I think I may be in some trouble...

Played a honeyburst Les Paul Traditional today. I've been gassing for an LP style guitar for some time, and preferred the specs of the Trad over the Standard by quite some way. Well, I fell in love! Beautiful neck, "that" Les Paul sound, a nicely figured - not over-flamed top and the mahogany back and neck look so much nicer when they're not finished in cherry... Worst thing is, I may just end up selling both my Strats to fund it... But don't worry, the Tele is safe! It's the first Les Paul I've ever really bonded with and now I can't stop thinking about it... Help!

Played a honeyburst Les Paul Traditional today. I've been gassing for an LP style guitar for some time, and preferred the specs of the Trad over the Standard by quite some way. Well, I fell in love! Beautiful neck, "that" Les Paul sound, a nicely figured - not over-flamed top and the mahogany back and neck look so much nicer when they're not finished in cherry... Worst thing is, I may just end up selling both my Strats to fund it... But don't worry, the Tele is safe! It's the first Les Paul I've ever really bonded with and now I can't stop thinking about it... Help!

get selling and go buy the LP...i love mine

Try to find a way to keep your favorite Strat...you'd have a Strat, Tele, and your new Lester. Nor much you can't do with that collection!

Try to find a way to keep your favorite Strat...you'd have a Strat, Tele, and your new Lester. Nor much you can't do with that collection!

Part of the issue with the Strats is the necks - I've got an SG Classic and a Baja Tele and have really grown fond of their chunky necks. The Strat necks are too weedy and I don't like the modern C profile - the combination causes my hand to cramp up when I try playing for an extended period. I did also try a 50s Classic Player Strat. It was better, but I would probably have to build a Partscaster to get my perfect Strat (with a nice boat neck!) Would love to extend my collection so it becomes Strat, Tele, SG and a Lester, though...!

Get sellin! Then you can partscast it up! Have fun!

Try to find a way to keep your favorite Strat...you'd have a Strat, Tele, and your new Lester. Nor much you can't do with that collection!

Yes! Yes Yes Yes! That's the perfect trio. Les is a local hero. I love Les Paul guitars (I love Tele's the most) but see if you can find a way to keep one Strat.

I could only keep a usable Strat by replacing a neck. If I do that, I may as well just assemble one and have a guitar entirely to my preferred specs. I'll probably end up parting out one of the Strats to make any money out of it - only the wood and hardware are original and the body has a battery box routing in the rear. But I get the feeling that the 'Paul is going to haunt my dreams until I get her... Which is exactly what happened with the SG!

I've stayed away from Gibson for a long, long time after a bad experience with an SG Standard ten years ago, but I'm lucky that my preferred shop is very picky about QC with their stock - anything that they're not happy selling goes immediately back to the manufacturer. I've never played a bad guitar in there, and this particular Lester is just remarkable! It's a shame in a way - I always used to be strictly a Fender guy, and very much a Strat guy in particular. But now I think I prefer the simplicity of 2 pickups - and the twin pickup setting on the Les Paul is just something else altogether!

I'd sell the Tele too and go for an R8.:wink: But seriously, I have never found a Strat that I like. If the Strats aren't working for you sell them and get the Lester. You will never stop thinking about it so you may as well give in.

CC

I'd sell the Tele too and go for an R8.:wink: But seriously, I have never found a Strat that I like. If the Strats aren't working for you sell them and get the Lester. You will never stop thinking about it so you may as well give in.

CC

The Baja stays! No movement on that point!

I definitely still want a Strat (probably one to modify - massively!), but I don't really feel like I'm bonding with either of the ones I've got at the moment... And I've had one of them for 13 years!

There is definitely a Lester in my future, but my realistic budget and preferred specs definitely suggest it'll be a Traditional!

GO for it.............. Les Paul.............mmmmmmmm flamey.....:twisted:

I got an Epiphone Traditional Pro back in March and have played it almost non stop since. I've NEVER been comfortable with a Les Paul style bodies or necks but this one is so much fun and comfortable to play. I love the Pick ups with splits, and well the Epi only put me back $350. I can bang it up a bit and not lose much sleep. Had it out at the Gazebo all weekend and when the neighbors wanted a sing a long to cap the weekend had it there.

My Les Paul Tribute Video.
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I love my Les Paul. It was my road warrior for 8 years until she got too weak to do it anymore. But she makes a great writing/recording/at home guitar. Along the way I've given up a couple guitars that I wish I had not. There are tales all over the forum of the one that got away. Just consider your Stratacasters in this light before going for the Les by way of sacrifice. Either way, the Les is an amazing instrument, and is perfectly capable of good hard twang, as it is of smooth buttery goodness.

