Start Vs. Les Paul

[sepultura999]

I don't even know what a POS looks like

thanks for the heads up for future refferences!

[skibum5545]

i think strats are a less versitle guitar

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No sir.

I have one of each, the Strat is upgraded with Lace Holy Grails ("almost" humbuckers in a single coil package). By twiddling I can get my Strat to sound pretty close to the LP clean or dirty, but I cannot bring the LP to sound like the Strat clean.

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Erik-- obviously, a Strat with hotter pickups will be able to do things that a regular strat can't do. If you put Burstbuckers in a Strat, then it might as well be a Les Paul. If you (god forbid) put three single coils into a Les Paul, it too could cover Strat territory.

What say you we keep this to off-the-shelf non-modded instruments, factory woods/pickups etc.?

[erikbojerik]

Well yeah I see your point, but....changing pickups in a Strat is like changing the oil in your car. Many people who buy a Strat will change the pickups before they go through their first set of strings.

BTW, a LP with P90s (single coils) won't sound like a Strat clean. A nice sound, but different from both the standard LP and Strat sounds.

Just get one of each!

[selmac]

ok IMO strats are far better. I despise the gibson neck, LP's feel funny on my body, I do like a standard LP's sound better than a standard strat but the thing is an LP has limited choices as far as stock pickups go I mean sure there are a variety of humbuckers or you could get P90's but a strat can be SSS HSS or HH stock plus if you wanted you could go HHH or HSH or SHS. I got an american deluxe strat HSS with S-1 switching. I can get the single coil twang or the fuller bodied sound of humbuckers. (the S-1 can wire the 2 singles as a humbucker type sound and the bridge humbucker can be split and used as a single coil) I vote strat b/c it feels better and is much more versatile

[ibreakemineedtobuildem]

I like the practical design of strats.They were made for the player.They are kinda like a jeep.Not too pretty,no super options,just great at what they're for.Is there any other guitar that has a voice that is that easy to recognize?

[otgordin]

LP all the way. I started out on a strat and have played a few pretty nice American, Japanese, and Mexicans. I have never really felt connected to one like I do to my LP. Must be love.

-Vadim

btw, I never noticed 60hz hum till i switched to humbuckers and now it makes playing strats in anything other than the second and fourth position painfully annoying.

[otgordin]

attached is an interview with bill lawrence with a part that touches on the nature of the strat/les paul debate. Taken from Here. I don't know if i agree that there will eventually all guitars will have one scale length, wood type, and shape... i see strats and lp's as two different instruments with two very different voices but it is interesting to look at the matter from a historical perspective.

-Vadim

And what is the reaction of the musicians, and the entire music market, to innovations?

To give an example, we once placed instruments in dealer showcases that were very different from the usual Gibson flair - in the electronics and in the shape.

The reaction was just what I expected: People still preferred our standard instruments. And for good reason, since they combine good fit with the body, balance, and the best possible electronic equipment. In my opinion, guitars today are at the same stage that violins were between the 15th and 16th centuries. At that time, the violin, just like the guitar today, did not have a final form. At some point, a form will crystallize, and specifically, that will be a mixture of the forms of the two original guitar makers.

Fender and Gibson?

Yes, just like with the Amati and Stradivari of their time. Amati was building violins that had very low sidewalls with a large body arch. Stradivaris have higher sidewalls and a lower arch, while the center of the violins have the same height.

Gibson is now offering several models that are patterned after Fender or are formulated a little differently, are they intended to satisfy musicians who basically like Fender?

I know what you're getting at. We are now manufacturing under license for Wayne Charvel, and they do go under the Gibson label, but are basically not a part of the Gibson mainstream product lines. We're also making the US1 and the US2, which are in principle designed completely differently than Fender guitars, however. They play like a Gibson, they feel like a Gibson, but the body is slightly adapted to the Fender body shape. And sooner or later, all guitars will look like that.

