Why My Les Paul Ruined the Strat
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Les Paul vs. The Strat - Pros and Cons of Each
John talks about his recent preference for the Gibson Les Paul over the Fender Stratocaster, but common...the Strat is legendary!
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After a while, if the Les Paul becomes your number one, the Strat will be missed and you will go back and forth. They are iconic styles and both serve their purpose for whatever your playing. Neither are better. Gotta have both.
"How many guitars do you need?"
Just one more......
100% agree. I've had similar mileage after getting a player series Gretsch Jet. It's really all I want to play, but find myself grabbing the strat every now and again because there really is nothing like a strat.
@@matthewgonzales3970 I have to many guitars.
Said no one ever!!!
That’s what happened with me.
I feel that with 335 and Les Paul
Strats are better for me.
1 - the necks don't brake and are tougher
2 - Strats are lighter
3 - Strats can come with humbuckers or P90's or mini Humbs or...
4 - Strats have more tonal options between their pups
5 - A longer scale is good for downtunings
6 - Whammy Bar
7 - Easier to Modify and Customized
8 - More comfortable to Play
9 - Easier to Replace a part
10 - Strats are far easier to get in tune and stay in tune
11 - Best cleans ever with single coils
12 - Less compression, more dynamics with single coils
I started on a Strat styled guitar but 30 years and 58 guitars later, still prefer my LP's.
You basically describe me. I started playing in 1992 and went to a LP in 1994 at the age of 14. Then at 18 i went to Strats and around 35 other guitars, but I didn’t have a Telecaster until 2018 and that was a massive game changer. The Tele made me gravitate back to the Les Paul though. They’re very very similar guitars. Les Pauls are heavily influenced by Telecaster. Leo just got it right the first time.
@@Factory_Muff The Tele is my second favorite guitar of my collection. Oddly enough, it's a Chinese made Fender Modern Player Plus which is a bad ass guitar.
Edit: and when I started playing is literally the same year.
@@vladimirpoutine7522 we should be around the same age then. I started at 12. Gonna be 43 in like 4 months. My Telecaster is Indonesian from the Squier Bullet Series in Surf Green. It came with decent pickups which I kept but the rest of the electronics were shit. I swapped out the Tone and Volume pots for Fender 500k and put in an Orange Drop capacitor in it. But I reversed the entire plate and swapped the controls around so they can be intuitive. So the volume is now directly under my pinky finger, then tone knob, and my selector switch is all the way right at the end. That makes way more sense and it’s a super popular mod that should come standard on Teles by now.
@@Factory_Muff yeah I'm 45
@@vladimirpoutine7522 so you stated at 14/15. I started at 12
The Les Paul is iconic. It's the look, feel and sound of classic and hard rock music to me. When I go to my local music stores, the Gibson LP's are all I look at.
So is the Stratocaster. Both are.
This is literally the exact journey I’ve taken the past 3 months. There is something about a Les Paul that just feels like home. Can’t wait to play that beautiful green one when I win it! Lol
Reverse for me. Aligns better with the music I’m trying to master now. I’m 61. Finally loving my Teles too.
I put a Seymour Duncan Phat Cat in the Neck position on a Les Paul Clone and the tone and versatility is such an improvement, so what you are saying about P-90's on a Les Paul really resonated with me.
Les paul is the guitar of my dreams and I had never played les paul until I started working in a music store. It's a very, very heavy guitar but that feels totally worth it.
Great deal ! Playing music and having some fitness drills same time 😂
If you get a really good one, its not going to be too heavy
The g string is due to the angle of the Gibson headstock combine with the tuners not being in line. The reason for the gibson tuning issue is just that, the string catches on the nut because of the angle but a good nut with graphite lube will fix that issue
I have a 2013 LP Studio and I have never had any tuning problems. In the summer I got my hands on her again for the first time since before Covid. I put a new set of 10s on and had instant tuning stability (I LOVE to string bend).
Lots of valid points made. For years I played a strat. Then I got my Hamer, 93 special with seymour p90s. Loved it. Still do. But when I got my first Les Paul, yeah. Now, I recently got another gibby. SG standard 61. Really diggin how light it is. I'm in my sixties, so my back has seen better days. Still, I've always considered my self pro fender. Got the American standard with the shawbucker/ fat 50s.
