Anyone else think Gibson Les Pauls are overrated?

[bdk]

I don't know man. Maybe I have no taste in guitars. People have been telling me there's nothing like an American made Fender or Gibson. Don't know man. Owned an American Fender, and played MANY Les Pauls and flying V types. I went to this dude's house to pick up my Ghostrider, and he had all these American Gibsons. He was all proud and stuff, so I was kind of excited because he was cool and he let me play with all of them. they sounded like toys. Seriously, it was horrible. ESPECIALLY the flying V type i think they're called destroyers. They sounded horrible. i had to pretend they were cool though to be polite, but the wood tone was terrible. He told me one of them was 2k. Man.

Is it me, or is it that you get these music school folks who just want to be cool, and iconic, and "rock n' roll" and so they get the Les Paul [with tatoos, and rock n roll haircuts, oh yeah and a stock rock n' roll attitude] and then whatever it sounds like they assimilate that into "good tone"? I think most Les Pauls sound like crap. They're either way trebly and thin, or way too muddy. Occasionally I come across one that sounds pretty good, actually to be honest I've played like 2 les pauls I thought sounded good, and one of them I partially attribue to the JCM800 it was being played through.

Weird thing is I love Page, and Slash, but I think so many new school kids get the Les Paul, and the Les Paul's one dimensional tone doesn't fit a lot of genres of music.

A Les Paul doesn't sound good clean to me, and the tone is very one dimensional. I mean, Page totally adjusted his guitar, added tap switches and the like to get more tones out of it, so I think it's fair to say it is a fairly one dimensional guitar.

I don't know man. Everyone talks about "sustain" from a LP but they totally don't sustain well. Set necks, aren't that great. I read an article that described the nature of glue in guitar necks and that glue actually kills vibration so a set neck should actually have the worst sustain out of a tight bolt neck, or a neck through. I think my RG770dx actually sustains better than any guitar I have ever played. I'm pretty open minded too. I go to GC and play all the prs' LP's, Fenders' new Ibanez' [West LA music has the new RG series, they're pretty cool] and I try to find great sustain.

I'm just sick of all the brainwashed drones going on and on about Les Paul tone, when they dropped 2 grand on a guitar that automatically needs new pickups, and the very things that are supposed to be hyped about it aren't even close to true. Having a heavy guitar does not equate with quality. I know, it's shocking, but just because a guitar weighs 15 lbs, and feels solid doesn't make it a well made instrument, or sustain well or have good tone.

Sorry to bag on Les Pauls, I'm not saying everyone who owns one is a poser, just 95% of you.

anyways, I'm just ranting, sorry if I offended you. just sick of hearing people say, "those jap pieces of crap man you need an american made gibson man, made in the US of A brother!"

I will end my rant with this: Think for yourself. use your Ears to determine tone, not your mind, or what people tell you.

[Batchimp RG]

Guitars mentioned above are all great guitars.

An RG/JEM is VERY different from the guitars mentioned above...and therefore appeal to different people.

Posing is an issue with all cool looking guitars be careful to label people with different tastes to yourself as "posers"

[elcid]

Yawn.

[funkdubious]

No I dont,I love them and as Ive said on other threads I prefer them to Prs. It does seem that Ibanez players prefer Prs,but I'm not much of an Ibanez player myself.

[Ibateur]

There's probably a thread on some lespaulsite.com site with subject "Anyone else think Ibanez RGs and JEMs are overrated?"

I couldn't care less what guitar people like or "preach" as having the greatest tone on earth. Each person will have his or her preferences and they're pretty free to preach what they want. As long as they don't try to convert me too hard without giving me a free sample.

[jono]

I think there's bound to be a backlash against them soon as so many bands on MTV are playing them at the moment.

I think they're great guitars at what they do, but they're not to my personal taste as a number 1 guitar.

[CosmicDebris]

Only thing I have against them is they weigh more than boat anchors. My RGT220A is OMG sustain and a great feel.

[NeglectedField]

My "personal preference" says that they're good for different uses. Gibsons seem nicer for more classic, more ringing out, simple stuff.

Some of my favourite bands stick with Les Pauls/SGs.

For me though a happy medium has always been the RG321. Easy to play but plenty enough sustain for me.

[jaxadam]

I think Les Pauls are nice guitars, but it seems the only ones worth buying are gonna cost you.

I have a buddy who's got a nice Les Paul Custom, and it plays very nice and sounds amazing. But it was expensive...

[LuredMaul]

I think Gibson is the most overpriced guitar on the market.
The quality is horrid.

[screamndemon69]

I have owned 4 different Explorers and two of the 4 should have never left my possesion due to the tonal qualiies they had. One of the two keepers stayed stock in the pup dept and the other got the JB/'59 treatment. This is just my experience with Gibson products.

