Good day to all fellow Fender strat forumites!

I'm a noob so please bear with me.

I am looking to buy a 2008 Am Std. Strat next month and I really dig the olympic white with rosewood fretboard. I will be getting the strat at GC Sacramento.

But I also am wondering if the Gibson Les Paul Studio (alpine white) is a better buy? There's about a $200 difference between them. I am an amateur guitarist looking to get the best quality in a guitar for around a $1300 budget. Thanks!

Well, if you can't buy both, maybe buy the Gibson now and a Strat later.

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Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.

Welcome!

I'm totally biased. See below.

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You dig?

The Les Paul is a very one-dimensional instrument. It's what you call a one-trick pony. It knows how to do one thing extremely well. But don't ask it to do anything else.

Les Pauls are noted for their thick, sustaining tone. That is their claim to fame. They do that well. But if you try something like sweep picking on them forget it. Your notes turn to mush. Lots of what you play gets lost because of the thickness and distortion.

If you turn down the volume on a Les Paul the sound doesn't clean up very well either. It's just soft. But still dirty.

The Strat is the ultimate instrument. It's versatile. It can cover any style of music. You can get numerous sounds from it. It's not a one-trick pony at all.

If you want a one-dimensional sound get a Gibson. If you want versatility and an instrument that articulates extremely well get a Strat.

Buy the Fender Stratocaster first. Once you have enough for the Gibson go and get that one, that is if you still want one.

Just joking---Play both guitars. See which one you like better. Listen to the tones, get a good feel for them then buy the one that you like best.

RK

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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

The best guitar for the price is definitely the Strat. You may find a great Studio, but you'll play 50 amazing Strats before you find a great Studio. Unless you are that much of a LP fanatic, I suggest you hold off for a while and get a standard or wait even longer and get the Custom. I suggest the latter, no matter how long it takes! Considering the massive difference in quality between a standard and custom, the extra grand is well worth it!

Originally posted by FreedomStain

+1 LPs should have binding, end of story >_>

Plus you got 200 extra bucks in your pocket for a better amp or perhaps a pedal or 2 ^^

Also, kudos to you on good taste when it comes to color ^^

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I traded my car in for a microphone.

Go for the Strat! Great color choice!!

The LP Studio's arent that great, and thats only my opinion - I had one, sold it - then got a LP Standard - cant even compare the 2 guitars!!

Like the others mentioned, the Strat is very versatile!

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"Wait a minute, somethings wrong here!"

These are the two guitars I considered before I bought my Strat... The Strat is an exciting instrument. Very versitile as many have noted. The LP is the only sound a Strat can't do (unless you put a humbucker in there, which in fact the '08 American Standard can accompany either a humbucker or single coil in neck and bridge).. Comfort is another factor. The Strat is much more comfortable to me.

Take your time. Both are fine instruments. Play as many as you can for as long as you can before the purchase.

Thank you so much for the replies!

I am now convinced about the Strat. I want to get it as soon as I can. I saw the new Jeff Beck dvd, that's why I wanted the olympic white color.

+1

50 amazing Strats before you find a great Gibson Studio What!!!!I don't what Gibson 's you have playing. I find you do a lot more tweaking on a Fender strat. then any Gibby Lp Now I am not sure about the Studio's now days but even the Standards are run and set by PLEK machines.

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The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.

Thomas Jefferson

The les paul studio's quality, more often then not, is not on par with an american strat, imo. Now a les paul standard, thats a different story.
If you play a studio back to back with a standard, you should be able to notice the difference. Then again theres that price tag issue with the standard. So, in the price range of 1300, I think the mia strat is the best bang for the buck.

I have the opposite experience, I never had to tweak a strat and I'm constantly tweaking my LP Standard, my friend's standard, and my other friend's studio. I always thought my 2006 Standard was exceptionally bad, which I confirmed after playing many other Standards. But still, in my experience, only a handful of LP Stds have been on the same playability and overall excellence tier as the considerably cheaper Am. Std. Strat.

I don't think the PLECKing is really a convincing selling point. It just amps up the factory's efficiency and keeps experienced human hands off the guitar.