In regards to strings and tension, my Rickenbacker 325 has a scale length of 20.75" and I use a 12-54 set of strings.
The 24" scale of a Jaguar is fantastic as well. It's made going back to a Strat kind of tough.
When I started playing guitar, I wanted a strat - because it looked sooooo cool to me. Les Paul looked like a guitar for my grandpa 😀 After 10 years of playing different Fenders and looking for "THE SOUND" I have bought Gibson Les Paul. Boom!!! Absolutely loved from day one. Tone, feel, how it sits on you... EVERYTHING. Still love it and still think it looks like a grandpa guitar for non-guitar players! 😀
You really need both, but if you were stuck on Mars you'd want a stratocaster and a fender tube amp.
I’ve always played strats but was a les paul guy at heart, I just couldn’t afford it until recently. Got my first Gibson last year and haven’t looked back. Every time I open that case I fall in love all over again.
My experience with playing seated is the opposite of yours,the LP costantly sliding out of position due to the weight concentrated on the lower bout,while the strat nestles in solidly due to the cutout. But why choose,both have their strengths and faults.One of the best guitars I've ever played was an Ibanez Les Paul copy with a bolt on neck and maple fretboard fitted with Gibson P - 90's.One of life's little mysteries.Generally speaking, Gibson's don't twang, but this does.
IT FINALLY HAPPENED!!!! 50K!!!! I’ve been waiting for this day for far too long. Even if I’m not the winner, I just pray you love the life out of this beauty. It’s so rad!!! God bless ya Play and Trade Guitars!! ✌️
Great review/discussion on the differences!! It's hilarious, though, that you reached from the whammy at 17:13 on the LP!! ROTFL!!!! kewl!!
This hit the spot for me! I played in high school 1970ies. A Les Paul "copy" as we called them back then. 50 years later I started playing again. Been through probably 40 guitars since started back 4 years ago. Just when I thought the Tele was my favorite.....I bought one of the recent $1300 Epiphone 59s. Despite the gibson custom shops I have owned and all the betweens, this just BONDED with me. Selling my '51 AVRI Tele and buying a Gibson Slash with the chunky neck. I have arrived home!
Hey John, where does the SG rate with you?... I have an ultra Strat, a Gibson SG, and a LP.... love them all .... all I need is a good Telly
Also have really been loving the SG lately:
Gibson SG Standard '61
th-cam.com/video/Xx1BZ5a6Lfo/w-d-xo.html
Thanks for watching!
That butterscotch fender is beautiful! i have the same in hss configuration which i bought sometime in 2009 and been using as my main guitar ever since. it was some kind of anniversary edition if i remember correctly?
I have always played a Strat but wanted to try a Les Paul and picked up a USA Tribute Special to try one out. I have fell in love with the shorter scale and fretboard. Thanks for the video. My Les Paul has P90's
I fell the exact same way, and I was a Fender fan-boy for most of my life. I bought a Gibson Trad Pro V, and it gives me everything. Has coil split, and you can choose which coil is on for strat or tele tones. I have my strat hanging on my wall looking amazing, but it doesn't get played at the moment.
Side note - do you not know about the Aldo Nova Les Paul. It has the 6 in a row you were wanting.
I've discovered the SE PRS models with the Wide-Fat neck have replaced Strats for me, and I've also nixed the Epiphone Les Pauls, I can play this neck design without any pain and the sound of them is very diverse. I must admit that lately I'm not liking the high end super bright tones, I love definition in sound but not excessive treble, if that makes sense?
The Les Paul is just a universally beloved guitar, even people who aren't the biggest single cut fans have to respect what it represents and all the great music it's been a part of over the years.
The strat will always be there for you when you come back around.
That will never be the case. You will find yourself going back n forth throughout life. It's similar to having more than one girlfriend or the open marriage scenario.
There were actually some Les Paul's with the Gibson Explorer 6 in line hockey stick headstocks that didn't look bad. Strat headstock seems like oil and vinegar though
I am strat man through and through but this changed when my wife said I can get ANY guitar as a wedding present. I went for a Gibson les Paul Standard 50's. My logic was I can always build my perfect strat but I can't build a Les Paul. I'm over the moon with my choice. The neck on my LP standard 50's is a dream to play.
