Traded My New Les Paul For a New Strat

[Shamus]

Hi

 

First of all thanks for your honesty. Sometimes you do not bond with a guitar.I have had disappointing Fenders and one Gibson that was not great.

 

Strat o Steve is correct on the trade values though.The dealer should a the very least given you trade value in the higher range of a American Deluxe and not a regular standard. Don't get me wrong American Standards are great Guitars for $1000.00

 

Although , a custom shop GIbson through a quality Tube amp is the holly grail. I have been lucky for the most part my GIbsons have soul,with great tone.I played many versions before purchasing.I learned that lesson years ago and that pretty and color is enough to purchase. I appreciate tone versus the wow factor. It was hard lesson but will worth it.

 

Good luck with your Fender and now you can begin the search for another GIbson .There is one out there with your name on it. If you have not looked at a Custom shop you should consider it.iThey are game changers.

[CowboyBillyBob1]

Both Fender and Gibson make some great guitars and some not that great.

I recently purchased a Squire 50's Vibe Tele and a 2012 Gibson LP Standard. The Tele is G tuned with the low 6th string removed like Keith Richards. This guitar delivers exactly what I wanted for $350 USD. The LP delivers exactly what I wanted from an LP and more for $2500 USD.

 

Both makers have had era's when their guitars sucked but I think they both make a guitar you will fall in love with.

[FenderGuy1]

i have never came across a turd Gibson, ive played even the most crappiest guitars out there, they bonded with me xD

[Bongoscot]

I wouldnt even consider it an apples to apples comparison. I like fender for what it is but other than both having 6 strings I dont even see what there is to compare. Its like comparing airplanes to helicopters. Sure, they both fly.

 

I was taught early and still believe to this day that every single guitar is an individual. I would feel silly buying a guitar without playing it for awhile and comparing it to others. I dont mean to put down anyone who buys online or however, but that does not work for me. I have witnessed 2 identical looking guitars that have totally different feel and tone. I know that the higher end have better consistancy, but I stll believe it holds true. Frankly, to say that you had a Gibson that you didnt like so much, then got a Fender that you like allot means that Fender is better than Gibson just sounds plain dumb to me. I am positive that I could find and instrument from any brand that I could really like. I had a Yamaha that was awesome, and a Samick that I really liked too. Ill bet if you tried you could find a Fender that Blows.

I feel like I have already wasted too much thought on such an ignorant post.

[badbluesplayer]

Deciding you like Fender more than your Gibson is fine. Making up a bunch of silly justifications for it and then posting them on the Gibson Forum is First Degree Trolling.

 

Gibson has cut too many corners with the materials and construction of the newest Les Pauls, today they are no longer solid bodies, they have holes and chambers drilled and routered in the bodies for weight relief,

 

If that's important to you then you bought the wrong guitar. There are Les Paul models today that are not weight relieved.

 

the necks no longer have triple ply binding,

 

No classic Les Pauls ever did.

 

even the jack plate was plastic instead of metal,

 

They are plastic to make sure they are more like the original 50's Les Paul.

 

the string nuts are no longer bone, there plastic,

 

Actually they're Corian. Just like Fender.

 

the pick up chambers are no longer copper shielded.

 

When has Gibson every copper shielded the pickup cavities on a Les Paul and why would they?

 

and in my particular model the fretboard was baked maple not rosewood,

 

And yet you bought it any way...

 

 

 

Now, Let's look at the other side of the coin.

 

there is no need for Gibson to cut corners on materials and quality construction, Fender never has... one of the few guitars unchanged in materials and construction ever since it's inception back in the 50's.

 

Unless you count plastic nuts, 3 bolt necks, Wilkinson bridges, "synchronized" bridges, two-pivot American bridges, "hardtail" bridges, Floyd Rose locking tremolos, FreeFlyte bridges, locking tuners, "Photo Finishes", Lace Sensors, Vintage Noiseless, 2 knob strats, big headstocks, little headstocks, trus rod nut at the body, trus rod nut at the head, swimming pool routs, TBX tone controls, S1 switches, 3 position switches, 5 positions switches, push button switches, sheet metal saddles, die cast saddles, Micro Tilt Necks... ect, ect, ect...

 

The list goes on and that's just on the American Strats. We haven't even gotten into the plywood bodies and plastic fingerboards of their lesser models. We haven't even looked into the fact that their "American" made guitars are painted and partially built in Mexico. We haven't even addressed the fact the Leo originally designed his guitars to be stamped out on a factory line as fast as you could go with no binding, bolt on necks, cheap wood and originally didn't even want to use a Truss Rod. A Strat can not be directly compared to a Les Paul price wise.

 

And still Gibson offers more well built American made models for under $1000 than Fender does.

 

 

If you like your Fender more than your Gibson that's fine but let's not get all high and mighty about it

 

Why confuse us with the facts when we were having so much fun just saying stuff.

[cookieman15061]

Variety is good.

 

 

I'm with AXE® on this one. It's all good and It's one guys opinion. If he feels a bias one way or the other he's certainly free to post his reasons. So what.

