les pauls or strats

[Cathedral]

Originally posted by kentuckyklira
Les Paul necks have shorter scales. Obviously that makes a difference, depending on the shape of your hands.

I´ve owned a few Les Paul scale guitars in my life. Sold almost all of them because I just couldn´t cope with the short scale!

The Les Paul is great for playing rhythm, while I do have to agree that a Strat style guitar is much better for rippin the leads AND incorporating the whammy bar.

I can smoke on my Strat styled Charvel, but it has a super thin neck more common with the Paul.
My old Paul had a habit of putting me in the slow hands mood a lot, but damn, i miss that guitar.

My main axe is a perfect blend of what i like about both the Paul and the Strat.

I guess after further thought about this, it isn't really the Strat i hate as much as the single coil pickups that generally come in them.

That, and we had a guy in our band many years ago that preferred the singles and the noise his shit made, feeding back and just sounding too damn tinny, I became biased against them.

My Aria Pro was the same way until I routed out the body and dropped a DiMarzio in it.

[BrownSound1]

If his pickups were squeeling then he had some shit pickups. I've never had a problem with single coils feeding back. Obviously you'll get some hum, but a little 60Hz (or 50Hz..depending on your location on Earth) never hurt anything. If I want to play super clean I definitely have to have a single coil. A Strat has to have a certain amount of "sparkle and shimmer" to its tone or it just wouldn't be right. Also, if I want a Hendrix or SRV vibe...gotta dig up that Strat. Or maybe some surf guitar tones, a la Dick Dale or The Ventures. It just can't be done on a Les Paul, well it could but not as convincingly.

The flip side is if I want to bust out and get some Zeppelin going...well that's a bad example because the first album was all Telecaster. Well let's say I want to play a blues tune in the vein of Since I've Been Loving You, then only a Les Paul will do. The thing I love about Pauls are the fact that you have separate volume controls for each pickup. Ease back that volume on the neck for some cleanliness, and have that bridge and full, ball-busting volume. Plus, that thick tone....great for digging in for some early ZZ Top chunkiness.


The scale and neck radius never bothered me in the least....but bridges are a different story. I like to rest my hand on the bridge, and in that aspect a Les Paul isn't comfortable for me. However it isn't that big of a problem....it certainly can be overcome.

I still say there is no winner in this competition. These two guitars are THE measuring sticks by which all other guitars are compared. I'd say they are equal in their contributions.

[Cathedral]

His was a beautiful looking mid 70's Strat, it still looks new today as a matter of fact.
I know shit about single coils by the way, lol, but his shit was more than a hum.
Could have been his pedals, could have been the Lab Series amp, which he still has also...the boy never changed shit but strings.

It was so bad towards the end of his time with us that we kept him turned down in the mix, which he was not aware of, lol.

It was part of the reason he left the band, the turning him down shit.
We were all talking with our soundman prior to a show one night (obviously he wasn't included) and he over heard us talking about it.
It wasn't long before he figured it out, loud in his monitor, low through the mains.

I felt bad for the guy, but he just didn't care to rectify the problem, and it was a problem.

When I finished a show I didn't want to spend the rest of the night answering, "Whats up with all the noise in your sound?".

That shit was a pain in the ass because we knew what it was and just played dumb so as not to embarrass him.

We should have just fired him, but i've been fired from a band before, that shit don't feel good.
Even though mine was part of a dispute over a female, it still sucked.
I had a girlfriend who always saw to it that the band never had an empty beer in front of them, but then she thought she earned input on band disscussions.
She wasn't a Yoko or anything, but you know, i'm sure, how women like to include themselves in band matters.

It only stands to reason that if someone calls your lady a bitch to her face and in front of you, you have to react.
I'm all about reacting.............

[Brett]

I have a Paul and I rarely play it, it's so uncomfortable and heavy now to me. I guess after years of playing mostly Strat-style guitars, the Paul just doesn't fit my style at all anymore.

Just always seemed like the big rock cliche...an LP and a Marshall. That's part of the reason I kinda stopped playing both for a long time, that's what everyone playing hard rock used.

[The Scatologist]

Pauls are manlier

[Dave's Bitch]

les paul

[DeadOrAlive]

Les Pauls are great, but I have a hard time with the necks on those things. I find strats alot easier to play, But Les Pauls are good for improving technique in my case.

[The Scatologist]

If you can't handle a Paul, then in my opinion, that's your own fault.

Too heavy? More like Too Pussy.

Even little Randy played a Paul.

A custom at that too, which is way heavier.

[zeronumber]

Meh, I'm more of a strat man myself, mostly out of a preference thing, I know a lot of talented guys used les pauls before, but frankly, I could do with out them, Besides, I find myself having trouble palying a les paul due to it's weight, as well as it's weired shape, where as a strat is light, thin, and extremely versitle.

If I were to go gibson, I'd pretty much use every other product they have except the les paul.

SG - In a heart beat
Explorer - Hell yes
Flying V - Fuck Yeah
Firebird - Well...not a guitar...but a bass, hell yes.

[Matt White]

The LES PAUL is the HE-MAN of Guitars.

[Matt White]

FELIX wouldn't lie to me!!!

[Big Fat Sammy]

Originally posted by The Scatologist
If you can't handle a Paul, then in my opinion, that's your own fault.

Too heavy? More like Too Pussy.

Even little Randy played a Paul.

A custom at that too, which is way heavier.

My telecaster goes to eleven.

[Matt White]

That's why I dig my Wolfgang so much...Neck like a Strat...sounds like a Les Paul.........

ROCK 'N' ROLL MOTHERFUCKER

[roryrobson666]

A les paul!!! they rock!!! Ok, they are a bit on the hefty side, but a strat feels cheap and nasty..... I just got a new one and I love it, im gonna put some seymour duncans in it!!! Plus I hate the feedback off singlecoils. GIBSON ALL THE WAY!!!

[roryrobson666]

Really, you can only ever play strats for a little while, but then you've got to get back to the real world, It's like leaving the tourbus for a minivan..