I’m a Strat guy through and through…but I think we all need one of each. They just do their own thing sonically, and feel wise, which influences your playing. Add a Tele and a 335 style guitar to the collection, and you really can’t ask for anything more.
Never had any problem switching between the 2 between songs in covers gigs, they both have their functions, don't over think scale length, action, fretboard radius, just play the thing. Les Paul and a Strat while get you through most covers gigs. Appreciate them both.
For me, the volume knob on the strat gets in the way of my playing style. I bump it all the time. Other than that, I agree with your reasons for the LP over the Strat. Both excellent guitars, though.
It's a decent spot but every time I pick one up in a guitar store it gets in my way as well and the guitar goes back up on the wall 😂 I'm an SG guy over a LP guy but I have been on the hunt for MY LP I do want one
You could wire it for two knobs, master volume and master tone. Then just move the knobs down one hole in the pickguard. Boom. Out of your way. I did this.
Another awesome vid guys! And I agree with everything you said, despite my bias toward humbuckers. I've been fighting this dilemma too. I play LPs because of the sound and shorter scale length; but my Strat Elite has an amazing neck that I cannot replicate with any guitar. The best neck ever! I don't like the headstock angle of Gibson LP/SG and prefer the more shallow angle of the Epiphones.
My Telecaster ruined my LP and my Strat, for this month 😊
Great comparison video... I have smaller hands and so many guitars have necks that are just not a great feel for me... I like the vintage radius neck of the hardtail Strat I have... that being said, I have an Epiphone cheap-o version of Les Paul and actually generally love it too... The color of that Les Paul you're giving away is *amazing*...
That's what made me hit "play." That green just jumped out and slapped me!
@@matthewgonzales3970 oh yeah- I'm a sucker for various kinds of "less traditional" color schemes for guitars - green always being a favorite - and this one seems to be especially eye-catching...
@@scottenglert4083 my LP Standard is a 2012 in Blue Mist. They only did that color on LPs in 2012 and 2016. I picked it specifically because it wasn't a 'Burst or Gold tip.
@@matthewgonzales3970 Right on ! I wasn't familiar with that color so I looked it up - that's really nice too... I have a D'Angelico semi-hollow that is similar color to your LP - probably just a touch darker... but yeah, I really like any of the variations of that sort of blue as well... Maybe one of us will add the green one to the collection haha...
@@scottenglert4083 what D'Angelico do you have? Love their guitars!
Between my Strat. Tele, Les Paul, and SG, I find myself going through phases wherein one of them is favored over the others, but the Les Pauls get the most playing time from me. There is just something about a Les Paul that you cannot get from anything else. I guess that is why I always come back to them.
I love the feel of my Strat. I have a bad shoulder and I like how the strat doesn't make me feel stretched out when I play. But I love the sound of a SG or a Les Paul. I recently found a Les paul style guitar (not a Gibson) with a neck profile that felt good and being a Les Pail style it isn't as stretched out as the SG. The more I play it the more I love it.
what guitar was it?
@@SuperEssenceOfficial believe it or not it is a Firefly Les Paul. I tries an Epiphone but did like the neck, a buddy suggested I try the FireFly brand. Its got good bones but I will be swapping out the pick ups and re doing all the electronic at some point.
@@sandraspears6389 ive never enjoyed epiphone necks. Glad to hear it! I have a squire that plays great but could use new electronics so I understand the sentiment. enjoy
I've always been a Gibson guy, but love the sound of a strat. I just haven't found the strat that really feels like home. I did preorder the Tyler Bryant "Pinkie", so we'll see where that ride takes me.
My main grip with the strat is the middle pickup. it's right in my way, so I have it lowered. Move it an inch or two either way, and I'd like it better.
Les Paul owners with tuning gripes…….
