Tell me the difference between a Tele and a Les Paul
StuffnJunk
Posts: 896
Well my trusty Strat may be on its last legs (no thanks to the nasty toss i gave it 2 years ago i guess)
anyhow i 've been looking around and there are 2 guitars that caught my eye: an American Standard Tele ($1,000) and a Gibson Les Paul ($1,700)
What is the main difference in sound between them? What is the difference between a tele and a strat? I know that most soloists use strats (clapton, hendrix, vaughn, mcready) and the tele is "twangy" and les pauls are "chunky", but can someone elaborate please?
anyhow i 've been looking around and there are 2 guitars that caught my eye: an American Standard Tele ($1,000) and a Gibson Les Paul ($1,700)
What is the main difference in sound between them? What is the difference between a tele and a strat? I know that most soloists use strats (clapton, hendrix, vaughn, mcready) and the tele is "twangy" and les pauls are "chunky", but can someone elaborate please?
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Les Paul is "thicker" sounding. This is hard to describe cause we always describe it in terms that don't mean anything to someone that hasn't heard. The Tele is "thinner sounding"
Tele will sound similar to your strat in many ways.
tele has a bolt on neck (like ur strat) so it does not have the same sustain as a les Paul. Les Pauls have a set neck.
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Just about everything is different between the two. Lots of famous lead players use a Les Paul too. I'd say just about as many as a strat (think Page, Townsend, Slash, Zakk Wylde).
I'd elaborate more, but I say just go to a store and try out a tele and a les paul and see for yourself
tele's are twangy.. compared to les paul with is full, warm, and mellow.
generally i'd say les paul is better for lead, and tele's tend to sound clearer playing rhythm... or has been my experience.
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That would be bad.
try it out first.
then pick the individual guitar.
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Oh my, they dropped the leash.
Morgan Freeman/Clint Eastwood 08' for President!
"Make our day"
Sorry for sounding harsh, but that is a terribly surprising question.
I agree. How is it possible to never run into someone with a les paul style guitar or tele style guitar. The music store close to me that sells shit has copies strats, pauls and teles mostly. They don't have as good of a sound but the basic sound is still there. As a person who has only played guitar for a few years I find it quite incomprehensible that you dont know the basic sound of 2 of the most iconic guitars ever.
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Go and try them out dude, you'll find the one you prefer in a matter of minutes. Especially if you been playing for so long. I think that Blanche should go learn how many strings are on a guitar before casting judgements.
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(1) Wood: Not the kind you get from playing your favorite guitar, but the wood that they actually use to construct the guitar. Les Pauls are, for the most part, made of mahogany, which is very heavy and transmits a deeper tone to the pickups of your guitar. The Tele is usually going to be made of a wood that is a lot lighter, like Ash or Alder body, which results in a brighter sound. It should be noted that Les Pauls have a mahogany body and then usually have a wood cap over the body that is made of maple which gives the Les Paul a little bit of the bright sound to go along with deeper mahogany tones. At any rate, it might be a good idea for you to find out about the different types of wood that are used in guitar construction and their different acoustical properties. The wood is a HUGE part in the tone.
(2) Neck: like one guy already said, the Tele has a bolt-on neck and the Les Paul has a set-in neck. What this means, is that the Les Paul has more sustain than a Tele. In other words, when you play a note on Les Paul it will diminish at a slower rate then that same note being played on a Tele. For a guitar to be able to maintain sustain, it has to minimize places were the energy (vibration) can be lost. A bolt on neck tends to lose the energy (for obvious reasons) much faster than a set-in neck. It's like the difference b/w a strap on and the real thing.
(3) Pickups: However, I am no expert on pickups, but I do know, just like another guy said, that the pickups run a lot hotter. They are louder and usually can't get quite as clean a sound as single coil pickups, which are the pickups usually on a Tele.
Hope this helps.
get the les paul then...theyre heavier and more expensive. Youll never know the difference anyway, so just buy the one thats twice as expensive.
me too. thats my favorite part. and it should be the most telling and embarrassing for you.
That is not accurate. I play all kinds of music with my les paul. Its amazing what the knobs on a les paul can do. I don't think there is a better sounding guitar than a nice Gibson Les Paul Standard.
Not too sound like everyone else does here, but you have to try both of these guitars. you might also want to try the Fender Jazzmaster, or the Gibson SG.
Bass guitars exist with 4, 5, 6, 8, and 12 strings.
As I said, I don't play the guitar, but I studied music for 12 years.
I have played the piano, various woodwinds, and some bass guitar.
