Why I prefer Strats to Les Pauls

[skh515]

Re: Why I prefer Strats to Les Pauls

It's not a case of it being "twice the guitar" -- which is like saying, to use the old proverb, and orange is twice the fruit an apple is. As explained, set necks and carved tops are a lot more work.

That's only true if Oranges cost twice as much as apples.

All woods are renewable because they come from trees that can be replanted.

Well Mr. Secretary of the Interior,
If you take that point of view, all resources are renewable. We just have to wait a million years for our fossils to turn into fuel and the energy crisis is over, oil for everyone!


On a more serious note: I think the Standard vs. Studio is a valid point. All the major differences between the two are cosmetic, as far as I know. And a standard Strat is rather bare bones (Cosmetically speaking), no fancy inlays, no bindings. That’s one of the things I like about Strats. But I don’t know if I could ever get used to the unbound body of an LP Studio…and I think Gibson knows that too.

 

[Skarekrough]

Re: Why I prefer Strats to Les Pauls

I owned alot of Strats before I owned my first Les Paul. Money was the primary issue there. I slammed Les Pauls pretty hard, mostly out of sour grapes.

Now that I'm up to three of each I realize they're just different tools for different jobs.

 

[Pecan]

Re: Why I prefer Strats to Les Pauls

I dont own either of them, i like both of them but I just can't be bothered buying one because everyone else owns one. I prefer guitars that no one else has so I have a more signautre sound. Between the 2 of them, I love strats though, mainly because of price, they are very cheap guitars compared to some and they sound awsome even if its not as a les paul.

 

[Sludgenutz]

Re: Why I prefer Strats to Les Pauls

Teach his own...and viva la differance! :beerchug:

I actually admire the legengary 1960's giants, David Gilmour and others like Jerry Cantrell (Alice in Chains, and solo) who can get those awesome tones out of a Strat. If I were to pick a Fender, the Tele would be the one.

I prefer the darker tones of Gibsons. I prefer the slower burning High-Octane sound that Gibsons have. This allows the amplifier (the engine!) to be a high compression monster!

My credo: "I do not have much use for mellow music...as the mellowest music is silence".

 

[2taall]

Re: Why I prefer Strats to Les Pauls

Interesting post. I like the way the Strats feel much more then the Les Pauls, but I'm still deciding as to which sound I like best. I find that the clean Strat tones beat the LP to hell and back, but I think that the LP has a great real dark warm full distortion sound that I like, but I also find the humbuckers in the LP to be a little muddy and unclear at times.

I was considering buying a LP , but the muddiness of the humbuckers bothered me too much after awhile. So I thought I was a Fender guy, until I picked up a P90 LP Jr. Now I'm convinced I'm a Fender/ P90 guy.

 

[ErikH]

Re: Why I prefer Strats to Les Pauls

I like both. I love the beefy fat tone I get out of my Les Paul. It's a match made in Heaven through my Marshall. My Strat sounds great too, no matter if it has the S-S-S guard on it or the H-H guard on it now. I am more of a Strat guy but I love humbuckers so it's only natural for me to have humbuckers in my Strats. Although, if I ever get an SRV Strat, it's staying as-is.

 

[That90'sGuy]

Re: Why I prefer Strats to Les Pauls

I'm much more of a Les Paul guy. When I first started playing, I actually hated humbuckers, but after playing a real Les Paul w/ authentic PAFs, my opinion changed.

I love thick, warm tones and I love sustain. That's why I play Gibsons. I want to take my medium high gain amp, turn it up and rock. With Strats, you don't get enough attack, it doesn't bring out the same amount of gain and you're fighting for that sustain. The notes are too thin, so you can throw fat lead tones out of the picture (unless you stack pedals into the mix). You can put a humbucker in a strat to thicken it up, but let's be real here, it's still not a Les Paul.

I happen to prefer the shorter scale of Gibsons, it's simply more comfortable to me. I can't stand half of Fender's necks and apparently 1 11/16th nuts are dimensions they don't typically like. When they do finally get good necks like the U-shaped stuff, it's not on many guitars.

With strats, you get some different tones, but let's face it, most musicians only use 1 or 2 and the other 3 are usually wasted. When I had a strat, I only liked it on the quacky notch positions and most of the time, middle/neck was on and I was doing blues with it, couldn't find a good application for anything else (with the only exception being pop and funk). I like having 3 positions on a Les Paul. You've got the bridge for overdriven work, the middle for clean rhythm or thicker leads and the neck for smooth clean work (jazz, fusion etc.).

