What is the fascination with Les Paul's?

[Tonar8352]

Go spend some time on the Les Paul Forum and you will come to see the fascination with the Les Paul Guitar.  After that go spend some time on the Telecaster Discussion Pages and see the rabid devotion to the plank.  It’s all fun, no guitar is alike and I believe we should have one of every kind made!  I still NEED a Gretch White Falcon, DeAngelico  New Yorker,  National Map Guitar, Firebird, Flying V, Explorer, L5 etc…………….. :icon_tongue:

 

[WarmothRules]

I dont get the whole "shredding" thing...ive seen kids on youtube with a total blank stare and playing really fast but no real structure or feeling to what they are playing...they also never slow down. I think these are the guys who don't get the whole LP thing. sorry if i sound like an ass.

Brian

That's ok, those kids don't know what "shredding" is either. If you want to see "shredding" done right check out Greg Howe!!!!

 

[WarmothRules]

If it works for slash, zakk wylde or randy rhoads, it works for me. Its just a beefy guitar that looks good when you wear it low.  chicks dig it.  :guitaristgif:

Maybe I don't like em cause Zakk Wylde plays em Ha HA HA HAAAAAAAAAA. His aren't normal Les Pauls's anyways, all his have ebony fretboards.

 

[WarmothRules]

I think Les Pauls are cool but I also think they are way way way overpriced for the quality.  I had one.  The intonation from the factory was so far out I couldn't play higher than the 7th fret without being completely out of tune.  Not a big deal to adjust.  But my $500 Schecter came set up.  I also hate that Gibson keeps turning out obsolete hardware instead of keeping up with the times.  I don't care about having authentic "vintage" tuners.  I want tuners that work.  Why does almost every other *less* expensive guitar have a more solid bridge while expensive Gibsons have flimsy bridges that fall apart when I remove the strings?  Why did glue start oozing out from under my Gibson's frets but not from any of my other guitars?  Why do I have to inspect several Gibsons to find one with smooth frets when the less expensive ESP has them?

I like to buy American but they need to work harder to get my money.

This guy knows whats up :toothy11:

 

[Ted]

Shit...I LOVE ALL guitars, but I am a Les Paul man at heart.  :icon_thumright:

For me they just feel right. Having said that I refuse to buy Gibson, as I think they are way over priced and rely to heavily on brand name. Only their custom shop suff is any good and that costs an arm and a leg here in the UK.

*rant over*

 

[tfarny]

Can't resist one more on this topic.  OK, I spoke in defense of Les Paul's, and I've owned three and loved them.  But I went down to the Guitar Center that just opened up next to my house, and played a couple studios and fadeds next to some lower end SGs.  Liked the basic SG (studio?) with P90s the best, then played the PRS SE Soapbar II, $489, and it was better in every way than those low-end Gibbos, (except for in the mojo department, I must admit).  Not a shredder guitar, it's got a lot of gibson-like features, a '59-type neck, shorter scale, and fairly low frets.  It just totally played and sounded better than the lower-end-but-still-double-the-price Gibbos, with obviously better QC than the Gibsons. BTW, What is up with the chambered LPs?  No tone, and the whole thing just felt wrong, like it was made of fiberboard. So, I can see how the original poster had a good point - if the LPs I played today were the original poster's only experience, I would absolutely feel the same way. But I had a magical early 80's black beauty as a teenager that made me a way better  arty07:, and I've had two really good Studios over the years that were awesome.
On that note, I played some high-end Gibson acoustics a while back and was really disappointed.  Maybe Gibson has lost their way, after all?

 

[kboman]

Interesting discussion.

I've pretty much always been a Les Paul player, but for me it's the general shape and features that really attract, apart from the sound. I've owned three electric guitars, two Epi LPs and currently a Schecter Tempest Custom.

I'm just going to steal two of Robert Fripp's remarks on this, because he pretty much nailed it:
- LPs are better for lead playing, but a Strat is better for chords (I personally think this has a lot to do with the pickups)
- The Stratocaster was designed by an engineer, the Les Paul by a player. I just can't stand playing a Strat, it just keeps squirming away and offers no kind of support for the body. It's too thin, has no neck angle, the scale length is all wrong, it's waaaay too bright sounding...

A Les Paul has none of these flaws, though it has a few of it's own. I don't generally like palm muting, but when I have to do them I don't appreciate getting cut to shreds by the bridge. On some models the neck-body joint is too clumsy, but I've never had issues reaching any notes - I don't play with the stranglehold thumb-over-the-neck grip.

