Another key difference is that a Strat is a hallmark of industrial design. It was designed to be mass produced to exacting specs at a high rate. The Les Paul is still a very manual, artisan process. It's likely why they vary quite a deal even within model year. Also relative to cost, the process definitely is big part of that as you indicated.
@@omgiTzkitteh absolutely, but the production methodology of Fender yields repeatable performance while Gibson's hand-crafted solution leads to hit or miss.
Great, balanced review. No Mac vs. PC religion here. I’ve owned my LP since 1979. Never bought a strat for myself (though I bought one for my daughter at one point.) Lately, I’ve been putting together a cover show that needs both Strat and LP sounds. I also need it to be small and light, since I also play keys, sing (and almost juggle chainsaws.) I ended up getting a Steinberger Spirit. Fender scale. Flat fretboard. HSH pickups that I’ve replaced with PAF Masters and a CS 69 single coil. Add Gig Performer and some VSTs and I’ve got a road axe that I could afford to replace if damaged or stolen. A weird middle ground in a small package! While the Steinberger is small and light, it has its own ergonomic challenges. The volume knob is in a bad spot and the HSH pickups leave little room for deep picking. But it better than lugging more guitars, and I don’t risk having an irreplaceable guitar stolen. 😎
I have a Spirit as well, and I love it. But my personal favorite is a "Frankenstein's Monster" guitar. In my opinion, the main difference between most guitars is body style preference. Because the sound is all about pickups, and any pickup can be installed in just about any guitar. When it comes to guitars, I've always been a "Dr. Frankenstein" type, and prefer to use Squier guitars as a base from which to build on. I use quality pickups, misc. parts and wiring, and you would be amazed with the end result. The guitar I play the most now days is a Squier Affinity Fat Strat I bought in 2002 for $200. I replaced the stock pickups, controls, etc., with gear from EMG and the difference is like night and day. Doing it that way you can put together a guitar that will sound and play just as good as any other, but will look like a cheap, off the rack guitar that thieves typically have no interest in. And you can do it for far less than a stock high end Strat, LP, or whatever else you might like. The cost of the guitar, EMG pickups, controls, etc. all came to less than $400.
@@66biker95 - Exactly my thoughts with the Steinberger. The LP Custom I bought new in 1979 is irreplaceable. Put the right pickups in an inexpensive guitar, and the results can be great - so long as it has a good neck and no fatal flaws. Years ago I saw The Victor Wooten Band, and his brother Regi (fantastic tap guitarist) was playing a Squier. I’d bet good money that it wasn’t stock. 😉
This is by far one of THE best videos I have seen on TH-cam. I have a Squire Strat and an Epiphone Les Paul and while my Les Paul is also my favorite, I totally love both of my guitars and record with both. This video showed me things about my 2 guitars that I never really even think about and it has helped me appreciate both. Yes in a fire I would save my Paul, I love both my guitars. Thanks for this video. I had a blast watching it.
Two things I'd add - (1) the longer scale length on the strat means a longer stretch between frets, especially as you approach the nut, so shorter fingers beware. The good part of that is there's more room between frets as you move up the neck toward the bridge, relative to the Les Paul, for easier solos. (2) The Les Paul's not as good to play seated - the heavy weight is balanced to the rear, so it always feels like it's going to drop off your leg, so you don't let go of the neck, plus the guitar sits a bit lower on the lap due to the size, so the playing's not as easy as on the strat. A small cushion under the LP fixes that one, though. The strat's better balanced for seated playing.
I really appreciate your added observations. I checked the scale length on my Messenger and it is the same as the Strat. Although I have relatively short fingers (arms, toes, legs, etc.), I have strong hands, so bends up-high should be okay on the Strat. But, FYI, the Messenger has always been a bit awkward for me when standing, having short arms. The neck joins the body at the 21st fret. Playing the nut end is a reach. Thanks.
@@pancakeface5717 This is stuff I wish I'd learned before I'd accumulated (too many) guitars with different specs to learn what I liked, and didn't like. I'd forgotten to mention the difference in string bending, but it may have been covered in the video. I also forget whether the issue of alternate tunings was addressed. The longer Strat scale allows for tuning down without the strings getting as floppy as they do when you tune down the LP. Lots of choices!
But the fatter neck on the Les Paul, makes things worse. On the baseball bat neck there are certain chords, I can't play, that I can play on my Stratocaster and I have big hands. I sanded down one of my Les Paul's the 50s neck. It was too fat for certain chords.
I have both but I prefer the 12” radius over the 9.5” & I don’t care for the selector switch location or the volume on a Strat, which everyone seems to like. I’m always hitting it probably because of how I play I guess, but both are great guitars. Really enjoy your videos. Cheers
I like the fact that the neck on the Strat, or all other Fender/Squire solid bodies for that matter, can be replaced if needed with great ease. Not so for Gibsons.
I think Billy Gibbons actually gave an excellent analysis between the differences between, a Duo Jet, a Jazzmaster, and his Pearly Gates Les Paul. He also used a lapsteel but we can stay away from that for now. The longer the scale length the brighter the guitar will sound even when you have Humbucker versus Single Coil. Bolt on versus Glued in necks.......no difference, that is an old trope of Musician BS from the past..makes no difference several people have created long tenon strats and compared them to bolt on strats, and for good measure they used Oscillators and recording software to chart the differences, what little difference there was could be made up for by gluing the bolt on neck down(even then you wouldn't feel or hear the difference as it was out of human hearing), the reason why is because the strings attach at 2 points not 1, the glued neck realistically only makes a difference in certain conditions, and with an Electric guitar those conditions don't exist, scale length and string gauge play more a part in the sustain as it affect the oscillation of the strings when plucked, while there is some acoustic qualities that affect the sound of a guitar mainly absorbing, refracting, reflection of sound waves and mechanical energy that manipulate the strings themselves. Tone woods - when you cover the wood with paint that is hardened you lose the properties of the wood and it makes no difference..woods are used for tradition and cost that is all, as long as they fit the need of hardness to support the hardware. What effects "Tone" more than anything is the electronics, thats right its not even in your hands although skill makes a huge difference we are talking about tone not the combination of them to produce fluid music, Unless its acoustic or has acoustic qualities woods don't mean shit, plywood versus hardwaood makes no differece as you are covering in a thick layer of paint its a bit different when you aren't changing the property of wood, but a fender Basswood versus a Fender Ash, or Fender Alder - same hardware, same everything else makes zero difference except in weight, the harder the wood is the more reverberation you will feel, don't confuse that with sustain, they are 2 seperate things you want the strings to have the energy not the body of the guitar.
True. The wood on a electric only meabs weight. But the pearly gates aint nothing. I had a tex special with them. And fender standard usa pickups are better. The gates are ok. But over rated.
@@tomterry2662 "Pearly Gates" is a guitar, specifically Gibbon's Guitar(ZZTop). True Seymore Duncan has PAFs that are called Pearly Gates. and they are OK.
@@nocturnal101ravenous6 i had them in my texas strat back in the day. I dont like them. Fender standard pickups are better and yes their was pearly gates pickups and on fender texas special i had one.
@@nocturnal101ravenous6 like 2003 abouts was the first mention of the pearly gates and they came in the fender stratocaster texas special. They was installed by fender USA... i bought one back then. Was long before their eas a pearly gate guitar. I been playing for 38 years so i seen a lot of gear and guitars come and go.
@@nocturnal101ravenous6 gibbons had pearly gates pickups long before his guitar model. Look up fender texas special like 2003 abouts they came eith them .american model
Really great video Jules. Must've missed this one as just noticed it's a year old in April 23. Hope you're well. Fantastic channel, your content, presentation and editing are blinding mate. Namaste x
My go to guitar has to be a Super-strat. 1. Strat style body. 2. locking nut 3. 24 jumbo frets 4. 2 humbucker pickups in the neck and bridge positions 5. floating tremlo bridge 6. volume knob with enough space from my strumming hand, because default strat puts the volume knob too close to the bridge.
The Les Paul was originally designed to be a rhythm guitar.. while the Stratocaster is more versatile for playing leads. The Stratocasters single coil pickups have a brighter tone which cuts thru the mix more than the Les Pauls darker sounding humbuckers. The scale length also makes a bit of a difference too between playing chords & single note leads. The Les Pauls shorter scale length makes playing chords a bit easier..& the Stratocaster's scale length makes it more ideal for playing leads.
WHAT? How can you people come with such stupidity????? EVERY GUITAR IS DESIGNED TO BE A RHYTHM GUITAR. . . OR LEAD GUITAR. And not only this comment; but almost all of them here. And there's no such thing as "Les Paul is for this" or "Stratocasters are for that."
I own both a Les Paul and a Strat. If I could only own one, I would pick the Les Paul. People say the Strat offers more tones. It depends on what music you play. I replaced the neck pick up in the Strat to a single coil sized humbucking. I play Jazz so I never use the Strat bridge pick up.
Great video. Two beautiful guitars you have there. My LP Studio has been my main guitar for a while now but I’ve started using my Strat more recently. Listening to videos of our band, it’s surprising how similar I make the two guitars sound. It’s that ‘sound in your head’ thing - no matter what gear I use I end up chasing the same tone.
Great video! I have two LPs and Two Strats. I tend to play the Strats more, although right now I’m playing a PRS Custom almost exclusively. I find the weight of the LPs to be pretty heavy and the finish on the necks to feel pretty sticky which tends to impede my left hand movement up and down the neck. I have a lot of Telecasters as well as other guitars. I haven’t played my Telecasters much lately but I remember loving those a lot because of the ease of playing them. I think I’m going to pack up my PRS for a while and find something else to play. My hands might find a Telie a bit easier as I’m experiencing quite a bit of pain lately. (Age is catching up on me)
On modern Strats, it is normal for one tone control to be assigned to the bridge while the other is assigned to the neck and middle pickup. Older Strats from the 50s and 60s did not yet have this modification, nor did they have a 5-way selector as is common today.
Thank you for this video I finally have clear understanding differences between the Strat and the Les Paul in a side by side comparison. I am thinking of starting to play guitar honestly I think Strat would suit me best especially due to physical issues I will play sitting down and the Strats comfort cuts would best suit my needs. BTW since you said you never use the wiggle stick on Strat have you ever considered getting a hardtail Strat to ease the tuning issues? Thank you again for a great side by side comparison video.
I know your comment is now 7 months old, and I do hope you picked up guitar. But for those who are in the same boat: I was in that boat almost 3 years ago. And I wasn't sure if I wanted Strat vs. Les Paul. I started with Strat. With the wisdom that I have now, and after playing both, I may have made the same choice. But with one caveat: I would get a fixed bridge. As Jules advised, you do need some upkeep on the trem system, and if you don't know what you're doing, it can cause problems for beginners. I got pretty good at maintaining it, so it wasn't an issue for me. But I now block my trem (I put a block of wood between the trem and body so it doesn't move at all). This is similar to Jules's comment about tightening his springs entirely, just a different preference. So I also do not use my trem. hard-tail starts are harder to find, but they exist, and I would highly recommend them. But if you don't like the look of the strat, maybe consider a Telecaster, but the modern styles with the belly carve in the back. That belly carve is really comfortable, and it makes a big difference for the feel of the Tele. But the Les Paul turned out to be my least favorite shape, which is a surprise even to myself. I think they are more beautiful, and much more versatile. But the shorter scale length, the painted neck, and the hunk of wood under your arm just makes for a less enjoyable experience. But again...this is all preference. Other people prefer the sound of the humbuckers, or the stop tail bridge, or they may like the carve on the front. Go with what you like most and what feels most comfortable. If it isn't an enjoyable experience, you won't play.
That was an excellent video.I have to say the best video I've seen explaining both guitars. I was a little surprised at one little point in the video, both guitars sounded the same, but for most of video you can clearly hear the difference. I own both guitars and many others. The Stratocaster is king for me. Although I love the Les Paul. Excellent video and good playing. I liked you played the same thing for both guitars. Thank you!!!
Great video. I love both. I’m surprised you can’t get more out of your Les Paul neck pickup. I have also added split coils to my Les Paul and it’s a lot more versatile.
They're both iconic and indispensable. About as equal as possible in terms of overall quality, while about as unlike each other as possible in terms of character. Put a gun to my head and force me into a strict binary decision, I'd probably have to call myself a Les Paul man. But each are simply incredible! You know, the more time passes, though, the more "meet in the middle" options, such as an HSH Ibanez RG or S series guitars become attractive to me! I really feel that my RG is kind of a great "Baby Bear's Bed" between the "Papa Bear's Bed" of the Les, and the "Mama Bear's Bed" of the Strat, bringing - albeit imperfectly, more of the best of each than of the worst of either. Let me try putting it a different way: the RG is a much worse Les than the Les, but a way better Les than the Strat, while it is also a much worse Strat than the Strat, but a much better Strat than the Les. It doesn't do either thing quite as well as either of "the real things", but does both things better than either of them - and might possibly be the overall best of the three (though I'm absolutely not willing to commit to that whatsoever!) Either way, great video! I knew most (or all) of this already, but it was still presented very well and was a very enjoyable diversion! The only thing I wish you would've done differently was talk about the hierarchy of importance in the differences. For the sound, I'd say the two most important differences are the pickups, and the scale length. Neck joint design and other electronics would probably be the next tier, followed by the bridge design, tone woods, and shape / size / mass of the body. The headstock difference is the one that makes the least amount of difference to the tone - but certainly has its own considerations otherwise. Cheers!
I own a 1965 Musicraft Messenger. It has been my only electric guitar. I'm now retired with more time for messing around, so I'm considering getting a second electric. This video made my choice much easier. Obviously, both guitars are grand icons, and they've earned it. But it's clear the Strat is more suitable for me in many ways, not the least of which is $. Thank you!
@@The1066BMJ Thanks John. I really love my Messenger guitar. But I'm short and with my arms it's a long reach out to the first fret, plus it's a heavy guitar. Incredibly fast action on the neck though, wow. My dad was manufacturing manager for the company (Musicraft) in their last year before bankruptcy. I got my Messenger stereo for the low low, nepotism discount of $60 when I was 14 years old. The company was based in San Francisco but manufacturing was in Astoria, Oregon. And the founder and his wife lived in Astoria. I have several of the original brochures from my dad's files, and visited the plant a few times. The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band had a promotional agreement of some kind with Musicraft, but I've never seen videos or photos of them actually playing Messenger gear. But I was always proud to show off the cover of the Grand Funk "red" album with Farner and his Messenger next to mine. Thanks again.
great review, as usual. :) re: the position of the pickup selector switch; that's one of the reasons I prefer an SG to an LP; having that switch in the lower position seems more convenient/faster when you wanna switch it quickly.
Nice candy apple strat……very 65 vibe….Gold top well..awesome..they both cost enough……very informative for the musicians who don’t know..Ihave a Gary Moore less Paul headstock repair picked it up way cheaper sounds great…even greeny Les Paul is a headstock repair.lol..
both have been the main guitar when Rock, Jazz, Blues etc and in that time there were so many other guitar brands but the strat and Les survived all that and are still on top
Interesting video, and a good summary of some of the important differences. I have some thoughts on a few of your points, in the order they arose in the video. a.) Klusons vs Grovers: I have nothing against Klusons, but I have a set of Grovers with the plastic snot-coloured, tulip-shaped buttons. Just sayin'. b.) Strat 9.5" radius neck : if it's properly set up, my Strat doesn't choke out when I bend. If the neck has settled back or if the bridge has rocked back (I set mine up to float), it will choke. Setup is critical. c.) Upper neck access: agree completely. I wish Gibson would scallop the back of the neck / heel joint to improve access. No other changes, and not visible from the front. d.) Gibson bridge adjustment: the lack of individual height adjustment is an advantage. It means that if the 1st & 6th strings are correct, the other 4 will be at right height and they'll follow the radius of the board with no further adjustment. Easy as. e.) Controls: disagree completely. The controls on the Les Paul allow presets and an extra level of flexibility and freedom from the pedal board. I suspect it's a matter of preference and perhaps familiarity. I play both guitars (and like both), but I grew up on Les Pauls so I find that arrangement simple. f.) Sound of pickups: good generalisation, but I'd EQ the amp with far more high mid for the Les Paul. It adds clarity. It also helps any guitar (in my experience) if you EQ the amp for the neck pickup and use the guitar tone control to tame any nastiness from the bridge. This approach really opens up the neck and middle sounds on the Les Paul. Doesn't hurt the Strat either, and it's glorious with the neck pickup of a Telecaster or - best of all, a Les Paul with P-90s. ...and those two guitars of yours are nice toys. I've never owned a gold top, but I reckon they look really cool with black plastics too. ;)
Both guitars are an absolute gem to play by the way your video of you playing were recorded at Mayflower Park in my home town overlooking Marchwood as well as the 203 container port
Over all other technical and practical reason, there is a point I can’t really explain why I absolutely love the Strat for solo: it is crying. I can ear it in your video and it makes a difference for me for 50 years. I say I cannot explain why because it’s a feeling. But I nearly never make an error about a Strat on a record. In another hand, the Les Paul is absolutely great. Carlos Santana special own LP used on « Oye como va » recently is wonderful. But it’s not crying. Strat can be close to an alto violin… you will tell me that « Oye como va » is not a song to cry… that’s right! I own a Gibson SG and a Fender Stratocaster (US for the rosewood touch). Thanks for the video.
I experimented by using a capo on the fret to make my own scale length and used standard tuning and it worked. I also bought the Squires Bullet HSS HT and I'm thinking about buying a coil splitting switch for 7 dollars with clipping instead of soldiering.
Learn to solder... It's easy and you'll get much better connections. You can get a basic soldering iron kit for less than $20, and you can find a video on youtube about how to do just about anything now days.
Both sound really great. Bye I think the strat has a cleaner more open sound to it both clean and distorted. What are you running the strat through or doing differently to get that fat tone?
I own a Les Paul Custom and a custom Splatter Strat. I play my strat on stage almost 95% of the time because it is more comfortable and a little lighter than my LP. At home I play both to practice with. Night and day between the 2. Also, I use Super Slinky 9s on my strat and 10s on the LP. Just my preferences.
@Brian Mincher because each guitar has a unique sound. I use my LP for rmetal and hard rock because they can handle a pounding better when doing faster picking. I use my Strat for jazz/blues and slower playing. I recently bought an ESP, and it has 9s on it. Also if your E is a different size it matters too. Goes to what you're comfortable with and music style. Just my opinion.
tone, pickups, some are just better than others. strings? type and gauge, I own both of them. accoustic? the difference in the wood. clarity. and the kind of amp you choose. it's mostly up to what kind of sound do You want.
The one that I saw Jeff Beck playing Thunder head inverted headstock and the strings were straight. Each guitar has a different sound for different music I think free. I get hum from the single coils. The best night of any guitar ever is my area Pro 2 SL guitar from 1987 May did the Mets amuku Factory.. I'd like a Telecaster. I can't recall the Gibson that has a strat sound with a single-coil pickup and coil taps that would be the ultimate guitar for me.
I bet you could glue the neck onto the Fender and it wouldn’t change anything about how it sounds. The LP’s extra sustain is likely due to how you have your bridge setup on the Fender. If it’s floating it’s not going to hold notes quite as long. Tighten the spring claw down enough that the bridge stays in contact with the body and I’d bet that any difference in sustain would be imperceptible. The wood only makes a difference if you play them acoustically. How the guitar resonates in your hands and against your body has zero impact on how the pickups interact with the strings. Given sufficient rigidity plastic would be fine, but body manufacturers would have to invest in new manufacturing processes for virtually no benefit as I’d wager that an instrument grade block of poplar costs a good bit less than the equivalently sized and reinforced chunk of plastic.
The better question is what the similarities are. From woods, construction and design to scale length, hardware and pickup- and control-layout, the only real similarity is the fact that both were invited in the 50's
I play in a cover band and use a total of 4 axes on stage; a Fender strat for Trower, Hendrix, SRV, Deep purple and some country shit, a Gibson SG for the ACDC and Sabbath songs and a Charvel strat with a single DiMarzio Tone zone humbucker in the bridge with a Floyd rose for mainly Van Halen songs.... all the right tool for the job!
I have a question about your strat: Did you change the pickguard to a white guard? An AO60 Strat in CAR is on its way to me and on photos it looks mint green but less mint than green :D. Yours looks great!
I have a late 90s mexitele and an early 2000 mexistrat. The tele has the original american made pick ups and neck. It is a nice playing guitar. The Strat is a limited run with non standard single coil pickups. I believe the neck was also made in the California plant. Both have maple fret boards. The covers for normal pickups don't fit mine. Mine has pick up covers that are color matched to the original design of this issue. They sound awesome though. I have the trem blocked and both guitars hold tunings quite well. I've played Fenders from the 50s through current models and other than finishes and body wood I don't see much difference. The worst fender guitar I ever played was a tele reissue MIJ that had such a thick clearcoat finish on it that you couldn't get any string vibration feedback through the neck. It had gold plated hardware, humbucker looking pickups, and a Bigsby like tremolo. The guitar looked awesome but it was heavier than a les paul and had a terrible feel. Other MIJ fenders I've played felt good though. The best feeling fender I ever played was an ash body tele with an awesome thin neck. I think the thin neck was a pre B-Bender thing. It was light and so responsive. I could feel the string vibration through the body on my knee. I owned an early 70s jazzmaster that was okay feeling and playing but I just couldn't get into the switches and little wheelie things. The string tension was incredibly tight at standard tuning as well.
I dont know...depends on how they are configured: are they out of the box or reconfigured? What amp, pedals, compression you gonna use? I've heard both do both phenomenally. My preference is a Les Paul simply due to the warmer tones, but I am sure with the right setup, I can get pretty close with the Strat.
I like thick necks & thin necks and have examples of both, but I get why people prefer one or the other. Same with radius- I like both, but if I were to play slide I would prefer the flatter radius Overall I would lean towards preferring a Les Paul, but I do like both.
If I can only have one, I will take the Strat hands down. I have a Dean strat that suits my needs and an Ibanez with humbuckers that I almost never play. I play my Fender acoustic more than any.
Things that I would change about the Les Paul are to lessen the angle of the headstock and to add a volute ( my Gibson 'The Paul' has both of these plus the body is contoured ). Concerning the Strat I would have only one master volume control and one master tone control, with the volume control being positioned further away from the high E string to facilitate more comfortable strumming and finger-picking ( my Starfield guitar has this arrangement which suits me better than the usual Strat controls).
Im a Strat player 1st and Ive had my current Strat since 96. A 93 Deluxe Plus brought used. Maple neck and butt ugly yellow color ( vintage blonde). Got a L Paul also; ebony with gold trim ebony fretboard. In other words black on black. Kinda exact opposites not on purpose. Just happened that way. The Strat has 3 color L Sensors and the L Paul has 496/500 pups. Again basically opposites.
Buddy Holly, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, David Gilmour, Eddie Van Halen, Yngwi Malmsteen, SRV, Buddy Guy were iconic "rhythm" guitar players. Who knew😮
Because most of us are in the need for a more affordable guitar you can usually find a Mexican Strat a Epiphone Les Paul or a Korean SE PRS Strat style or SE Les Paul style guitar all in a similar price range 😉
On the Strats, it's better to remove the springs altogether and block the tremolo. If you leave the springs in, they can vibrate or rattle and make noise.
I feel like in your video that the sounds on both guitars overlap significantly. Maybe we emphasize the differences between the tone of these guitars when in reality the playing and settings on amp and pedals make 90%+ of the sounds on one available on the other. They're both guitars after all and the sound like ... guitars. And both great instruments. (disclaimer: I built an epi LP studio from parts because I wanted one so bad but couldn't spend the money on a Gibson LP standard)
Both are best for all things guitar. The Video producer forgot, trem. That's the real major difference, the Strat is a more complete electric due to having one.
Not a difference per ce, but I've found when buying either, I try a lot more Les Pauls before I find one that I could buy, against *any* shape Fender. Saying that, I've only bought one Les Paul. Tried lots. Didn't gel with any of them, aside from the Studio one i bought - which I love.
No disrespect intended but there's quite a few points you made that I don't agree with but I am in the minority as most TH-camrs almost seem to have a universal script on those same points. One is the ease of bending comparison. I've found it to be the opposite. In other words a set of 9s on a Les Paul is roughly equivalent to 10s on a strat. The explanation you gave doesn't follow actual physics. The other point is the difference in tone of different woods. I think it has not been yet proven. One TH-camr actually did an extensive test from the guitar in tact to having no body at all to having no neck or body. The sound was very much the same in any variation. I think all components have some contributing factor to the tone but the pickups are probably 95%. One characteristic of woods which no one seems to ever mention is their tendency to expand and contract differently which effects tuning. I've noticed that mahogany guitars vary more than alder, ash and basswood causing them to go flat or sharp from temperature changes more drastically. The biggest characteristic concerning scale length is tone. It has a very noticeable effect on the tone. You could put pickups from a Les Paul in a PRS and it still will sound different than a Les Paul because of the scale length even though the woods are the same
For this old man one of the biggest differences is WEIGHT! Les Pauls weigh a ton. I use a 3-inch padded strap for my Les Paul when I want to play standing up.
Mostly a good comparison. But there is no good evidence that solid body wood affects the output of solid body electric guitars. Many other things explain their different sounds, as measurements of real guitars has shown. But if you put the same pickup in both, the differences shrink considerably. Re "These two guitars have very different resonance to them that carries through to the amplified sound" - that's a totally unsupported assertion. Resonance of what ? How do you know that explains the different amplified sounds ? Your other assertions of sonic differences between alder, ash, maple caps etc are just repeated pre-scientific urban myths. Made up by guitar manufacturers and regurgitated by guitar journalists; who confuse electric guitar physics with that of acoustic guitars. The measured physics of real electric and acoustic guitars are very different - body wood is very important sonically to the latter but not the former.
And Ive heard electric guitars made with composite materials that sound great. Maybe its just easier and more cost effective to use wood when manufacturing them on a commercial scale.
I love the LP sound thru a good tube amp... BUT... the Les Paul shorter string length, tuning issues and lousy high fret access are deal breakers for me. I got me a Fender DELUXE strat (MIM), 12" radius neck, improved neck/body joint, the longer string length works great with 9 gauge strings, and it has a Dimarzio HumBucker in the bridge. While not exactly a Les Paul sound with the HB, I can get close enough for my lead playing, plus I get all the cool Strat single coil sounds for rhythm. Best of both worlds. My Les Paul sits in the closet collecting dust.
All the shorter scale guitars i have owned were too tough on my fingers, longer scale guitars have a fluidity to the strings that i find is more suitable for rhythm and lead. The sound between both is an appreciation for sonic differences.
You don't need a string retainer with staggered tuners. 9.5 on a Les Paul is the same as 9s on a strat. A repaired headstock is STRONGER than before. It will neck break in the same place.
Uhgggg, the neck joint construction has absolutely nothing to do with sustain or tone. The longer scale length and harder maple produce that "snappiness." And sustain is nothing but the string being able to vibrate unencumbered, under ideal tension, a bolted or glued neck has zero effect on that.
Gibson's better for solos? That's why Eddie Van Halen, Steve Vai, and Yngwie Malmsteen used Les Pauls.....wait! They didn't. lol Les Pauls suck for upper fret access solos.
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Good to have both. Different tools for different jobs.
@Boony Tooty Then it's probably even better to have sixteen.
@@johnnybgoode1950 At the very least.
And a Tele for the dark Triad
This is the best comparison between Les Paul and Stratocaster I've seen so far on TH-cam.
Another key difference is that a Strat is a hallmark of industrial design. It was designed to be mass produced to exacting specs at a high rate. The Les Paul is still a very manual, artisan process. It's likely why they vary quite a deal even within model year. Also relative to cost, the process definitely is big part of that as you indicated.
Funny you say that considering how bad the quality control on Gibsons there are
@@omgiTzkitteh absolutely, but the production methodology of Fender yields repeatable performance while Gibson's hand-crafted solution leads to hit or miss.
Great, balanced review. No Mac vs. PC religion here.
I’ve owned my LP since 1979. Never bought a strat for myself (though I bought one for my daughter at one point.)
Lately, I’ve been putting together a cover show that needs both Strat and LP sounds. I also need it to be small and light, since I also play keys, sing (and almost juggle chainsaws.) I ended up getting a Steinberger Spirit. Fender scale. Flat fretboard. HSH pickups that I’ve replaced with PAF Masters and a CS 69 single coil. Add Gig Performer and some VSTs and I’ve got a road axe that I could afford to replace if damaged or stolen. A weird middle ground in a small package!
While the Steinberger is small and light, it has its own ergonomic challenges. The volume knob is in a bad spot and the HSH pickups leave little room for deep picking. But it better than lugging more guitars, and I don’t risk having an irreplaceable guitar stolen. 😎
I have a Spirit as well, and I love it. But my personal favorite is a "Frankenstein's Monster" guitar. In my opinion, the main difference between most guitars is body style preference. Because the sound is all about pickups, and any pickup can be installed in just about any guitar.
When it comes to guitars, I've always been a "Dr. Frankenstein" type, and prefer to use Squier guitars as a base from which to build on. I use quality pickups, misc. parts and wiring, and you would be amazed with the end result. The guitar I play the most now days is a Squier Affinity Fat Strat I bought in 2002 for $200. I replaced the stock pickups, controls, etc., with gear from EMG and the difference is like night and day.
Doing it that way you can put together a guitar that will sound and play just as good as any other, but will look like a cheap, off the rack guitar that thieves typically have no interest in. And you can do it for far less than a stock high end Strat, LP, or whatever else you might like. The cost of the guitar, EMG pickups, controls, etc. all came to less than $400.
@@66biker95 - Exactly my thoughts with the Steinberger. The LP Custom I bought new in 1979 is irreplaceable. Put the right pickups in an inexpensive guitar, and the results can be great - so long as it has a good neck and no fatal flaws. Years ago I saw The Victor Wooten Band, and his brother Regi (fantastic tap guitarist) was playing a Squier. I’d bet good money that it wasn’t stock. 😉
This is by far one of THE best videos I have seen on TH-cam. I have a Squire Strat and an Epiphone Les Paul and while my Les Paul is also my favorite, I totally love both of my guitars and record with both. This video showed me things about my 2 guitars that I never really even think about and it has helped me appreciate both. Yes in a fire I would save my Paul, I love both my guitars. Thanks for this video. I had a blast watching it.
Two things I'd add - (1) the longer scale length on the strat means a longer stretch between frets, especially as you approach the nut, so shorter fingers beware. The good part of that is there's more room between frets as you move up the neck toward the bridge, relative to the Les Paul, for easier solos. (2) The Les Paul's not as good to play seated - the heavy weight is balanced to the rear, so it always feels like it's going to drop off your leg, so you don't let go of the neck, plus the guitar sits a bit lower on the lap due to the size, so the playing's not as easy as on the strat. A small cushion under the LP fixes that one, though. The strat's better balanced for seated playing.
I really appreciate your added observations. I checked the scale length on my Messenger and it is the same as the Strat. Although I have relatively short fingers (arms, toes, legs, etc.), I have strong hands, so bends up-high should be okay on the Strat. But, FYI, the Messenger has always been a bit awkward for me when standing, having short arms. The neck joins the body at the 21st fret. Playing the nut end is a reach. Thanks.
@@pancakeface5717 This is stuff I wish I'd learned before I'd accumulated (too many) guitars with different specs to learn what I liked, and didn't like. I'd forgotten to mention the difference in string bending, but it may have been covered in the video. I also forget whether the issue of alternate tunings was addressed. The longer Strat scale allows for tuning down without the strings getting as floppy as they do when you tune down the LP. Lots of choices!
@@upload2352 LOL, yes, having lots of choices is a good thing, but only to a point. Thanks again.
Les Paul too heavy then get an SG I did.
But the fatter neck on the Les Paul, makes things worse. On the baseball bat neck there are certain chords, I can't play, that I can play on my Stratocaster and I have big hands. I sanded down one of my Les Paul's the 50s neck. It was too fat for certain chords.
I have both but I prefer the 12” radius over the 9.5” & I don’t care for the selector switch location or the volume on a Strat, which everyone seems to like. I’m always hitting it probably because of how I play I guess, but both are great guitars.
Really enjoy your videos. Cheers
I like the fact that the neck on the Strat, or all other Fender/Squire solid bodies for that matter, can be replaced if needed with great ease. Not so for Gibsons.
Best comparison of these two guitars on TH-cam. Thank you.
Man, I just loved this video. Thanks for breaking all of that down.
I think Billy Gibbons actually gave an excellent analysis between the differences between, a Duo Jet, a Jazzmaster, and his Pearly Gates Les Paul. He also used a lapsteel but we can stay away from that for now.
The longer the scale length the brighter the guitar will sound even when you have Humbucker versus Single Coil.
Bolt on versus Glued in necks.......no difference, that is an old trope of Musician BS from the past..makes no difference several people have created long tenon strats and compared them to bolt on strats, and for good measure they used Oscillators and recording software to chart the differences, what little difference there was could be made up for by gluing the bolt on neck down(even then you wouldn't feel or hear the difference as it was out of human hearing), the reason why is because the strings attach at 2 points not 1, the glued neck realistically only makes a difference in certain conditions, and with an Electric guitar those conditions don't exist, scale length and string gauge play more a part in the sustain as it affect the oscillation of the strings when plucked, while there is some acoustic qualities that affect the sound of a guitar mainly absorbing, refracting, reflection of sound waves and mechanical energy that manipulate the strings themselves.
Tone woods - when you cover the wood with paint that is hardened you lose the properties of the wood and it makes no difference..woods are used for tradition and cost that is all, as long as they fit the need of hardness to support the hardware.
What effects "Tone" more than anything is the electronics, thats right its not even in your hands although skill makes a huge difference we are talking about tone not the combination of them to produce fluid music, Unless its acoustic or has acoustic qualities woods don't mean shit, plywood versus hardwaood makes no differece as you are covering in a thick layer of paint its a bit different when you aren't changing the property of wood, but a fender Basswood versus a Fender Ash, or Fender Alder - same hardware, same everything else makes zero difference except in weight, the harder the wood is the more reverberation you will feel, don't confuse that with sustain, they are 2 seperate things you want the strings to have the energy not the body of the guitar.
True. The wood on a electric only meabs weight. But the pearly gates aint nothing. I had a tex special with them. And fender standard usa pickups are better. The gates are ok. But over rated.
@@tomterry2662 "Pearly Gates" is a guitar, specifically Gibbon's Guitar(ZZTop). True Seymore Duncan has PAFs that are called Pearly Gates. and they are OK.
@@nocturnal101ravenous6 i had them in my texas strat back in the day. I dont like them. Fender standard pickups are better and yes their was pearly gates pickups and on fender texas special i had one.
@@nocturnal101ravenous6 like 2003 abouts was the first mention of the pearly gates and they came in the fender stratocaster texas special. They was installed by fender USA... i bought one back then. Was long before their eas a pearly gate guitar. I been playing for 38 years so i seen a lot of gear and guitars come and go.
@@nocturnal101ravenous6 gibbons had pearly gates pickups long before his guitar model. Look up fender texas special like 2003 abouts they came eith them .american model
I really love your channel, pure gold. Thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience. Greetings from Chile.
Very useful comparison. Another big factor is weight. Les Pauls generally are substantially heavier.
Really great video Jules. Must've missed this one as just noticed it's a year old in April 23.
Hope you're well. Fantastic channel, your content, presentation and editing are blinding mate. Namaste x
My go to guitar has to be a Super-strat.
1. Strat style body.
2. locking nut
3. 24 jumbo frets
4. 2 humbucker pickups in the neck and bridge positions
5. floating tremlo bridge
6. volume knob with enough space from my strumming hand, because default strat puts the volume knob too close to the bridge.
Umm, ibanez?
The Les Paul was originally designed to be a rhythm guitar.. while the Stratocaster is more versatile for playing leads. The Stratocasters single coil pickups have a brighter tone which cuts thru the mix more than the Les Pauls darker sounding humbuckers. The scale length also makes a bit of a difference too between playing chords & single note leads. The Les Pauls shorter scale length makes playing chords a bit easier..& the Stratocaster's scale length makes it more ideal for playing leads.
WHAT? How can you people come with such stupidity????? EVERY GUITAR IS DESIGNED TO BE A RHYTHM GUITAR. . . OR LEAD GUITAR. And not only this comment; but almost all of them here. And there's no such thing as "Les Paul is for this" or "Stratocasters are for that."
Everybody has a opinion.I won't pay more than 2000 bucks unless God played it. LESS THAN 500 USE IT FOR TARGET PRACTICE . MY OPINION .
I own both a Les Paul and a Strat. If I could only own one, I would pick the Les Paul. People say the Strat offers more tones. It depends on what music you play. I replaced the neck pick up in the Strat to a single coil sized humbucking. I play Jazz so I never use the Strat bridge pick up.
Great video. Two beautiful guitars you have there. My LP Studio has been my main guitar for a while now but I’ve started using my Strat more recently. Listening to videos of our band, it’s surprising how similar I make the two guitars sound. It’s that ‘sound in your head’ thing - no matter what gear I use I end up chasing the same tone.
Great video! I have two LPs and Two Strats. I tend to play the Strats more, although right now I’m playing a PRS Custom almost exclusively.
I find the weight of the LPs to be pretty heavy and the finish on the necks to feel pretty sticky which tends to impede my left hand movement up and down the neck.
I have a lot of Telecasters as well as other guitars. I haven’t played my Telecasters much lately but I remember loving those a lot because of the ease of playing them.
I think I’m going to pack up my PRS for a while and find something else to play.
My hands might find a Telie a bit easier as I’m experiencing quite a bit of pain lately. (Age is catching up on me)
I agree with the Tele being the more comfortable of the two. Keep on rocking Walt 👍🏼
I go in phases where ill play my Les Paul for a while, but i always go back to my Fenders.
Me too! I always rotate thru my guitars!
On modern Strats, it is normal for one tone control to be assigned to the bridge while the other is assigned to the neck and middle pickup. Older Strats from the 50s and 60s did not yet have this modification, nor did they have a 5-way selector as is common today.
Thank you for this video I finally have clear understanding differences between the Strat and the Les Paul in a side by side comparison. I am thinking of starting to play guitar honestly I think Strat would suit me best especially due to physical issues I will play sitting down and the Strats comfort cuts would best suit my needs. BTW since you said you never use the wiggle stick on Strat have you ever considered getting a hardtail Strat to ease the tuning issues? Thank you again for a great side by side comparison video.
To much hesitation can cause confusion so I bought 1 of each Squire and Epiphone and still saved money than paying for a single American made.
Yeah, I prefer a Les Paul over a strat, but for beginners you’re better of with a strat. Imo
@@phillipholt6005 or you could buy both a gibson and a fender lol
I know your comment is now 7 months old, and I do hope you picked up guitar. But for those who are in the same boat: I was in that boat almost 3 years ago. And I wasn't sure if I wanted Strat vs. Les Paul. I started with Strat. With the wisdom that I have now, and after playing both, I may have made the same choice. But with one caveat: I would get a fixed bridge. As Jules advised, you do need some upkeep on the trem system, and if you don't know what you're doing, it can cause problems for beginners. I got pretty good at maintaining it, so it wasn't an issue for me. But I now block my trem (I put a block of wood between the trem and body so it doesn't move at all). This is similar to Jules's comment about tightening his springs entirely, just a different preference. So I also do not use my trem. hard-tail starts are harder to find, but they exist, and I would highly recommend them. But if you don't like the look of the strat, maybe consider a Telecaster, but the modern styles with the belly carve in the back. That belly carve is really comfortable, and it makes a big difference for the feel of the Tele. But the Les Paul turned out to be my least favorite shape, which is a surprise even to myself. I think they are more beautiful, and much more versatile. But the shorter scale length, the painted neck, and the hunk of wood under your arm just makes for a less enjoyable experience. But again...this is all preference. Other people prefer the sound of the humbuckers, or the stop tail bridge, or they may like the carve on the front. Go with what you like most and what feels most comfortable. If it isn't an enjoyable experience, you won't play.
That was an excellent video.I have to say the best video I've seen explaining both guitars. I was a little surprised at one little point in the video, both guitars sounded the same, but for most of video you can clearly hear the difference. I own both guitars and many others. The Stratocaster is king for me. Although I love the Les Paul. Excellent video and good playing. I liked you played the same thing for both guitars. Thank you!!!
That was a great point by point comparison. I love it.
Great video. I love both. I’m surprised you can’t get more out of your Les Paul neck pickup. I have also added split coils to my Les Paul and it’s a lot more versatile.
They're both iconic and indispensable. About as equal as possible in terms of overall quality, while about as unlike each other as possible in terms of character. Put a gun to my head and force me into a strict binary decision, I'd probably have to call myself a Les Paul man. But each are simply incredible!
You know, the more time passes, though, the more "meet in the middle" options, such as an HSH Ibanez RG or S series guitars become attractive to me! I really feel that my RG is kind of a great "Baby Bear's Bed" between the "Papa Bear's Bed" of the Les, and the "Mama Bear's Bed" of the Strat, bringing - albeit imperfectly, more of the best of each than of the worst of either. Let me try putting it a different way: the RG is a much worse Les than the Les, but a way better Les than the Strat, while it is also a much worse Strat than the Strat, but a much better Strat than the Les. It doesn't do either thing quite as well as either of "the real things", but does both things better than either of them - and might possibly be the overall best of the three (though I'm absolutely not willing to commit to that whatsoever!)
Either way, great video! I knew most (or all) of this already, but it was still presented very well and was a very enjoyable diversion! The only thing I wish you would've done differently was talk about the hierarchy of importance in the differences. For the sound, I'd say the two most important differences are the pickups, and the scale length. Neck joint design and other electronics would probably be the next tier, followed by the bridge design, tone woods, and shape / size / mass of the body. The headstock difference is the one that makes the least amount of difference to the tone - but certainly has its own considerations otherwise.
Cheers!
A great comparison, clear and concise.
I own a 1965 Musicraft Messenger. It has been my only electric guitar. I'm now retired with more time for messing around, so I'm considering getting a second electric. This video made my choice much easier. Obviously, both guitars are grand icons, and they've earned it. But it's clear the Strat is more suitable for me in many ways, not the least of which is $. Thank you!
The Musicraft Messenger was the main guitar used by Mark Farner of Grand Funk during the bands early days.
@@The1066BMJ Thanks John. I really love my Messenger guitar. But I'm short and with my arms it's a long reach out to the first fret, plus it's a heavy guitar. Incredibly fast action on the neck though, wow. My dad was manufacturing manager for the company (Musicraft) in their last year before bankruptcy. I got my Messenger stereo for the low low, nepotism discount of $60 when I was 14 years old. The company was based in San Francisco but manufacturing was in Astoria, Oregon. And the founder and his wife lived in Astoria. I have several of the original brochures from my dad's files, and visited the plant a few times. The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band had a promotional agreement of some kind with Musicraft, but I've never seen videos or photos of them actually playing Messenger gear. But I was always proud to show off the cover of the Grand Funk "red" album with Farner and his Messenger next to mine. Thanks again.
great review, as usual. :)
re: the position of the pickup selector switch; that's one of the reasons I prefer an SG to an LP; having that switch in the lower position seems more convenient/faster when you wanna switch it quickly.
To Jules - You are one great guitarist, and your information is quite valuable as well. Hence, I am now subscribed. Cheers!
The differences are in my back!
Yes, weight wasn't mentioned and I thinks that's important.
Great video! I thought there were going to be some issues by the thumbnail but was very accurate. I actually like the Tele for jazz.
Great comparison, very useful.
Nice candy apple strat……very 65 vibe….Gold top well..awesome..they both cost enough……very informative for the musicians who don’t know..Ihave a Gary Moore less Paul headstock repair picked it up way cheaper sounds great…even greeny Les Paul is a headstock repair.lol..
Its not a candy apple strat. Its ether fiesta or dakota red.
both have been the main guitar when Rock, Jazz, Blues etc and in that time there were so many other guitar brands but the strat and Les survived all that and are still on top
Interesting video, and a good summary of some of the important differences. I have some thoughts on a few of your points, in the order they arose in the video.
a.) Klusons vs Grovers: I have nothing against Klusons, but I have a set of Grovers with the plastic snot-coloured, tulip-shaped buttons. Just sayin'.
b.) Strat 9.5" radius neck : if it's properly set up, my Strat doesn't choke out when I bend. If the neck has settled back or if the bridge has rocked back (I set mine up to float), it will choke. Setup is critical.
c.) Upper neck access: agree completely. I wish Gibson would scallop the back of the neck / heel joint to improve access. No other changes, and not visible from the front.
d.) Gibson bridge adjustment: the lack of individual height adjustment is an advantage. It means that if the 1st & 6th strings are correct, the other 4 will be at right height and they'll follow the radius of the board with no further adjustment. Easy as.
e.) Controls: disagree completely. The controls on the Les Paul allow presets and an extra level of flexibility and freedom from the pedal board. I suspect it's a matter of preference and perhaps familiarity. I play both guitars (and like both), but I grew up on Les Pauls so I find that arrangement simple.
f.) Sound of pickups: good generalisation, but I'd EQ the amp with far more high mid for the Les Paul. It adds clarity. It also helps any guitar (in my experience) if you EQ the amp for the neck pickup and use the guitar tone control to tame any nastiness from the bridge. This approach really opens up the neck and middle sounds on the Les Paul. Doesn't hurt the Strat either, and it's glorious with the neck pickup of a Telecaster or - best of all, a Les Paul with P-90s.
...and those two guitars of yours are nice toys. I've never owned a gold top, but I reckon they look really cool with black plastics too. ;)
Both guitars are an absolute gem to play by the way your video of you playing were recorded at Mayflower Park in my home town overlooking Marchwood as well as the 203 container port
I like these guitars from the olden days. Great for old fashioned music from long ago.
Over all other technical and practical reason, there is a point I can’t really explain why I absolutely love the Strat for solo: it is crying. I can ear it in your video and it makes a difference for me for 50 years. I say I cannot explain why because it’s a feeling. But I nearly never make an error about a Strat on a record. In another hand, the Les Paul is absolutely great. Carlos Santana special own LP used on « Oye como va » recently is wonderful. But it’s not crying. Strat can be close to an alto violin… you will tell me that « Oye como va » is not a song to cry… that’s right!
I own a Gibson SG and a Fender Stratocaster (US for the rosewood touch).
Thanks for the video.
I experimented by using a capo on the fret to make my own scale length and used standard tuning and it worked. I also bought the Squires Bullet HSS HT and I'm thinking about buying a coil splitting switch for 7 dollars with clipping instead of soldiering.
Learn to solder... It's easy and you'll get much better connections. You can get a basic soldering iron kit for less than $20, and you can find a video on youtube about how to do just about anything now days.
Brilliant video, very helpful indeed. Thank you.
My 2019 Les Paul Special tribute with P-90's bought used recently) less expensive than my 2020 Pro II Telecaster... Like em' both.
Excellent review!
Both sound really great. Bye I think the strat has a cleaner more open sound to it both clean and distorted.
What are you running the strat through or doing differently to get that fat tone?
I own a Les Paul Custom and a custom Splatter Strat. I play my strat on stage almost 95% of the time because it is more comfortable and a little lighter than my LP. At home I play both to practice with. Night and day between the 2. Also, I use Super Slinky 9s on my strat and 10s on the LP. Just my preferences.
May I ask why different string sizes? I’ve got 9’s on everything.
@Brian Mincher because each guitar has a unique sound. I use my LP for rmetal and hard rock because they can handle a pounding better when doing faster picking. I use my Strat for jazz/blues and slower playing. I recently bought an ESP, and it has 9s on it. Also if your E is a different size it matters too. Goes to what you're comfortable with and music style. Just my opinion.
@@DeathByFishing that makes a lot of sense. Thanks so much for the reply.
tone, pickups, some are just better than others. strings? type and gauge, I own both of them. accoustic? the difference in the wood. clarity. and the kind of amp you choose. it's mostly up to what kind of sound do You want.
If I block the trem on my Strat will it have the same tuning stability as a Telecaster? 🤔
Your favorite is Les Paul but you prefer the Strat?
excellent video, very informative
The one that I saw Jeff Beck playing Thunder head inverted headstock and the strings were straight. Each guitar has a different sound for different music I think free. I get hum from the single coils. The best night of any guitar ever is my area Pro 2 SL guitar from 1987 May did the Mets amuku Factory.. I'd like a Telecaster. I can't recall the Gibson that has a strat sound with a single-coil pickup and coil taps that would be the ultimate guitar for me.
I bet you could glue the neck onto the Fender and it wouldn’t change anything about how it sounds. The LP’s extra sustain is likely due to how you have your bridge setup on the Fender. If it’s floating it’s not going to hold notes quite as long. Tighten the spring claw down enough that the bridge stays in contact with the body and I’d bet that any difference in sustain would be imperceptible.
The wood only makes a difference if you play them acoustically. How the guitar resonates in your hands and against your body has zero impact on how the pickups interact with the strings. Given sufficient rigidity plastic would be fine, but body manufacturers would have to invest in new manufacturing processes for virtually no benefit as I’d wager that an instrument grade block of poplar costs a good bit less than the equivalently sized and reinforced chunk of plastic.
The better question is what the similarities are. From woods, construction and design to scale length, hardware and pickup- and control-layout, the only real similarity is the fact that both were invited in the 50's
I play in a cover band and use a total of 4 axes on stage; a Fender strat for Trower, Hendrix, SRV, Deep purple and some country shit, a Gibson SG for the ACDC and Sabbath songs and a Charvel strat with a single DiMarzio Tone zone humbucker in the bridge with a Floyd rose for mainly Van Halen songs.... all the right tool for the job!
I have a question about your strat: Did you change the pickguard to a white guard? An AO60 Strat in CAR is on its way to me and on photos it looks mint green but less mint than green :D. Yours looks great!
Mine is slightly mint, just doesn't come through on camera.
I have a late 90s mexitele and an early 2000 mexistrat. The tele has the original american made pick ups and neck. It is a nice playing guitar. The Strat is a limited run with non standard single coil pickups. I believe the neck was also made in the California plant. Both have maple fret boards. The covers for normal pickups don't fit mine. Mine has pick up covers that are color matched to the original design of this issue. They sound awesome though. I have the trem blocked and both guitars hold tunings quite well. I've played Fenders from the 50s through current models and other than finishes and body wood I don't see much difference. The worst fender guitar I ever played was a tele reissue MIJ that had such a thick clearcoat finish on it that you couldn't get any string vibration feedback through the neck. It had gold plated hardware, humbucker looking pickups, and a Bigsby like tremolo. The guitar looked awesome but it was heavier than a les paul and had a terrible feel. Other MIJ fenders I've played felt good though. The best feeling fender I ever played was an ash body tele with an awesome thin neck. I think the thin neck was a pre B-Bender thing. It was light and so responsive. I could feel the string vibration through the body on my knee. I owned an early 70s jazzmaster that was okay feeling and playing but I just couldn't get into the switches and little wheelie things. The string tension was incredibly tight at standard tuning as well.
I dont know...depends on how they are configured: are they out of the box or reconfigured? What amp, pedals, compression you gonna use? I've heard both do both phenomenally. My preference is a Les Paul simply due to the warmer tones, but I am sure with the right setup, I can get pretty close with the Strat.
The best thing is we have a choice of two different sounds you can identify by thier uniqe sound ! So play what you like
I like thick necks & thin necks and have examples of both, but I get why people prefer one or the other.
Same with radius- I like both, but if I were to play slide I would prefer the flatter radius
Overall I would lean towards preferring a Les Paul, but I do like both.
Wood type does not make a different to the sound neither does the neck attachment(sustain) it is a sales-statement
When I play, I create a hot tone, plastic guitar would melt in my hands.............
