I've been a fan of the LP Custom, in ebony... I've also played some Epi LP Studios that were great, and low priced, to boot!

Although there are a number of good alternatives out there from Agile, Ibanez, ESP/LTD, and such.

One can even find some fine Gibson LP Studio Fadeds used for the price of a new Epi Custom. http://used.guitarcenter.com/usedgear/index.cfm

The link doesn't work right, but you can do a quick search to check GC's used prices...