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Post subject: Jumping the wagon from Gibson to Fender. Got questions!
Posted: Fri Feb 29, 2008 9:07 am
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Hi gang :D

I'm actually a Gibson fan for 15 years, love Slash and GNR; my first guitar was a Charvel for a year, then I bought a 2nd hand Les Paul Custom, had it for about 5 years when eventually it started to feel old and heavy on me, and I exchanged it for a new Jackson; kept the Jackson for another 5 years before I got too busy working to play guitar and sold it.

4 years later I'm ready to play again, and this time I wanna buy one good guitar and keep it for a real long time.

I thought I would buy a Les Paul again and never thought about Fender all my life. BUT, I realize Gibson is just TOO expensive and heavy. And the Jackson felt better on me. So, I've been considering getting a strat seriouslly.

Needless to say, I'm a fender noob! :P But I've done some homework, too, and have a couple questions:

Replacing strings: The Jackson gave me nightmares when I needed to re-string it. Gibson was so much simpler! Fender Strats looks equally complicated. Can anyone comfort me it is real simple? LOL

Thin lacquer: Do all maple strats come with thin lacquer? It looks so nice. Any downside of it??

What amps are generally good with a strat? (you know, like LP + Marshall= awesome)


Thanks for now :twisted:


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Post subject: Re: Jumping the wagon from Gibson to Fender. Got questions!
Posted: Fri Feb 29, 2008 9:28 am
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Strings can be replaced on a strat in about 5 minutes, if that.

Only the more expensive strats come with a nitrocellulose lacquer finish.

Quite honestly, I think a strat sounds good through most any amp; Fender, Marshall, Mesa-Boogie, you name it.


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Post subject:
Posted: Fri Feb 29, 2008 9:32 am
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Changing strings is easy.

Not "all" come with the nitro.

Strats sound good with tube amps.

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Post subject:
Posted: Fri Feb 29, 2008 9:45 am
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I have a Gibson Les Paul and besides from being very heavy it plays nothing like my Strat. Theres no problem changing strings. My best advice is to go and try one out, you`ll see the difference in the neck alone compared to the Gibson. My `08 Strat is a pleasure to play, and that comes from someone with a bad back injury.


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Posted: Fri Feb 29, 2008 12:20 pm
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i am a huge gibson fan and my guitar is a les paul. i do agree with the weight and to some extent the price. one thing about the price is that some gibsons may get expensive (and i mean :shock: ) but they are a bit more difficult to make and gibsons start at 350 (melody maker) and all of theirs are american. i don't see any new american fenders for 350.00. don't get me wrong though - i really like teles, mustangs and jaguars and fender is my second favorite company. the highway one telecaster is probably my favorite fender. i'm positive i'll own fenders. (okay ready for flaming over the gibson loyalty)

the nitro only comes with highway ones (i HIGHLY recommend) and the vintage models (pretty much anything above the deluxe american series).

as for amps i like fender amps and vox. just my opinion though.

as for the string changing- i've never owned a strat (just played them quite a few times in stores) so i don't know.

also if you don't want to stray from gibson try an sg. they're light, sound good and have really good upper fret access. i really like the classic with p90s. sounds a little fenderish.

Good luck!


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Posted: Fri Feb 29, 2008 12:44 pm
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A lot of the newer Les Pauls are chambered so they are MUCH lighter than they have been. Some people hate that because they say they don't sound the same, but not all agree.
It's easy to change strings on a strat. If you get one with locking heads it's even easier.
Since your used to a Gibson you might want to consider neck radius. You might want a radius close to the LP (12"). Only a few Strats have this radius. I played a LP for years (and still do), but I actually like the tighter radius of my Strat (9.5")

-Eddie


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Post subject:
Posted: Fri Feb 29, 2008 12:55 pm
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Hmmm.....

I have to be honest...I think there's room for both in a guitar player's heart. I think the strat is slighty more versatile, but as soon as you buy one you're probably going to continue to prefer some of your stuff on the Les Paul. They've got 2 completely different sounds.

As for stringing one? It's easy. In fact, I think it's easier than the Tune-O-Matic. Just feed 'em through the back of the bridge and to the tuning keys!

(The finish also varies on model and what not...)

EDIT: Almost forgot...amps. It really depends on your style, doesn't it? As for my strats, I've got Seymour Duncans in both of them, and I currently use a Roland Cube 60 as my main amp. (I got a couple of Boss foot pedals to change the effects...but it sounds great, and I can get all kinds of sounds out of that thing...and, it's LOUD!)

