I can't decide on whether to get a MIM Strat or an Epiphone LP.
What say you my SoundGround brethren?
stangely enough, I have both in my collection- apples and oranges really...what sound are you going for?
blues, alternative, jangly stuff - strat
metal, punk (well at least some of it) - LP
Take a look at a Godin from the Performance range. Better quality imo, and they have nice strat/LP hybrids (the freeway, the LG,...)
I'd love to have both, but can only afford one right now.
As far as sound that I'm going for...I'm not really sure. I've only always played acoustic and now I'm wanting to venture into electric to help with learning how to solo and play lead.
I love the clean sound of the strat, but i've heard others say the clean sound of the LP is better.
Another question, which fretboard design is easier to play?
I had this same dilemma. Just go to Guitar Center and play a few songs on both. I ended up with an American Strat. The HSS so I have a humbucker. I absolutely love it.
Yeah, its apples and oranges. I like LP myself, its has balls. I like balls.
If you are going for a thicker sound Les Pauls is the way to go. You want Jangly, then you can't beat a Strat. However an overdriven Strat for leads is a killer sound also.
fat strat maybe? has the HSS config
though like everyone else said, its all what sound you're going for
A few factors that influence sound should be considered:
Pick up type: Single coil pickups such as normal Telecaster and Strat units view a narrow portion of the string compared to dual coil "humbuckers" found on most LPs and Gibson guitars. This makes the single coils more sharp,articulate,and focused, while the dual coil design fattens midrange and eliminates background hum inherent in single coils.
construction type: bolt on necks seem to place the attack of the note up front and the note "follows" a bit to my ear. Glued in necks encourage sustain and warm highs.
scale length: More important than many realize. The 25.5" scale of most Fenders adds "twang" and a more strident tone. The 24.75" scale of Gibson type guitars emphasizes the mids a lot more with some reduction in that twangy range.
All that was just food for thought. How do you know what to get? Find out what your favorite players use, get that. If you dig SRV,Jimi,Clapton(not Cream era) then you may be a Strat man. If you like Clapton(Cream Era) ACDC,metal,Punk, or any punchy,thick toned stuff, you may be a Gibson guy.
If you really can't decide, start with comparing everything to a Fender Mexican Fat Strat. Kinda the best of both worlds.
Or I could make you one of these:
Strat has a great shape and is light- extremely comfortable to play. I like the longer Fender scale also. I'd guess the strat would be quite a bit less expensive. I'm a MIM strat player and recommend them as quality guitars.
"especially considering i've handled some really shitty cheap feeling MiM strats before. "
the opposite for me. Any MIM strat I've checked out has seemed pretty solid all around. From what I've seen It's the Squier stuff that seems to be unpredictable in quality.
two totally different guitars paradigmer. id make my judgement based on the tone your going for and the style of music you play, because those guitars suit two entirely different types of playing. go try them out using the same amp for each and youll see what we mean.
Guitar Center has a Dean EVO XM for $79. For that money it looks really good. Solid fretwork,decent hardware. I don't know how they can make ANY money doing that,but there it is. It's worth checking out,looks a bit like a Les Paul shape, but rounder edges.
I've never played the Dean EVO, but I've played one of the Vendetta models from the same line, felt solid and looked cool as hell for a <$100 guitar.
meditates on Timothy Hellfire's quote
How much was that Kramer?
I like the metal knobs.
I made this for my daughter using a chunk of Alder and a Baby Taylor neck. She never plays it, wants to be a drummer. (sigh)
HA! My Tacocaster's tuning seems unaffected by constant whammy-wanking! I've had the guitar for 8 months but ordered a whammy bar a month or so ago. Left it in drop-d for a couple weeks and used the whammy quite a bit. No change to the tuning. That focus is great at $90... though my Strat cost me $200