Wind your D & G strings going Up the string posts, instead of going down towards the headstock like on the E, A, B & High E strings 😉
I agree that you’re first guitar becomes the standard by which all future guitars are judged. My first was a Peavey Tracer (think Super Strat shredder with a Floyd, I loved the color, hated the thin neck). Got an import Strat copy next and it felt… alien. Then I got an Epiphone Les Paul. The first time I played it, I thought “this feels like home”. Decades later I discovered the Peavey Tracer series had a 24.75-inch scale length instead of the assumed 25.5”!! (I didn’t get a manual with my Peavey.) The Peavey also had a rosewood fretboard and knurled barrel knobs, of which I still prefer over other options all these years later! 😊
Wow I have a Tracer with a Kahler and have always loved it. Never knew that it was Gibson scale length. Now I understand that feel. Thanks.
@@Neosuburban You’re welcome! I downloaded the manual from Peavey’s website.
Thats funny cuz my Strat ruined my log....um I mean LP.
IT'S ALL GOOD. LOVE YOUR CHANNEL!
I had the same dichotomy between the Les Paul and the Strat. What I need is a guitar loud enough without a tinny bridge pickup, so that leads me towards the Les Paul. I also need something that can be less powerful and more melodic at times. In my quest to be able to have it all, I ended up choosing a Les Paul with custom-wound PAFs. They’re meant to mimic “Tarbacks” and were a bit costly. As a custom design, my Les Paul has coil-splitting abilities. I find that although it doesn’t turn my PAFs exactly into single coils, but it mimics that “spank” that many of us have come to love and associate with a Stratocaster. It’s the guitar I use most often due to its versatility. I also have an early 90’s Gibson Explorer that gives me a very scooped sound and a 2006 Custom Shop Strat. They both still get plenty of play and when I first got my Les Paul, it ruined the Strat for me for about a year, but I keep coming back to all of them.
I hate the long scale. Too much fret buzz. 10s are stiff, 9s are floppy. I've always liked guitars that are easy to play. The one Fender I really like is the Jaguar. As for the fragility of Gibsons, a volute, less headstock angle and rebar in the neck make it stronger and feel slightly like a super strat.
Very similar to that, get a custom pickup manufacturer to make you a special pickup for the neck position like this: replace the steel slubs in the non adjustable side of the humbucker with Strat style (upright) magnets. Make it coil tappable. Fit the pickup into the guitar so that the screws are AWAY from the fretboard (looks like Peter Green's LP) and use the coiltap. Now, you effectively have a single coil pickup in the neck position that will give you mellow, bluesy, funky chords and notes without being bassy, yet the overall look of the guitar hasn't changed! On mine the coiltap is wired permanently, I have no desire for a full on, bassy humbucker in the neck position. But with a flick of the switch I can go to an overdriven, barking lead or chord sound.
I was a strat player for twenty years.what did it for me was playing vintage humbuckers in a lespaul
.PAF Patt numbers- TTops.
Once I got away from modern humbuckers I haven’t looked back from the lespaul.
Been playing 40+ years. First electric was a Hondo LP copy, but moved to Strats/superstars for about half of my career. Rediscovered Les Pauls in the late 90's, and have had one ever since.
The clincher for guitar, for me, is the neck. After 40 years, Carpal Tunnel plays into the decision, so I prefer the Charvel "speed neck" for long sessions or gigs, and I try to stick with Gibsons that have the 60's Slim Taper neck. Both my LP Standard and my SG Jr. Reissue have that neck. I also love my Sterling JP60 that has a flat 16-inch radius and is great for shredding. And, my Charvel and Sterling are, indeed, indestructible.
One thing I prefer on the LP is setting the volume low on the neck pickup and using the switch to go from clean to dirty without the need for channel switching.
One thing about strings and staying in tune: It's all about setup. Rick Beato has a great vid here on string gauges and the difference or lack thereof. Billy Gibbons plays 7-35 on a '59 LP, so there is that. But as far as proper tension, any drastic changes in string gauge can be offset with intonation and truss rod adjustment. I personally use a hybrid 09-46 set on ALL my electrics- it's just where I am comfortable, like most folks with 10's.
What I play just depends on my mood, believe it or not. My SG Jr. with a single P-90 is so much fun, and is my oldest guitar with the most hours on it. Heavy solo work in the studio is usually done with a Charvel or the Sterling. I like the LP for heavier rhythms or Bluesier things.