I'm waiting to see how many people I've just managed to piss off

 

[ErikH]

Re: Why I prefer Strats to Les Pauls

Well, Chris, your incorrect about the Fender necks. Pretty much all of their necks come in 1 11/16" nut width. Where'd you get the idea that they weren't?

 

[Pecan]

Re: Why I prefer Strats to Les Pauls

Who revived this thread?:smack:
Just realised my opinion has changed on the matter. I prefer les pauls over strats these days. When I play a Gibson les paul it has mojo, the nice fat body and its weight just do it for me when I'm soloing. Someone mentioned brian moores way back, Played a i.8 and i.9 both were "OK" guitars but there was nothing special about them. Maybe the ones made in america are nicer. As for strats, nice sound but no mojo for me.

 

[AmpliFIRE]

Re: Why I prefer Strats to Les Pauls

^ what he said.

 

[Robbiedbee]

Re: Why I prefer Strats to Les Pauls

Personally, I am much more of a Strat guy. I prefer the feel of the neck, and the cleans. The neck pickup sounds awesome an creamy, yet it has punch. Also, worth mentioning is that Strats look better.

Les Pauls do habe their merits though. As already stated above, they have a better sound with distortion, and a much more crunchy tone.

Boy, it's a good job I have one of each

 

[That90'sGuy]

Re: Why I prefer Strats to Les Pauls

Well, Chris, your incorrect about the Fender necks. Pretty much all of their necks come in 1 11/16" nut width. Where'd you get the idea that they weren't?

I don't know, that's an "open mouth, insert foot" sorta deal :laugh2:

Strat necks have never felt "right" to me. I guess it's the fretboard radius more than anything that throws me off. The neck shapes were ok, but I felt like I was fighting it more than I should have to. I have big hands, so maybe I should be giving the Eric Johnson sig. guitar a try

I don't hate Fender (I own a Tele-Sonic that I love), but I prefer Telecasters, Tele Deluxes and the like. I am pretty much devoted to mahogany guitar bodies and perhaps that's why I like my Tele-Sonic so much more than most Fenders.

:dance:

 

[ErikH]

Re: Why I prefer Strats to Les Pauls

I don't know, that's an "open mouth, insert foot" sorta deal :laugh2:

LOL. Ok. :laugh2:

Strat necks have never felt "right" to me. I guess it's the fretboard radius more than anything that throws me off. The neck shapes were ok, but I felt like I was fighting it more than I should have to. I have big hands, so maybe I should be giving the Eric Johnson sig. guitar a try

I don't hate Fender (I own a Tele-Sonic that I love), but I prefer Telecasters, Tele Deluxes and the like. I am pretty much devoted to mahogany guitar bodies and perhaps that's why I like my Tele-Sonic so much more than most Fenders.

:dance:

To be truly honest, I wish my Strat had a thicker profile and flatter radius, maybe 10" instead of the 9.5" that it is. The EJ sig is really nice and comfortable. I also like the SRV Strat. That neck feels great in my hands, and I have big hands too. Like you, they can be a fight for me but sometimes I like that fight. Look at it like fishing, ya gotta fight the big ones good before getting them in the boat...LOL.

 

[JOLLY]

Re: Why I prefer Strats to Les Pauls

I prefer Les Pauls and other Gibsons. If you're into Strats then that's great. It's all about one's own individual tastes.

 

[RevJToad]

Re: Why I prefer Strats to Les Pauls

O.K. LP fans, fire at will.

Sustain, baby. Sustain. :>

Feh. I'm a fan of both - if there was only one kind of music in the world, then you could make an argument that one is "better" than the other, but there are thousands of kinds of music.

Ask a studio engineer which mic is the "Best," and he'll get a funny look on his face. If you're micing a kick drum, you don't use an AKG 414, and if you're recording vocals, you don't use a D112. Extreme example, but nonetheless...

 

[Zerberus]

Re: Why I prefer Strats to Les Pauls

.....
Reason 1 – A MIA Strat cost less than half what a LP Standard cost. I’m basing this on MF prices of $2,119.99 for a Gibson Les Paul Standard ’60s Neck (List Price: $3,178.00) and $949.98 for a MIA Strat (List Price: $1,356.99).