Armchair quarterback indeed. :rolleyes:
This is true. Plus if you stray from Fender and Gibson you can get some really awesome sounding guitars. Try out several. Not just a Tele and a Paul.
SG sound badass. I know some people around here like schecters and they are very playable guitars. There are endless styles and sounds out there. You should really try alot out if you are gonna spend alotta money. I am lucky and the guitar that I love playing is a very 'cool' classic guitar, a Les Paul. I would also say, if you get a les paul get an older used one or a reissue. I am not sure what they did, but I think they changed they way they build in the late 90's. I got a 93 Les Paul for a grand about a year ago, and it is honestly the best guitar I have ever played in my life, plus its that much closer to being really valuable. Also make sure that get a guitar that makes you wanna play all the time. I could play songs and jam a little before, but since I got my Paul, my playing, jamming and creativity has grown by leaps and bounds. I have become very comfortable with it. It is definitely a guitar of a lifetime and you should search for that every time you buy a guitar.
I think no matter what type of music you play, the Tele (as a general rule with exceptions) conveys more of the players personality. Maybe the Les Paul is alot easier to get a great sound out of, but alot of people with a LEs Pauls get the same "great sound" as everybody else that uses the Les Paul. Does anyone get what I'm saying here?
I'm not trying to say all Les Paul players sound the same, this is just clearly not true. I am just saying it is much easier to sound like the stereo type of "guitar sound" when using a Les Paul.
If I was gonna make a record, and wanted it to sound very original, and strange and new, and to convey MY sound, it would be with a crazy Tele or some other deviant guitar, not with a Big Balls rock out with your cock out Les Paul.
Now don't get me wrong, someday I hope to own a nice wine red Les Paul studio, I just believe that their biggest fault maybe, is that they are so easy and comfotable as far as tone goes.
I am trying to think of some real tone pioneers who illustrate my point. Jack White comes to mind, with his squeeky shrill badass plastic airline guitar. Eds collection of rare Teles with strange neck pickups are anotehr example of the coolness of non Les Pauls.
I was gonna use Avril lavign as my counter example
To say my point one more time in a less accessible and abstract way...
Teles seem to be the more sincere instrument of the 2.
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While it's true that the Les Paul is easy to find a "good" sound with, their tone selection is huge. Every small tweak of a knob be it volume or tone, gives it a nice change. There is no guitar better for live purposes than a Les Paul. A Strat can do a few things a LP cant do, but the LP doubles the number of tones from a Strat.
Good question!!
Don't worry about the critics section!
Les Pauls generally have better sustain, like everyone said above, due to the set neck and the weight, and you probably know by now. What people REALLY need sustain for is a whole different question! How many times are people gonna stand on stage and impress the crowd with how long your guitar holds that note?
Humbucker pickups have more output and a bit less versatile sound, and are less sensitive to your touch than a single coil, so they are easier to play cranked up lead with.
It IS hard to describe chunky,,,all my years I could never describe it. I guess by now you heard some in the shops.
Stock Telecasters and Strats with single coils have a thinner sound, clearer. With less output from the single coils, and that clear sound, you DO have to work harder to get your sound out of it, your touch is way more important on a strat or a tele,,,, but that doesn't mean you can't use it for hard lead. It just means that you have to develop your fingering and picking dynamics to fully get the sound out of a Tele, and match your amp settings, and maybe your amp to single coil sounds.
If you want a hard rock lead out of a single coil Tele,, you've gotta turn up that amp and play aggressively and confidently,,, because every mistake shows more on a Strat or Tele than it would on a Paul. You can turn it down and play twangier or clearer sounds, too.
Jimmy Page used a Tele for the Yardbirds, the first Zep album, the lead on Stairway, and live for most of the 60's! Pretty full sound there.
Jeff Beck did a lot with a Tele.
Andy Summers sure got a lot out of HIS Tele, too!
Keith Richards stuck a humbucker in his neck position.
Pete Townshend's been using a Strat lately, too.
Or check into this! :
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=guitar/search/detail/base_pid/515207/
I just got one of these for one of my nephews, and it rocks, for $400.00
Set neck mahogany Tele with humbuckers, strings through the body. It's got a switch to split the buckers to single coils, and is a pretty well built piece! Maybe later you would put pickups to your liking and hardware, but I was impressed with it!
Well, that being said, good luck with your new Les Paul!
I love both,,,, but then again,, I just love guitars, I guess!
I just counted mine and I have 38 of them and most of them have a story!
(Ok,, I think a few of them are Youthinkyou'reold's,,,, but don't tell him.)
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