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Soundwise - Tribute vs Standard


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I know it's a controversial question but, hell, let me try.

 

Is there a sound difference between Les Paul Traditional and Standard - given same pickups will be installed? Of course I'm not taking under consideration push/pull capabilities of new Standard models just pure full fat humbucker tones.

 

In other words - is there any difference in woods, build etc. between these two?

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Since no two physical items will have identical dimensions in this world there will be a difference, it's the degree to which anyone or thing can detect it, but at face value it seems fair to suggest that using the same pickup in two similar guitars would be more likely to sound the same than two different types of pickups being swapped over in one guitar, assuming nothing else is changed....which it usually is....

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I have two answers for you, and this isn't going to help your dilemma;

 

1. On paper, there shouldn't be an ounce of sonic or tonal difference between the two guitars.

Further, most of us don't have the quality of ears to tell the difference, even it there was one.

 

&

 

2. You can grab two identical Les Paul guitars, same models, same features, with sequential serial numbers even,

and......

one of them may sound, play, and feel better to you than the other one.

It's the nature of guitars that are built by hand, to certain standards, but with different slabs of the same type woods, and with the same pickups, but some produced on a Monday, with the other ones produced on a Wednesday.

 

 

The bottom line?

Play them both.

Touch them, each in order, and feel them, play them, and experience them.

One will feel like your next guitar, and the other one won't.

 

Oh, and if you are going strictly with mail-order, and you can't play them before hand?

It's all a gamble and a crap-shoot anyway.

You will get what you get.

 

Good luck to you, either way.

 

:mellow:

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I have a Tribute and Standard. The feel is about the same as far as the neck goes. They both use the slim taper neck. The wood and weight is almost the same. The Tribute has the classic weight relief and my Standard has the ultra modern weight relief, so the Tribute is a tad heavier or at least by my feel. My Tribute, however, had P90's so the sound is different. I played a Standard and a regular humbucker Tribute a few weeks ago testing out an amp. The Standard had the burstbucker pro's and the Tribute had the 490T and R in it and it sounded different. I couldn't say what you'd get if you put the same pickups in each but the woods used are technically the same except the Tribute has a different weight relief which may give it a different sound.

 

After reading my post, it sounds like I'm giving you an opinion of a definite maybe but I hope this helps some.

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Guest Farnsbarns

Between Pippy and Sparkie they really hit the nail.

 

In theory, no difference. In practice any 2 examples will be different because all Les Pauls are different.

 

In short, no one can say they'll sound different because a tribute has X and a standard has Y but play a load and one will grab you and, hopefully, you'll grab it!

 

Audition/compare guitars unplugged before you think about evaluating the pickups etc. The unplugged tone, response and feel will tell you what you need to know.

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Tribute vs Standard or Traditional vs Standard?

 

Topic says one, post says the other.

 

If it's Tribute vs Standard, not sure about sound but they sure will feel different.

 

Sorry, I ment Les Paul Tribute with traditional (not high performance) specs.

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I have two answers for you, and this isn't going to help your dilemma;

 

1. On paper, there shouldn't be an ounce of sonic or tonal difference between the two guitars.

Further, most of us don't have the quality of ears to tell the difference, even it there was one.

 

This is exactly what I was looking for starting this thread. I just wanted to know if there are any differences in build between these two (Tribute and Standard), for example higher quality wood for the Standard model, but I couldn't find any proof of that besides some post on other forum.

 

2. You can grab two identical Les Paul guitars, same models, same features, with sequential serial numbers even,

and......

one of them may sound, play, and feel better to you than the other one.

It's the nature of guitars that are built by hand, to certain standards, but with different slabs of the same type woods, and with the same pickups, but some produced on a Monday, with the other ones produced on a Wednesday.

 

Acutally I did that with the Tribute I had (which I had to send back) and 1992 Les Paul studio and to me:

 

1. Unplugged Tribute sounded better to me

2. On clean channel difference was very little if any

3. On overdrive both guitars sounded pretty identical

 

The bottom line?

Play them both.

 

Sure, that would be best, but I do not really have that opportunity, also my intention with this post was - since I really love the look of the 2017 Tribute FHB - do I need to sacrifice anything soundwise.

 

I couldn't say what you'd get if you put the same pickups in each but the woods used are technically the same except the Tribute has a different weight relief which may give it a different sound.

 

Yes, the weight relief might be the thing in some cases. As I wrote before - quick test on clean and overdrive didn't give much difference, but there might be some other - for example sustain.

 

In theory, no difference.

 

Sure, purely theoretical question.

 

In practice any 2 examples will be different because all Les Pauls are different.

 

Yes, I'm very aware of this :-) The problem here is that I can't compare Standard with Tribute just like that, because both have different stock pickups and since Standard pups are hotter I'd be drag to it more I guess :-)

 

Audition/compare guitars unplugged before you think about evaluating the pickups etc. The unplugged tone, response and feel will tell you what you need to know.

 

+1 to that.

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Guest Farnsbarns

the fully bound guitars are much more comfortable and luxurious

 

Since a new standard has fret over binding they will actually feel very similar (in theory, a tribute may not have quite the same attention to fret work in reality, although it should)

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Since a new standard has fret over binding they will actually feel very similar (in theory, a tribute may not have quite the same attention to fret work in reality, although it should)

 

undoubtedly true. I should not have generalized. I should have said that my fully bound guitar is much more luxurious than my tribute. mine does not have the frets over the binding.

 

I think the difference in feel of my two guitars is not just the binding either, it's more like an entirely different level of finishing overall that makes it just feel nicer.

For what it's worth, my "nicer guitar" is not really a standard. it's more like a souped up classic.

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