a little sick of Les Pauls

MissYouAllDay

It just seems like the cool thing to do. seems everywhere I look, on SNL or any other live performance, the guitarist of a band feels the need to use a Les Paul. It's as if they don't think they will be taklen seriously without holding a Les Paul. It's also interesting that they are always Gibson les pauls used in public. never PRS ones or any other brands. Does anyone else notice the trend? What sparked this was tonight I saw the killers on SNL and the dude was playing this Black Les Paul. It just seems like that guitar doesn't fit their music. Like they play all this thin ambient stuff and 80's sounding stuff. Well does anyone else get this feeling that artists go out of their way to use les pauls on TV? It's like they are supposed to give credibility. Like avril lavign plays a big black Gibson Les Paul. This sounds like insanity right now but I have several other instances of this phenomenon and when I remember these examples I'll add them to the post.

sustainedia

i was thinking the same thing. the other night i was watching sarah mclaughlin on freeview (directv) and her guitarist used a les paul.

solsurfr

MissYouAllDay wrote:

....never PRS ones or any other brands....

PRS Les Pauls? Hmmm....

IMHO, I think Gibson Les Pauls are the premiere rock guitars. The sustain and growl of a LP is pretty much unmatched out-of-the-box. Of course, you could mod a strat, tele, etc., to get a similar tone but that original thick tone and sustain started with a Les Paul and everything else is measured by it. A lot of guitarists use LP's on stage and why not? I have 5 electrics (tele, strat, sg, 2 LPs) and I'm always going to my Standard when I'm not sure what kind of tone I'm looking for for a particular song. I love all my other guitars but my LP's really give me the rock tone I'm looking for, especially for Pearl Jam songs.

Pearl Jam and toast

les pauls look great and sound great. very popular guitars for a reason.

maybe guibson made a deal with certain people, "use our guitar on snl heres money" but i dunno.

i love les paul's mellow, full sounds anyway.

exhausted

you can have my les paul when you pry it out of my cold dead hands.

mccreadyisgod

exhausted wrote:

you can have my les paul when you pry it out of my cold dead hands.

You can pry my Les Paul from my cold, dead hands once I get the one I want...

Hiwatt

Les Pauls are used by people who can't play a real guitar. Jimmy Page used a Les Paul because he was sloppy and it covered his mistakes, Jimi Hendrix used a Strat because he could fucking play. Les Pauls are smaller scale and have faster necks making them easier to play, combined with high output pickups and large wood bodies to give that extra sustain the musicians lacks in his fingers. McCready used strats more often back in the day when he could really play, he uses a Les Paul more than ever these days and he really ins't pulling off to many great solo's. There is a reason Hendrix, Clapton, SRV, McCready, Gilmour, Marc Ford, Robin Trower, Keith Richards, Craig Ross use strats and teles......and the list goes on and on

exhausted

now that's a hate on for gibson.

solsurfr

Hiwatt wrote:

Les Pauls are used by people who can't play a real guitar.

umm... ooook. wow. trying to push buttons or are you for real cuz this is ridiculous.

Jimmy Page used a Les Paul because he was sloppy and it covered his mistakes

yah, jp was just full of mistakes. thank god Zepplin didn't amount to anything. huh?

, Jimi Hendrix used a Strat because he could fucking play.

Jimi was arguably one of the most sloppy players amongst your list. Do you live in a cave?

Les Pauls are smaller scale and have faster necks making them easier to play, combined with high output pickups and large wood bodies to give that extra sustain the musicians lacks in his fingers

Oh, I get it. We are suppose to play guitars with less sustain, slower necks, pups with low output. Got it. I guess Vai and Satch play slow-neck Ibanez guitars? Please.

. McCready used strats more often back in the day when he could really play, he uses a Les Paul more than ever these days and he really ins't pulling off to many great solo's. There is a reason Hendrix, Clapton, SRV, McCready, Gilmour, Marc Ford, Robin Trower, Keith Richards, Craig Ross use strats and teles......and the list goes on and on.

So I guess, Les Paul, Slash, Randy Rhodes, Neil Schon, Zakk Wylde, Peter Frampton, Ace Frehley, etc. can't play guitar?

SteveMurray

At the end of the day who gives a shit if a guitarist is a little sloppy, as long as they rock my socks off i dont care if they arn't 'technically perfect'

and to be honest i really cant see any connection between a bad guitarist and a les paul anyway, thats just crazy

Pacomc79

In a world where Gibson sues PRS because they are getting their ass kicked in a once strong market share I'll have to disagree strongly here.

I've never seen more Paul Reed Smith's around than in the past year or so.

The Les Paul is a retorical choice, just as playing a strat or tele or what have you. People play Les Pauls for the tone sound and feel they get out of them, why the hate for a particular style of guitar? Hate Gibson for thier quality issues not the Les Paul for it's brilliance and glory.

