Maybe I lost the bubble after 8 pages, but what's the basis for comparing a 594 to a Les Paul other than the arrangement of the controls?
Well, for one thing, it can produce tones very much in that direction.
If you listen to the demo of the PS 594, it's definitely got some vintage Gibson/LP vibe. That's obviously something it was designed to achieve, though it does much more as well.
Though one might ask, what's "Gibson LP tone" really mean anyway?
The other day, a buddy of mine just brought over an early-mid 70s Les Paul Signature, an offset double cutaway hollowbody, with plastic covered active pickups. The thing sounds nothing like a Les Paul or any other Gibson model I'd think of when I think Gibson, but it still has a Gibson family type of sound despite everything. Whether it's the woods, the construction, the hardware, the electronics, whatever, there's still that family of tone.
There's no doubt that Paul Smith wanted to learn a lot from Ted McCarty about Gibson's golden age practices, and did. And equally, there's no doubt he picked up a lot on his own.
I think it's great that PRS is making certain guitars to sound vintage, and others to sound modern, because that way I have a good excuse to own more than one.