I had the same issue with Strats. Not to the point of hand/wrist pain, but I just never could get comfortable with them and I do have quite a few of them. Finally, I did build the "one" and wouldn't trade if for anything. It's a Squier White body and that is all that is left of the "Squier" part. I also put a battery box into the back to power the David Gilmore EMG pickups. I also bought a rosewood fb Warmoth wide-thin neck with a compound radius fb and big frets( I don't remember the exact size). Oh yeah. it is a 70's reverse headstock. Dunlop recessed strap locks, Graph Tech nut and Planet Waves Trim Lock tuners and have the best playing/sounding Strat I've ever played for less than $600.

Sell The Strats unless you will have remorse later.

A Les Paul is a neccessary tool- get it so you'll be able to sleep at night.

I love my Les Paul. It was my road warrior for 8 years until she got too weak to do it anymore. But she makes a great writing/recording/at home guitar. Along the way I've given up a couple guitars that I wish I had not. There are tales all over the forum of the one that got away. Just consider your Stratacasters in this light before going for the Les by way of sacrifice. Either way, the Les is an amazing instrument, and is perfectly capable of good hard twang, as it is of smooth buttery goodness.

What does it mean?:?:

As I suspected... the Lester is inhabiting my dreams at the moment...! Putting out some adverts for sale of the Strats this week, also selling some lower value items to help grow the Gibby fund!

Why not getting a less expensive Les Paul like the ' faded , all mahogany ' with 50s rounded neck and sell on only one Strat ?

Why not getting a less expensive Les Paul like the ' faded , all mahogany ' with 50s rounded neck and sell on only one Strat ?

Like I say, the Strats just ain't working for me at the moment - my fretting hand suffers real cramping and pain if I try playing for an extended period. Plus, I really, really want a maple-topped Les Paul, and the one I've tried just feels so "right". And then I can slowly accumulate the bits required for my Strat partscaster project. Not that I've got it all planned out or anything...!

I also feel that if I'm spending my money on what is, to me, a dream guitar then I want the one I want - otherwise I won't stop gassin' for a bound, maple-topped, rosewood boarded LP. The heart wants what the heart wants, right?!

As if you need any help justifying your LP GAS, here's how I see it: you have figured out that to have the Strat you want, you'll have to spec it/build it yourself. You really really want the LP. The Baja is a keeper, totally off the table.

By selling the Strats you're not bonding with, you remove distractions from the honeymoon period with the LP (as well as helping to pay for it). That allows you to fully enjoy the LP, but ensures that at some point down the road, you will start missing the Strats. As long as you remember that you want something they didn't give you (i.e.: a comfortable neck) you will be perfectly placed to work on replacing the "almost there" Strats with a "this is the one" Strat. Which leaves you with (as has been pointed out) the enviable position of having Tele, LP, and Strat. That pretty much covers it all.

(Until you realize you don't have a semi-hollow...)

As if you need any help justifying your LP GAS, here's how I see it: you have figured out that to have the Strat you want, you'll have to spec it/build it yourself. You really really want the LP. The Baja is a keeper, totally off the table.

By selling the Strats you're not bonding with, you remove distractions from the honeymoon period with the LP (as well as helping to pay for it). That allows you to fully enjoy the LP, but ensures that at some point down the road, you will start missing the Strats. As long as you remember that you want something they didn't give you (i.e.: a comfortable neck) you will be perfectly placed to work on replacing the "almost there" Strats with a "this is the one" Strat. Which leaves you with (as has been pointed out) the enviable position of having Tele, LP, and Strat. That pretty much covers it all.

(Until you realize you don't have a semi-hollow...)

And the prize goes to Mr German for being 100% right... Particularly with his very last sentence! (Did you know an ES-339 with a 50s neck is even cheaper than a Les Paul Traditional?!) Although finally getting "the one Strat" would leave me in the even more enviable position of having an SG (with P90s), LP, Tele and Strat!

What does it mean?:?:

Set necks can get kind of rubbery feeling after a lot of exposure to lots of changes in temperature, humidity, elevation, highway vibration in the back of a van, player bending the neck..:mrgreen: I played her hard. Not worth the resources to make her stage worthy, not the way I play. Plus, I have various telecasters.

Mine's a 2010, in HCS not honeyburst, but they are sweet guitars. The 50's profile neck is my favorite of any guitar I own and the Classic 57 pickups are warm and fat.