Thank you for the channel! I just discovered it, and I love it! Good luck on the 50,000, I'll definitely spread the word!
Most tuning probs with LP's is the nut binding because of the string angle, just need to file the nut lightly if that happens. I used to be a Strat/Tele player but Gibson all the way now Les Paul's and SG's for many of the reasons you mentioned
Enjoyed the video, but here to say i have 8s on my Epiphone SG and my Harley Benton single cut and love both of em that way 😅😅
Having watched and enjoyed quite a few of your reviews, I’d say you really got into playing with the SG.
The SG has jumped up amongst my favorites lately, thanks for watching I really appreciate that!
Great video and very subjective topic for sure, for me, it’s situational, I personally have a hot rodded Stratocaster with a Seymour Duncan pearly gates humbucker in the bridge, and it sounds better than the Burst-bucker pick ups in my Les Paul and SG, however the telecaster is my go to guitar
Your right nothing is better to hold than a les Paul but clean nothing sounds like a fender. I love tele through a fender champ! But it's uncomfortable and hard to palm mute
An sg and a les paul with p90's is all you need ! About string gauges , remember BB king used light strings on a Gibson and sounded fantastic !
I started with a Strat but built a LP kit last spring and it has become my "go to" IMO my LP is easier to play.
My epiphone cornet 61' reissue. 1 pick up guitars make you really pay attention to your feel and attack. The tone knob is cool to mess with also!
What amazes me is that Fender started out to make a guitar to compete with Gibson on price by making them as cheaply and easy to make as possible, but yet now are basically the same price!
This is a great green color.I want it.
I took my Strat and put 2 PAFs and a 3-way in it. Master volume, master tone; so I was able to move the two knobs down a notch and away from my hand. I’ve never loved it more.
You’re right tho, Tele is #1
I need hbs. I started off on a strat and could never get the sound I wanted but as I’ve matured I can see having both. But my hbs split. The one’s that don’t I noticed I miss that split option. Yep I prefer a shorter scale neck as well.
When I first spotted this on YT, I was like, OK, here we go. Actually you're pretty much spot on. A Les Paul has it's place. A Strat has it's place. Personally I think you need both depending on what you're tying to do. These guitars could not be more different. It's not about picking favorites. It's about picking the right tool for the job. I could probably over simplify by saying that if you want to hammer a nail, get a Les Paul, and if you want to drive a screw get a Strat. But I'd advise having both.
If you favor Les Pauls, get a 22 fret Strat with a rosewood board. They feel more comfortable. But if you favor a Strat, it's not as easy to find a Les Paul that feels as comfortable.
In the end, just get one of each, and learn to use them for what they do best.
I prefer SGs. Best of both worlds.
Great video ty.
I only have a Squire, but love the idea of the Gibson
This is like comparing apples to oranges. For me, the only guitar to compare to all is a tele. If it can't be played on a tele it's not worth playing. Despite the traditional pickup configuration which we now see changing for a humbucker set up, they just do it all man!
Danish Pete is the master of showing this!
what always put me off of les pauls (standard style ones) is that pickup switch is right where i strum...but i do realize that can be moved... say, down where the neck tone is... juniors forever though with p90s, they're always the coolest. i snagged a squier strat last year, that i was going to try and get a p90 in it somehow. i was over strats for ages, maybe this will change that?
would anyone be willing to give me their 2 cents on nitro vs poly ? i used to own an Epi Les Paul, but sold it after some pots had issues. but is a gibson worth the extra $1k+ nitro ?
Yes, it's worth it. If only for the smell ;)
While I wasn't 100% kidding with that one, it depends on what you're after. Poly feels totally different than nitro.
Nitro also ages (and can/will crack/check) over time. Poly, not so much.
I've had both poly and nitro finished guitars. I don't prefer either over the other. They both have their own vibe.
So whether it's worth the extra $ to you is very subjective. Only you can answer that question.
I'd try a Gibson out and see what you think of the feel of nitro. (I think a (2nd hand) Gibson is worth paying for over an Epiphone).
Edit: also, Agile > Epiphone all day long.
I also switched over from strats to a Les Paul for the reasons mentioned but prefer the ergonomics of the revamped 1961 design ;)
I've honestly never owned an electric guitar I feel is "the one."
