hey guys! tell me why you like the strat better than a les paul!

Weight?
Sound?
Playability?
Versatility?

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Play every note as if it were your last...

http://www.youtube.com/user/mikostratocaster

I own both and find that each has their own unique tonal character that the other cannot quite produce. I love my Strats for their biting tone and the quack in the 2 & 4 postions. The longer scale makes me work harder to achieve accurate tone. My LP's have the classic warmth and growl that they are known for. The shorter scale allows for faster playing. My favorite? It depends on what I want to play and the mood I'm in at the time. Both are 2 of the most influential and historic guitars ever crafted. My Tele's also have a special place for their unique tone and playability. Peace! Keep playing!

I cant play lespauls past the 15th fret.

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No no and no

+100000

Agreed, neither is technically "better" than the other. However a top-of-the-line strat is much more affordable than a really nice les paul. I've seen about a billion people with Epiphone les pauls accross the music scene where I'm at, simply because a Gibson is far too out of reach. Part of it has to do with these people really simply like the style of a les paul better, an mim strat would set them back just as much cash.

Personally I'm a tele man, so I really couldn't care less. But I'd take a strat over a les paul any day.

couldnt have said it any better

Weight

sound

playability

versatilty

theres your answer

You know, I've never actually played a Les Paul. For me, it's a bit like a drug... I don't want to find out I like them, it'll just get me in more trouble!

Growing up, every guitarist I ever liked played a strat. Well, they all dabbled with other guitars here and there, but all my favourite players were closely identified with strats (or strat-style, anyway... hey, it was the '80s, OK?). A couple of guitarists who I actively disliked played Gibsons, and there were many more toward whom I felt varying degrees of indifference... so I became a strat man by default.

So, I guess you could say I prefer Stratocasters over Les Pauls through ignorance.

Theres not much diff in prices between top of the line strats and very nice les pauls. You,ll spend upwards of 3 grand for either. I think the lower end is where the big diff is. Fender has alot more choices on the more affordable side.

I Have played many a les paul and love them but have never owned one.I would agree with what just about everyone else has said and is the fair honest answer neither one is better than the other.Along with the tele and SG we are talking about the 4 most influential guitars in music history.The bottom line is what you prefer.I have always stated that one day I would own a LES PAUL and one day I will but I am passed the point of not owning one because of the price.As I have stated when I did go to get a PAUL I fell in love with a Wolfgang and wound up with 4 of them so that took care of my need for a guitar with a Humbucker but one day I will get that PAUL.Now on the other hand I am just a Fender junkie because I just love STRATS and TELES the configuration,weight,necks are all just perfect and what I am used to and I believe no other guitar has been ripped off as much as the strat.I mean Vanhalen changed it up by crossbreeding what everyone always wanted a STRAT with the output of a PAUL or in other words the best of both worlds.

This is a double post.

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I really like all them "Aster" guitars. You know, like the Stratoc, Telec and Jazzm.

More or less everybody here knows that strats are biting, slappy and that the single PU plays an important role. As you (finger)pick harder, the tone bites back (in a good sense), which is not so much the case with humbuckers. Moreover, with a strat you can have devine ringing cleans which expand very well in the (stereo) field.
In that sense, LPs are kind of more "monophonic" guitars. Don't expect the edgy clean tone a strat can give you, expect a more kind of compressed tone. You have longer sustain and you don't really feel that you have to strive as much because everything feels easier. They're excellent for creamy solos, dirty or dirtyish, I mean with at least a small amount of breakup but IMO they are not good for let's say country or funk cleans.

See below.

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You dig?

fat fingers....Seriously Les Pauls have 15 frets?

I know the feeling Niki... I think most of it has to do with the single cutaway and the shorter scale...I like the sound of the Les Paul and it certainly has its place but the double cutaway, the longer scale and a contoured heel on the american deluxe make those upper registers easier to play. I think fender is much more innovative in that department.

I recently bought a Gadow custom set neck that gets that Les Paul vibe but with a double cutaway and 25" scale its easier to cross over from the Strat.

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I'm not slow... and I'm not fast... just sort of halffast...

Because Yngwie plays a Strat and not a Les Paul!