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5127/5336349696_405c7cc066_z.jpghttp://farm6.staticflickr.com/5201/5335737597_51b5f89b4e_z.jpg

Just do it! :lol:

If you specifically want a "dual bucker" guitar...Go find a vintage (not RI) 72-80something Tele Deluxe. That way you won't have to sell your first born to get a decent guitar like you do with most LP's (plus the WRHB's will blow "regular" HB's out of the water to my ears...) As a wood worker/carver I can certainly appreciate the beauty of Les Pauls' and the work that went into the good ones, but for the cost, I'd be worried to take it out of my house, let alone bang it up playing out with it. If you're looking at a newer "budget" LP then I'd just get a RI 72 Deluxe... "budget" and "Les Paul" just don't go together in my mind.

YMMV

Dave

Mine's a 2010, in HCS not honeyburst, but they are sweet guitars. The 50's profile neck is my favorite of any guitar I own and the Classic 57 pickups are warm and fat.

Just do it! :lol:

I'm not normally a fan of true Cherry bursts - but that is a beaut! And those pickups are great - the twin pickup mix through a clean Fender amp just gave me chills!

If you specifically want a "dual bucker" guitar...Go find a vintage (not RI) 72-80something Tele Deluxe. That way you won't have to sell your first born to get a decent guitar like you do with most LP's (plus the WRHB's will blow "regular" HB's out of the water to my ears...) As a wood worker/carver I can certainly appreciate the beauty of Les Pauls' and the work that went into the good ones, but for the cost, I'd be worried to take it out of my house, let alone bang it up playing out with it. If you're looking at a newer "budget" LP then I'd just get a RI 72 Deluxe... "budget" and "Les Paul" just don't go together in my mind.

YMMV

Dave

Unfortunately my heart is set not just on any dual HB guitar, but is specifically set on a Les Paul. And I want one that can be a lifetime keeper. I don't worry about the value of my gear when gigging - just that it's up to the job. And a Tele Deluxe - even a vintage one - just won't satisfy the GAS! Besides, those original Deluxes still fetch a fortune here in the UK and I doubt I'd find one with a fat enough neck to keep the cramp at bay!

LP's are quirky. You have to play a lot of them to find one you bond with. Go now and put that LP on layaway while you sell the Strats.

LP's are quirky. You have to play a lot of them to find one you bond with. Go now and put that LP on layaway while you sell the Strats.

I played just one and found the one I bonded with. Unfortunately my local shop will only hold it for a month if I put down a 10% deposit, and I'm pretty sure it'll take more than a month to put all the funds together - which is a big, big shame! 'Cos after that month I'd lose the deposit and the guitar. So if it's fate, that LP will just sit there lookin' pretty and waiting for me!

I'm not normally a fan of true Cherry bursts - but that is a beaut! And those pickups are great - the twin pickup mix through a clean Fender amp just gave me chills!



Unfortunately my heart is set not just on any dual HB guitar, but is specifically set on a Les Paul. And I want one that can be a lifetime keeper. I don't worry about the value of my gear when gigging - just that it's up to the job. And a Tele Deluxe - even a vintage one - just won't satisfy the GAS! Besides, those original Deluxes still fetch a fortune here in the UK and I doubt I'd find one with a fat enough neck to keep the cramp at bay!

Well then, there you have it aye :wink: Looks like you gotta go on the LP hunt. Good luck, sucks to hear that you've found THE ONE but might not be able to snag it. But who knows, maybe nobody else will be able to either so if you get selling then you could put your 10% down and have them hold it for a month when you're closer then you are now to being able to pick it up.

BTW, Love the Josh Homme quote mate... I love QOTSA and Josh and I look like were brothers when I shave my beard off.

Cheers

Dave

LP's are quirky. You have to play a lot of them to find one you bond with. Go now and put that LP on layaway while you sell the Strats.

Yep.

You don't like your Strats and they are not valuable collectors' items. Dump them. It took me 30-some-odd Strats to finally get a real keeper (a '54 Commemorative Custom Shop - mostly...parts assembled by some good friends), and it's the same with Les Pauls; most of them feel "wrong" to me but every once in a while I find one that just feels and sounds right (and I can tell a lot about the tone without plugging something in). I have my ONE Strat covered, a Trussart Steel Paul (early "pre-DeVille" model) and a Les Paul I built the way I wanted it, so those are covered.

You have neither but have found something to fill one hole. Dump the stuff you don't like and use the money for something you DO.

Yep.

You don't like your Strats and they are not valuable collectors' items. Dump them. It took me 30-some-odd Strats to finally get a real keeper (a '54 Commemorative Custom Shop - mostly...parts assembled by some good friends), and it's the same with Les Pauls; most of them feel "wrong" to me but every once in a while I find one that just feels and sounds right (and I can tell a lot about the tone without plugging something in). I have my ONE Strat covered, a Trussart Steel Paul (early "pre-DeVille" model) and a Les Paul I built the way I wanted it, so those are covered.