With a deluxe or a signature Strat you can get up to $1300-1400. With a Les Paul you can get up to…well what does a Jimmy Page sig. LP cost, $12,000? And worth every penny I’m sure. ....

This is like comparing a Pinto to a Phaeton... one is the cheapest USA model the company produces, and the other is already the mid to upper class of the competitor.... Do you compare the cheapest dimestore whiskey you can find to a 50 year old Dimple and rag on the Dimple solely becasue it´s more expensive, oblivious to any extra work or processes (like an additional 49 years of aging)?

MUCH more fair would have been teh comparison to a LP Classic, even better studio, even BETTER a Studio Faded , or ideally a Special Faded.

WHen you leave away hours of work (carved and bound top, bound fretboard, binding over the fret ends, llarge block inlays), translucent finishes and other fancy cosmetics, you can easily slash 3-4 digit sums off a guitar.

And if Fender can bring strats to NAMM that have price tags of >50k, and PRS can have 15-20k$ private stock guitars, then I think Gibson should be allowed to build something for the people that have money as well....

"Everything looks red if you only have red light"... I think that´s a bit of the case here... After all, a Les paul Special Faded, which is the comparable guitar to a MIA strat( Standard shape, nothing fancy, but nothing real crappy either, decent middle of the road axe) costs 200 dollars LESS than a USA Strat from MF at this point... and that was the same way 6 months ago. It´s less than 150 bucks more than a Highway one strat, which is the exact border between low-end USA production and Imports... But there are cheaper real Gibson´s as well, such as the SG and Flying V...

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Guitar/Electric?sku=517199
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Guitar/Electric?sku=511010
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Guitar/Electric?sku=517222
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Guitar/Electric?sku=517222

 

[ScottPearson88]

Re: Why I prefer Strats to Les Pauls

pft its all a personal thing. I play a strat but i have to recognize that lps have way way better tone.
On the flip side i could sit down and ply my strat all day cuz i contours to my body nicer that a lp; which is essentially a piece of wood cut by a band saw that requires no sanding or rouding on the edges (thus not round).
Money is not an issue of lp cs strat, because u can pick up a epiphone lp fot the same price as a mexi strat.

If i wasnt a b*tch id play an lp, but i am, and im to poor to buy a nice one haha

 

[Zhangliqun]

Re: Why I prefer Strats to Les Pauls

That's only true if Oranges cost twice as much as apples.

Which would be the case if it cost twice as much to grow them. You keep missing the point that there's a lot more work in making an LP.

Well Mr. Secretary of the Interior,
If you take that point of view, all resources are renewable. We just have to wait a million years for our fossils to turn into fuel and the energy crisis is over, oil for everyone!

Well, Mr. Eco-Terrorist, do you really believe tree farm owners are the only farmers in the world too stupid to remember to re-plant? Just because you can't have the resource renewed again in 5 minutes doesn't mean it takes a million years. Lose the microwave mentality.

Besides, whether it's maple and mahogany or alder and ash, you're still using up a tree that you have to re-plant and that takes 30 to 50 years to mature and is no more or less renewable than the other tree. So how is a Strat more eco-friendly than an LP?

 

[firebirdVII]

Re: Why I prefer Strats to Les Pauls

There are custom shop fenders which are expensive, however, for vintage specification fender stuff, I think they're the top.

As for fenders aren't gnarly, listen to Tonight's the Night, because I think that's pretty gnarly myself. Also, my dad has had a few CS strats and they've all sounded great, especially the reliced ones (which sound very different and have a different feel).

 

[Bludave]

Re: Why I prefer Strats to Les Pauls

The reason I play a Strat or a Tele most of the time and not a guitar with humbuckers is that a guitar with humbuckers sounds like mud (compared to single coils) most of the time when I play rythym at any kind of real volume. Lew

Yeah...... I agree. I love my Teles and Strats, and for certain things thru thre right amps a HB guitar can sound Godlike. I play mostly thru a Deluxe Reverb and a Deluxe just has a hard time holding it together with a HB guitar. I get much better results with my 335 and my Sg than I do woth a LP. Although I think every guitar player should have a Strat and a Les Paul. Hang onto both for a while and play them both side by side. You will figure it out for yourself!:smack: