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.
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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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