Strats Vs Les Pauls

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Tbone100

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Let's face it..there are really only 2 real electric guitars: Strats & Les Pauls

Love 'em both but been playing Strats for 20+ years...I have 2 now an American Standard from the late 80's and one from the mid 90's..(don't have the wallet yet for a vintage one, yet)..I've borrowed a beutiful gold top from a buddy of mine, but dont seem to play it like can a Strat after all these years.

One thing I like about a Strat is that there is an assemby line aspect to them....they all seem to realtively sound them same...have the same character..

Lookin to add an LP to my collection but when I do baby..it will be a beuty tobbaco sunburst

how 'bout the Gibson onwers out there..what do you think?
 
I am a bit of an oddball because I've always played Fenders and Gibsons, but never a straight Tele or Strat. I had a strange Tele with active pickups, it was interesting but didn't sound like a Tele. Now I have a So-Cal which is shaped like a Strat but with different electronics. I used to have a Les Paul Custom Special Edition, again with active pickups (what the hell was I thinking :confused: ), now I have a "The Paul" which is a thinbody version :confused:

To me, the Gibsons have always felt more like "real" guitars, with the archtops, slanted headstock, etc. But there is something appealing about a Fender too . . .
 
no doubt the Gibson's are great..thinking of getting a Flying V too..kind of like having that old Corvette in your garage, you know what I mean.

Funny, when I was a little youger I always found myself wanting to rip to stock pickups out of my guitars and replacing them. Now I feel leary of messing with them..rather go stock..

that So-Cal seems pretty cool from what I've seen of them, never played one though..Fender's been cool about trying to make new versions of their guitars..I actually started playing a Bullet (late 80's) which I still have..Strat style body ( a little smaller) with a Tele neck ( a little slimmer)..I guess that's how I got hooked..

Speakimg of Tele's I got one of them too (early 90's standard)..nothing is sweeter than the neck pick-up through a tourtured clean Twin.
 
like 'em both

most of my life I wouldn't dream of playin' anything but a LP but a few years ago I bought a Japanese strat and I couldn't believe what I had been missing. I too own a "The Paul" and like it a lot but the strat produces some tones I just can't get from the LP. If I had to choose between them it would be a tough decision to make.
 
mshilarious said:
I am a bit of an oddball because I've always played Fenders and Gibsons, but never a straight Tele or Strat. I had a strange Tele with active pickups, it was interesting but didn't sound like a Tele. Now I have a So-Cal which is shaped like a Strat but with different electronics. I used to have a Les Paul Custom Special Edition, again with active pickups (what the hell was I thinking :confused: ), now I have a "The Paul" which is a thinbody version :confused:

To me, the Gibsons have always felt more like "real" guitars, with the archtops, slanted headstock, etc. But there is something appealing about a Fender too . . .
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How old is your "the Paul" model? I have one of the walnut models from 1977, its really pretty light for a LP, and it is quite a sweet guitar in my opinion. Though I must add the bridge pickup is from a Les Paul Custom so it is probably somewhat hotter that the stock one would have been. ;)
 

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They're both great, thats what I find intriuging about it. Found it's funny how some guys just stick with one or the other..look at Clapton..started playing fat sounding Gibsons but made the swith to Strats and thats all he plays for the most part..Jimmy Page early years LP's but then the Tele..but I can't seem to see Slash playing anything but a 'Paul...Keith Richards - Tele man.
 
Tbone100 said:
Let's face it..there are really only 2 real electric guitars: Strats & Les Pauls?
Click to expand...

Where does Gretsch fit in there, because they're better than both.?
 
Tbone100 said:
Let's face it..there are really only 2 real electric guitars: Strats & Les Pauls
Click to expand...



Wait, a ES 335 isn't a REAL electric guitar? Or a Tele? God, someone better tell Bruce Springsten he's been playing a fake guitar all these years!

And what about SG's? Jaguars, Flying V's, Jazzmasters, or Explorers?

Or how about PRS, Hammer, or Ibanez's?


Get over yourself, Bone boy.




Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
Only two kinds of guitars? Well, my Gibson/Dean/Carvin Flying V's, BC Rich Mockingbird, Ibanez Destroyer, Epiphone Dot, Carvin CT3, Gibson SG etc.. are all make believe? Fake? :p

I'll agree that most people play either a Strat style guitar or a LP but there are a lot of other viable guitars to get the tone and feel that you want. ;)
 
I used to wonder why rockstars would change guitars every song, and I suppose one of the reasons could be to ensure that they've been recently tuned, but I have become much more aware lately of how much of a difference there is in the playability, tone and feel of different guitars, even down to the way the guitar's body, neck and hardware allows your arms and hands to move when you're playing. There isn't a best guitar; different guitars suit different songs (e.g. I prefer Teles for rhythm) though I would probably choose a Strat if I had to pick just one.
 
Light said:
Wait, a ES 335 isn't a REAL electric guitar? Or a Tele? God, someone better tell Bruce Springsten he's been playing a fake guitar all these years!

And what about SG's? Jaguars, Flying V's, Jazzmasters, or Explorers?

Or how about PRS, Hammer, or Ibanez's?


Get over yourself, Bone boy.
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Come on. You can't see how all the guitars you mention could fit into the those categories?

Try not to be so quick to poo poo someone's intellectual exercise.

It seems to me that people who are really into the les paul style guitars are more concerned about lead tone. For me, I can never get a good rhythm sound using humbuckers. I play in a 3-piece outfit and have to play rhythm 80% of the time. I have picked up the occasional gibson or even a tele that someone brings to the gig or is laying around, but had to put it down after just a couple songs because they don't have the transparency of a strat. Maybe a strat sounds like nothing (or everything) and a les paul sounds like something.

Check out EZ getting all big penis because he has a korean gretsch :p
 
i've only played a strat once, but you hear them everywhere. i find they have a thinner lead tone than the les paul, unless one goes to great efforts to get a fat tone. whereas the les paul (i have a les paul goddess, a birthday present, lucky me!) has a much more naturally fat tone. of course, cephus may be on to something about the rhythm tones.
 
My The Paul is a '98, and came with a 13K bridge pickup, both are uncovered.

As for tones, LPs don't have the articulation of a Strat (of course a 13K pickup doesn't help there!), but I find the LPs suit my style of rhythm (lots of inverted triads & large intervals, with pick + fingers) better than the So-Cal, which I prefer for leads.

The So-Cal has a single humbucker though, that I rewound by hand to 5K, I really like that sound :cool: I think if I had an actual Strat, I would find myself falling into that "out-of-phase" tonal cliche . . . other guitarists can make their own sound with it, but I don't think I could.
 
I wish someone would make a Fender s/c style guitar with individual volume and tone controls for each pick up: even if it meant losing the middle one.

And, yes I know you can get LPs and SGs with P90s, but it's not the same sound.
 
Let's be cool and write "$0.02" here...

Strats and Les Pauls are among a very select group of 'Real' electric guitars, but where did the solid-body format we all know and love start? The TELECASTER (well, broadcaster if you're going to split hairs). The Telecaster is the design that started it all, and it's still rocking hard. I personally think however many hundred guitars you own, you can't beat something as simple, durable, and downright cool as the Fender Tele.
 
Light said:
God, someone better tell Bruce Springsten he's been playing a fake guitar all these years!
Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
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Someone should have told Bruce Springsteen to stop playing guitar all together- fake or not.
 
Elton Bear said:
Strats and Les Pauls are among a very select group of 'Real' electric guitars, but where did the solid-body format we all know and love start? The TELECASTER (well, broadcaster if you're going to split hairs). The Telecaster is the design that started it all, and it's still rocking hard. I personally think however many hundred guitars you own, you can't beat something as simple, durable, and downright cool as the Fender Tele.
Click to expand...


I see your Fender Broadcaster and raise you

The Bigsby Merle Travis

http://www.bigsbyguitars.com/images/guitar_600.jpg

Originally made circa 1946/7
 
Actually, there is only ONE guitar and that would be a Strat. And sorry Light, but yes, Bruce Springsteen has been playing a fake guitar all these years! :p :p :p
 
Damn, this is a nice looking instrument.

And it's got coil taps and phase reverse too! :eek:

Probably costs a bomb though :(
 
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