Les Paul with P90s or Strat?

  • Thread starter Thread starter TheMagicEight
  • Start date Start date

Les Paul with P90s or Strat?

  • Strat

    Votes: 11 45.8%

  • Les Paul w/ P90s

    Votes: 13 54.2%
  • Total voters
    24
TheMagicEight
TheMagicEight
New member
Subjective, I know, but I want some opinions!

Been really loving Les Pauls over the past few years. Always seem to bond with them. Strats are a hit or miss for me. I like them a lot, but they definitely lack in thickness next to my Lesters. Anyway, I want something closer to the Strat sound with the thickness of a Gibson. P90s a good choice? Has anyone ever had 3 P90s with a 5-way toggle like a Strat?
 
Too difficult to answer without knowing more. Have you ever tried those PRS axes with the singlecoil/buckers combo pickups? The 513 or whatever it's called?
 
eddie van halen had the same problem.

technically, i fall under the strat category, but its hit or miss on the whiney strat tones. i tend to like super-strats only for playability and tone mix - ala the eddie van halen approach/hair metal approach.

could never jive with a les paul. never played like a strat, and never stay in tune. finding "the right one" is too much of a hastle for me - but if i DID have that magical les paul - i would definately play one.

i just find it like trying to find that magic needle in a hay stack, only its with expensive guitars.
 
glassjaw7":6ijmzv9n said:
Too difficult to answer without knowing more. Have you ever tried those PRS axes with the singlecoil/buckers combo pickups? The 513 or whatever it's called?
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Never really played a PRS that I loved.

I did get to play a recently acquired Gibson BFG from '07 with a P90, though. Wow! I think my question is answered as it gave me everything I want from both sides!
 
What about getting a standard les paul and then putting in 2 push pull pots to split the humbuckers. Both my Les Pauls have this option and its great. You do have to replace the stock pickups, but I was going to do that anyway. I put the push-pull pots on the tones, as I don't adjust them much. My '73 LP custom can be a bit thick and chunky, so the splitting is pretty nice.

Unfortunately I have never played a guitar with P90's. :(
 
I own a Strat, a Les Paul and a P90 Les Paul.

I find it easier to go from LP to LP than I do going from LP to Strat. I find I don't have to change my amp's gain or EQ settings to compensate. I don't get quite the same skinny tone of a Strat. It's fatter and more powerful, but when you switch to a neck P90 you get that smoother mid heavy single coil sound rather than the dark and overly bassy humbucker sound.

The bonus is that unlike a Strat bridge you can do just about everything on a bridge P90 that you can do on a bridge humbucker. The pickup is again very mid heavy and packs a powerful punch, so you can do everything from lead to high gain rhythm playing . I actually prefer P90s for heavy rhythm guitar work... they're almost EMG like in their ability to be percussive but with the sweetness of a single coil pickup. However, they aren't EMG like in their ability to be silent.... so you have to take the good with the bad in that regard.
 
I prefer the strat, but a LP w/ P90s is a magical guitar. :rock:
 
If I could only have one, it would be the Strat. I simply love the way they feel/play and they are much more versatile tonally than a Les Paul IMO. Single coils get a bad rap when it comes to heavier music but they can be used to great effect. With the right rig, a bridge single coil (Strat/Tele) can sound absolutely brutal. I've also found that even if they aren't quite as hefty as their humbucking brothers, they frequently tend to sit in a mix much better.

That said, the P-90 has been one of my favorite pickups going back to my first LP Jr in the early 90's. Definitely fatter and more mid-focused than a typical single coil, but can till get some of the single coil snap that a humbucker lacks.

I think it would be cool to combine the two types. One of the mutts that I have planned will essentially be a straight up Strat with a P-90 in the bridge along with normal singles in the neck and middle (or maybe a neck P-90 too, haven't decided yet).
 
sandman31774":1wgxw3fc said:
i'm definitely a strat guy :thumbsup:
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Same.

I prefer a really fat strat sound (Think Gilmour) over 95% of Paul tones. Though those Black Beauty's with P90s are the sex!
 
I so vote LP with P90s. There is just something magical about a P90 LP. I have a set of P-Rails in my Les Paul at the moment, and it stays on the P90 most of the time. It just a sweet yet very aggressive tone. I have never been able to get along with a strat single-coil in the bridge. It just sounds wrong to me. Now a Tele is a different story.
 
I have all three, an R8, Les Paul Custom with P-90's, and an Eric Johnson Strat. If you're wanting to get the 2 or 4 position strat sound/quack whatever it's called, you're not going to get it in anything else, you'll need a Strat or maybe a Nashville Tele. If you're just looking for a different sound than your Humbucker Les Paul, P-90's are amazing, but they're not a Strat.

I play Les Pauls about 90% of the time, but that 10% of the time I do play the Strat, I generally stay in the 2 or 4 position. I'd vote for P90's but it really does depend on the sound you're after IMHO

What about something like a Les Paul Traditional Pro, that has Coil splits?
 
