singemonkey
Les Paul guy here.
A Les Paul doesn't sound its best until it gets a hint of overdrive. From there on out, they're amazing. They have a more focused tone than any other Gibson design, with less twang and cluck than Fenders. With the Les Paul, you concentrate more on the main note and less on the harmonics. But saying that, the best ones have that woody sound that can almost make them sound acoustic.
So while admire the massive versatility and great sounds of both Fenders, the Les Paul's one great trick just does it for me. If you have a good, airy one, with good pots and caps, you can get the most amazing tone out of the middle - both pickups on - position. Rich, smooth, but with a hollow kind of centre to it. Just stunningly engaging.
For blues, I just think they are the best guitars out there. Clapton just sounds noticeably more mind-blowing with a Gibson - and at his best with an LP. It's like, with blues, it just gives an advantage that makes a good player sound even better.
Also I like the big, wide necks. I find it easier not to accidentally dampen strings.
MIKA-the-better-one
Clapton mods his strats to be like strats but with a sqitch adds way more mids, and then they have that les paul character.......
So i guess we can ccount clapton on the fence in this discussion
infernox
Les Paul all the way. The shape, the sound... honey to my ears and eyes
singemonkey
MIKA the better one wrote:
Clapton mods his strats to be like strats but with a sqitch adds way more mids, and then they have that les paul character.......
So i guess we can ccount clapton on the fence in this discussion
They still sound nothing like an LP.
But that's just what I mean. Both Fenders are super versatile and can be rigged for any kind of style you like - just listen to the Telecaster banging out huge rock licks on the first Zeppelin record. But the LP has its own, unique sound.
MIKA-the-better-one
I never owned an lp but i think they are great.... or i expect.... the neck though wasnt for me....... it was to big...... and those wo know me can vouch i play "weeennneeeee" music so and LP would scare me...
Clapton, its strange i think his guitar soun is great but his songs ... bleeh.... but guitar sound is great
Skywalker
Les Paul all the way 8)
Influenced by Mr Slash in my high school days.
I only got my first LP about 5 or so years ago after playing "eye-gougers" for a good few years ?
The Ibby necks ended up being too thin for me. The LP necks are cool though.
I played a buddie's strat the other day aswell so will probably be getting one soon just to have a good all round collection of different tones etc at my disposal 8)
MIKA-the-better-one
The buddy from my experience was a HOT strat, the sound was way fuller and bite like..............
I would have never thought you liked slash
wow
chris77
I've turned into a bit of Fender fanboy lately. From the plecs to the straps (which I dont even use btw) to the cables and the amps. And I blame it all on my Strat. ? I recently ordered a clapton mid-boost kit and few other knobs and stuff from take2 to get even more from her. Next step is then a mim strat that I can pimp up with my leftover mia bits and a bucker. And then a tele, or two... The customs and thinlines are just sooooo pretty. And then theres the Starcaster. And the Mustang. Seems like once you catch Stratitus the big F has you by the dangly bits ? And its all thanks to that bloody baby blue strat of mine...
vic
I was not influenced by any guitar slinger or otherwise (no TV ! )...I use to play Fender, Hofner etc. in the 60's....Gibson was a rarity. Then one day while down in PE, on a break from varsity, I was asked to stand in at a gig and had to use a 60's Gibson SG. (my 1st experience with Gibson !). I crossed the Rubicon and have never used any other brand since. It was just out of this world for me at the time...
A Les Paul is another animal of course...it's a real guitar... to me anyway. Beautiful thick warm tone and very versatile. Sounds best through a vintage AC30 imho.
I can go on and on and on.... ?
JeremyE
I love Strats and LP's equally!! They both have such amazing tones!!!
Strat wins on versatility though. IMO Best strat I ever felt - Clapton custom shop (love the Soft V neck with a 9.5" radius) in grey/silver, Best strat I heard - John Mayer (Big dipper pups are to amazing tone wise)
Players of influence - Hendrix, Clapton, Mayer
LP wins on looks for me! Nothing can beat a wine red flame maple top with gold vintage top-hat knobs. I dream about the day I can get one with some P90's in it.
vic
JeremyE wrote:
I love Strats and LP's equally!! They both have such amazing tones!!!
