Strat vs. Les Paul (tone produced)

[Lucifer2066]

Ah yes, the classic Fender vs. Gibson debate. I have had it with many other guitarists. Myself I went with a Fender Stratocaster when I bought my first real guitar. But you have to understand that getting a guitar for me has allways been a major headache because I play left-handed. So when I went to get a guitar I went to Guitar Center in San Fransisco on Van Nuys blvd. (They called it Guitar ect. back then). So of course they had a very limited choice...a black Les Paul Standard or a sunburst Strat with a black pickguard that had been custom made for someone who never picked it up.

The first one I tried was the Les Paul. The action was really high for some reason and it was pretty out of whack for the harmonics. While I know that can be adjusted, the guitar just felt rather unwieldly to me. Then I tried the strat...The first thing I noticed was it was really heavy. The action on it though was really low and it was a delight to play. The other thing I liked was that it had a tremolo bar while the Les Paul did not. Gibson has never really been known for making good tremolo bars. Most of thier guitars don't have one.

But to be fair the Les Paul did have those double humbuckers and for distortion playing they definatly do have more bite. The standard strat set up was 3 single coils (at least back then). So the strat has a much cleaner sound which can give you a bit more range which I thought might be a good idea for me since I wanted to be a little more flexable.

The strat I bought later wieghed in at nearly 20 pounds...so when I say it was heavy...it was pretty damn heavy. I had to use a wide leather strap with it and after playing all night my shoulder took a beating. These days you can get strats with more pickup options and some with the floyd rose locking tremolo. However Gibson hasn't changed thier setups much at all. I'm not saying Gibsons are bad, they are just not my cup of tea.

These days though I'm more into Jacksons. I used to have a Jackson Rhoads performer I strung backwards so I could play and it was a pretty nice guitar. What I would really like to get is a neckthough Jackson Rhoads...if I can ever afford one that is. They are pretty spendy and a lefty will be even more costly.

But if you are trying to decide which to buy I would reccomend you go try them out and see which suits you best. Figure out what kind of amp you are going to use and try as many combinations as you can. While effects do radically change your sound, you need a good base sound to start with. If the setup sounds good all by itself it will make the effects sound that much better.

Remember if the guitar you buy is fun and comfortable for you to play, then you will spend more time playing it and you will learn more. Don't ever just buy a guitar cuz it looks cool or so and so uses them. None of that matters cuz so and so ain't gonna be the one playing it...you are. And I don't care how cool it looks...if it sounds like crap it is crap period.
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[GUITARGOD]

I see it a little differently... i like the Strat for the maple fret board but most strats that i have played were not heavy but quite light and hollow sounding IMHO however not all of them are that way, i found an old 1972 Hard tail (no tremlo) Strat and bought it just because it's got a heavy body for more of that LesPaul feel, but single coils are noisy and to use the setting on the strat switch that runs two singles together (two up from the bottom) does work as a humbucker however the fact that the two pickups are so far apart, it has less crisp crunch which works great for lead work but sucks for rythm crunch.
The LesPaul on the otherhand has the crisp crunchyness that i love but the rosewood fretboard is slower then the Maple so the feel isn't quite as smooth, the action tends to be better on Lespauls some of which is because of the scale (size) or distance between the nut and the bridge is shorter then a Strat, that's why most who like to use a slide will use a Srtat because the higher action setting is better for slide work, although you can just set the action just as low as a Pal anyway which is what i do on mine.
For me I like them all and will switch back and forth and go with moods and play one for a while then another for a while... whatever stricks me at the time.
And another way to look at it is what you are playing, some recordings i will use the LesPaul for the rhythm tracks and the Srat for the lead tracks in the same song which gives it a nice feel. Each one has it's place and perpose in my mind.