I plan to get my 5th (I own zero at the moment) Explorer in the first 1/4 of '08.

I have played quite a few LP's but have never tried one onstage which is the "real" test for a guitar IMHO. When you play a guitar in a gig you can really hear if the tones cut thru the mix and have good qualities that you are able to work with.

I play ALOT of Ibby's and I'd say 50% of the Ibby's I've played have very thin tone (usually in the bridge position) which I believe could be due to the trems but I couldn't say for sure that is what was killing the tone.

I am part of those who believe that at least 50% (if not more) of your tone comes from the hands that play it.

I played a new '07 LP Standard recently (ugliest top I've ever seen on an LP - PLAIN snbrst - no flame- eww) and just sitting in my lap running thru a small practice amp that LP had lots of tone but not many "tones". The versatility just wasn't there but it at least seemed to me that I would have easily been able to play a gig with it and still get quality sounds out of it.

Generalizations like this are just that, generalizations and adding in the poser comments takes things even further from being a "real discussion" and more of a FLAME FEST. I'll second what elcid said, "Yawn".

[jemplayer55]

To start with Destroyers were made by Ibanez. Plus I didn't know you automatically needed to replace the pickups in a Les Paul. Hmmm.... guess I must have missed that memo or fad.

How many threads do we see on here asking "what pups to put in my Ibanez?" So you've got to be kidding if you think changing pups is only "required" on Les Pauls.

I've heard players complain about every brand of pickup manufactured and in all brands of guitars. You know.... I need more sustain, more bottom end, more top end, more mids! Again, you're making this blanket statement with little thought given.

Same with coil taps and phase switches..... someone somewhere is tearing into a guitar (name any brand) and adding this or that. It's got absolutely nothing to do with or is unique to Les Pauls.

We have members of this forum that swear all guitars should have EMG's loaded in them and plugged into a Mesa Triple Recto.....! Like that's the only way to get good tone! Again, all personal preference.

Like OMG dude.... can't you hear the sustain coming from this post? I mentioned Ibanez, EMG's, and Mesa Engineering at the same time!

As far as Clean tones from a Les Paul, maybe you should go and talk to some older players. Or try this...... consider what a guitar is plugged into, the player, and the type of music before drawing your conclusions and start passing off your judgment on any guitar brand or model as having real merit.

What you fail to realize is every guitar is different, along with each player. What appeals to one won't to another. But to cast judgment on a particular model..... well is surely shows you've had limited exposure to, or have a narrow set of criteria you're basing your opinion on.

Far too many hit songs ( in all genres) have been made, as well as good players have utilized Les Pauls to display good tone.

Oh, and what's this about posers? You're from L.A.? Well OMG dude...... you're from the poser capitol of America! Los Angeles, California! Come on now.... be honest here! When exactly was the last time you strapped on that GR520 "GhostRider" and glanced in the mirror while listening to your fav H/M band? I mean you WILL deny that right?

Maybe you should heed your own advice...... so you won't appear so "one dimensional".

"Think for yourself. Use your ears to determine tone," and for God's sake use your head. Don't just spew trash...... BTW, what was that you said about "what people tell you"?

[Real_Illusions]

I own a Les Paul.. Its a Slash signature and id be lying if i didnt say the name added appeal, but one other big reason i bought it was the piezo bridge.. no more acoustic guitars needed live!

Its a beauty of a guitar. It sounds ORGASMIC (it doesnt have standard LP pups though, they are seymour duncan alnico pro II humbuckers). at first it was pretty heavy, but i got used to it quickly. Its neck is awesome (a replica of a '59 LP, still considered to be the best model yet) plays really really nice. The piezo is absolutly fantastic. Close your eyes and youd be convinced you were hearing an amped up acoustic.

All in all, this being the only "Gibson" les paul ive played, i cant say i like them in general, as ive never played a standard LP, but the Slash signature is something holy.

[Crazy_Guitar]

I don't like Les Pauls...

[HeavyMetal4Ever]

Lets see if I have understood what you are saying...

"X" product sucks donkey balls because I prefer "Y".

Excelent argument you presented there... I particularly like the way you use your opinion as some sort of evidence to back up your blanket statements and generalisations.

You did say a couple of things that ring true and make sense, such as...

"I don't know man."

"Maybe I have no taste in guitars"

And the best one yet... "Think for yourself", yes, I believe I will think for myself, thankyou.

Just for the record, I'm not the biggest fan of Les Pauls personally, but I have never felt the need to insult people who are.

Sorry to bag on people who think their opinion is fact, I'm not saying everyone who does this is an idiot, just 95% of them.

Rock on!