4 hour party gig with a Les Paul...

[gerryguitar]

I don't own a Les Paul.... never giged with one but had planned to buy one this year... but I was at a house party to celebrate a friends birthday last night.... he has a mountain of gear and a PA set up in one of his many rooms in his house... which is massive.. anyway along with about 10 other musicians we had a jam.... I was handed a Les Paul historic and plugged into a Line 6 spider valve... and today I know why I'm not a Les Paul fan... my right arm hurts so bad and I could get maybe 1 really usable sound from the guitar... I came home today and picked up my Tyler and realised that as beautiful as the LP looked it is just not a versatile instrument.... and it hurts to play... I have many friends who swear by them but what I've realised is that it's partly nostalgia and partly unwillingness to accept that just maybe something could be better.... give me modern gear anytime over the old stuff...

 

[demon]

So you've got it figured out, and the 10 million other Les Paul owners are sadly misguided, hmmm.

 

[gerryguitar]

So you've got it figured out, and the 10 million other Les Paul owners are sadly misguided, hmmm.

yep they are all fools..... nah it's just that I found the experience physically difficult and had very little usable tones.... just my experience...

 

[Martin Horne]

Everything relating to music and gear is subjective. I bought a Tyler and sold it a few weeks later; had my Les Paul going on 10 years now.

 

[DrPCR]

a historic through a spider valve?!?!?!?


One thing I've learned, every guitar SOUNDS the same through those things.

They make a 300$ epiphone sound almost the same as a 6K 59 Historic. I didn't realized that till I used those amps,

Its great if you have a cheap guitar, not so great if you have a tone monster, cause it just produces a generic processed sound.

 

[demon]

yes, there are many awesome players who just can't bond with the mighty Les Paul. I guess you saved yourself $3k then :BEER

 

[ReddRanger]

I don't own a Les Paul.... never giged with one but had planned to buy one this year... but I was at a house party to celebrate a friends birthday last night.... he has a mountain of gear and a PA set up in one of his many rooms in his house... which is massive.. anyway along with about 10 other musicians we had a jam.... I was handed a Les Paul historic and plugged into a Line 6 spider valve... and today I know why I'm not a Les Paul fan... my right arm hurts so bad and I could get maybe 1 really usable sound from the guitar... I came home today and picked up my Tyler and realised that as beautiful as the LP looked it is just not a versatile instrument.... and it hurts to play... I have many friends who swear by them but what I've realised is that it's partly nostalgia and partly unwillingness to accept that just maybe something could be better.... give me modern gear anytime over the old stuff...

I completely disagree and I think your assessment is wrong.

Very little usable tone?...I guess the Spider had nothing at all to do with that....

 

[Thwap]

I was handed a Les Paul historic and plugged into a Line 6 spider valve... and today I know why I'm not a Les Paul fan... my right arm hurts so bad and I could get maybe 1 really usable sound from the guitar...

I'm going to use a Matte Hendersonism here...that says much about you, and very little about the guitar.

 

[billm408]

Unless you're doing the whole Pete Townsend windmill thing....why would your right arm hurt? After about 3 hours, I'll feel my left shoulder start to fatigue a bit from the weight, but that's about all.

a historic through a spider valve?!?!?!?
One thing I've learned, every guitar SOUNDS the same through those things.

+1:AOK

 

[gerryguitar]

I completely disagree and I think your assessment is wrong.

Very little usable tone?...I guess the Spider had nothing at all to do with that....

I'm sitting at my computer now and I can still feel pain in my back and in my right forearm.... I couldn't get a usable rhythm tone and believe me I tried, the rock tones were very good but thats it.... I spent about 10 minutes dialling in some sounds on the Spider valve... we played just about every style of song and I struggled with the guitar a lot... apparently it's a good one... I just don't understand why they are so revered and if anyone says anything negative about them they get flamed...

 

[DrPCR]

anyway along with about 10 other musicians we had a jam.... I was handed a Les Paul historic and plugged into a Line 6 spider valve...

it wasn't even a real gig, a party "jam"

my second guitar was a LP custom, I played that at 3-4 hr gigs all the time, and thought that thing was a norm. Then I bought a goldtop and that thing was a brick also and I didn't realize anything, then I got a Standard, and I thought it was hollowed out at 9 lbs.

