What should I get? Fender Strat or Gibson Les Paul?

[ben9785]

Fenders have a nice tone that is somewhat versatile, except they can't give you the edge that a Les Paul is known for.

Whereas a Les Paul can maintain a nice sweet bluesy tone for when you want to play cleaner, and deliver the rock without any problems.

[JimBobTTD]

Fenders have a nice tone that is somewhat versatile, except they can't give you the edge that a Les Paul is known for.

Whereas a Les Paul can maintain a nice sweet bluesy tone for when you want to play cleaner, and deliver the rock without any problems.

Myths that have become perceived fact from internet forums.

Fender make lots of different guitars - how can you say that they are only "somewhat versatile"? An Esquire can do anything with its one pickup. A Strat with a humbucker in the bridge can do metal - look at the guy from Sepultura, who plays Strats. A Strat without a humbucker can still do metal. A Tele can do all sorts of rock, delivering it without any problems. It depends on how the guitar is played; you can get plenty of edge from the many Fender models out there if you fiddle with the settings on your amp (possibly the most important part of signal chain). By and large, you can play any kind of music on any kind of guitar.

Les Paul and Marshall have gone down together in the annals of rock, and playing that combo makes you feel like you are playing something which is historically proven to work. There is something in that. But don't think that you need a Les Paul or even a humbucker to rock.

Anyway, this could all be moot. D, what did you get? Did you even get anything?

[WeHeldTogether]

The Strat is a different planet. Most Strat players modify their guitars to moon and back instead of just getting a Tele or LP right away. You know Buddy Holly, The Shadows, SRV, Jeff Healey, early Hendrix - THAT is how a Strat sounds without tons of effects or modifications. If you don't want that original Strat sound, why get a Strat? Plus you'd have to get used to your guitar NEVER staying in tune, unless you install a Floyd Rose tremolo wich would alter the sound dramatically and is basically nothing but a pain in the ass.

i've had an american made Strat since December and it has not once gone out of tune since i tuned it when i first got it.

[Skeba]

rrright...

[WeHeldTogether]

i'm not kidding...would i really have a REASON to lie about that?  unless all the strings magically got out of tune at the exact same time and are now tuned to eachother.  i'm sure some of the strings are not EXACTLY in tune, but its so tiny its not even noticeable.

it might be because i dont really play it every day, i mostly use it while jamming with my friends like 3 or 4 times a week, but we play for a good 5 hours during jams/recording shit.

[Skeba]

You don't really have a reason to lie.

It's just a bit weird that if you played 3 to 4 times a week for about 5 hours at a time you're still playing with the same set of strings.

Another thing that's weird is that even though I've played for about 5 to 6 years now, and even though I've played with a lot of guitars, some of them being american Strats... I've never seen an instrument that has stayed in tune for a week if played frequently. Let alone months.

Like I said. I'm finding it really hard to believe that your story is even remotely true.

I may be mistaken though. And I'd like to know the strings you use...

[Verasa]

i'm not kidding...would i really have a REASON to lie about that?  unless all the strings magically got out of tune at the exact same time and are now tuned to eachother.  i'm sure some of the strings are not EXACTLY in tune, but its so tiny its not even noticeable.

it might be because i dont really play it every day, i mostly use it while jamming with my friends like 3 or 4 times a week, but we play for a good 5 hours during jams/recording shit.

  can u play by ear? your guitar has gotta be so out of tune its not even funny... they dont stay intune that long and with that much playing. check that intonation every once in awhile too..lol 

[WeHeldTogether]

Actually i was wrong, all the strings were like a quarter step down, and i didnt realize.    Weird how they all went out of tune to eachother.  I actually checked it yesterday.

And IKNKN, i'd know if my guitar was out of tune (if they were "sooo out of tune its not even funny" like you said.  if they were out of tune by a small amount i doubt even you could notice).  I've been playing for almost 3 years.

[SpiritDave]

rrright...

I own a Gibson Les Paul and it can stay in tune for months ... I'm absolutely serious.  Once the strings have stretched in, my guitar holds tune insanely well.

And I check my tuning every time I play my guitar   Rarely have to alter it

[Genesis]

My Samick LP copy stays in tune as well. It needs a couple of tweaks occasionally when I change the strings, but once they settle in, it stays in tune even if I don't play it for weeks.

It basically comes down to the strings you use and your tuners.

[Captain P?l]

i have a Morgan Les Paul at home with my parents, and i am only home like 2/3 times a year, and i dont remember last time it was seriously out of tune.

a little tweaking, yeah..

my Epiphone Les Paul Black Beauty is also awesomein staying in tune!
same with my Kramer bass


but my friends Gibson Les Paul needs tuning before every  practis...