[LukeR]

I believe that so many players dont know how to play strats. To me, the sound of the strat is versitility- all of the great strat players i can name give the pickup selector one hellva workout, near all the time. To me, THIS is what makes a strat sound so great- the contrasts of availible tone.

I dont like the sound of someone just using the bridge pickup of the strat for every song- it gives me a real hedache.

That said, the fatness, warmness and power of a paf or P90 equpt Les Paul is my personal favorite, time and time again. I think, with the exeption of the 335, that this is the most majestic guitar tone i have ever heard. From Ronson's work with Bowie, to Aerosmith, the stones, Slash, and one million others, I fell that this is my favorite sounding guitar.

Luke

[GregP]

Why, the Telecaster, of course.

[daveq]

I just wish I could get past the look of Gibson guitars. It's my problem - I know. To me, most Gibsons look old fashioned and make me want to yawn and grab a pillow for a nice long nap. This is, of course, no way to judge an instrument. If I were given the opportunity to be given (as a gift) a LP or Strat, I would pick the LP just because I know I would likely never buy one on my own.

I did try a LP once in a music shop. It was an older "vintage" LP from 62 or 63 I think? Please correct me if this doesn't sound right. I remember a year marked on the pick guard and I think it was early 60's. I didn't come away feeling the need to play one again but that's probably not the best test either. I was looking for a good distortion pedal at the time (back before I put together my current rack). I tried playing clean vs. distortion to judge the pedal so I did hear both.

I have messed around with some American Strats in music shops also. The smaller fret wire doesn't do it for me. I like just about everything else about them though.

I guess I'm still stuck in the 80's and feel the need to have something that looks "cool". I blame it all on my parent's renting me a 2 ton Peavey beastly ugly monster of a guitar when I started out. I went from that to another rather boring looking guitar and finally to my RG550.

I don't want to offend anyone but those are my feelings on the subject. Both LP's and Strats are valuable instruments in the history/future of rock - no doubt about that.

[Recursion]

It really depends. If its a mexi strat and a 1958 gibson les paul standard, I would go

with the les paul.

[Curtis P]

wow, this is a pretty pointless vote

I voted NULL

Curtis

[Daniel Sorbera]

hell I dont like either of umm. In fact I dont really like ANY guitar thats mass produced. Hence why I'm here on this forum building my own TRULY custom guitar with all the options I could have ever wanted for under $1000 USD. Sure I could pay somebody to make a custom guitar for me but it would be like $5000 for what I want. Plus you dont get the satisfaction of building it your self.

Basicly I think this is a silly question on a forum all about BUILDING your own custom guitars. Can I get an amen

[ripsrv]

lukeR slash uses 2 alnico pro II picups {not exactly paf's}

and i still dont think a strat is versitle. you can do so much more with a les paul. maybe in a single song i see a strat being more versitile because of the dynamic changes form the pickupselector. but a les paul can be played with more types of music. if u had a rough day you can play megadeth with a lp and if you want to just kill you can play the blues. with a strat you cant really do that. althouhg i still voted strat because if you know how to play a strat you can bring down the house. i agree, not many people know how to play a strat.

[tanglewood15dlx]

i say strat! strats can deliver you an array different tones, and single coils are really dynamic you could put your heart and soul to your play! humbuckers just aint dynamic enough for me, and like other members said, you can get a verry dirty tone on a strat (a la les paul)!!but no one can ever get that razor sharp clean tone on a les paul...besides the new strats this yoear (2004) are really great, fender really did some real progress, the new deluxe strats are really great with the new semarium cobald noisless and the new s-1 swithch the strat is mere versaille than ever 10 different tones just on a touch of a button $$ and that my friends no one can get on a les paul!!