I love to have complete control over volume/tone for both pickups, the scale length, the sound... But maybe most of all I like the presence of a Les Paul. The balance, the weight, the shape. The guy who designed this guitar clearly was the same person who was going to play it!

It should be noted that I've never owned a Gibson guitar and have played very few - I just don't see the point. As far as I can tell, half of what I'm paying for is the brand name and US pay rates. Since I'm neither interested in brands, patriotic or from the US, I can get my stuff from elsewhere. The current plan is to get a Robert Fripp signature model handbuilt by Ben Crowe when I can afford it, and until then maybe a Hagström Swede reissue or a Burny LP clone.

Hmm this became a longer post than most... I just thought the discussion needed some balance

Cheers!
/Karl

 

[jackthehack]

I've never owned a "real" LP in the traditional single cutaway design, although I have owned SGs and Melody Makers, ES-335s and a TV model DC. I never cared for the LP neck and access to the neck beyond about the 14th fret.

Similar tone can be had by choosing woods as used in Gibson models and with your PU/electronics implementation.

 

[Soloshchenko]

I understand the confusion on the Les Paul being one of  "the" guitars to play.  It's strange how the Les Paul and the Strat are the most common and then the sister guitars such as the Tele and the SG are played quite a bit less.  Like everyone here has said, I guess it's a matter of taste.  But that being said, I think someone else in this thread said there is not just one Les Paul...

I'm sure your completely right although I am finding a weird Tele fever sweeping the UK. Watch the glastonbury highlights from last year and nearly EVERY guitar band had a telecaster player. Everyone is playing telecasters over here at the minute.

 

[nathan a]

I'm sure your completely right although I am finding a weird Tele fever sweeping the UK. Watch the glastonbury highlights from last year and nearly EVERY guitar band had a telecaster player. Everyone is playing telecasters over here at the minute.

Agreed. In the US too, it's usually the younger guys in the more alt / underground / indie kinda bands (at least here it is). But yeah, tons of teles.

 

[Alfang]

Wow, what a great thread, I gotta agree with most of you here, everyone has a good point of view, stubhead, your was exceptionally good.

But let me twist things a bit and ask this. If I build an LP, a Strat, and a Tele, all made from warmoth parts, and same body woods and neck woods, and put whatever, rio grandes in all of them, will they sound different? Probably all sound the same

My point is, can I really get Angus sound on a strat? instead of buying  an SG? of course I can.  But as tonar said we should have one of each, and I want an SG, and an LP and a DeAngelico too( good luck with that one) and a couple Teles.

I do agree with the OP, I dont get LP's either, uncomfortable, heavy, unballanced. But I still want one, that is, I wanna build a Warmoth one, and I will. with some Clown burst or some stupid thing.

 

[Shmoopie]

i only heard a slight difference between an lp and an sg, but factor in that the lp had a burstbucker 2 and 3 (3 in bridge) and the lp had a bb 1 and 2 (2 in bridge) so not just thickness difference, and a few random construction differences, but different pups, and possibly wiring (same woods)

so yeah, if you built three different guitars with the same specs woods and pups, but different scales, neck and body thicknesses, hardware ect...

there will be a slight difference in sound, but not enough to care. go fer playability then sound.
what ever, i still don't care, i still want a warmoth lp. strats are to clunky and thin, and hippy dippy for me. and the electronics suck in my honest opinion.  the switches are the first to go.
not a fan of the maple, and the single coils, and the everything else for that matter.

Happy Birthday Shmoopy, I asked for a hooker for my seventeenth birthday, and all i got was this lousy t-shirt.

 

[JR]

If it works for slash, zakk wylde or randy rhoads, it works for me. Its just a beefy guitar that looks good when you wear it low.  chicks dig it.  :guitaristgif:

Maybe I don't like em cause Zakk Wylde plays em Ha HA HA HAAAAAAAAAA. His aren't normal Les Pauls's anyways, all his have ebony fretboards.

yeah well... blah blah blah!! ebony just makes them cooler anyways! Nothing like a big fury red neck with ebony at his finger tips

 

[bpmorton777]

my brother's 1992 LP custom has an ebony fret board. not sure if those come with that anymore...they dont seem to make them with real mother-of-pearl inlayes anymore either.

Brian

 

[JR]

brian.. is your brother a redneck? cous u can tell us if he is. its ok