I started on a nylon string acoustic and I have fat hands and fingers, so I prefer a wider nut with a flatter radius. I have an Epiphone with a 14" radius fretboard and a fairly wide nut, but the neck profile is so damn thin it hurts to play it too long. My first electric was a strat-style I never loved. Every electric I have owned has features I like and some I don't. I'm still looking for the right combo for a forever guitar, but until then they all have something to offer.
Nice one, Guys. Great video idea.
I have a fender as a gift, and it's great ( it's the one in my profile picture ), but I think I want to try P-90 pickups in it. I love Gibson more as a brand, and I would love to have one some day, I think they have to be more iconic just to the players that I personally love.
I've got a couple of both, but if I had to get rid of all but one, I'd keep a LP with '57 Classics. I just don't buy into the arguments over which is better. To me, that's like saying what's the best tool, a screwdriver or a hammer? When you need to drive screws, a hammer is the wrong tool, and when you need to drive nails, a screwdriver won't do. I select a LP or a Strat (or others) by what I"m playing and the sound they create.
HSS Strat, the right combination of sounds, snap, The right weight for an allnighter, everything else comes behind it. The look and heft of a LP is cool though, the way it hangs inspires attitude.
I have an LP back in the States. I sure miss it now. Overseas I have a Cuomo-caster I tricked out from an Olympic white with black pickguard HH Squier Strat. I have the DiMarzio super distortion in the neck and Seymour Duncan JB in the bridge. It sounds mean and looks sick with the lightening strap.
Hey John. You know what would be scary to win that Standard would be that it would mean I could die now that I finally have my be all end all of dreaming to ever own one day, and days are getting shorter. Lol I am a Grandpa x 4 and another on the way. Yay.
I bought an Ibanez because some guys at the music store told me it’s a mixture of a Les Paul and a Stratocaster if you flip a switch
If you want a strat with a flatter radius check the charvel dk 22 sss. The neck on those things is so sweet
Love them both they have their own versatility and great sound I just simply love these guitars🤘🏻🙂
"why my LP ruined the strat"
... it fell off the stand onto it? 🤪
Ultimate pickup?
Impossible. It's like asking do I prefer my hand or my foot. They do different things in different ways at different times - I want them both. Same with single coils, humbuckers, p90. I don't want just one of them all the time.
I started on a Harmony strat copy in 1989 when i was 10. My father was a Fender guy, and told me my entire life his Les Paul he owned before I arrived was terrible. So I ended up playing for nearly 30 years just thinking the Strat was "the" guitar. Last year, I finally decided to get a Les Paul, hearing that Gibsons quality has improved as of late. I have really enjoyed the hell out of that guitar. But one thing I can say is, I can't say one is better than the other. They all really do serve a particular purpose. In a perfect world, a player will have access to both and give them equal playing time. Same thing for a guitar with P-90s. As Ive gotten older, I've been fortunate to acquire a bit of a collection of electric guitars, and I enjoy all of them. When you dive down deep, you can find a use for all kinds. Now I got to get a solidbody P-90 guitar and hell, maybe even a Rickenbacker... Chasing tones are so fun!
Love that Candy Apple Green Les Paul. That's awesome.
I grew up with a good Strat (copy) laying around the house, but have pretty much always been a Les Paul (Gibson) fan for both esthetic and time reasons.
I always wanted a Les Paul. I was actually I'm the camp that they were ugly until the early 1980's as a kid. I remember going into a corner store, I was about 8 or 9. Magazine rack has a rock mag with Bryan Adams on the cover holding a kind of "OxBlood" colored Gibson Les Paul. That was when I first realised that a Les Paul was not just a flat plank of wood, it was thick and with a curved top, which I thought was cool. I like that it's basically the shape of. A giant fiddle. Glued in neck joint, the way the neck is angled back, and the headstock is angled back. It's a back bowed guitar. I like the art, how the neck joint is set in their. Its a perfect fit.
