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Vintage Gibson and Fender comparison jam

Highway Star

Highway Star

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Oct 8, 2017
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In the quest of the holy tone we always seem to get stuck in the Fender vs. Gibson swamp. At least I know I do. I have always considered myself as a strat player because I always end up with a strat in my hands sooner or later. Lately that has changed quite a bit since I started to try out a bunch of 50´s Les Pauls. Anyway, I did a quick comparison of och couple of vintage instruments with some pics of each guitar. I also threw in a Warmoth strat as a modern reference :).

The result? Total identity crisis :##.

Here is my little jam:


 
thin sissy

thin sissy

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:dude:

They all sounded great, but the LP sounded best to me, especially on the bridge PU!
 
janalex

janalex

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Cool vid and very pertinent to my current dilemma. BTW great playing. Stylistically you're approach is very similar to mine blending the jazz and blues phrasing. I'm on a quest to cover the most tonal ground with the fewest guitars possible. I currently own a 57 LP, 52 tele, 63 ES335, 58 ES175, Harmony steel string flattop, Spanish nylon string, and an ovation 12 string. I'm on the hunt for the last addition, the perfect strat, and my major dilemma is RW vs maple neck (early vs late preCBS era). This video confirms my suspicion that a 57 which is the model I'm considering just has more of those bright strat qualities that make it continue to sound straty even with the gain turned up on the amp. The 63 sounds sounds thicker and warmer likely due to the combination of the RW and higher winds, probably very fun to play. Some say the 63 would be better for the blues stuff but I think our style would work with either. If you had to choose one, which would it be all around?
 
P.Walker

P.Walker

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For me it's the opposite, but I like both and have both so that I'm not forced to choose. Number one? LP always always.

But sometimes after a night of heavy drinking you need a cold glass of water in the morning.
 
Highway Star

Highway Star

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janalex said:
Cool vid and very pertinent to my current dilemma. BTW great playing. Stylistically you're approach is very similar to mine blending the jazz and blues phrasing. I'm on a quest to cover the most tonal ground with the fewest guitars possible. I currently own a 57 LP, 52 tele, 63 ES335, 58 ES175, Harmony steel string flattop, Spanish nylon string, and an ovation 12 string. I'm on the hunt for the last addition, the perfect strat, and my major dilemma is RW vs maple neck (early vs late preCBS era). This video confirms my suspicion that a 57 which is the model I'm considering just has more of those bright strat qualities that make it continue to sound straty even with the gain turned up on the amp. The 63 sounds sounds thicker and warmer likely due to the combination of the RW and higher winds, probably very fun to play. Some say the 63 would be better for the blues stuff but I think our style would work with either. If you had to choose one, which would it be all around?
Click to expand...

Thanks, we seem to be quite alike. I'm looking for the one guitar that does everything even though I know by now it does not exist :laugh2:. I really like the ES335 model and that would probably be my next guitar. What kind of 1957 Les Paul do you have by the way? I played a 57 with PAF just a couple of weeks ago. Sounded very much early Clapton. Very nice. But for my style the P90 suits me better. A lot of clarity and a lot of bite.

As you mentioned, with strats the biggest difference is in maple or rosewood fretboards. Pickups are of course important too but does not affect as much as fretbord to my experience. The 63 strat has an amazing neck and is a wonderful guitar to play. But I prefer the as a first hand choise 1957 because of the clarity, attack and separation of notes wich is preferable for my style of playing. The 57 also got great acoustic qualities and a wonderful neck. Having said that, if I want a clean strat sound the 63 is my first choise.
 
Highway Star

Highway Star

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thin sissy said:
:dude:

They all sounded great, but the LP sounded best to me, especially on the bridge PU!
Click to expand...

The bite of a lion is hard to resist. Soon you will have a kitty of your own.

P.Walker said:
For me it's the opposite, but I like both and have both so that I'm not forced to choose. Number one? LP always always.

But sometimes after a night of heavy drinking you need a cold glass of water in the morning.
Click to expand...

I guess that is the reaction one can expect on a Les Paul forum :laugh2:. For a lot of music styles and playing the Les Paul is number one. I totally agree :hank
 
goldtop0

goldtop0

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Aug 19, 2003
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Jeez that's some playing right there:2cool

And as for the gats well that '63 Strat and '55 LP were great.......thanks for posting.
 
fernieite

fernieite

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Jan 3, 2010
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Wow, great playing man! Kinda sounds a bit like Jeff beck in the 70's. :yah
Btw, I think I particularly liked the '57 Strat section.
 
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