I will have to respectfully disagree. JMHO, but I don't think you can get a Strat sound from a Paul through electronics. I think a lot of the differing sounds come from the density of the wood and construction.

For example, Pauls are really dense and heavy where a Strat is somewhat lighter and has more "Resonance" through the body, neck and with the trem which a Paul doesn't have. My Godin is even lighter than a Strat, and has even more "Resonance" than a Strat due to the wood and the way the neck is attached.

Apples, Oranges and Peaches. You can color them the same, but they are what they are.

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Gary

Nope, Try to get the quack tone from a Les Paul. I don't think so

+1

The only single instrument I know of that can deliver all of those tones is the Vari-Ax or possible the OOP VG Strat. Personally, I prefer having multiple guitars instead.

Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY

I have to agree that they all have different tones which I cannot come close to duplicating on any other.

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...I for one, sure would appreciate the return of intelligent conversation, spirit of assistance and the simple yet effective ignoring of those who can't seem to hang with that...
Best regards,
rob

From an electrical standpoint, each pickup is totally different from the other when it comes to wire resistance, inductance, capacitance, frequency response, and resonant frequency. From a physical standpoint they are different in wire guage, winding technique, and overall physical construction. The only way to get one to sound like the other would be through serious electronic manipulation such as modeling. Simple tone controls don't even come close.

If you truly beleive that all guitars can be easily made to sound alike, then based on your screen name, "Violin Parent", all violins should sound alike whether it is a centuries old Stradivarious or a Yamaha built yesterday. We all know how much BS that idea is.

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Bill

Hi VP: oo, this thread has the potential to see some mud flying before too long, I wouldn't be surprised!

On the one hand, there's many famous examples known to most of us of recordings where assumptions about which sort of guitar was used turn out to be embarrassingly wrong. Teles mistaken for Les Pauls and so forth.

On the other hand, when I try and get, say, Mark Knopfler's sounds on many of the tracks on Sailing to Philadelphia I can't do it with a Strat no matter how hard I tweak the EQ. I can only get near with my LP - and it turns out that's what he was using on much of that album.

On another hand, whilst I absolutely cannot get Mark's bridge+middle Sultans sound on anything other than a single-coiled Strat (and not the one with Lace Sensors either), our Forum friend Nikininja has a Les Paul where he's reversed the polarity on one of the pickups Peter Green style; I've had the pleasure of playing that guitar and to my surprise with both pickups on and a bit of balancing of the volume knobs you can get a very Fendery, quacky sound indeed. Nick laughed at my astonishment at the tone coming out of that Paul: most definitely not what it says on the label.

And on yet another hand, it's interesting you mention Clapton because last time I saw him a few months ago he played nothing but his blue Strat all evening (aside from a bit of acoustic) and I have never heard so many amazingly different tones coming out of the same guitar in a live setting. Mind you, that has to do with a lot more than merely tweaking the EQ, which he never touched: that gentleman is using a truckload of off-stage processing. Still, one guitar was good enough for him, so at least part of what you say holds up.

Supposing you've got Eric's fingers, anyhow.

Cheers - C

EDIT: for numbskull spelling...

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Agree with your answers ,guys - but have to add that it is not always easy to tell which guitar playing , if there is added several stomp-boxes........Probably easier if you hear them side by side. But each 'horn' definitively have their own unique tone , which definitely will alter if you change the pickups. I am also of the opinion that different tone wood has an impact. And it is those differences in sound I dig So if you want one particular sound , you better come up with the right guitar. But you can of course play all kinds of music with your strat ( which you seem to prefer) , but then again , maybe with a slightly different tone

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A-man

Hi bluesky: not necessarily. At the end of my violin making course last year a professional player was brought in and newly finished instruments by amateurs were put alongside those built by respected professionals and also a couple of venerable centuries-old fiddles. It was amazing how a fine violinist could make those supposedly very different instruments sound amazingly close to each other.

He talked about each one and it was clear that even if they could be made to sound similar they felt different to him as he played them: he had to work them differently to get comparable sounds out of them. Even so, the differences he detected and we heard were not always related to the presumed quality or value of the instrument.

The player's part of the equation is so-o-o important.

Cheers - C

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I happen to think that every guitar sounds different in their own way, even if the 2 are exact copies of each other. This is why guitarist gave more than 1 guitar (well most of us do). I know each of mine have different tonal qualities that make it more usefull to play a particular song than the others. Can I play any song with any of them, of course, the voice is just different.

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RK

2007 Fender Highway 1
2012 American Deluxe
2015 MIM Dave Murray HHH
2010 Fender Blacktop
1987 Fender Avalon Acoustic
2012 Marshall DSL 15 watt head

Ceri now Im going to flipping a pickup around in my Les Paul.