But then, there's the tone, sound, what it is sonically. Personally, I am not much of a lead player. I can be, I have, I do sometimes, but I would rather riff out some chords. Riffs. I also like the overdrive. I personally and not into bell like tones. Chimey, Bluesy, of that there is anything wrong with that, it's just not my thing. I would rather be playing the main riffs of Quiet Riot Metal Health than Stevie Ray Vaughn.. That's not to say you can't do what on a Strat or Telecaster, I just like what a Gibson puts out. Mahogany vs Alder Ash? I don't know.
I've finally realized that my big problem with the strat is that center pickup. It gets in the way of my picking, and I always click it and tap it. My bad technique to be sure, but still, that's why I just can't make it happen
Go with 2 humbuckers in it. :)
Tend to agree. I have tried to like Strats, but just don't get on with them. Thin sound, generally I find the body too thin, always hit my hand on the knobs & switch, trem gets in the way, & just uncomfortable resting my hand on the bridge / trem to the point where often the guitar sounds out of tune. I nearly bought US Strat a couple of years ago, but just ended up walking out of the store, to the amazement of the sales guy. Also tried to love my Tele, but traded it for a 335. As an accoustic learner & player, Les Paul's & 335s just seem more familiar, plus that great range of sounds you can get out of the volume & tone knobs, especially cleaning up the sound when the amp is cranked.
After growing up Strat, I still havent found a single cut LP that I enjoy playing. (I do have a double cut LP w/ P90s, that i love) But a kinda obscure Fender model I have I've always thought was a great Fender / Gibson mix is the early 2000's Fender Cyclone HH. It has a 24 3/4 scale, a pair of humbuckers, and a 3 way switch. I set up the bridge to float, tho I do not use a whammy, I can use my palm and pinkie for vibrato (also a product of growng up Strat with a trem bar broken off in the bridge) My Cyclone HH got me through some lean times. Great guitar. Maybe I'm biased.
Honerable metion to the Fender Big Apple Strat.
Yep I'm into my tele now but I'm getting the itch for my lp it never ends!
There is nothing better than a Les Paul. Gibson or Epiphone.
Best example of a band with a Strat and a Les Paul/SG is Bachman Turner Overdrive.
Neck position is the best on either a single coil or a humbucker.
Got a Fender Strat. And got an Epiphone Les Paul. I’ll probably switch it to a Gibson one day. And you’re right. The best way I can describe the sound of a Les Paul is that it’s not that « Straty ». A Strat sound is a Strat sound. And I agree I use the toggle switch way more on the Les Paul. I am 100% for the neck position sound when playing the Strat 😂
Fenders stay in tune better over time. It is the headstock angle.
Which guitars have gone in and out of favor in your rotation lately?
Faded 61 sg, and ebony sg special. I don’t play any of my other guitars now
Right now I’m really digging my Epiphone Wilshire reissue.
I love my les paul. I love my strat. I go back and forth constantly. They are like 2 recipes of my favorite dish.
Really enjoy your commentary and insights! Crazy how much your starting instrument influences your preferences! But even so, it's nice to have a couple tonal options to choose from like you said. I hope one of those tonal options for me is that exact green les paul lolol - it'd be so cool to win it!
Everything that you said is the exact opposite for me. The volume know on the strat is annoying to me. I put a humbucker on the strat. Which eliminated one of the tone knows. So I moved the volume know down one, which made it so much better for me. The toggle switch on the Les Paul was in the way when I did pick slides and kept hitting the toggle switch. So it was love hate relationship with the Les Paul. Because I did like using it there as well. The neck on the Les Paul's neck is bulkier. I like the Stat all around because it just feels better with the neck and body. When it comes down to it. The Telecaster has become my favorite all around. I'm also loving ibenez rg series.
I Came across a 97 Gibson studio limited with p94 pickups they are only 8 and 7 /12 ohms I had to have it . Perhaps a better comparison to the Stratocaster. The Les Paul is more solid with every note punching it's a lot easier to play I'm a lot more confident on it and I did not understand why I just could play it better now I know thank you still keeping the Stratocaster of course
Played a strat forever then changed to a les paul and its so much better (for me). The scale difference is night and day. So much easyer to play and bend strings. The neck is shorter so you dont need to stretch your fingers as u do with a strat, so if you have small hands dont think of a strat. Also with the LP there is no anoying single coil amp buzz. Humbuckers are 0 noise.
