Strats Vs Les Pauls

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I own a Strat Paul and a Les-o-caster. Different songs call for different guitars, so says I. Sometimes I want the sound of this old Harmony Rocket I have. Depends on the mood and the song, really.

Just read metalhead28's post, and I agree. I have an '88 Jackson Custom Soloist that is a double cutaway, but sounds and plays NOTHING like the Strat or the LP.
 
Gibsons and Fenders...

I own a 2002 Les Paul Standard with fat 50's neck and it is my main guitar. My others are a modded Epiphone E-Series Les Paul copy that was once green and yellow crackle finish but was roughly stripped and sanded down to the wood and then rubbed with shoe polish - it looks like a strange pencil drawing now - it was only $200, but it has insane action and some hot rodded Epi pickups that have a great tone. My other guitar is a Fender ( Mexican, but who cares) Sunburst 72 Thinline Tele with an f hole and two humbuckers. It has a custom tortoiseshell pickguard and amp knobs for tone and volume, so it so far is unique looking amongst those Ive seen. I use this as my second guitar most of the time, but I almost always start and finish with the Les Paul. I have been playing for 23 yrs, played out a few times, and am working on getting a band together to play heavy grooved out rock/experimental improv...( whatever that means, right?)

Anyway, I think anyone that talks about these two brands being better or worse than the other is a moron. Seriously I'm not trying to offend anyone but making a comparison between the two and then saying one is better than the other is nonsense other than personal opinion. Gibsons and Fenders are two totally different things, but both clearly have a place in music and have been the standards by which almost all other makers copy from and have done so for over 50 years.

I use both because I was fortunate enough to be able to get my hands on them and I love them for many diferent reasons. As far as tone, they are all different, but I play stereo through a Boss GT8 into two Fender tube amps ( a Hot Rod Deluxe and a vintage Bassman cab/head) and the variety of tones/sounds I can dial up with my rig is virtually unlimited. I play with a different guitar when I want to enjoy a different feel.

I also want to mention that there are dozens of boutique guitars out there that in terms of quality, tone, and playability, blow away both Gibsons and Fenders, but realistically, these to me are collectors items that you have to be wealthy to afford and stupid to play as gigging instruments. Seriously, it's bad enough that Gibson jacks it's prices up a hundred bucks whenever they feel like it ( my 2002 LP Standard was $1899 new, but the same one is now $2399) but some of these custom luthier built things go for 6, 7, even 8 thousand dollars! How the hell can anyone really afford that unless they are rich????

Oh well. Nuff said.
 
Oh yeah - I forgot to mention...

I can't play Strats. The volume knob is too close to the bridge. I anchor my picking hand on the bridge, and my other non picking fingers stick out straight. This makes that volume knob on the Strat ( and any other guitar that has a volume knob there, like Ibanez and PRS and many others) get totally in the way. I end up turning the volume off while I play them, which clearly sucks. Hence the need for LP's and Tele's. I actually love a Strat's sound at the 2nd and fourth toggle position, it is uniquely "Strat-like" and is a great clean sound. That is why I owned a Nashville Tele - it has a middle pickup like a Strat and the same 5 position switch, so you get Strat and Tele sounds out of it. Pure genius, right? Too bad I sold mine for crack...Just kidding. I traded it to get my Boss GT8 pedal.
 
Gotta LOVE the strat.

Can't believe someone would diss a Jap Squier strat from the 80's. I've had 2 of them (still own one) and they were as nice as some of the later, and more expensive, strats I bought. I always put different pickups in them anyway if that's an issue.

Now the Les Paul, it's a great guitar and I like my '90 standard a lot, but if someone came along I offered what I paid for it.....out the door it goes.

I owned a brand new lemonburst tigertop Gary Moore Les Paul for about a week. Most beautiful guitar for my taste. Took me a week to figure out that the neck had some issues. Long story short, it was sent back to Gibson and they said they were replacing the neck. Told them they could keep the damn thing. Soured my LP experience.

The Musicman Axis is a perfect happy medium for strat/LP, IMO.
 