 

[Jon Silberman]

The first time I played a Tele for an extended period of time I didn't get it, either. Be open to the possibility that with relatively minor adjustments in posture, strap positioning, amp settings, and attitude there might still be a thing or two left for you to learn about this genre of guitars.

P.S. Bought myself my first LP ever just a couple of weeks ago and really only started playing it yesterday. The ergodynamics are perfect, I'm struggling with some tone-related issues but that's par for the course, with me, with any new guitar.

 

[Thwap]

I'm sitting at my computer now and I can still feel pain in my back and in my right forearm.... I couldn't get a usable rhythm tone and believe me I tried, the rock tones were very good but thats it.... I spent about 10 minutes dialling in some sounds on the Spider valve... we played just about every style of song and I struggled with the guitar a lot... apparently it's a good one... I just don't understand why they are so revered and if anyone says anything negative about them they get flamed...

It's not a matter of getting flamed. If you can only get one usable tone out of a Les Paul, a Strat, a Telecaster...whatever...I've just got serious questions about your abilities.

And has been mentioned, the amp probably wasn't the best one you could have had to make a value judgement on the guitar.

But hey...you don't like LP's? I'm fine with that. It just sounds kinda goofy to say you can only get one good tone.

I can tell you first hand...there's more than one in there.

 

[Tone_Terrific]

You can find gazillions of recordings of LP's used in all kinds of formats and genres (ever listen to THE Les Paul?) producing many tonal variations and you couldn't find a useful tone!?

I can get good tone from a LP...but...hey....I can even get decent tone from a Tele......yes ..it's a gift

 

[KBR]

This is why I make my own 6 lb-6 1/2lb Strats/Teles with Big PAF type pups and forearm contours and Stomach contours.

They sound very close to a LP, w/o the ugly boat anchor weight.

 

[Jon Silberman]

I can get good tone from a LP...but...hey....I can even get decent tone from a Tele......yes ..it's a gift

HEY!!! Now them's fightin' words!!!

 

[ReddRanger]

I'm sitting at my computer now and I can still feel pain in my back and in my right forearm.... I couldn't get a usable rhythm tone and believe me I tried, the rock tones were very good but thats it.... I spent about 10 minutes dialling in some sounds on the Spider valve... we played just about every style of song and I struggled with the guitar a lot... apparently it's a good one... I just don't understand why they are so revered and if anyone says anything negative about them they get flamed...

If you simply say it's not meant for you, I can respect that. Heck, not everything is meant for everyone.

But when you call LP owners/fans (of which I am one) nostalgic and unwilling to accept something better....those are the kind of statements that can start flame wars.

Jon, nice post and congrats on the new LP. I just picked up my first Tele ever!

 

[gerryguitar]

I found the neck very nice... and the bridge pickup when overdriven again was very nice, I had a problem with the fact that there is no forearm contour... my right arm hurts a lot today... some here have questioned my ability as a player... thats ok.... but because I played a LP and found it PHYSICALLY difficult and found only 1 usable sound has NOTHING to do with my ability... I had thought about buying a Les Paul but this experience has put me off...

 

[buckwild]

Some Les Paul's can have real sharp forearm contours. With a little playing time the angle rounds out. I had a Edwards JImmy Page Les Paul that had a real sharp edge, ouch.

 

[walterw]

I found the neck very nice... and the bridge pickup when overdriven again was very nice, I had a problem with the fact that there is no forearm contour... my right arm hurts a lot today... some here have questioned my ability as a player... thats ok.... but because I played a LP and found it PHYSICALLY difficult and found only 1 usable sound has NOTHING to do with my ability... I had thought about buying a Les Paul but this experience has put me off...

you're obviously a strat player, used to the way they hang under your right arm and used to the way strat pickups sound for rhythm settings. i'm a les paul player, used to how the guitar hangs straight down vs. shifted over to the right, and to how 2 pickup guitars sound for rhythm and lead. i can't stand strats and find them "physically difficult" for those very reasons, but i wouldn't dream of suggesting that strat players are somehow "mistaken" about their guitar of choice. (i'm all about some teles though.)