I don't think anyone owns a Gibson LP because they want to be cool. They probably buy them because they want to get the LP tone. What better way to get that tone than to buy one. Your ESP with dimebuckers suits your taste becuase you obviously play metal. Someone who wants to play blues are alternative rock with good clean tones as well as some nice overdriven tones wants the LP. But you're right, they are out priced... The lawsuit was more of a patent infringement than anything else... Gibson is leaniant with ESP because if you put an ESP Eclipse next to an LP the difference are obvious... besides the single-cut shape they're completly different guitars. If you put a PRS single-cut next to a Gibson LP... they're basically the same guitars. PRS made subtle changes to the body shape... that's about it. If you were Gibson... you would have sued them too. But I'm a Fender guy... so none this even matters to me... I was just bored