Why can't I dig on Les Pauls?

[Edgecrusher]

Re: Why can't I dig on Les Pauls?

I find a 10 lb LP to be very reassuring. As soon as I start playing them I don't notice the weight for the rest of the night. All I notice is the great tones.

Since we all know that the heavier the les paul the better it sounds!

[greekdude]

Re: Why can't I dig on Les Pauls?

with my ibanez arz800 i can get pretty "LP-ish" tones, but lose nothing in terms of lightweight, fret access and ergonomy. I have played with LTD eclipses and Gibson LP studios... I like my ibby better by far.

[blueman335]

Re: Why can't I dig on Les Pauls?

Since we all know that the heavier the les paul the better it sounds!

Not necessarily, but I like the weight. Other than people with back problems, I don't understand grown men complaining about 8-9 lb LP's.

[Pierre]

Re: Why can't I dig on Les Pauls?

It's that compressed sound... play long-scaled bolt-ons all your life and suddendly, most LPs feel lifeless. It's just how they sound. No better or worse, but you get used to bigger dynamics and you can't get along with that plank anymore.
I had a pretty great Edwards LPC. Sounded amazing, clear, big, sustained for ages... but I could never find the dynamics I wanted from being a Strat player. Just not the right tool. It's fine, LPs are just not for me, lesson learned.

No one is forcing anyone to like legendary guitars. Tools are purpose-made.

[greekdude]

Re: Why can't I dig on Les Pauls?

It's that compressed sound... play long-scaled bolt-ons all your life and suddendly, most LPs feel lifeless. It's just how they sound. No better or worse, but you get used to bigger dynamics and you can't get along with that plank anymore.
I had a pretty great Edwards LPC. Sounded amazing, clear, big, sustained for ages... but I could never find the dynamics I wanted from being a Strat player. Just not the right tool. It's fine, LPs are just not for me, lesson learned.

No one is forcing anyone to like legendary guitars. Tools are purpose-made.

that's why most people have many guitars!
I have one near traditional Aria strat (but always metal-ready, via push/pulls), one Kramer spandex-era super-strat with seymour duncans livewires (=killer pups), (both 25.5" scale), one Carvin DC135 (also late spandex-era) 24.75" scale heavily modified in every aspect, and one ibby arz800 25" scale. Well, i cant say i can depart any of them. The ibby surely fits the whole LP category with its mahogany, EMGs, shorter scale. Great rythm, great solos, nice fat bluesy jazzy tone. The Carvin is the ultimate tremolo performer, the Aria strat is the guitar i always return to, while the Kramer is a category on its own

[mojosman]

Re: Why can't I dig on Les Pauls?

Let me preface this by saying:

it really pains me, because I think the Les Paul is the most beautiful, iconic solidbody electric guitar ever made. But every time I have played one I have been left cold. The single cutaway bothers me, the weight bothers me, the neck (especially up near the body) bothers me, and the tone is so dark, almost remote sounding to me... They just always felt like I was playing a log.

Maybe i never played a really good one, or maybe i just don't get it.

I mostly play SGs and hollowbodies. I have always wanted a Les Paul but to be brutally honest, only because of their looks.

My main guitar idols (except Iommi and Jimi) all played LPs at some point or another. Am I just a mutant? Am I missing a chromosome? WtF?

I sort of laughed reading this. It reminded me of a girl that looks totally beautiful, but happens to have zero in common with you. You want to date her because you just like the way she looks, and finally one day you get the chance. You go out with her and she talks about stuff you have zero interest in, and you find she isn't very bright. What can you do? You move on, and find one you have something in common with.

[blueman335]

Re: Why can't I dig on Les Pauls?

It's that compressed sound... play long-scaled bolt-ons all your life and suddendly, most LPs feel lifeless. It's just how they sound. No better or worse...I could never find the dynamics I wanted from being a Strat player.

It's like Zhang said, if you're used to Strats, and then try an LP, it sounds dark and muddy. If you're used to LP's and try a Strat, it sounds like a mosquito.

[Andrew Lamprecht]

Re: Why can't I dig on Les Pauls?

I sort of laughed reading this. It reminded me of a girl that looks totally beautiful, but happens to have zero in common with you. You want to date her because you just like the way she looks, and finally one day you get the chance. You go out with her and she talks about stuff you have zero interest in, and you find she isn't very bright. What can you do? You move on, and find one you have something in common with.

Love this.

[hydro]

Re: Why can't I dig on Les Pauls?

