Does a LP with a Floyd sound like a Les Paul?
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FuseG4
Our Neighbor Totoro
I was looking up youtube vids trying to make a similar decision and am convinced that I need two guitars Cuz even things that are LP shaped like ESP eclipse sound way different to me especially in the neck pickup. I feel like only a LP sounds like an LP. And that SGs and 335 sounds pretty close. But that 24 frets or a trem is much different. I'm leaning towards the superstrat because no one cares about my tone but I would like to learn wang bar tricks and sound more 80s metal and the ergonomics appeal to me as well. And tuning stability.
FuseG4
Our Neighbor Totoro
I was blown away when I heard someone a/b their axecess and regular lp I want to find more comparisons cuz I thought it was so drastic with kinda a low gain crunch
the axecess sounded the about same in the bridge position but meatier and darker and louder neck position, but that it became less and less apparent with more gain.
the axecess sounded the about same in the bridge position but meatier and darker and louder neck position, but that it became less and less apparent with more gain.
I'd say it is 80% there. It is probably no different than 2 LPs played one after another. To know, you'd have to test a guitar without a Floyd and then install one, and test again. What might change is the sustain, and the EQ might get slightly brighter.
My arch top mahogany Brian Moore with a maple top super strat doesn't sound like an LP- it has its own thing going on.
My arch top mahogany Brian Moore with a maple top super strat doesn't sound like an LP- it has its own thing going on.
PFDarkside
of the Forum
I’m curious about this too...
All things equal, which would sound more like a traditional LP? Bolt-on instead of set neck or Floyd instead of TOM?
All things equal, which would sound more like a traditional LP? Bolt-on instead of set neck or Floyd instead of TOM?
Masta' C
Well-known member
Exactly.
"Sound like a Les Paul" is such a loaded phrase...even worse when we say "sound like a traditional LP"
Chris Pile
Well-known member
You CANNOT rout all that wood out, and bolt on a big chunk of metal and NOT change the tone.
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silvertonebetty
New member
Check out def leppard
https://youtu.be/4HR0P3sIb80
Let me know what you think
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
alex1fly
Well-known member
First question - probably. Second question - probably not.
Floyd makes an aftermarket trem for tune o matic bridges, no routing required. Less range, but it's an option.
Another plug here for the PRS SE Custom 24 Floyd. Mahogany body, set neck, Floyd trem, and the 85\15s pickups cop a pretty good Gibson style tone in humbucker mode when I A\B it next to my Gibby SG. You could get this model and throw some PAFs in there. If you do, take some time with it... The 85\15s are a different kind of beast that take some unique settings to sound good IME.
Floyd makes an aftermarket trem for tune o matic bridges, no routing required. Less range, but it's an option.
Another plug here for the PRS SE Custom 24 Floyd. Mahogany body, set neck, Floyd trem, and the 85\15s pickups cop a pretty good Gibson style tone in humbucker mode when I A\B it next to my Gibby SG. You could get this model and throw some PAFs in there. If you do, take some time with it... The 85\15s are a different kind of beast that take some unique settings to sound good IME.
CaptainWhizz
New member
This would be my suggestion, to leave the ‘meat’ of the guitar intact.
Masta' C
Well-known member
If we're talking about routing out wood from a specific guitar and changing the bridge on THAT guitar, then, yes, it will certainly sound different compared to where it started. Does the degree of change mean that particular guitar would suddenly stop sounding "like a Les Paul"? Not necessarily.
Furthermore, if we're comparing 2 similar guitars (i.e. one LP with a Floyd and one without), then all bets are out the window. We know that no 2 LPs sitting on the wall with exactly the same hardware and build specs will sound exactly alike. In the same sense, you can't tell what a guitar with a Floyd sounds like until you play it.
You simply can't make blanket statements about things like bridges making a guitar sound a certain way and the "amount" of wood on a guitar is only one contributor to the overall sound.
Case in point: I have a lightweight, carved-top Mahogany super strat with a Maple neck and Floyd Rose that's one of the warmest and darkest sounding guitars in my arsenal. From a "Tonewood" perspective, especially with the Floyd Rose, thin Maple neck, and all that "wood loss" from the carve top and having a trem, it should be bright and thin sounding by "traditional" logic, but that's not the case at all.
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Securb
One of Jerry's Kids
My Les Paul Memphis is missing a ton of wood and still sounds like a Les Paul.
oilpit
Active member
As pretty much everyone has said, it isn't a simple yes or no, but it's a hell of a lot closer to a yes.
I remember when I would frequent a couple of Les Paul forums when I was first getting into gear, and the way people talk on there would make you think that anything less than a '59 LP Standard reissue with aftermarket, boutique P.A.F.s, period correct ABR-1 bridge, and a Brazilian Rosewood fretboard, might as well be a Squier and could NEVER sound like a REAL Les Paul.
And being young and ignorant I believed it for a longggggg time, not quite to that degree, but I definitely thought that any LP that deviated from that formula was somehow lesser and just wouldn't sound like all my favorite records recorded with Les Pauls.
I don't remember exactly when I realized what a load of horseshit that was, probably after I played enough guitars and spent enough money to realize that if there is some magic, pure, Les Paul 'sound, it is a whole hell of a lot easier to achieve than the snobs would have you believe.
IMO a Lester's a Lester and the rest of your rig and your own ability are gonna have more of an affect on your tone, by an *order of magnitude*, than a Floyd Rose ever could.
*I should note that I'm not saying all Les Pauls sound good because god knows there are some real stinkers out there, but that's gonna be guitar by guitar, and not specific to any one piece of hardware or modification.
I remember when I would frequent a couple of Les Paul forums when I was first getting into gear, and the way people talk on there would make you think that anything less than a '59 LP Standard reissue with aftermarket, boutique P.A.F.s, period correct ABR-1 bridge, and a Brazilian Rosewood fretboard, might as well be a Squier and could NEVER sound like a REAL Les Paul.
And being young and ignorant I believed it for a longggggg time, not quite to that degree, but I definitely thought that any LP that deviated from that formula was somehow lesser and just wouldn't sound like all my favorite records recorded with Les Pauls.
I don't remember exactly when I realized what a load of horseshit that was, probably after I played enough guitars and spent enough money to realize that if there is some magic, pure, Les Paul 'sound, it is a whole hell of a lot easier to achieve than the snobs would have you believe.
IMO a Lester's a Lester and the rest of your rig and your own ability are gonna have more of an affect on your tone, by an *order of magnitude*, than a Floyd Rose ever could.
*I should note that I'm not saying all Les Pauls sound good because god knows there are some real stinkers out there, but that's gonna be guitar by guitar, and not specific to any one piece of hardware or modification.
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Empty Pockets
BadHairDayologist
My Les Paul Custom with a Kahler sure does.
beaubrummels
Well-known member
I have a Standard, Memphis, Lite, and Traditional they all have a different vibe but all sound 100% Les Paul.
NIIICE RACK!