Gibson suck 

[D]

I played the most amazing Fender Strat today..

Went to guitar center and WOW it was just amazing. It was a 1300 dollar guitar and I can absolutely see why.

I was so inpired holding it. I bet I wrote 5 riffs just jamming around.

I must get this.

I am getting 5 grand next month for school....... I am thinking about splurging and picking it up.

HAHA sorry guys, just noticed I kind of left this thread hanging.

Some unforseen shit happened and I am still waiting on the money I am suppose to get. It is a long story........

Let me ask this:

Please tell me the Gibson Les Paul is way better than The Epiphone as far as neck/action etc

Cause I don't want anything resembling an Epiphone period. I have one and hate it.

[Genesis]

Yes, the Gibson LP is way better than the Epiphone LP.

[D]

There is a really awesome Fender Strat, I think its a Mexican but its is 450 bucks at Guitar Center and it has 5 stars on the review

If I buy this, what are some great pickups that I could put in place of the factory?

[MeanBone]

D you've been playing for 12 years and you want us to tell you which guitar to get?

A Les Paul and a strat are nothing alike, so it's really dificult to compare.

it all comes down to your playing. if you play for 12 years you should know what guitar brings out your playing ina better way. we could be of no use in the area really. i'm sure you'll know which guitar will fit better with your playing after you've tried them. and you already know the difference between a les paul and a strat, so as i said, it comes down to personal taste.

let us know what you got


p.s. if the guitar sounds good, why do you need different pickups?

when i was younger i too, also thought that changing pickups would somehow change the whole way the guitar sounds. but i came to realize that's just a stupid marketing tool for bad guitars. good guitars sound great with stock pickups, and if you should chose to change your pickups, it's because you know for a fact that there is something off to the sound and you want to change that specific thing. certain guitar pickups will accentuate somethings more than others, but unless you already know what you want soundwise, why should you want to change them?

a long time ago stock pickups for cheap guitars were really bad, i remember my first epiphone squeeled like a pig instead of making a sound, but then again i didn't know much about tone at that time, but still, changing pickups fixed a number of problems soundwize. however they did sound really bad! so that's a good reason to change pickups. but if you're getting a strat that has a five star review at least give the stock pickups a try, or save the money from the pickups and buy a better overall guitar. pickups are only a small part of the whole sound of a guitar. Guitar goes from everything in the guitar, to every pedal, every jack, the amp, the way you string the guitar and most importantly your fingers and your playing. all things considered, guitar pickups, unless broken, don't really need to be changed.

[D]

Thanks Meanbone

I've never been able to afford a really great guitar, so I don't know a lot about this stuff to be honest

every song u ever hear me play is from the only guitar I've ever really owned and it was like a 350 dollar Yamaha....

SO, I can't wait to buy  my Fender Strat

It was truly magical in my hands so I see what u are saying.

[IzzyDutch]

I have two Epiphones, a '02 Les Paul Custom and a '07 ES-175 reissue, had a '04 Epiphone Wildkat up until last year and all sounded excellent.. I don't get why Epihones get a bad rap cause they're great from my experiences. My friend has had a lot of Epiphones and Gibsons over the past 11 years. I remember his first '98 Epiphone which had the sqeeling pickups, he replaced them with better ones. Then he went on with other Epihones and Gibson Les Pauls which I've also tried out during the time and personally speaking the Epiphones hold out just fine.. if they're setup well (but that also goes for the Gibson). The Gibsons are heavier, more expensive, slightly different tone (usually a bit more sharper/less dark then the Epiphones) with a slightly different neck feel. But they're not bad guitars.. A good day made Epiphone can be better then a bad day made Gibson.

The days that Epiphones have sqeeling pickups are gone for years now. Only thing that's weak is the pickup selector switch which usually give some trouble with switching after a while. Other then that.. my friend who has two Gibsons at the moment mentioned a while ago that that '98 Epihone Les Paul Standard modified with Alnico pickups was the still the best guitar he'd ever played and was sorry that he sold it at the time.

For me, when I'm jamming with my friend and playing his Gibsons, I find that between his 2 Gibsons and my Epiphone only the weight and tone differ a bit, with all 3 of them pretty easy to play. I certainly don't think that his Gibsons are a hell of a lot better then my Epiphone. Not saying Epiphone is better Gibson cause ofcourse there's a reason the Epi's are alot less expensive. But to me Epiphones hold up just fine next to a Gibson. And if I had to choose between getting one Gibson or two Epiphones, I'd go for the latter.

[MeanBone]

well, i was talking about mid nineties epiphones, after that i noticed that even though they started making them in china they were actually looking and sounding a lil bit better, and the pickups were better also.