Strat wins on versatility though. IMO Best strat I ever felt - Clapton custom shop (love the Soft V neck with a 9.5" radius) in grey/silver, Best strat I heard - John Mayer (Big dipper pups are to amazing tone wise)
Players of influence - Hendrix, Clapton, Mayer
LP wins on looks for me! Nothing can beat a wine red flame maple top with gold vintage top-hat knobs. I dream about the day I can get one with some P90's in it.
good call...!
singemonkey
For some reason the Les Paul seems a very egotistical instrument to me. Maybe it's because a Les Paul tends to always sound like a Les Paul with only minor variation. Whatever the case, I always kind of cringe at the sight of more than one of them on stage at the same time. The Les Paul, I think, says, "Look at me. I'm about to do something cool." So (a) you'd better deliver, and (b) the stage ain't big enough for two of 'em.
It's probably because they're so associated with flamboyant lead guitar players, and not that much used by humble rhythm type players. A Strat can be humble or flashy. A Tele pretty much always looks humble, and it's up to the player to make it look cool.
vic
singemonkey wrote:
For some reason the Les Paul seems a very egotistical instrument to me. Maybe it's because a Les Paul tends to always sound like a Les Paul with only minor variation. Whatever the case, I always kind of cringe at the sight of more than one of them on stage at the same time. The Les Paul, I think, says, "Look at me. I'm about to do something cool." So (a) you'd better deliver, and (b) the stage ain't big enough for two of 'em.
It's probably because they're so associated with flamboyant lead guitar players, and not that much used by humble rhythm type players. A Strat can be humble or flashy. A Tele pretty much always looks humble, and it's up to the player to make it look cool.
Good analysis Singe. However if I take you back to BC (before computers) and even FM radio ? you'll recall the humble Les Paul himself (what a great player) and wildcat Carl Perkins slinging those wrap-arounds and trapeze models. (Do youtube Carl Perkins'
Matchbox if you haven't done so yet...watch his jumpin' moves....wow ! 8) )
So a Les Paul is for every occasion...but I agree, it got that mucho image in the hands of many a long-haired,tatoo-drenched, fire-spitting rocker fronting a two storey Marshall stack. ?
Jack-Flash-Jr
None of the above. Ok, tele if you force me to choose. For me it always comes down to the individual guitar, regardless of make/model or price. Hell, if I dig the way a smartasscaster sounds that'll be the the guitar for me.
vic
Strats and Teles are indeed great instruments. Their twang and single coil sound have been recorded at least a zillion times...for example any good country song must have its tele licks 8) So at the end of the day it boils down to personal taste,preferences and experiences.
aubs1
I would agree with all the guys who say that the Strat is an incredibly versatile guitar......however, all three the above have a distinct "character". I have and love 'em all, but if I had to chose, seriously, just one, it would have to be a Strat, (is'nt that what this is about).....for reasons already mentioned before.
singemonkey wrote:
............ A Strat can be humble or flashy. A Tele pretty much always looks humble, and it's up to the player to make it look cool.
Well put, Singe........
giggsy
My 2c... never liked the strat shape. Maybe its cos most of the cheap and nasties tend to be strat copies. Was also thinking the other day that not many of 'my' bands play strats - from what I can recall, Rivers Cuomo from Weezer sometimes plays one and Graham Coxon from Blur uses a strat occasionally. But the only band I really like where they use a strat almost exclusively is Biffy Clyro.
vic
MIKA the better one wrote:
So what have you??? Some people are Stratocaster people, some are Telecaster people, and some are Les Paul poeple........
Why so? Who influenced those decisions? or what influenced them?
I am a without a doubt a stratocaster guy, it just seems to feel right, ile play a tele or other guitars and then think they are great, but then i levitate back to a strat, and just realise it is the best for me..... I think tis the neck....
Also jimi hendrix, makes a strat sound amazing on the montery DVD and from then on i wanted that sort of sound.....
Well...when you're in the States there will be plenty to choose from at relatively cheap prices ?
MIKA-the-better-one
My fiance made a very nasty deal with me saying for every amplifier or guitar or pedal i by she can by the equivalent in shoes :-\
So i may have to limit myself, or keep a warehouse in which my real guitar collection remains unknwn to her.....
Really though I would like one good strat (which i have), one good jazzmaster (which i am getting), and a les paul (i have no bracket comment for this)
And amplifiers, 3 will do.....
telecasters, as cool as they look ( and i think they look coool) they never do it sound wise for me I dont know why............
singemonkey
MIKA the better one wrote:
My fiance made a very nasty deal with me saying for every amplifier or guitar or pedal i by she can by the equivalent in shoes :-\
Haha! Good for her.
