Why Guitar Players HATE Les Pauls

MY GEAR

WIN FREE GEAR:

00:00 Intro
02:10 My First Les Paul
03:23 The Reputation
04:43 The Social Media Effect
06:47 Conclusion

[bryanburns]

Sir, you don't need the clickbait titles. Your videos are thoughtful and well made.

[bbrotherton]

After have been playing guitar for 64 years. I am very impressed by your ability to pull sweet tone from whatever guitar is in your hand.

[petesmith]

I am 70 years old. I have been a profession gigging and recording guitarist since I was 13…57 years ago. During that time I have owned and/or played guitars made by every major manufacturer and many custom luthiers. I owned a 1960 Les Paul Standard from 1967 until 1984 when I loaned it to another guitarist during a recording session and never got it back. In those days my main guitars were a 1962 Strat, a 1962 Tele and a 1960 Gretsch Country Gentleman. I rarely played the Les Paul because it was very heavy and it took a lot of work to keep it playing correctly and not making all kinds of extraneous sounds…recording engineers were constantly complaining about the Les Paul’s sound (I am a jazz, blues and light rock player) because it was not the best tone choice or it was noisy. Over the years I owned many more guitars, including a few more Les Pauls. Today I play Paul Reid Smith guitars and my old Strat and Tele almost exclusively. I find that those three give me the range of tones I need and they are all easy to maintain and play. If I played metal or needed a guitar that was suitable for heavily distorted tones, I might use a Les Paul, however, my first choice would be a PRS guitar because of their superior tone and playability (in my opinion). My most current Les Paul, a black 1972 Custom, went to one of my grandsons as a gift last year so I do not own a Les Paul currently.

[boombunmi]

The Les Paul was a ground-breaking guitar. When released on the market in the early 50's Jazz and Big Band players loved it. When it was fitted with humbuckers in the late 50's the blues, rock and roll and R n' B guys viewed it with suspicion as it looked old fashioned compared to what Fender were offering. It didn't sell well. But then the influential players like Clapton, Green and Richards to name a few realised how good it was and started being seen with them and a legend was born. Nothing feels like a LP when you know how to play.

[Makutrix]

So, why exactly do people hate this guitar?

[Dram]

I own a Les Paul Standard and I really like it. I also play through a Marshall Stack :p I really think both pieces of gear are more flexible than given credit for, it's not just for classic rock. You can coax all sorts of tones out of it.

[MikeArwineGuitar]

I was a manager at GC and at the time I was never a LP fan, I have always been a Strat or PRS guy. I never found a LP that really spoke to me. One day I just happens to be messing around with some of the new guitars that showed up. I feel in love instantly with a 2000 LP standard. It felt amazing, wasn’t overly heavy, and the tones were thick and creamy. I replaced the nut with a bone nut, and replaced the turners with locking. While I am still more of a Strat guy, that LP will never be sold and I love to take it out from time to time and when I do, it always makes me smile.

[isaiahburridgemusic]

I started playing guitar when I was 14. I'm now 29, own 3 Les Pauls and I never once thought they were the "old guy" guitars. I didn't realize I was already a boomer.

In all seriousness, great video. I loved how you poked fun at your younger self learning the instrument. I, too, made some silly string gauge decisions in my teenage years. I'm now wonderfully content with 9s.

You got a subscribe from me. Great content.

[stevesawatsky]

Born in 84, and when I was getting into guitar in the 90s and early 2000's, strats were the old head guitar. The LP will never die, if only for the human affinity for being different. The SG too will live forever

[Rogers]

I just got my first Les Paul Standard. I was so nervous about a purchase this large without playing it first. It almost brought a tear to my eye. It's the most beautiful built/playing/smelling guitar I've ever been graced with. Seriously, Gibson just got a life-long fan. For some context, I've been playing guitar for 25 years and never had the means to have anything better than a good deal on an used LTD or something. So give me some slack, but I'm truly in love. 2023 Les Paul Standard - Custom Color collection - Ebony with wood finish body and neck. It's beautiful.

[Mr.BrownsBasement]

I enjoy the passion and authentic excitement you bring to your playing.

[raphaelcalado]

Les Pauls are piece of art. Classics never die!