Each time I play a mahogany body, I can hear it. Some people don't but it doesn't mean there is no tone difference. It doesn't for you.
I totally agree Guido! 👍🏻
@@guitareMTL agree 100% if they don't hear the difference good for them it saves them money
Basswood = bass sound lol , I should go fishin
If I can only have one, I will take the Strat hands down. I have a Dean strat that suits my needs and an Ibanez with humbuckers that I almost never play. I play my Fender acoustic more than any.
The Fender strat, and the Gibson les paul are two iconic guitars,that are well documented and recorded in history.
I dig both
Very interesting video.
A Les Paul growling at me activates my neurons like nothing else does
For me only Fender is guitar with nice sound. as Amp Vox or Fender Twin Rewerb, Rescue tube.or Magnaton
Tried Les Paul a handful of times and it’s never been a particularly good experience for me but to each their own.
Things that I would change about the Les Paul are to lessen the angle of the headstock and to add a volute ( my Gibson 'The Paul' has both of these plus the body is contoured ). Concerning the Strat I would have only one master volume control and one master tone control, with the volume control being positioned further away from the high E string to facilitate more comfortable strumming and finger-picking ( my Starfield guitar has this arrangement which suits me better than the usual Strat controls).
Im a Strat player 1st and Ive had my current Strat since 96. A 93 Deluxe Plus brought used. Maple neck and butt ugly yellow color ( vintage blonde). Got a L Paul also; ebony with gold trim ebony fretboard. In other words black on black. Kinda exact opposites not on purpose. Just happened that way. The Strat has 3 color L Sensors and the L Paul has 496/500 pups. Again basically opposites.
I could live without a Paul, I can’t live without a Strat or Tele.
You could probably live without either
Great video!
Buddy Holly, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, David Gilmour, Eddie Van Halen, Yngwi Malmsteen, SRV, Buddy Guy were iconic "rhythm" guitar players. Who knew😮
Good overview, by the way the sound samples are not very representative (very similar) probably made on modelling devices
Because most of us are in the need for a more affordable guitar you can usually find a Mexican Strat a Epiphone Les Paul or a Korean SE PRS Strat style or SE Les Paul style guitar all in a similar price range 😉
Your fender sounds really good, your les Paul needs to be tinkered with
On the Strats, it's better to remove the springs altogether and block the tremolo. If you leave the springs in, they can vibrate or rattle and make noise.
What?
Great video. Might be worth mentioning the extra weight of the Gibson.
What song do you play at 19:30? Sounds good!
it’s just something I came up with. I have a tutorial here… th-cam.com/video/4Yx-R6Z7K3I/w-d-xo.html
I feel like in your video that the sounds on both guitars overlap significantly. Maybe we emphasize the differences between the tone of these guitars when in reality the playing and settings on amp and pedals make 90%+ of the sounds on one available on the other. They're both guitars after all and the sound like ... guitars. And both great instruments. (disclaimer: I built an epi LP studio from parts because I wanted one so bad but couldn't spend the money on a Gibson LP standard)
Strat for music, Les Paul for noise.
Pink Floyd's David Gilmour always plays a Strat,... so did EVH, Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, SRV, Rory Gallagher... the list is huge
Both are best for all things guitar. The Video producer forgot, trem. That's the real major difference, the Strat is a more complete electric due to having one.
Les strat; more paul.
i played a les Paul for 20 years i I've been playing a strat about the same amount of time i made mistake selling the les Paul had a 1979 😭
Not a difference per ce, but I've found when buying either, I try a lot more Les Pauls before I find one that I could buy, against *any* shape Fender. Saying that, I've only bought one Les Paul. Tried lots. Didn't gel with any of them, aside from the Studio one i bought - which I love.
and keeeep in mind.. single coils have waaay much more noise than humbucker.
You'll notice if ya plug the guitar in without any noisegates.
No disrespect intended but there's quite a few points you made that I don't agree with but I am in the minority as most TH-camrs almost seem to have a universal script on those same points. One is the ease of bending comparison. I've found it to be the opposite. In other words a set of 9s on a Les Paul is roughly equivalent to 10s on a strat. The explanation you gave doesn't follow actual physics. The other point is the difference in tone of different woods. I think it has not been yet proven. One TH-camr actually did an extensive test from the guitar in tact to having no body at all to having no neck or body. The sound was very much the same in any variation. I think all components have some contributing factor to the tone but the pickups are probably 95%. One characteristic of woods which no one seems to ever mention is their tendency to expand and contract differently which effects tuning. I've noticed that mahogany guitars vary more than alder, ash and basswood causing them to go flat or sharp from temperature changes more drastically. The biggest characteristic concerning scale length is tone. It has a very noticeable effect on the tone. You could put pickups from a Les Paul in a PRS and it still will sound different than a Les Paul because of the scale length even though the woods are the same
You want some " Bite " out of a Les Paul , go for the P-90s . They Hum . Gotta use Mid position to quiet them . And they ROAR .
For this old man one of the biggest differences is WEIGHT! Les Pauls weigh a ton. I use a 3-inch padded strap for my Les Paul when I want to play standing up.
no 11. the weight difference
"...so my Les Paul has to be my favorite but I might actually prefer strats".
Mostly a good comparison. But there is no good evidence that solid body wood affects the output of solid body electric guitars. Many other things explain their different sounds, as measurements of real guitars has shown. But if you put the same pickup in both, the differences shrink considerably. Re "These two guitars have very different resonance to them that carries through to the amplified sound" - that's a totally unsupported assertion. Resonance of what ? How do you know that explains the different amplified sounds ? Your other assertions of sonic differences between alder, ash, maple caps etc are just repeated pre-scientific urban myths. Made up by guitar manufacturers and regurgitated by guitar journalists; who confuse electric guitar physics with that of acoustic guitars. The measured physics of real electric and acoustic guitars are very different - body wood is very important sonically to the latter but not the former.
And Ive heard electric guitars made with composite materials that sound great. Maybe its just easier and more cost effective to use wood when manufacturing them on a commercial scale.
I love the LP sound thru a good tube amp... BUT... the Les Paul shorter string length, tuning issues and lousy high fret access are deal breakers for me. I got me a Fender DELUXE strat (MIM), 12" radius neck, improved neck/body joint, the longer string length works great with 9 gauge strings, and it has a Dimarzio HumBucker in the bridge. While not exactly a Les Paul sound with the HB, I can get close enough for my lead playing, plus I get all the cool Strat single coil sounds for rhythm. Best of both worlds. My Les Paul sits in the closet collecting dust.
All the shorter scale guitars i have owned were too tough on my fingers, longer scale guitars have a fluidity to the strings that i find is more suitable for rhythm and lead. The sound between both is an appreciation for sonic differences.
That makes no sense, the longer the scale length means more tension.
You don't need a string retainer with staggered tuners. 9.5 on a Les Paul is the same as 9s on a strat. A repaired headstock is STRONGER than before. It will neck break in the same place.
Les Paul for show, Strat for performance.
My Epiphone guitars have coil splitting if I choose to.
Uhgggg, the neck joint construction has absolutely nothing to do with sustain or tone. The longer scale length and harder maple produce that "snappiness." And sustain is nothing but the string being able to vibrate unencumbered, under ideal tension, a bolted or glued neck has zero effect on that.
Gibson's better for solos? That's why Eddie Van Halen, Steve Vai, and Yngwie Malmsteen used Les Pauls.....wait! They didn't. lol Les Pauls suck for upper fret access solos.
Hendrix = Strat.... The GOAT played on Stratocaster = Jimi Hendrix....
Not to forget the weight! I am 56 and cannot carry the LO for a longer time 🥵