[TGwaH]

It's a tough choice. On the one hand when you think of rock and roll you can't help but picture the strat. It is just so iconic -- it is literally the shape of rock and roll. On the other hand you have the les paul with it's sleek beautiful styling, almost like a woman. . . with a freakishly long neck. However, when it comes to actual sound, I'm going to say that the Rickenbaker is the most important sounding guitar. I mean honestly, how many bands were launched following the Beatles performance on the Ed Sullivan Show? And I do have a special place in my heart for the tele sound, thanks to Steve Cropper and Stax.

With all that being said, I'm throwing my vote away by voting Nader

[marksound]

Here's my lineup: 1 Strat, 1 Parts (and building another), 1 Tele FMT, 1 Hamer. On gigs I take 2 or 3 of them, depending on how much I want to lug around But unless I break a string, I usually end up playing the Strat (or alternating sets with the Parts) all night.

On the other hand, the other guitar player in my band has more damn guitars than anyone I've ever seen (3 LPs, 1 PRS, 1 Hamer, 1 Steinberger, et al ad infinitum ad nauseam), and he'll sometimes change on almost every song.

Too much trouble, I say. I can approximate any sound he gets on all those buckers with my singles so I can concentrate on the song rather than the guitar.

So, subjectively anyway, the Strat wins hands down.

[willliam_q]

I'm going Null vote on this one!

for me it's an impossible choice, because I love the blues sounds of a strat AKA SRV, but I also love the sounds that Slash gets from his gibsons. Les Pauls are great for good rock music , but Strats kick ass when it comes to blues. I play both in equal measures.

[Fluke]

Something I've noticed: People that are primarily Gibson people are pretty much always assholes, Much of the fender people are fairly nice, but I've seen fender weiling dicks too; just never and pleasant paul person. But I'd hangout with an LP guy before a B.C Rich Cheese-ball any day. Long Live Both Strat and LP!!!

[westhemann]

Something I've noticed: People that are primarily Gibson people are pretty much always assholes, Much of the fender people are fairly nice, but I've seen fender weiling dicks too; just never and pleasant paul person. But I'd hangout with an LP guy before a B.C Rich Cheese-ball any day. Long Live Both Strat and LP!!!

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that is the dumbest thing i have heard in a long list of dumb things ignorant people have written in the entire time i have been a member of this forum.

it belongs on stereokiller.com

[Fluke]

Nothing meant by that, thats just people I know. again, no offense

[whisky182]

i love my strat and Les Paul so much... i chose Les pual though

[jnewman]

Null vote: strat shape, les paul wood.

I've never played a guitar that feels as nice in my hands as my strat, and I've never played a guitar that sounds as good as a really nice paul.

Well, until I finish my mostly-walnut with a bit of maple through-neck more-or-less strat shaped guitar (that I haven't even started yet) .

[AcousticSmash]

both a good for different things. strats are sissy for playing hard rock and roll with distortion or metal music. I own a strat but dont like it as much as the les pauls that i have played. strats = blues, jazz etc, les pauls = rock, metal, instrumental rock and stuff. the pauls are too heavy though and single coils are a pain for feedback problems with high gain

[jnewman]

both a good for different things. strats are sissy for playing hard rock and roll with distortion or metal music. I own a strat but dont like it as much as the les pauls that i have played. strats = blues, jazz etc, les pauls = rock, metal, instrumental rock and stuff. the pauls are too heavy though and single coils are a pain for feedback problems with high gain

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I'm not sure I agree... A TON of great modern blues was played on LP's (or guitars closer to LP's than stratocasters) - Albert King, Freddie King, BB King, the Allman Bros' bluesy stuff, some of Clapton's very early blues (he startout on LP's and such and only moved to strats later), and so on and so forth.

Strats can be pretty good for rock/metal/whatever on occaison too. A lot of people really like Green Day's sound (although I don't particularly) and their guitarist plays (or used to play, or something) a HSS strat copy on a lot of their cuts.

Also, while there are a lot of classic rock sounds you can't get out of anything but a Paul (or something similar), there are also a lot of classic rock sounds you can't get out of anything but a Strat (or something similar).

I just don't think it's quite as cut and dried as you're making it.