Fender vs. Gibson

[thirdayfan]

Hey guys. I'm looking into buying either a Fender American Telecaster or a Gibson Les Paul Studio. Both of those fit into my price range, and so I figured those are my two best choices. I love the necks of Fenders,(c-shape) and the Telecaster fretboard is slim and really fast. The Les Paul has loads of sustain and it's own unique and warm sounds. I have leaned both ways in deciding this, so I really can't decide. What are your opinions?p.s., if you can think of a guitar in this price range that would suit playing in a youth band better, say so!

[danbos]

My personal opinion would be the Les Paul. I have an Epiphone Les Paul Studio and I love it. I went to the guitar shop and played as many different guitars as I could before I decided. I liked the feel of the Les Paul better than both the Strat and Tele. I also liked the sound of the Les Paul better, but that kind of depends on what you are playing.

[Someone]

Apples and oranges...

Everyone has their own preferences and opinions as to what is best. I would say pick the guitar whose sound best fits you're playing style and the types of music that you'll use it for.

[Martyred]

well..... I'd prefer the LP. I've played my uncles on several occasions, and I like the sound alot better than my Strat...

For a praise band though, I Strat my suit Your needs better than an LP or Tele...

[Kasie_89]

Like everyone's said, I guess you'll just have to pick based on how they feel when you play them. Though personally, I would probably try for something lighter. The Tele over the Les Paul...but personally I like SG's.;)

[thirdayfan]

Thanks guys. I was just wondering what makes you say that A tele/strat would be better for a praise band? like i said, i'm trying to figure out what would work the best for playing in my church band, and i notice that a lot of people do prefer teles over les pauls, and i was just wondering what makes that so? is the les paul more suited for playing rockish kinds of music, or is the tele just plain better for playing in church?

[thirdayfan]

p.s.- i haven't ever played a tele or les paul. I have only played a Squier strat that was my first guitar.....

[danbos]

p.s.- i haven't ever played a tele or les paul. I have only played a Squier strat that was my first guitar.....

Is there a guitar shop close to you? If there is, go there and play as many different ones as you can and make your decision based on that. When I was looking into getting my first electric, I looked online at musiciansfriend.com. I really liked what I saw in the Epiphone G-310, which is an SG style. But, when I went to the guitar store, I played a whole bunch, and the SG just didn't feel right to me. I didn't like the long neck on it, and I just didn't feel that comfortable holding it, so I went with a Les Paul instead.

[JTindle]

For a praise band guitarist, you will need good clean tones(single coils) and overdriven tones. The LP(humbuckers) is best for fat thicker overdriven tones and a Tele/Strat has a better clean tone(single coils). You can get Tele's/Strat's with a combination of single coils and humbuckers which would probably be the best route if you like the way they play. Play both types of guitars and decide which you like the best. If you like the Tele best, then try one with 1 single coil and 1 humbucker. If you like the LP best, you can still get decent cleans from it, so don't worry about not having a single coil. So it boils down to which one fits your hands the best, feels best when playing to YOU, and sounds best to YOU. I play both a LP and a Tele in my praise band. My Tele has all single coils but I installed a 4 way switch that puts both pickups in series( or parallel, which ever the normal middle position is not) which makes it sound like a humbucker.

Jeff

[thirdayfan]

Thanks I really appreciate it. No, there aren't any guitar stores within 100 miles of me that carry teles of lps. But i may travel to get 2 play both of these, because i really want to be able to find whats best. I'll let you know what my decision is when i decide. Thanks!

[Someone]

Neither is better than the other for any particular application - just different. I can name several bands/people that use the two guitars for worship applications alone off the top of my head.

Overall, I would just recommend taking your amp out to check out the guitars and try them both out to see what sound you like more, and which one you think would work best for this particular application.

[Snap]

I enjoy how strats play, the neck and fretboard feel really comfortable, BUT I really love the Les Paul/Humbucker sound.

It kind of depends of what type of sound you're going for. There are certain clean tones and punchy mids that you can only get with single coil pickups, but Les Pauls give you a nice and mellow, jazzy clean tone and an awesome bite when you turn the gain up.

[thirdayfan]

I think I'm going to go with an American Deluxe Telecaster with Samarium Cobalt Noisless pickups. I have smaller hands, and a slimmer fretboard is much easier for me to navigate. I do love the LP sounds and the humbuckers, and I wish I had the money to buy both! But, for now I'm going to stick with the American Deluxe and buy my Les Paul somewhere down the line. Thanks to all of you who helped me decide on what to buy. By the way, I play through a Vox AD30VT amp, and I'm looking to purchase my first pedals. I think I'm going to start with a A Boss Blues Driver, Ibanez Tube Screamer, Boss Overdrive, and A Crybaby. Does anyone have any suggestions to help me with my sound? (I may also buy a Line 6 DL4 Delay Modeler in the future.)

[Someone]

Good choice. I've always been a sucker for teles, though I certainly love LPs. I just can't deny the attraction of single coil p'ups though.