P90 pickups are amazing, if you get good ones. And I can’t stand the volume controller of the strat so close to the strings. Tonerider Rebel 90’s fit in a humbucker slot, and for the coin they’re great
My first guitar was a Ibanez lawsuit LP which I loved until somebody stole it. I bought a les paul studio didn't really love it, so then I bought a ESP LTD Eclipse EC-1000, another LP type, and I love that guitar. On the strat side I bought a strat but I didn't really gel with it, but I traded it for a Robert Cray strat which has a fixed bridge. That is my forever strat. I never got into using a Trem so the fixed bridge gave me the strat sound without having the trem.
Ive seen Explorer style headstock on a Gibson LP, but as for a Fender style stock on a LP body, look no further than Japan lol
I have great appreciation for the sounds that people get from Fenders, but my biggest issue is that I just dont like the necks. The feel … I dunno … blocky I guess. Though to be fair, Ive never had an American Strat. I do prefer a Jazzmaster over a Strat, but again, at best, Ive owned Mexican Fenders. I have an American PBass which is a nice guitar, and am building a Tele DC with a Warmoth Vortex neck, for a look more akin to an Ampeg Dan Armstrong with Tele controls. But there’s very little real Fender there, other than design elements.
I do love LPs and gravitate to them for playability, but what I REALLY like, as far as combing Gibson tone and playability, with Fender reliability, and the V’s, Explorers and esp Firebirds.
Man I just can't get over a solid tele neck pickup guess cause I grew up playing a minty 04 fsr tele I'll always lean that way
I’m a les paul guy myself. Owned and played many strats over the years but none of them compared to the feel and sound of a les paul for me.
I hate the 4 knobs on the LP. I just need ONE volume knob. It also feels heavy and clunky. But I love the sound 😂
You can get an aldo nova les paul which has a hockey stick headstock 6 on a side
4:30 I'm pretty sure modern Strats have a 12" radius. Some even have a compound radius.
I wanted to love Strats because they are so comfy. But I too had issues with how close the controls were to my strumming hand. And the 5-way seemed like too much too. So I got a Tele. Best electric guitar design of ALL TIME!
I had the same issue. So I put 2 humbuckers in the Strat, with master volume/master tone. And I moved the two knobs down a hole, out of the way of my hand. I love it now.
Instead of using a gazillion different guitars to achieve different tones, put an equalizer into your signal chain! When I built my first guitar preamp in the early 1970's I added a 5 band equalizer and could get a HUGE variation in tone as needed. I also played through an Altec Lansing 1204B speaker cabinet which has 15 woofer and a FULL range horn. The system has as much or as little bass, treble, or midrange as needed.
but what fun is that?! I like having a wall of guitars, and hunting for new ones :)
I have a Gibson Les Paul Custom & a 2004 50th Anniversary American Stratocaster. For me, I was always a Les Paul Guy until I started getting comfortable with the feel of my Stratocaster.
Les Paul Custom Stratocaster
Heavy Causing Neck Pain No Neck or Back Pain Comfortable Weight
Good Amount of Tones More Tones & Tremolo Bar
Cutaway at Bottom Cutaway Top & Bottom
No Flaring Contours Rear & Front Contours More Comfortable
Goes Out Of Tune Frequent Stays In Tune Even The Next Day Out Of Case
Great Fat Sustain w/Distort Enough Sustain Plus Mine has S-1 Switching
Pricey 1/4 price of a Gibson
Not easy to change much Versatile to Pick Up changes and even the Neck
Neck Can Get Sticky Smooth Neck like glass no stick
It is not overblown that Les Pauls go out of tune. I've been playing them for 35 years. Yes, they go out of tune often. Try winding strings up, add a string butler, coat the bridge and add a better nut. Still goes out unlike a Statocaster. I put my Strat down for 3 days and when I pick it up, it is still in tune.
However, a les Paul has it's own unique sound and I will pick it up a play it for about 20 min. I perform with my Stratocaster and it is always my go to long term practice guitar. My Les Paul Custom is more of a conversation piece when friends stop over.
change the pickups. its that easy. I have a 58 custom shop Les Paul. And a 2018 Fender American Special with new Seymour Duncan pickups .
I agree with everything you said in this video.