedals. :D

Can't say I ever have. The only trem system you usually see on a semi is a bigsby.

Hi. Thanks for the info.
But if the studioLP is Identical to the standard LP, why does it
seem to weigh less?

Also I don't think using volume pots from a guitar will help my pedals afterall (oh well this dude in Japan sells heavy duty ones for about $35 US). I don't know though...maybe use a volume knob from a Radio?

As for a floyd Rose in a 335 type? I guess the world will never know.
He he he . If I ever win the lottery, I'll try it...on a Martin! (ehhh. no
I won't, I'll get a 911 whale tail instead :) )

Thanks again!