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Gibson Les Paul Standard VS. Fender American Stratocaster Guitar

Which One of These Classic Guitars Will Come Out on Top?

By Monkeyman, published May 11, 2007
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Guitarists often have many questions and concerns when it comes to buying a new guitar, especially higher end one's. Researching with so many brands and types can be overwhelming, so I am going to give you all just a little help by comparing two of the more popular and mainstream guitars: the Gibson Les Paul Standard and the Fender American Stratocaster. I have played both of these guitars extensively, and feel I have a good grasp as to what both of these guitars has to offer.

The Gibson Les Paul Standard is one of the most used and praised guitars ever created. It has been played by greats such as Slash, Jimmy Page, and Ace Frehley. With a Carved AA maple top, trapezoid inlays, and coming in colors such as Heritage Cherry Sunburst, Light Burst, Desert Burst, Honey Burst, and eight others, this guitar is drop-dead gorgeous. It comes with Burstbucker pro pickups, rosewood fingerboard, tune-o-matic bridge, and gold top hat knobs. Along with these looks come powerful tones also. With the thick mahogany body, this thing can scream with ease. It has amazing sustain, along with one of the most playable necks ever. Almost anyone can pick up the guitar, and feel as if they had owned it their whole life. The two Burstbucker pros sound great, and you can switch between them easily with a three-way toggle switch. The guitar also has 2 volume knobs and 2 tone knobs. The Gibson Les Paul Standard starts at $2,299.99, which could be a little pricey for either a young guitarist or someone that has to support a family.

Takeaways
  • Fender American Stratocaster features
  • Gibson Les Paul Standard features
Comments
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Fender has many great people who play their guitars like hendrix,Eddie Vanhalen,Clapton,David gilmour its all and opinion

Posted on 10/07/2008 at 8:10:50 PM

 
I own both an 2006 Gibson Les Paul Standard(Faded with 60s neck) and a 1996 American Strat Plus with upgraded Lace Sensor Hot Gold pickups quite honestly, I think the Les Paul is overrated considering it is twice as expensive as my Strat. The Les Paul is great for Distortion, but its ability to do clean sounds leaves much to be desired(Just darker sounding), but any guitarist who has been around would know this. My Strat seems easier to play and can do distortion pretty well, but really shines when playing clean. The Les Paul just seems to be more difficult to play and I have fiddled with its setup for over a year, and still isn't right(I've had it set up professionally, and have tweaked myself- I usually always set up my own, but took the LP into a luthier thinking he could get it dialed in , but it was a waste of money). For these reasons, I think the Strat would be more versatile for all styles, but again the style and your pocketbook is going to dictate.

Posted on 09/25/2008 at 2:09:18 PM

 
i found this article after reading something similar on musiciansplaza.com les paul = crunchy, not so clean strat = bell like and clean. best for blues =]

Posted on 09/11/2008 at 11:09:10 PM

 
gibson les pauls are beautiful guitars, but strats are more versatile. it is hard to adjust from one to the other. maybe because of the neck length.

Posted on 06/23/2008 at 4:06:07 PM

 
any hot girls out there

Posted on 06/22/2008 at 3:06:37 PM

 
ya Jake

Posted on 06/09/2008 at 6:06:15 PM

 
i personally like both guitar execpt each had a flaw that would piss you off to no end owning such a high end guitar. i own a american stratocaster and a Epiphone Les Paul Ultra and they are both amazing guitars but the fenders tone sucks my nuts to no end and the Les Pauls action kiinda needs to have a deeper cut away to be a great soling guitar. stick with the Gibson

Posted on 05/28/2008 at 9:05:11 AM

 
I own a Gibson SG special and Epiphone G-400 Custom, so i guess i'd have to say Gibson. still if i can manage the money i'll definately get a Strat one day.

Posted on 05/26/2008 at 5:05:56 PM

 
both

Posted on 05/03/2008 at 3:05:18 PM

 
Sorry Keegan, But putting the Fender / Gibson choice aside, if that's the extent of your research and experience with Gibson guitars, then you are sadly ill-informed.

Posted on 04/10/2008 at 8:04:21 AM

 
The Les Paul sounds like you are running a monster truck through mud... but its boring. And as for the gibson more reliable than the fender please the three piece body of a gibson that is glued together and then speed dried in an oven is suseptable to many terrible things, for instance I have seen a gibson pull apart right in front of me Fenders single piece body with bolt on neck will never fall victim to such a fate. If you like gibson great but to say its a better guitar inherently is foolish

Posted on 04/09/2008 at 10:04:35 PM

 
Also, if you want that real Les Paul Sound, you have to get the Real Gibson Les Pauls with the heavy bodies to get that great sustain and warmth, the Epiphones just don't cut it, only problem is that they are anywhere from $1000-6000

Posted on 04/06/2008 at 2:04:23 PM

 
I have two Gibson (not cheap Epiphones) Les Paul Customs and Fender Strat from the 80's with Lace Sensor Pickups, as well as a Martin Acoustic Dreadnought and a Gretcsh Silver Falcon. As far as the LP's verses strat goes, I love my Les Pauls. Its easier to play and you can get a much fuller sound out of it. That said I have not had any problems with either guitar and for some songs the Strat simply is much better. BTW the Gretsch Hollowbody puts them both to shame as far as a beautiful sound for rhythm and Jazz goes.

Posted on 04/06/2008 at 2:04:43 PM

 
It's all in the ear of the beholder...Through the years, I had many "Gibson" Les Paul Standards, I currently have 3 and have had one Fender American Strat. I prefer the LP's over the strats. Strats can be a bit tinny and their tone does not impress me. Les Pauls when played clean can give a warm tone that responds better to how hard/light you pick the strings. Whereas, you can whale on a Strat all you want and the response is a bit louder but still tinny. The same when played through distortion but you can beef a strat up a bit that way. A LP definitely will give you what you need at a live performance. I've even played both through a JCM 2000 and it's almost like comparing a cat to a lion. I also agree with a previous post that you should not compare a Gibson and an Epiphone LP. They are like playing a mexican strat verses an American strat, but worse. Gibson's have different P/U's than the cheap ones on Epiphones and are put together much better and the tone difference is noteab

Posted on 04/02/2008 at 12:04:06 PM

 
Gibson is better..I have a pretty nice telecaster..I like it way better than my strat...my Rickenbacker is pretty sick too...all in all i love them all but Gibson is amazing quality compared to fender.... please stop comparing epiphone with Gibson...you cannot compare the two..if your playin epiphone..you hve no idea what a REAL Gibson is like... An american fender blows epiphone out of the water

Posted on 04/01/2008 at 7:04:26 PM

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