[danalopresto]

I was a huge Ace Frehley & Pete Townsend fan as a kid. My first guitar was a Cortez LP copy, then I got a 82 Strat and I never really felt that It was a good fit for me at the time. A good friend had an endorsement with Gibson and asked what my dream guitar would be… I said Ace Frehley… months later he handed me a 1989 Gibson Les Paul Standard, 2 piece cherry sunburst. The most beautiful guitar I’d ever seen. It’s been my main guitar since then, it just feels right.

[DanishKhan-mxec]

The middle position of the pickup selector of an HH guitar is often the most overlooked position by most players, but is super versatile if used correctly. I find myself often switching the middle position if I need the punch of the humbuckers but don't want the low ends which take up too much room in the mix.

[gehrigx]

I think it’s the price, honestly. I grew up thinking Les Paul’s were so cool, Gibson was the big expensive brand that I hoped I could afford one day. Then as I got older and really started playing and touring, I started to appreciate Fender even more. They’re workhouses and tough as hell. And affordable. I think that’s what gets younger kids started on them and sticking with Fender.

[Carepackage]

My first guitar was a Epiphone Les Paul Special 2. That guitar was very difficult to play, but it taught me to be able to play just about any neck, and any difficult guitar. 8 years later, I bought my first Gibson Les Paul. It is a Mod Shop 60th Anniversary 59 Les Paul Standard Custom Shop. That guitar was made to be a metal machine. It is my FAVORITE guitar I've ever owned.

[fraenkiboii]

I currently own one LP made from alder with three single coil pickups and a tremolo. It's got three knobs and a five way selector switch. Love this guitar.

[sonhouseisking]

Les Paul clean neck pickup is my favorite tone ever—right up there with the 335. I do notice that not everyone gets the sort of tone and articulation that I do because they either have way too much distortion or the bass on the amp is too high. I’ve got a few tips for people used to single coils.

I keep the bass pretty low since the volume naturally increases the bass and adding it to the EQ makes it muddy. If I need the volume to be lower, I typically keep the volume the same and just roll down the tone knob a few notches. If it’s really low, then I’ll add bass, but I set the volume and treble before adding in bass.

Also, because there is so much sustain, the amount of left hand tension you have controls the note length, so you can really thin out the tone by messing with that tension. Between muffling the tone and before the note gets bright, but is still in tune is a huge mellow range just from that pressure that really shows up more on the Les Paul than on lots of single coils out there. I combine that with playing near the saddle to get a funk tone that I need.

Also, single coils are so much better for six string chords, big barre chords, capos, and open strings mixed with fretted notes. When I play the Les Paul, I play a lot more 4 and 3 note voicings, or omit the root or 5 then if I’m playing a single coil guitar.

I use less gain even for distorted tones because gain adds sustain and can end up compressing tone more than desired.

The middle pickup has a minor volume drop and tighter sound, so I like to roll the tone or even volume off the bridge and use the middle position for rhythm and switch to the neck for louder parts.

Without changing tuning, if you do gigs where you play more songs in flat keys, Gibsons sound better to me. I don’t know if it’s the scale length or what, but even other longer scale guitars with humbuckers seem to be thinner.

People also complain about tuning stability but this is never going to be an issue for any guitar with the proper setup, all except the cheapest hardware, the right string gauges for the guitar.

Obviously lots of people use Strats and Tele’s with mods as workhorse guitars and kill with it. I play mostly R&B gigs, but I also play in folk/country circles and occasionally with dad rock types and the Les Paul is with me at every gig. I might use a 335 or Strat at the country gigs first, but i always have the Les Paul for noisy rooms or bad wiring. This guitar is really versatile and not just a Slash guitar.

[tucsonan]

The Les Paul has stood the test of time for 70+ years. Other brands have been built around making copies of it. Fads come and go but things like blue jeans and certain guitars are going to keep coming back into style over and over. History repeats. It is good cause it sounds good and plays well. If you have a dialed in Les Paul, it stays in tune, sounds great, plays great, and is one of the more versatile electric guitars available. It’s a classic. Signing off. — Dad

[cid]

Even growing up in the later 80s/earlier 90s, the Les Paul and the standard Strat configuration were mostly considered "old head" guitars, too. Slash from GnR challenged that, and so did John Sykes (Whitesnake). And a LOT of people who loved Van Halen's first couple of albums had no idea the majority of them were recorded on an Ibanez Destroyer (a Gibson Explorer copy), despite always seeing the Frankenstrat Eddie was known for playing.