You bring up some very solid advice on reasons to choose wisely on gear though, the worst thing anyone can do is stick themselves with a setup that doesn't sound pleasing to them, for years i searched for my sound before really finding what pleased me, now i know just what does what and wish i knew then what i know now, it would have saved me a lot of time and money to just find exactly what i needed and fork out the bucks for it and get it over with. In the 80's though most killer gear was very costly so most of what i have now was out of my reach anyway, thank GOD now days the prices are down from a flooded market of vast amounts of choice gear by many different companys who all want you to buy their stuff, and the computer age has also helped us gearheads out in the same ways.
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GUITARGOD

[Lucifer2066]

Well yeah some musical instruments and equipment have gotten cheaper since the 70s-80s...however the reasons for it are, in many cases, cheaper materials and a sell out of brand names. Sad, but true.

For instance all Fender guitars used to be made in the US but now you have to look carefully to find one that is accually made in the US. I happened to be in the philippines back in 1980 and saw many guitars proudly bearing the Fender and Gibson trademark names. They looked just like the US made ones in every aspect. The only way you could tell they weren't real is when you picked them up and played them. They felt cheap, and everything including the knobs were made from different, cheaper matierials. They played like cheap copies because they were.

The asian market is full of copies of American goods. They are very bold and shrewd in thier practices. Copywrites mean nothing in other countries and to pursue them in international courts is very costly and in most cases pointless. So rather than fight it Fender and other guitar makers took the easy way out and just sold them license to put thier name on these sub-standard guitars. BC Rich suffered terribly and for the most part went out of bussiness by the flood of copies coming from Korea.

Now when you go to buy a guitar you can see the "Made in USA" on it...but that doesn't mean all the parts on it are. God knows where it was even assembled. I have heard of people spending thousands to buy a top of the line Les Paul only to find that real Gibson tuning pegs won't fit because the hole is too small. Why? Because it isn't a real Les Paul..it was made somewhere else with cheaper parts made in a factory where they figured they could save a few cents by making the tuning pegs smaller in diameter.

Fender has the "Squire" line of cheap versions of thier guitars...Gibson has the "Epiphone" line... Jackson had the "Performer" series for thier aisan models. Some of these are not too terribly bad...others just plain suck. Quality is optional anymore and some dealers charge big just to make you think you are getting something good.

By the way, Jackson guitars merged with Charvel as you probably know...but now Fender owns the name. This is why many musicians try to get the older models from the 70s-80s or go to custom shops looking for a quality instrument. The major brands know this and are making "reproduction" models for many of the classics.

This is another good reason to "Try before you buy".
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[Rainbowinthdrk]

For any product to be labeled "Made In The USA" , only 10% of final assembly needs to be done here.

BTW~ Jackson didn't merge with Charvel, Grover Jackson owned Charvel Manufacturing when Randy Rhoads approached him with the drawing of his "Concorde" flying v (the white with black pinstripes one also referred to as the "Shortwing Rhoads") after Dean turned it down. After completion, Grover felt it was a little too radical for the Charvel name, and Jackson Guitars was born. A year later Randy came back and said that everybody was referring to it as a flying v and he wanted something slightly different. Grover basically copied the template for the Concorde, and hacked at it with a band saw. When he liked what he saw, he held it up and asked Randy "How about this?" Randy allegedly replied "Yeah that's it!" , and the Jackson Rhoads Custom (black and brass one) was born.
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http://ladyrock.informe.com/

[Lucifer2066]

Well that 10% could be anything really. Maybe a pick guard or back cover...who knows? But you still can get 90% crap which is more than enough to make it total crap...lol.
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[GUITARGOD]

That's a good point....when you're talking guitars, which is the first important part of ones sound it can be a long hard road of choices depending on your area also, there is always the option of ordering however it's hard to tell what you may get out of the deal....nothing tells you more then the feel!
But as for rack gear and amps... the prices now are way better and if you choose wisely you can get good stuff for not too much.
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GUITARGOD

[Rainbowinthdrk]

This could seriously affect my vote. This thing looks SWEET......

http://www.gibsoncustom.com/flash/products/lespauls/axcess/AxcessIcedTea.html
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