I take stock in what many of you here have to say and appreciate advise from long time members who's knowledge on guitars has proved invaluable.

 

Like many here, I own both Fenders and Gibsons and don't understand how anybody can bash either one. I just recently bought a Custom Classic LP and a Rosewood Tele and both are fantastic. Different for sure but beautiful instruments that prove to me anyway that they still know what they're doing..........

 

and doing it well.

[Guest farnsbarns]

The Les Paul's of today are not the ones from 30 years ago, Gibson has cut too many corners with the materials and construction of the newest Les Pauls

 

The les Paul's of 30 years ago were considered the worst ever made.

 

they are no longer solid bodies, they have holes and chambers drilled and routered in the bodies for weight relief.

 

Chambered standards are different, some like them, some don't, there is a choice though. Many very reputable luthiers of international acclaim agree the swiss cheese weight relieve has no effect at all on tone.

 

 

the necks no longer have triple ply binding

 

They never did on standards.

 

and in my particular model the fretboard was baked maple not rosewood

 

Again there is a choice, buy the right one.

 

 

even the jack plate was plastic instead of metal

 

As it should be, as they were in the 50s.

 

the string nuts are no longer bone, there plastic

 

As they should be

 

the pick up chambers are no longer copper shielded.

 

 

As they should be

 

 

I think you just researched your purchase very badly.

[AlanH]

Hmmmmm.....

 

Well, I have a couple of Gibson fadeds and a Fender USA-made Charvel San Dimas which, with its 12-16" compound radius fingerboard, I guess falls somewhere bewtween the standard of an American Standard Strat and American Deluxe Strat. I don't know what FMIC construction used to be like but I have to say that I see no more or less overall quality with my Charvel compared to the Gibbys and it was a couple of hundred quid more than my LP and almost twice the price of my SG. OK it has an Original Floyd Rose (albeit Korean) which adds a bit more to the price but my Gibsons give me a couple of layers of nitro lacquer, a set neck and (in the case of the LP) a carved maple cap for what is a more modest outlay. Top end production Gibsons are more expensive than they should be IMO so I think you could have done better for your money.

 

All that aside, my J-Craft made Japanese Ibanez Prestige blows the three of them away for precision of construction.

 

Like said above, they're all different so you can't really compare. Nevertheless, all of them are very playable and, compared to how prices should have gone up over the last 30 years, offer superb value for money.

[dc3c46]

Yea referencing 30 years is exactly the wrong era to reference.

 

There is no comparison between Gibson and Fender because they are made very differently. Including materials and finishes.

 

Fender makes Gretsch in the USA, why then are they as expensive as a Gibson?

 

But my favorite is this:

 

"Fender American Standard Strat, one of the few guitars unchanged in materials and construction ever since it's inception back in the 50's"

 

You mean the 3-piece body, fulcrum tremolo that does not hold edge or the polyurethane finish?

 

Please.

 

My Gretsch 6120 was made in Japan, not in the U.S.

Quite expensive but worth every penny for the quality I got.

As to Fender vs. Gibson it is Apples vs. Oranges

and owning both( EC Strat and American Special Tele, LP Standard, ES339, Firebird V, ES333)

I love them all. Plus the 6120 and my Ric 360/12 give me the additional versatility of

unique tonal characteristics I appreciate.

[bonzoboy]

I find it amusing that some people are so adamant and dogmatic about brand loyality that anyone who dares say anything negative about their beloved brand is automatically labled a troll.This is not only going on with Gibson Forums but in every forum.Face it that even in this day and age with all the preventative measures taken to ensure that no inferior products slip through their stringent inspection processes,there will be the occassional guitar slip through that's not quite up to par and even may be plagued with several problems.One of my buddys bought a new Les Paul in 2009 and paid over $3,000 for it and still hasn't had all the problems with it resolved dispite several set-ups and repairs by various competent luthiers-the problem appears to be a neck that was put on before the wood had properly dried and cured,hence it won't hold its tuning for more than 10 minutes.The thing is that you have to try to be objective when dealing with guitars and problems associated with them because from time to time all of them have their problems but when the owner mentions the problems that doesn't make him/her a troll nor does it mean that they are branding all the guitars of that model-brand junk.

[Harpo]

Now before you guy's jump all over me, give me a chance to explain.

 

I've got a 2004 50th Anniversary Fender American Deluxe HSS Strat and a 2008 Gibson Les Paul Standard, both great Gits.

 

Which do you think gets more play?

 

Hint it ain't the Fender!

[Guest farnsbarns]

I find it amusing that some people are so adamant and dogmatic about brand loyality that anyone who dares say anything negative about their beloved brand is automatically labled a troll.This is not only going on with Gibson Forums but in every forum.Face it that even in this day and age with all the preventative measures taken to ensure that no inferior products slip through their stringent inspection processes,there will be the occassional guitar slip through that's not quite up to par and even may be plagued with several problems.One of my buddys bought a new Les Paul in 2009 and paid over $3,000 for it and still hasn't had all the problems with it resolved dispite several set-ups and repairs by various competent luthiers-the problem appears to be a neck that was put on before the wood had properly dried and cured,hence it won't hold its tuning for more than 10 minutes.The thing is that you have to try to be objective when dealing with guitars and problems associated with them because from time to time all of them have their problems but when the owner mentions the problems that doesn't make him/her a troll nor does it mean that they are branding all the guitars of that model-brand junk.

