Re: Making my Les Paul Sound Better
It's always a matter of taste but I do believe some things just taste bad...
I wasn't singling you out so don't take it personally and keep in mind...you spout off all the time about thin and wimpy sounding Fender guitars or PAF pickups or whatever you getting down on at any given time...
I just personally believe there are a lot of guitar players on this forum that dial out as much top end as possible because frankly they are marginal at best players and lots of distortion and or a lack of high end makes that less noticeable...
I make fun of Fenders on occasion for a few reasons:
- Most players I see in the blues world play Strats on the west coast of Florida (local and travelling bands), and a good percentage don't know how to EQ them so they're not piercing and schreechy. I don't see them as the ideal blues guitar, to me that would be more like a 335. I want members here (and there's always new guys joining here every day) to know that there are other options in guitars and tones. I don't care what they end up doing, I just want them to see some alternatives before they choose one. One should do that before making any important decision.
- When I do joke around about Fenders, I almost always point out that some of my favorite guitarists play(ed) Strats, and these guys got
very nice, full tones from them (Hendrix, Blackmore, Healey, Trower, etc). And as I often say, it's really the players not the guitars that are to blame. It's just that Strats, and to a lesser extent Tele's, are bright instruments that take a little time and skill to get great tones from. It usually doesn't happen automatically. It obviously can be done, as there's certainly good examples of it.
- Being raised to be a non-conformist, when I see so many guys buy Strats and then not get very good sounds from them (by any standards), I have to wonder how much thought was put into the purchase decision. I know there's Fender lovers that make well-thought out purchases; that, I respect. It's the guys that almost feel they have to get a Strat, like it's an obligation; the ones that haven't figured out the tone thing tend to come from this group.
'Dude, you gotta get a Strat.' To me it's the lemming effect.
- I've heard many songs, at gigs and CD's, ruined by schreechy, shrill guitar solos. The instrument responsible more than all the others put togther has been Strats. But again, it's the hand not the tool. I've said to myself many times 'If that guy would have done that on a Gibson, it would have sounded sooo much better.'
- I agree, the more treble you have, the better player you have to be to sound good. But there are other reasons to like warm tones besides hiding mistakes. Some of us simply
do not like an abundance of treble. I find bright tones and bright lights both to be harsh. Considering how many guys own Strats, and that the average guitar player in general is, well average, some would be best served with a different instrument.
- I am certainly one of the best-known comedians here, just as I always am the office comedian where I work. I like to have fun. When I get together with my guitar friends, they joke about my 'cheap' Epi's, and I joke about their 'tinny' Fenders. We all laugh. No one ever gets their feeling hurt. Somehow here, getting behind a keyboard seems to reduce some guy's sense of humor. Hey, not like anything we talk about is life and death. Things that people would never get offended at in person, they get worked up over when it's typed out. What's up with that? So what if someone has a different opinion than you? Does that make them a tone-deaf idiot? Who's so insecure that they can't handle differing opinbions? I'm a life-long athiest (raised that way) and some of my best friends, and even my wife, are very religious. We all get along fine. We respect each other's right to their own views. Since when do we know what's best for someone else? We need to see more of that respect and tolerence here. Hey, make fun of import guitars, warm tones, blues, whatever (many of you already do), but show your maturity when someone does it to things you like. The world's full of ideas and opinions, and there's room for all of them.
Besides, this particular Epi actually plays really well. If it didn't, I'd take your advice, but tone-wise, I have this "almost there, so close" thing going on in my head. Just a tweak, tweak here and a tweak, tweak there.