I'm pretty sure my opinion is the only one that is valid!
The rest of you should really shut up! :)
 
Wow , guitar debating competition ...

It seems that among all the kvetching about which guitar is better , peppered with little hints about technical abilty , theres little said that when it comes down to it , it really only matters who is playing it .I am not privilege to owning a Les Paul or a Stratocaster , I would love to have both . Anybody that knows guitars , knows the two are played by some of the best . However , musicians that I like to listen to play niether . Allan Holdsworth , Steve Vai , John Petrucci to name a few , have done fine without the status of either . The best guitars have nothing to with talent , its just natural to obtain whats fitting to your playing . I've seen tone deaf twits play a Les paul Tabacco Sunburst , because they had the $ to buy it ... but not the substance to play it . Its the way of this world , that status over substance will prevail economically , but I aint buyin' it .Nobody can can purchase talent . There is something to be said for being an outlaw of the status quo , I would rather build my own , because it really becomes yours . Pride in whats inside shines ...opinions are like a**h***s , and there is mine .
 
Ford Vs Chevy, Sox vs Yankees, Strat vs LP

Opinions are like assholes - we've all got em. Some in this forum remind me of those analysts that bicker politics on CNN. It is all such a big huge waste of time to sit here and go back and forth. I posted because I like to talk smack about my guitars. I like them a lot. But in every case, guitars or cars, there are gems and lemons - It's all in what you like and what you do with it. I've heard crazy blues players milking soul out of ancient unknown crap guitars, and anyone that's heard today's radio rock can see that no matter how many PRS's and Mesa Boogie's he buys, Chad Kroeger will always sound like an explosive shit from inside the toilet bowl.

I like the pic of the guy beating the dead horse - that is swell!
 
gibson59neck said:
Opinions are like assholes - we've all got em. Some in this forum remind me of those analysts that bicker politics on CNN. It is all such a big huge waste of time to sit here and go back and forth. I posted because I like to talk smack about my guitars. I like them a lot. But in every case, guitars or cars, there are gems and lemons - It's all in what you like and what you do with it. I've heard crazy blues players milking soul out of ancient unknown crap guitars, and anyone that's heard today's radio rock can see that no matter how many PRS's and Mesa Boogie's he buys, Chad Kroeger will always sound like an explosive shit from inside the toilet bowl.

I like the pic of the guy beating the dead horse - that is swell!
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Right ON !!!!
 
cephus said:
Nice.

It has occurred to me you'd have to be pretty stupid to not see the two camps and how pretty much every guitar could fit into one of those categories.

For the sake of this discussion, a PRS is so very much a les paul and an Ibanez JEM is so obviously a strat. Are you guys just being cute or is this a cry for help? gretsch? I'd say most are more les paul than strat, wouldn't you?
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Ok, so you want to talk about Gretsch, eh?

Here's a Gretsch Bo Diddley model...

http://secure.serverlab.net/shop/graphics/00000002/G6138.jpg

Is it more Les Paul?... or more Strat?


How about this Rickenbacker?

http://www.funshop.ch/catalog/images/artikel/36735.jpg


How about the Vox Teardrop?

https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v27/Trixxibelle/vox21.jpg


How about this Soloway Swan LN6?

http://www.jimsoloway.com/CompletedSwans/E095Black/E095BlackFullFront.jpg



I could show you hundreds of guitars that clearly would not fall into the two simple categories of Strat or Les Paul. Just like I could post pics of people who do not fall into the category of black or white.

...and thanx for the negative rep, it proves that I made a valid point.
 
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Buck62 said:
...and thanx for the negative rep, it proves that I made a valid point.
Click to expand...


The rep was for you being a dick, not because you're stupid. "You're too young and too stupid to know anything." Fuck you. I can see the guy's point. No reason to call him stupid. Tell me I'm wrong about your original contribution to this.

As far as your pepsi challenge, in my eye, they're all les pauls except the last one. It looked kinda stratty. They're definitely all weird guitars, but they're also pretty irrelavent to the discussion. Bo diddley's one-off gretsch wasn't exactly what the thread is about.