Jacksons, Charvels, Kramers, most Ibanez's, ESP's, and many Schecters are not to my liking as I prefer a more rounded neck than a big flat 14 inch radius that Steve Vai and those guys like, that dosen't make it a bad choice either way.

Pete Townsend said he played Les Paul Deluxes not because he didn't know of better guitars, the Les Paul just suited his sound at the time, obviously around 1982 he began playing the black Schecter custom (tele) and now he's playing a Strat.

Hate for the Les Paul is going to get you funny looks from every genre of guitar player.

the 59 Les Paul is one of the finest electric guitars ever produced and the people that worked on it produced countless innovations, I see no reason to throw hate at the Les Paul.

As a player, a carved top PRS McCarty singlecut is more comfortable and lightweight with generally the same tone, but the Les Paul is a classic, I'm not going to fault anyone for playing them, and it certainly dosen't make them "sloppy"

JSP552003

can't agree with the topic here. I love Les Pauls. But i can see what you're sayin about people using them too much. I feel the same way you do about those stupid PRS doublecuts. Dont know the real name for them. Just watch any band out today and you'll see what i'm talkin about. Nickelback, Hoobastank, or any band similar always uses them. Basically all the bands I despise use them haha

mccreadyisgod

JSP552003 wrote:

can't agree with the topic here. I love Les Pauls. But i can see what you're sayin about people using them too much. I feel the same way you do about those stupid PRS doublecuts. Dont know the real name for them. Just watch any band out today and you'll see what i'm talkin about. Nickelback, Hoobastank, or any band similar always uses them. Basically all the bands I despise use them haha

That's actually the only real reason a PRS has never appealed to me...

They're great guitars, play amazingly well, sound great, and are just really well-built. But they're the pre-requisite for all the nu-metal bands, and as much as I like the guitar, I can't do it. It's like a BMW... great car, but they have that "Bimmer" stigmata.

exhausted

stigma.

stigma.

stigma.

unless they have wounds in the front doors and trunk lid, you mean stigma.

who's_pearljam?

Hiwatt wrote:

Les Pauls are used by people who can't play a real guitar. Jimmy Page used a Les Paul because he was sloppy and it covered his mistakes, Jimi Hendrix used a Strat because he could fucking play. Les Pauls are smaller scale and have faster necks making them easier to play, combined with high output pickups and large wood bodies to give that extra sustain the musicians lacks in his fingers. McCready used strats more often back in the day when he could really play, he uses a Les Paul more than ever these days and he really ins't pulling off to many great solo's. There is a reason Hendrix, Clapton, SRV, McCready, Gilmour, Marc Ford, Robin Trower, Keith Richards, Craig Ross use strats and teles......and the list goes on and on

:eek:

Hmm,
Off the top of my head,,,Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton in the bluesbreakers and Cream, Jerry Garcia, Pat Martino, Jimmy Bruno, Neil Young, Al Dimeola, John McLaughlin, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Robert Fripp,Bob Marley, Duane Allman, Larry Carlton, Dan Erlewine, Frank Zappa, Mick Taylor, Warren Haynes,Steve Howe, Brian May, Mike Bloomfield, Peter Green, Dickie Betts,Freddie King, may beg to differ there. Ok, maybe a couple of those guys aren't around anymore and won't be upset! I still see Keith Richards yank a few out on stage.

Oh yeah,, and Les Paul might be disappointed to see that his guitars are for sloppy players, too! Check him out every Monday night in NYC. He's 90 and still great!

They're different tools for different players.

Pacomc79

exhausted wrote:

stigma.

stigma.

stigma.

unless they have wounds in the front doors and trunk lid, you mean stigma.

maybe his hands and feet have mysteriously revealed BMW emblems who knows.

mccreadyisgod

Pacomc79 wrote:

maybe his hands and feet have mysteriously revealed BMW emblems who knows.

All you people can go to hell and die.

Pacomc79

mccreadyisgod wrote:

All you people can go to hell and die.

you can look at this first.


http://www.jamestrussart.com/sc_rust.html

I want a rusty deville too. It wouldn't be bad to be pierced with those rusty nails.

neenerbean

exhausted wrote:

you can have my les paul when you pry it out of my cold dead hands.

mine too. and it's not even a gibson.

UNDONE*21

DissidentBand wrote:

Jimi was arguably one of the most sloppy players amongst your list. Do you live in a cave?


thats a pretty dumb comment....jimi hendrix, one of the most, if not, the most influential rock musician of all time....he really wasnt 'sloppy'.

solsurfr

UNDONE*21 wrote:

thats a pretty dumb comment....jimi hendrix, one of the most, if not, the most influential rock musician of all time....he really wasnt 'sloppy'.

Your naive to think he was a technically clean player. At times, he was very sloppy. I never said anything about his influence in music. That is irrelevant to this thread that only non-LP players are great musicians.

mccreadyisgod

UNDONE*21 wrote:

thats a pretty dumb comment....jimi hendrix, one of the most, if not, the most influential rock musician of all time....he really wasnt 'sloppy'.

