In the world of guitars there is many to choose from, For someone just starting out and wanting to learn to play the choices can be confusing. There is thousands of name brands and styles today. In this essay I will take two of the most popular brands, the Gibson Les Paul and the Fender Stratocaster, that have been around for years and compare the two. You will learn the differences in the style of music they are used for to the different sounds, tones, and playability they both have.
The Gibson Les Paul is one of the most used and praised guitars ever created. It has been played by many great players. With carved AA maple top, trapezoid inlays, and coming in many colors, the most common being a sunburst. The Fender American Stratocaster has been called, “The American Guitar” for decades. It has been made popular by many of the great guitar players. For example, Jimi Hendrix completely changed the way the guitar was played, and he did just that with the Fender Strat. Along with the beauty of the Gibson Les Paul comes powerful tones, with the thick mahogany body, this thing can scream with ease. It has amazing sustain, along with one of the most playable necks ever. The Gibson Les Paul Standard starts at $2299.99, which could be a little pricey for a young someone that has to support a family. The Fender American Stratocaster starts at $949.99.
The Fender Stratocaster comes in several different colors most commonly as a solid color, where as the Gibson Les Paul is most commonly known for its starburst colors. The Fender is also most commonly known for its country twangy sound and the Les Paul is known for its screaming rock and roll sound. The Fender guitar comes with a 5-way toggle switch to switch the pick-up combination and has 2 tone knobs and 1 volume knob. However the Gibson comes with a 3-way toggle switch and has 2 tone knobs and 2 volume knobs.
The tone of the Fender Stratocaster is very clean and with a little reverberation (“reverb,” which is the echoey sound you hear, the Stat will get the most out of a country twang sound. With the five-way toggle switch, you can switch the pick up configuration to get warmer or cleaner sounds depending on what you want. Where as the Gibson Les Paul has a dirty sound and is more popular for playing rock and roll. It only has two pickups, so it doesn’t have as many tonal choices. You can switch it on to the bridge pickup and get a brighter sound or on the neck position and get a thicker sound. A clean sound would be like the sound of George Jones or even Dwight Yoakem where as a dirty sound would be like Metallica or even Judas Priest.
The Fender guitar also gives you a choice of picking between a Rosewood and Maple neck. Rosewood has been said to have a tad more sustain, while Maple is said to be brighter. The Gibson only comes with a Rosewood fingerboard, some other models do have the maple now. Sustain is what makes a note sound longer like on a piano it has a sustain pedal which when pressed will hole whatever note you are playing longer.
The Gibson Les Paul comes with a mahogany body, thus making it a much heavier guitar than the Fender Stratocaster. With the heavier body it also helps to give the extra sustain. The Fender Guitar is made out of Alder therefore giving it a much lighter weight. The lighter body also helps to give it a brighter tone or what some may call the happy sound.
Although there is many different brands and styles of guitar, these two may not be suited for everyone. It really depends on your style of playing and how the guitar fits into your hands, no two guitars play the same regardless if they are the same brand or not. A person must also consider the differences in price.
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Works Cited
“Gibson Les Paul.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gibson_Les_Paul. 22
February 2010.
Monkeyman. “Gibson Les Paul Standard VS Fender American Stratocaster Guitar.” Associated
Content. May11, 2007.
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/239519/gibson_les_paul_standard_vs_fender.html?cat=19 . February 22, 2010.