I'd call my homemade guitar a strat, but it is a non-cutaway.

http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7384/1381/320/jambolin1005_sm.jpg

I know the Vox is a tough one, but it's not really a form-follows-function guitar. It's just as goofy as the banana splits mobile.
 
Ya know, I've heard this argument/discussion since I was a pup; it all boils down to WHO plays what guitar and what they feel comfortable with. I've had damn good Strat AND Les Paul guitarists, and I listened to them hack over the same thing, sometimes in the same band with me. I say it doesn't really matter, each one is BEST only to that player. :D That's why I stayed a bass player! :cool:
 
To address the original post, real electric guitars are probably best characterized by what is commonly used in both professional and local band levels.

Spend a few minutes watching music shows on TV. Also hit the music channels like CMT, MTV, VH1, etc. Then visit some local parties and small clubs with live bands. It does not take long to see what is fairly common and what is not.

Near the top of the common list are Strats and Pauls. These are closely followed by Teles, SGs, Ibanez, PRS, and Charvel/Jackson styles. A little farther down the list are Ricks and Gretsch models as well as assorted other models by various vendors.

I’m sure I’m leaving some out, but these are the ones I see and notice most of the time.

Ed
 
beezelbubba said:
I'm pretty sure my opinion is the only one that is valid!
The rest of you should really shut up! :)
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Actually, all guitars are the same, and there is absolutely no difference in any one of them. You have all been duped into thinking there is a difference, but you are wrong. Dead wrong. WE all just need to buy the cheapest guitar out there, and let it go. :rolleyes:
 
The correct answer is there are only two types of pickup: single coil and humbucker.

All electric guitars are built around one type or the other. Or both. So, really, the rest (wood, method of securing the neck, bridge, whether it has vibrato or not, how the tuners are arranged, etc) is secondary. After all, you can just as easily have a Strat/Tele type guitar with h/bs as you can an LP/SG with s/cs.
 
Mark7 said:
The correct answer is there are only two types of pickup: single coil and humbucker.
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That is not entirely accurate. The Line 6 Variax has no conventional pickups, and only a single piezo/digital built into the bridge. It in turn models a range of other guitars and pickup combinations.

Ed
 
cephus said:
The rep was for you being a dick, not because you're stupid. "You're too young and too stupid to know anything." Fuck you. I can see the guy's point. No reason to call him stupid. Tell me I'm wrong about your original contribution to this.
Click to expand...

Okay, you're wrong.

If you're going to quote somebody and use quotation marks, you use their *exact* words, not your perception (and wording) of what may or may not have been implied. Many a journalist has been fired for doing that.

Here's my quote...

Buck62 said:
That's only true for people who are too young or too stupid to know any better.
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So, do you have a crystal ball or some special insight as to the original poster's age or IQ? I don't believe people put much stock in your opinion around here anyway, since you like to argue just for argument's sake. Your avatar picture pretty much says it all, and that's your own portrayal of yourself.


cephus said:
It has occurred to me you'd have to be pretty stupid to not see the two camps and how pretty much every guitar could fit into one of those categories.
Click to expand...

As a player for 30+ years and owner of over 50 guitars in that time, I completely disagree. I posted some pictures of a few of the hundreds (perhaps thousands) of guitars that debunk the original poster's theory. So if that makes me a stupid dick, I can live with that.

But if my original statement and followup made you feel stupid for agreeing with the guy... well, if the shoe fits....


:D:D:D:D:p:p:p:p <----- and here's those smilies!
 
Line 6 don't count :p

Seriously, though, if we're talking traditional/conventional guitars then what I said is essentially true. Sure, there may be different flavours of h/bs and s/cs but, at the end of the day (Ron) they're still either an h/b or an s/c.
 
I used to play Strats - maybe owned 10 or so of them. Always sold them. Got my first Les Paul - game over. Now I have a Custom 54 reissue LP and a Studio LP. I'll never get another Strat. I would like a Tele though.
 
{{"I'm gonna go upstairs and fuck your grandmother".}} That's what my Dad said to me....and I always wondered why his buddies called him a motherfucker!? :eek: :eek: :D :D :D :D :D
 
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