 

This is all true, but...

 

When someone comes onto a brand forum and complains about features they don't like on a guitar they shouldn't have bought if they didn't like it when there are models that have the preferred features that they could have bought, that's called a troll.

[kidblast]

amusing thread!

[Searcy]

I find it amusing that some people are so adamant and dogmatic about brand loyality that anyone who dares say anything negative about their beloved brand is automatically labled a troll.This is not only going on with Gibson Forums but in every forum.Face it that even in this day and age with all the preventative measures taken to ensure that no inferior products slip through their stringent inspection processes,there will be the occassional guitar slip through that's not quite up to par and even may be plagued with several problems.One of my buddys bought a new Les Paul in 2009 and paid over $3,000 for it and still hasn't had all the problems with it resolved dispite several set-ups and repairs by various competent luthiers-the problem appears to be a neck that was put on before the wood had properly dried and cured,hence it won't hold its tuning for more than 10 minutes.The thing is that you have to try to be objective when dealing with guitars and problems associated with them because from time to time all of them have their problems but when the owner mentions the problems that doesn't make him/her a troll nor does it mean that they are branding all the guitars of that model-brand junk.

 

Apples and oranges. Your friends 2009 Les Paul has nothing to do with the OP.

 

The amount of binding on a fret board, the type of wood a fret board is made from, the type of nut material used. These aren't QC issues. They didn't slip out of the factory by accident. In fact the OP's long list of trumped up gripes did not list one single issue that would have been caught by QC because intentional design features are not QC issues.

 

This is a clear case of buyers remorse fueled by shelling out a lot of money for a product without any understanding of what that product is. He bought his dream guitar, a 2011 Les Paul. Got upset because it wasn't a 84 SG Standard with three ply binding (something I have never seen) and an after market nut and copper cavity shielding (which it doesn't need). So he traded it for a Strat which has no binding, no copper shielding (which it needs) and a plastic nut but it's better because it came with stickers.

 

If one doesn't want to be called Troll one should stop making trolly posts. :blink:

[AlanH]

 

 

If one doesn't want to be called Troll one should stop making trolly posts. :blink:

 

 

Now that's a great line! LOL

[milod]

Frankly I don't care for the LP. Never made it a secret. To me the ideal solidbody is the SG or one of its better quality clones with more or less the same shape and construction.

 

What I don't understand is why one would buy a guitar, say it plays and sounds great, but cashes it in for something else that's far more cheaply made and then badmouths the original because it doesn't feel like something played some years ago?

 

For what it's worth, I've never cared for Fenders guitars, largely 'cuz of their necks and general "feel." The Strat especially is an "unfavorite." I have friends who love 'em.

 

If I hadda have one for some currently unknown current reason, it'd likely be a Tele for a number of reasons having to do with tone and - the placement of the volume knob and lack of a whammy. The Jag's shorter scale might be okay. Never cared for whammies even Bigsbys on Gretsches and Gibsons.

 

Fender basses, on the other hand, have tended to be my favorite of that sort of instrument. That's even though it's some electronics on a cupla boards screwed together and painted.

 

But back to the original comments... Even HenryJ has suggested one play a number of LPs or whatever since they are hand finished (by modern standards) and each will have something of a different feel.

 

Frankly my problem with Gibson is there ain't no place close enough that carries them to even consider playing before buying. But that's my fault 'cuz I'm currently quite happy living in the boonies. If somebody offers a paycheck that would make a move worthwhile, I'll consider it...

 

As for semis and hollows...

 

I'm not sure that Fender brands even come close to some of the Epis price-per-price. And yes, I've had that opportunity to compare.

 

m

[FirstMeasure]

Why didn't you trade your New Les Paul for an Old Les Paul? I mean, if you like the old Les Paul better than New Les Paul why would you get a Strat.

 

Had you said, "I bought a New Les Paul but it didn't act or sound anything like a Strat", it would make more sense.

[quapman]

It musn't have been a Classic Custom. I wouldn't trade mine for anything. The build quality is excellent.

And don't be dissing the baked maple board. I love that frickin board.

 

As everyone has already stated, the things you didn't like about it were evident when you bought it.

And don't even talk to me about the 80's guitars. I had a 69 custom that was stolen in the 80s. My insurance covered

the replacement and guess what, I didn't like the feel of the customs on the wall compared to what I lost.

I ended up with a Hamer which I still have today.

 

Since I have come back to playing, after damn near a 15 yr sabbatical, I have bought 2 guitars, both gibsons. My LPCC and my J-45.

 

The sound of the j-45 sold me. The feel of the classic custom sold me.

So you said you liked the sound and feel of the guitar you traded to me says the reasoning is superficical.

[J.R.M.30!]

Let's see one was discontinued the other had it's problems in the '70's (That's what Gibsonites always attest to). What ever choice you made is open to opinion but I think you made the wiser choice.