Epiphones are good guitars, but compared to gibsons, i can tell you for a fact that the brand name is not the only difference between the two. the way both are built and the materials used make really different instruments. sure, one can get a kick out of an epiphone, they are good guitars, but gibson guitars are generally a lot better. however that doesn't mean some gibson guitars aren't off cases that really don't sound that great, it happens.

i, for one, don't really think a gibson bought 1rst hand is a great option. they're way to expensive for what they do. now-a-days, there's a lot more options thank god. and just as someone else pointed out, i also think that the Tokai Japanese models are brilliant. they sound amazing, they're built like gibsons, even better actually because these are actually handmade, something that doesn't happen in most gibson models.

Tokai is made in the same factory that makes Fender guitars from Japan. they know what they're doing and i love the results. many artists loved to play tokai, some of them included Steve Ray Vaughn and Billy Gibbons from ZZ Top.

i love my Love Rock Goldtop and i wouldn't trade it for a gibson anytime soon. i also have a Tokai Firebird


p.s. you're welcome D

[Smoking Guns]

D you've been playing for 12 years and you want us to tell you which guitar to get?

A Les Paul and a strat are nothing alike, so it's really dificult to compare.

it all comes down to your playing. if you play for 12 years you should know what guitar brings out your playing ina better way. we could be of no use in the area really. i'm sure you'll know which guitar will fit better with your playing after you've tried them. and you already know the difference between a les paul and a strat, so as i said, it comes down to personal taste.

let us know what you got


p.s. if the guitar sounds good, why do you need different pickups?

when i was younger i too, also thought that changing pickups would somehow change the whole way the guitar sounds. but i came to realize that's just a stupid marketing tool for bad guitars. good guitars sound great with stock pickups, and if you should chose to change your pickups, it's because you know for a fact that there is something off to the sound and you want to change that specific thing. certain guitar pickups will accentuate somethings more than others, but unless you already know what you want soundwise, why should you want to change them?

a long time ago stock pickups for cheap guitars were really bad, i remember my first epiphone squeeled like a pig instead of making a sound, but then again i didn't know much about tone at that time, but still, changing pickups fixed a number of problems soundwize. however they did sound really bad! so that's a good reason to change pickups. but if you're getting a strat that has a five star review at least give the stock pickups a try, or save the money from the pickups and buy a better overall guitar. pickups are only a small part of the whole sound of a guitar. Guitar goes from everything in the guitar, to every pedal, every jack, the amp, the way you string the guitar and most importantly your fingers and your playing. all things considered, guitar pickups, unless broken, don't really need to be changed.

Good post meanbone.  Also the new Les Pauls have great stock pickups.  I have the Burst Bucker Pros, I love them.  I lowered them into the body (from the raised stock position).  This made the guitar is not as loud, but the  good thing is the tone is more organic.  If you have the pickups too close to the stings, its all you hear, just like EMG's sound pretty much the same no matter the guitar they are in.  So if you lower them some, you will get more of the tone from the actuall thick piece of wood on the Paul.

I agree also that Pickups are such a small part into your overall tone.  A good amp is much more important.

[MeanBone]

from personall experience, the only thing in your rig that needs constant improvement is your fingers. cuz the better you are, the better it sounds.

i saw amazing players play through either a simplist rig or a shitty rig, and it always sounds amazing. it pretty much depends on how good you play and how well you know how to use your instrument.

Most guitar players out there hardly ever use pickup combinations, they either use the bidge for all solos and heavy parts and the neck for clean sounds with the tone and volume always to 10. well, there's such an enormous spectre of sounds you're missing out on doing just that, that it's insane. but on the other hand i must admit that it takes a lot more time to let that flow along with you're playing than one might think. but it's something that most people don't even try... no wonder, only john mayer gets a good tone now-a-days!

your tone starts and ends in your playing and you should buy or sell stuff from your rig depending only on how each thing accentuates your own playing.

that's why when i see someone say a certain guitar needs different pickups just because they're not seymour duncan or Dimarzio or wtv, ii instantly know that they know very little about what they're talking about.

but there's one thing good about this general consensus that spread around for the last years, at least, people making pickups are making a shitload of money off of all of you ahah gotta love the economy, creat a necessity, make 'em believe they need it, and they will buy in like zombies! ahah (btw i also bought a couple of pu's on the same pretext before i actually figured this out)

p.s. and i also think a good amp brings out the best in any guitar! and now-a-days valve amps are so cheap, even to play at home. i love the "new" Orange tiny terror or the Crate Blackheart. those babies can scream and wail all in low volumes but with the same depth of a 40 or 50 or 100 Watts valve amp cranked up to the max. it's amazing and it's great for my ears and my neighbours as well.