You have neither but have found something to fill one hole. Dump the stuff you don't like and use the money for something you DO.

X1,000,000

Hell, I played over 10 different identical 72 Delure RI's before one just stood out and felt better to me then the reat. Maybe I was just kidding myself, and I don't know that I could accurately quantify WHY it felt different and/or better, but it did and I couldn't be happier... I firmly believe ALL guitars are like this. there is no standard GUITAR PLAYER so every guitar is gonna fit X player differently.

Happy hunting mate, I hope you find the right LP for ya.

Cheers

Dave

BTW, Love the Josh Homme quote mate... I love QOTSA and Josh and I look like were brothers when I shave my beard off.

I'm a big Queens fan, too. Really want to see them, never have had a chance... Still, got to see Them Crooked Vultures instead, which was just awesome!

You have neither but have found something to fill one hole. Dump the stuff you don't like and use the money for something you DO.

Already on it! Placed ads to sell the Strats, just waiting for them to go, now! Then that should be over half of the Les Paul fund sorted! Was tempted to part the Strats out, but thought better of it. May end up doing it anyway if they don't sell in one piece.



X1,000,000

Hell, I played over 10 different identical 72 Delure RI's before one just stood out and felt better to me then the reat. Maybe I was just kidding myself, and I don't know that I could accurately quantify WHY it felt different and/or better, but it did and I couldn't be happier... I firmly believe ALL guitars are like this. there is no standard GUITAR PLAYER so every guitar is gonna fit X player differently.

Happy hunting mate, I hope you find the right LP for ya.

Cheers

Dave

I think that's part of the problem. I bought the first one sight unseen. I liked the aesthetics of that particular model in that particular colour and got one ordred straight in just for me. Didn't even play it before taking it home... The folly of youth, huh? Think I was 14 at the time and was just excited to have a Fender. Similar mistake made with Strat #2. Loved the fact it was an unusual sunfire orange sparkle and had some nice flame on the back of the neck and bought it without really considering what I was doing.

I think the reason I bonded with my Baja is because I unexpectedly happened to use one to test drive my Vibrolux before I bought it - it just happened to be the guitar the guy in the shop handed to me. The tone was just magic. Ended up walking out with both guitar and amp. Took me a while to bond with the fat neck, but it soon fit me like a glove. The SG I loved the look of, but made sure I played thoroughly first. In fact, I played all the SG Classics they had in the shop at the time and ended up plumping for the one that spoke to me. It and the Baja now fight for my attention! The poor Strats just get left in their cases...

I'm not normally a fan of true Cherry bursts - but that is a beaut! And those pickups are great - the twin pickup mix through a clean Fender amp just gave me chills!



Unfortunately my heart is set not just on any dual HB guitar, but is specifically set on a Les Paul. And I want one that can be a lifetime keeper. I don't worry about the value of my gear when gigging - just that it's up to the job. And a Tele Deluxe - even a vintage one - just won't satisfy the GAS! Besides, those original Deluxes still fetch a fortune here in the UK and I doubt I'd find one with a fat enough neck to keep the cramp at bay!

It sounds to me like you aren't GASing for A Les Paul, you're GASing for THAT guitar. I have a 2002 '58 RI (Last Year of the flame maple, first year of the Burstbuckers) Between a good tele and a good Les Paul, you can cover A LOT of ground. I vote for you to sell the strats. I've gotten rid of a lot of gear and other than the 'cool' factor that it had, I don't miss it. My LP and 52 RI tele get my time. Everything else sits around "Looking cool". :mrgreen:

It sounds to me like you aren't GASing for A Les Paul, you're GASing for THAT guitar. I have a 2002 '58 RI (Last Year of the flame maple, first year of the Burstbuckers) Between a good tele and a good Les Paul, you can cover A LOT of ground. I vote for you to sell the strats. I've gotten rid of a lot of gear and other than the 'cool' factor that it had, I don't miss it. My LP and 52 RI tele get my time. Everything else sits around "Looking cool". :mrgreen:

I am definitely GASing for a Les Paul Traditional in general, but unfortunately (and I say unfortunately because I can't readily afford it at this moment in time) that particular example just spoke to me... I might go back and try a couple of the others they had in stock to compare the sound and feel. Definitely would like a honeyburst, though - love the more "natural" finish on the mahogany and the almost faded "unburst" look. I never, ever thought I'd get Les Paul GAS, but the quality of my SG Classic has just got me looking at Gibsons in a different light!