Larsson Posted June 21, 2010 Share Posted June 21, 2010 Hi, so i just came back from a guitar store down in the south of england, and i played a few different guitars and looked around. So what did i play? Gibson Les Paul Custom, Gibson Les Paul Standard, PRS Custom 24, Fender Stratocaster Yngwie Malmsteen Signature. So first off i picked up the yngwie strat and it was the most easily playable guitar around, the scallopes make it a dream on around the neck and the pickups put out a really 'loud' tone and bending was simply perfect as well as me actually being able to sweep pick (which i have been unable to do on my Gibson SG standard and the other guitars i listed above). The guitar even put out very nice blues and jazz tones i found. Then i thought, heck may as well try a custom while im here. I was expecting to play the best guitar i have ever played in my life but unfortunatly i found myself holding a extremly heavy guitar which to be honest i dident found gave a decent clean sound the neck was no way near as smooth as the Yngwie and overall i saw myself holding a very clumpy guitar which dident feel right in my hands. Following the custom i picked up a standard which was an improvment, warm tone and a nice neck also was not as heavy as the custom. However without looking at the body it felt as i was playing my SG in a sense both in how the neck felt and the tone sounded similar. Overall i feel this was a very nice guitar and had a beautiful desert burst finish, but for another guitar i dont think i would need one in alongside my SG. Lastly i picked up a PRS Custom 24 which was rather light and the neck wasent fat nor was it thin, it could produce a large number of tones but this came at the cost of almost ( i personally feel) makeing the guitar a bit too complicated. There was a master tone, master volume and a 5 way selector nob for the 2 humbuckers which i felt was a bit too much. However the acutal tone which the guitar produced was very nice it just sounded like a cross between the les pauls and the strat. I dident particularly like the counturs of the body either as it felt it dug into my arm as i played. Overall i felt the custom was overpriced for what it is and did not enjoy playing it at all and to be honest was very disappointed with it as it was not what i was expecting. The standard was nice to play but dident feel very different to the SG i already have. the PRS was different but i did not enjoy the 'hybrid' style of the guitar. My favourite, and next purchase, is the Yngwie Malmsteen Signature Stratocaster it was very versitale and overall had the best playability i felt and i really love the scalloped fretboard and what you can achieve with it. Let me know what you guys think, i will post a few pics later of me testing each guitar Cheers, Larsson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flight959 Posted June 21, 2010 Share Posted June 21, 2010 Where was this... GAK? I have been told the scalloped neck's take some getting used to but once you have played one and got used to it then you can just roll out the notes...Is that correct? Sounds like you picked up a right dog of a Custom.... I dont care for the newer standards, I played a 2008 at Gibson's HQ and it was Rubbish... Maybe it was just a bad one! Regards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichCI Posted June 21, 2010 Share Posted June 21, 2010 Maybe you're more of a Strat guy; I play my Strat more than any other guitar I own although I do still mix it up with the rest of them. If you have your mind set on buying a Les Paul, I recommend playing as many as you can get your hands on before forming a general opinion of them. Like any other make/model of guitar, they all vary to some degree and you might have to play a lot of them until you find "The One." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Witmer Posted June 21, 2010 Share Posted June 21, 2010 Your experience with a PRS matches mine very closely. While not having played those exact Strats or Les Pauls, I'd say our experience (or taste) runs pretty opposite. Absolutely, play the guitar that speaks to you. And pics! pics! pics! =) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MojoRedFoot Posted June 21, 2010 Share Posted June 21, 2010 If you have your mind set on buying a Les Paul' date=' I recommend playing as many as you can get your hands on before forming a general opinion of them. Like any other make/model of guitar, they all vary to some degree and you might have to play a lot of them until you find "The One."[/quote'] I agree. I recently played 3 LP Traditionals (2 at Sam Ash and 1 at Guitar Center). All 3 felt very different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larsson Posted June 21, 2010 Author Share Posted June 21, 2010 i dont really have my mind set on a les paul, i was looking at strats and les pauls, and to be honest after trying guitars today i think i will be buying a yngwie malmsteen as it have the scallops which i really really enjoyed playing on and its got some fairly versitile pickups. what do you guys think? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichCI Posted June 21, 2010 Share Posted June 21, 2010 I think it's really up to you and you should go with what works best for YOU. I own a couple of Gibsons and I post here but my Strat is my favorite guitar. Comparing Gibsons and Fenders is like comparing apples to oranges; both make great guitars and I'm glad I'm fortunate enough to have some of each to chose from. As long as you're happy with the guitar, that's all that matters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deepblue Posted June 21, 2010 Share Posted June 21, 2010 So first off i picked up the yngwie strat and it was the most easily playable guitar around, the scallopes make it a dream on around the neck and the pickups put out a really 'loud' tone and bending was simply perfect as well as me actually being able to sweep pick (which i have been unable to do on my Gibson SG standard and the other guitars i listed above). The guitar even put out very nice blues and jazz tones i found. I had a Malmsteen Strat and I agree. Once you get used to the scallop its a dream to play. I have only two beefs about the guitar. The pickups were flat and low output. They really rely on touch. If I had kept it I would have swapped the stacked single coils for a nice trio of true single coils. I also hated Malmsteens signature on the headstock. Couldnt they do like John Mayer and at least put it on the back of the headstock?....not really and issue, but it bugged me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarryUK Posted June 21, 2010 Share Posted June 21, 2010 I always felt the rosewood was nicer to play than the maple neck. I think the buggest difference in playing different guitars is the string tension. My two customs were ok. But my mates old black custom was a dream to play. It seems that some have less tension on nthe strings than others even though tuned the same. Some guitars bend easily whereas others play like cheese wire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larsson Posted June 21, 2010 Author Share Posted June 21, 2010 i played the yjm strat in sonic blue with rosewood fretboard looked really nice! had a look on GC's used section and a few yngwie strats going for $1000 which is a nice price shame i live in the UK at this moment Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deepblue Posted June 21, 2010 Share Posted June 21, 2010 i played the yjm strat in sonic blue with rosewood fretboard looked really nice! had a look on GC's used section and a few yngwie strats going for $1000 which is a nice price shame i live in the UK at this moment They really are great players. Brass nut too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larsson Posted June 22, 2010 Author Share Posted June 22, 2010 yes i found them very fun to play and so fast due to the scallopes (what i found). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SGSpecialguy Posted June 22, 2010 Share Posted June 22, 2010 thats why it pays to play it before you buy it, the dangers that you deal with when buying a guitar off the internet, Ive never played a scalloped neck before, Ive heard its harder to play in some instances but I bet you can really feel the string with no resistance from the fretboard when playing leads, gotta love the STRATS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larsson Posted June 22, 2010 Author Share Posted June 22, 2010 leads were beautiful and i found (it was my first time on a scalloped neck) that it is easier to play than a regular neck with much higher levels of control over the strings and people told me chords were difficult to play but i found them easier. All in all scallopes is the way forward for me and now im just waiting for one to come around somewhere at a good price Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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