Marshall Freak":344wjatb said:
I have all three, an R8, Les Paul Custom with P-90's, and an Eric Johnson Strat. If you're wanting to get the 2 or 4 position strat sound/quack whatever it's called, you're not going to get it in anything else, you'll need a Strat or maybe a Nashville Tele. If you're just looking for a different sound than your Humbucker Les Paul, P-90's are amazing, but they're not a Strat.

I play Les Pauls about 90% of the time, but that 10% of the time I do play the Strat, I generally stay in the 2 or 4 position. I'd vote for P90's but it really does depend on the sound you're after IMHO

What about something like a Les Paul Traditional Pro, that has Coil splits?
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Nail on the head! Position 2 and 4 is why I still own a Strat, but I think it's going because as much as I like that sound on a recording, I just never play my Strat. 2 and 4 sounds are a no go with P90s? Oh well.

I've never really gotten along with coil splitting. I think a P90 sounds much better than any coil-split humbucker I've tried. I'll give the Trad Pro a shot though. I'll be looking for a gigging guitar pretty soon - don't want to bring out my incoming R9 much - and I think I by and large prefer 50s necks, but we'll see.

Thanks for the replies!
 
TheMagicEight":wra8zb08 said:
Marshall Freak":wra8zb08 said:
I have all three, an R8, Les Paul Custom with P-90's, and an Eric Johnson Strat. If you're wanting to get the 2 or 4 position strat sound/quack whatever it's called, you're not going to get it in anything else, you'll need a Strat or maybe a Nashville Tele. If you're just looking for a different sound than your Humbucker Les Paul, P-90's are amazing, but they're not a Strat.

I play Les Pauls about 90% of the time, but that 10% of the time I do play the Strat, I generally stay in the 2 or 4 position. I'd vote for P90's but it really does depend on the sound you're after IMHO

What about something like a Les Paul Traditional Pro, that has Coil splits?
Click to expand...
Nail on the head! Position 2 and 4 is why I still own a Strat, but I think it's going because as much as I like that sound on a recording, I just never play my Strat. 2 and 4 sounds are a no go with P90s? Oh well.

I've never really gotten along with coil splitting. I think a P90 sounds much better than any coil-split humbucker I've tried. I'll give the Trad Pro a shot though. I'll be looking for a gigging guitar pretty soon - don't want to bring out my incoming R9 much - and I think I by and large prefer 50s necks, but we'll see.

Thanks for the replies!
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Strats are a dime a dozen, if you find yourself missing the 2/4 position someday, it's easy to find a decent MIM strat for 250 or so.

I prefer the larger necks too, and I gig with my R8, and even my Custom sometimes if it's a pretty decent place. That said, I'm looking for a Used Traditional or Classic Goldtop to play out with in the future.
 
I prefer Strats but a Les Paul with P90s is a thing of beauty.
 
I voted Strat even though I can't play 'em to save my life. The reason I voted this is because a Lester without humbuckers to me is like ice-cream without the freezing, know what I mean?? I bought a Suhr for single coil tones. My Lesters are, at least to me, designed to be humbucking, high output, rich to the nines beasts.

Just me.

V.
 
Ventura":1m639e3x said:
I voted Strat even though I can't play 'em to save my life. The reason I voted this is because a Lester without humbuckers to me is like ice-cream without the freezing, know what I mean?? I bought a Suhr for single coil tones. My Lesters are, at least to me, designed to be humbucking, high output, rich to the nines beasts.

Just me.

V.
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Curious, why can't you play Strats?
 
Random Hero":34czqffa said:
Ventura":34czqffa said:
I voted Strat even though I can't play 'em to save my life. The reason I voted this is because a Lester without humbuckers to me is like ice-cream without the freezing, know what I mean?? I bought a Suhr for single coil tones. My Lesters are, at least to me, designed to be humbucking, high output, rich to the nines beasts.

Just me.

V.
Click to expand...

Curious, why can't you play Strats?
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I'm curious to know this as well... I wish I could tell you what it 'is' about strats, but I can't tell you definitively - let's see... The resonant wood, the feel of the wood against me, the neck, the feel, the sound, the weighting...believe me, I've tried soooooo many, and I just can't get the love to flow. Coincidentally, I talked this over with one of my connections - before I knew it, a brand new Suhr S4 with curled maple top arrived at my door - "try it to see if you like it, if not, send it back". So I called my guy, says he'd seen a lot of cats who can't get 'into' a Strat proper (Fender) go with Suhr. So, whaddya know?? I love it. REALLY love it. The next step is to get a Suhr Classic - it's already in the works with all 3 pups being single coil (my current ax is S/S/H config). We'll see. Just for shits and giggles, I went to a shop downtown after playing my Suhr for a month - and killin' it - picked up a Fender Strat, sat down, and immediately felt the 'ugh' factor.

Black magic man, just can't explain it...

V.
 
I like a good Strat, but P-90's are killer pups that no stock strat single coil will duplicate. They do duplicate the noise though :lol: :LOL:
 
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