If I were you, I would just get one of those overdrive pedals, and use the remaining to get a delay pedal. Unless you are doing some serious playing out and really need them, I see no need for anyone to have three seperate OD/Distortion pedals. Especially if you are just getting into the world of effects. I would recommend just getting one of them (the Screamer would be my recommendation) and use the remaining cash to get a delay, or even better, put it towards a better amp. The AD30VT is a solid amp, but you just won't get professional quality tones out of it. Remember, the amp affects your tone more than any other piece of gear. This is another thread topic in and of itself though, so I'll leave it at that.

[prayercloth sis]

When I married my husband he owned a Les Paul Gibson...a sunburst....with many humbuckers and it was a Deluxe.....with Mother of Pearl inlay and was made in 1971....

I absolutely loved it.....

A few years later for his birthday I bought him a Fender Stratocasterfor his birthday, sunburst in color, with Fender goldlace sensor pickups...and has "waa waa bar"....and it can jam...

and I love it too....

so this is a hard choice.....

I recently looked at Guitar Center to purchsae my husband another Gibson Les Paul....it was a Studio Paul with a natural/blonde finish with full size humbuckers, with an awesome sound almost as good as the old one....almost bought it....still may....????

but it wasn't the color we wanted...but the sound my God the sound was magnificient...

So if I have to choose....I will always pick the Les Paul Gibson...with the Fender Strat in a nose race with it...

just my personal opinion....

God bless

Rhonie

[Aj_rocker]

I love both, the fender camp is great for what it does, and the same for the gibson. they both have a role in creating great tones, all guitars are equal!!


peace

[thirdayfan]

Someone- What kind of amp would give me the tones that I need?

[Someone]

It depends on what type of music you're going for. I'm going to assume that you would be going for tone on a budget, that can cover most modern worship songs today. For that, a good clean sound would be nessesary, along with a solid light to heavy OD sound. To that end there are several amps that come to mind, and whose sounds can be expanded even more with an OD pedal (like the tubescreamer as mentioned above). Those that come to mind:

- Fender Hot Rod Deluxe: One guy at my school used one of these in chapel to great effect. Great cleans and light OD, plus he used a pedal or two as boosts to get some very nice heavy OD tones. If you are really on a budget, you could also check out the Fender Blues Junior (it has only one channel) and use an OD pedal as the second channel.

- Vox AC30 (or AC15): Not much needs to be said here. This is the amp that a very solid percentage of praise bands use today. I believe Chris Tomlin's guitarist uses one, Starfield, David Crowder's guys, and plenty of others. It's a classic amp.

- Peavey Classic 30: This is the classic rock amp for the budget guitarist. The clean channel is a bit lacking, but the OD/Distortion sounds quite good.

There are plenty of options out there though. Peavey has a few newer tube amp series that I hear are quite good, but that I haven't tried myself. Traynor is another solid brand to check out. Also, remember that the used market is a good thing. You can get some great deals there if you know what to look for. For starters, check out craigslist.com - find the city closest to you and check out the listings. They are all local, so you can try before you buy. I would also recommend finding a good guitar store with a decent selection of tube amps and trying them out - bring you're guitar once you buy it to get the best idea of what you're getting.

[OnceDead]

Gibson guitars (Les Paul is king)
Fender Basses

[E. Blues Gomer]

Tele vs. LP is definately an apple vs Orange even if the Tele has humbuckers in it same situation. I have my fenders and I have my Epi LPs, but they don't see much light anymore.

I usually end up bringing at least two guitars usually a LP style or a Strat/Tele/Jr just in case or depending on the songs we're playing


As far as an amp goes, For a worship setting I've been using a Tech21 Trademark 60 and Power Engine.... It's an analog circuit solid state amp. So it acts like a tube... yes you'll lose that tubey goodness warmth, but other than that it's a great little amp and sounds fantastic.... And it's light and managable... My fender you have to keep it less than 2 without killing anyone on stage or the congregation.... Then my Marshall is the same way.

at a whopping 35lbs my back is thankful.

[E. Blues Gomer]

Gibson guitars (Les Paul is king)
Fender Basses


My biggest issue with Fender and Gibson anymore is their guitars don't seem to be consistent... I usually have to play a few dozen to find one I like, that's why I've moved into the boutique sector..

[Tony Trout]

I have a Fender reissue paisley tele and an Epi Les Paul Custom and a Squier strat (I have a horrible time keeping the strat in tune, though!)

[manoverboard21]

Why not just get yourself a Line 6 Variax guitar that models both Fender and Gibsons, plus tons of other guitars??

[E. Blues Gomer]

Why not just get yourself a Line 6 Variax guitar that models both Fender and Gibsons, plus tons of other guitars??

because close only counts in horse shoes, hand grenades, atom bombs and claymores.

[micahsky]

Love that Gibson:) I have a Epiphone SG...Lovin it.