Evidently, this Strat man has been trying out the wrong type of LP all these years.

Because, today, I tried out a Standard. It was sweet, it was strong. The tone was creamy and round, the 60s neck was quick and responsive.

I had an awesome time. I got my eye on a black/brown sunburst (iced tea or honey, I think). Good, good stuff.

Any Les Paul players here? And, if so, what models? School a brother, please.

Don't own one, but play my friends custom through a Marshall and there's nothing like the range and the low end.

Recently looking at an Epiphone copy to tied me over until I can pony up the cash...sounded good, felt alright but just wasn't the same.

I'm not a huge fan of Les Pauls - I think a good one can sound great, but I can never get past their design flaws as a player's instrument.

Having said that, I'm really interested to try an Edwards Les Paul - it's a subsidiary of ESP which turns out better-than-Gibson LPs etc for a third of the price in Japan. From what I read on harmony central, the hardware and quality control on these things is far beyond Gibson, who are now partially hollowing out Les Paul Standards to save money on mahogany!

Check 'em out:
Their Les Pauls - http://www.guitarjapan.co...utar1.html

Other guitars they make (copy:lol:)http://www.guitarjapan.co...index.html

Rowdy said:

Thanks for the links!

Expound on the design flaws, please. Are you talking features of the guitar, or poor quality control on the part of Gibson?

ThreadBare said:

It's about the features for me - QC is an on-off issue for Gibson, and you can always get around that by buying a Les Paul made by someone else.

My bugs:
- The huge heel, which begins at the 14th/15th fret (!)
- The Tune-O-Matic bridge - tears through strings, horrible to keep intonated, tends to rattle - why are they still being used?
- The pickup selector positioning couldn't be less practical
- The headstock design means every string is travelling at an angle from the nut to the machine head, rather than straight
- The headstock/neck join is notoriously weak

Rowdy said:

My issue has also centered around the neck. I don't like the scale, though the '60s neck is a bit closer to Stratville for me. I absolutely agree about the pup switch. In terms of QC, the fretboards I played all felt really cheap, like those used by far less-expensive companies' products. Especially on the rosewood model I tried.

Les Pauls are only good for their looks IMO. They sound okay in the right hands (usually the famous guys who play them). But They're too heavy for me. My friend has a custom and It like the feel of the neck, but it's so heavy.

I'll stick to my homemade telecaster.

for what it's worth I play an Epiphone LP and I absolutely love it. Feels great, sounds great. The bridge pickup is a little weak and the switch is a total piece of shit, but overall I feel like I'm playing a Gibson for 1/3rd the cash.

Those Edwards guitars look pretty sweet