Jimi's technique was far from great... put him next to Vai, Satriani, Malmstein, etc. he's slow and very sloppy.

But that's one big example that technique isn't everything.

Just remember, they may be heroes, but they're not infallible.

UNDONE*21

mccreadyisgod wrote:

Jimi's technique was far from great... put him next to Vai, Satriani, Malmstein, etc. he's slow and very sloppy.

But that's one big example that technique isn't everything.

Just remember, they may be heroes, but they're not infallible.

understood...thanks for correcting me, influential and technique are entirely different things....keep in mind this though, it may be irrelevant but his style was 'sloppy' sometimes because he never had guitar lesson in his life.

FinsburyParkCarrots

Two words for you all.


Peter Green.

FinsburyParkCarrots

mccreadyisgod wrote:

Jimi's technique was far from great... put him next to Vai, Satriani, Malmstein, etc. he's slow and very sloppy.

But that's one big example that technique isn't everything.

Just remember, they may be heroes, but they're not infallible.

You must remember that Hendrix was an intuitive, improvisatory musician as well as a virtuoso. When you're playing with an ear to create something that's never been played before, you let your imagination rather than your technique guide you sometimes. Jimi was always looking to try something new.

Malmsteen plays "rock concertos" with orchestras and, though demonstrating a keen facility in the Slonimksy book of scales and an aptitute at stretch fingering, string skipping and two hand tapping, plays riffs he's crafted to death. His tone is invisible and I don't blame his scalloped fretboard for that. Malmsteen could benefit from being a bit more sloppy in playing a solo that registers something more substantial in terms of art than the 1980s bigger better faster more ethos in his playing.

Anyway. Back to the main point. Peter Green on a Les Paul = what guitar playing is all about.

mccreadyisgod

FinsburyParkCarrots wrote:

You must remember that Hendrix was an intuitive, improvisatory musician as well as a virtuoso. When you're playing with an ear to create something that's never been played before, you let your imagination rather than your technique guide you sometimes. Jimi was always looking to try something new.

Malmsteen plays "rock concertos" with orchestras and, though demonstrating a keen facility in the Slonimksy book of scales and an aptitute at stretch fingering, string skipping and two hand tapping, plays riffs he's crafted to death. His tone is invisible and I don't blame his scalloped fretboard for that. Malmsteen could benefit from being a bit more sloppy in playing a solo that registers something more substantial in terms of art than the 1980s bigger better faster more ethos in his playing.

I own Hendrix albums. I don't own Malmsteen albums.

The difference, for lack of a better term, is "soul."

All Those Yesterdays

Right on MIG

It doesn't matter what you play, what year it is, what pick-ups it has etc... Its all about the heart and soul you put in it.

The best music has always been from the soul.

who's_pearljam?

To me, an instrument is a musician's tool to "speak".
To me, the guitar players that don't move me at all are the ones that do all that fast stuff. I get bored really fast with that stuff when it's over and over..
The players I've always loved are the ones that are considered "sloppy".
Really, Stevie Ray, Jimmy Page , Hendrix, early Clapton and Peter Green all move me with the result. Buddy Guy is one of my favorite blues guys and he is always on the edge of disaster when he's live, like Jimmy Page was. That's what I like. It seems like a train wreck just waiting to happen sometimes, live, but they pull themselves out of it just in time, or not,,, but that drama works for me. That's why Hendrix was so great. Same with Zappa. His technique was technically awful, but he came up with some great stuff!

FinsburyParkCarrots

Yep. And to make the 10 characters count, yep again, though Peter Green teaches us less is more. :cool:

xmascleanlove

Hiwatt wrote:

Les Pauls are used by people who can't play a real guitar. Jimmy Page used a Les Paul because he was sloppy and it covered his mistakes, Jimi Hendrix used a Strat because he could fucking play. Les Pauls are smaller scale and have faster necks making them easier to play, combined with high output pickups and large wood bodies to give that extra sustain the musicians lacks in his fingers. McCready used strats more often back in the day when he could really play, he uses a Les Paul more than ever these days and he really ins't pulling off to many great solo's. There is a reason Hendrix, Clapton, SRV, McCready, Gilmour, Marc Ford, Robin Trower, Keith Richards, Craig Ross use strats and teles......and the list goes on and on

holy shit...jimmy page was sloppy? i want you to get the zep dvd and watch page play white summer/black mountainside live...with a guitar other than a les paul i might add...and then i want you to go back and listen to the diversity in sound, tuning, and music that he created...listen to jimmy play an acoustic vs. jimi playing an acoustic...pound for pound there was no comparison to pages diversity...he did not just fucked around with blues scales like hendrix...who was good at what he did...but after about three songs of the same blues scales over and over again it gets old...

Pacomc79

FinsburyParkCarrots wrote:

Yep. And to make the 10 characters count, yep again, though Peter Green teaches us less is more. :cool:

http://www.matamp.com you'd love a green matamp man.

http://www.matamp.com/catalog.html