Of course, I know I'm on a Fender Site....so, scratch that last comment! Go check out a Twin Reverb! Hahahah


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Post subject:
Posted: Fri Feb 29, 2008 3:32 pm
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I'd also say getting an sg if you really like Gibson, but I like Fender more. :wink: Yeah string changing is super easy, and I got a marshall and it sounds great through it. I think pretty much anything can sound good through my marshall MG, lol. the thin neck finish is really great because it's smoother and lets you play faster and no finger prints!

There are plenty of great guitars coming out of both shops that are reasonably priced, have any of you seen the vintage double cut les pauls wth p90's? under 1k worth of sweetness. And then there's the faded guitars like their sg3 and reg sg, and their flying v faded. Gibson's really working toward making cheaper guitars without having them shipped in from some third world country. Fender's mexican guitars however, are absolutely awesome! The beauty of Fenders is modding and changing stuff out. So easy to make your guitar as playable as you possibly dreamed. Nothing beats a good strat to me. So light, so cool looking, and everything just makes sense!

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Post subject:
Posted: Fri Feb 29, 2008 4:44 pm
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I have one of each: an SG Special Faded with an Angus signature pickup, and and an all stock MIM Strat. The 2 best basic Rock guitars ever made IMHO. I love them both for different reasons and can't pick one over the other. The SG is great for rock and the Strat is super for blues and clean stuff. They're like my two kids... I can't see picking one over the other.


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Posted: Thu Mar 06, 2008 6:06 pm
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I had a modest collection of guitars and equipment up till 10 years ago when my ex-wife got them as part of our divorce (along with the surfboard and gun collection) One of my guitars I had to part with was my black '74 LP Custom Classic. I got the guitar as a basket case... missing the bridge pup and most of it's electronics and tuning pegs. I gutted the LP and rebuilt her with all new parts and she was sweet! I had two Strat type guitars, one a no-name and the other a Yamaha in my collection. The no name had a set up like the HSS. Even back then as sweet as the LP was I liked the tone of single coil pups more... like music that shimmers. After 10 years I decided it was time to get a new guitar. Since this was going to be the flagship for my new fleet I decided that I would only buy nothing less than a premium model... a top tier USA made guitar - so I put my price limit at $1,500.00. So the choices were a Les Paul Studio, SG Standard or the American Deluxe Strat. After playing that Strat that I bought I don't miss my old LP at all.

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Post subject:
Posted: Thu Mar 06, 2008 6:31 pm
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Have you thought about maybe owning both, you could get an epiphone les paul (which is pretty darn good) and something like a mid-priced strat. You could have the best of both worlds for the price of a gibson or high dollar strat. Evidently your budget doesn't matter, being you were thinking about buying a gibson in the first place, hehe.


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Post subject:
Posted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 8:44 am
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I will tell you my recent story...I went to Guitar Center and played
LP Studio premium plus.....Bought it and took it home..After a while
it didn't feel right for me and i paid big bucks for it ($1500.00)...Went
back to GC and talked to my salesman...He told me to look around
for guitar that will do better job and we could swap them....I did however
come around American Deluxe HSS with S1 switch that i fell in love with...We did
a swap and now i am happy...i did save $300 in price difference......
Gibson was great but it didnt feel right in my hands.....Strat worked
better for me.....Go out and try them...Try Deluxe for sure because
it's just great guitar....

Good luck


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Post subject:
Posted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 1:54 pm
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Not all nitrocellulose Strats are expensive. I got my wine transparent Highway One for about $350 plus quite a bit for the hard case. It's thin nitro.


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Post subject:
Posted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 1:58 pm
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Truth is, a lot of Les Pauls aren't solid bodies anymore. Stratocasters are solid bodies. It's great for durability and it's got to be part of what gives my Highway One the great sustain. But a chambered Les Paul isn't solid, it's hollow. It's a hollow body. Nothing wrong with that. I think Gibson's always had a lot of luck with the hollow bodies compared to the solids, because they aren't so heavy. BB King's Lucille, since it's hollow, weighs about the same as a Clapton would be my guess.


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Post subject:
Posted: Mon Mar 10, 2008 11:47 am
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Personally I think every serious guitar player should have a Les Paul and a Strat in the arsenal. I have 2 Strats and a Les Paul Custom and I am a San Dimas Charvel lover (4 custom shops). Best of both worlds. Basically the Charvel is a Fender Strat body and neck (the headstocks you can get either a Fender headstock or a jackson style headstock). All of mine have Floyd Rose trems on them. Seymour Duncan pickups. I can get the nice clean sound of a Strat, the growl of the Les Paul and anything in between without the weight of a Les Paul. I know they are pricey but don't knock them until you have tried one. I love the gunstock oiled necks and maple boards. They have the nice rolled edges like a Strat but a little bit better IMO. Remember, Charvel started out by hot rodding Strats.

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