Watching this video, with Les' playing style, I totally understand why he liked the single cutaway design. He picks way up on the neck, I never knew he did that. He must have liked the feel and resonance of playing up there, and preferred to have some wood connected to the neck at that position for even more resonance. It also explains why he probably liked his pickup switch up top, and probably also explains why he didn't like the SG style. If I picked way up on the neck like that... wow, it's an interesting technique, but I play with my palm firmly rooted to the stop tailpiece. But I ain't gonna second guess Les. Damn he was good.

To be fair, this **** is far more demanding than what most guys who pick up his sig guitar play.

[Johtosotku]

Re: Why can't I dig on Les Pauls?

Watching this video, with Les' playing style, I totally understand why he liked the single cutaway design. He picks way up on the neck, I never knew he did that. He must have liked the feel and resonance of playing up there, and preferred to have some wood connected to the neck at that position for even more resonance. It also explains why he probably liked his pickup switch up top, and probably also explains why he didn't like the SG style. If I picked way up on the neck like that... wow, it's an interesting technique, but I play with my palm firmly rooted to the stop tailpiece. But I ain't gonna second guess Les. Damn he was good.

I've never liked the pickup selector position. It's hard to reach quickly but I sometimes hit it accidentally. But seeing him play like that it makes sense.

[jtees4]

Re: Why can't I dig on Les Pauls?

For the OP and those that feel that way also....try an 08 spec Les Paul Standard. These were made from 08-10. They are chambered.....they have an asymetrical neck, locking tuners, and a few other things that make them a bit different feeling than traditional LP's. They are very nice, but I like them as well as traditional Les Pauls.

[Boogie Bill]

Re: Why can't I dig on Les Pauls?

Back in the early '70s when I was playing full-time, I could never bond with a Les Paul. My first electric was a Fender Duo-Sonic, and I have owned some kind of Leo Fender-made guitar (Fender, Music Man, G&L) my entire guitar life. For what I was doing, the HB pickups were too muddy, and the ergonomics of the control placement always seemed weird. The tone solution came in the form of an early '70s ES-330 Long Neck, and then 1975 '55 Special Re-issue, both with P-90s. But Customs and Standards remained foreign to me.

But in 2003, I got the opportunity to buy a 1995 Les Paul 1960 Classic Premium Plus and jumped all over it. It really hit the nail on the head, as I need a guitar with a thicker tone for some of the songs I was doing with my new band.

In some ways, it was a bad move--as I have become somewhat obsessed with Les Pauls and now own eleven of them. I have a '58 and '59 Historic, two of the Guitar Center 1960 Reissues, two Supremes, two of the 1960 Classics, two of the 2007 Guitar Of The Week Classic Antiques, and a Custom Shop Elegant. All of them get played, and all of them do gigs.

And the tone control placement still sucks, lol. It does take a different approach to playing them rather than my Number One G&L Legacy-bodied guitars, and I spent a lot of time just going to jam sessions with only the Pauls, to get used to handling them. I'm pretty comfortable with them now, up to a point; I play a Les Paul on about 12-15 songs a night with my band, and can easily switch back and forth between the Legacys and the Pauls, but I wouldn't play a Paul all night long. I also use ES-335s as my 2HB guitars, and they work well in that role, with some of the same issues.

SGs are also great guitars, but I'm a big guy and they look like a toy on me. Still I want one, and one of these days I'll find the one to add to my collection.

In 47 years of playing the guitar, I've learned that there are a few that work for me--and a lot that don't. So, I stick with what works. I do look at the pretty toys, but I tend to stick to what I know.

Bill

[DreX]

Re: Why can't I dig on Les Pauls?

In some ways, it was a bad move--as I have become somewhat obsessed with Les Pauls and now own eleven of them. I have a '58 and '59 Historic, two of the Guitar Center 1960 Reissues, two Supremes, two of the 1960 Classics, two of the 2007 Guitar Of The Week Classic Antiques, and a Custom Shop Elegant. All of them get played, and all of them do gigs.

Are some of these identical, or are they at least different finishes?

[crusty philtrum]

Re: Why can't I dig on Les Pauls?

It's enough in life to know what you like and what you don't, what works for you and what doesn't. It's not neccessary to know the reasons why.

(for example, food .... we like some foods and not others. Knowing which we do and don't like is good enough, we don't need to analyse why).

[Lake Placid Blues]

Re: Why can't I dig on Les Pauls?

B

In some ways, it was a bad move--as I have become somewhat obsessed with Les Pauls and now own eleven of them.
Bill

Just in case anybody missed that. What a classic line for a guitar guitar forum.. so true...