im ready to come out..

[GuitarBilly]

I'm convinced that I don't play a certain music style and technique to get a Les Paul to sound good. I can slap, rake, and dig into the strings on a Strat and get it to sound like a Strat more-or-less, but it's not the same on a Les Paul. I know I'm confused as to how to play a Les Paul. For this I prefer Strats over Les Pauls. Furthermore, my LP doesn't sit right on my lap. It's like it's body-heavy or sump'n and it keeps wanting to tip where the neck goes up.

Yeah I think this is true. Strats and Les Pauls are nearly opposite as far as electric guitar playing goes. Actually Fenders and Gibsons in general are like that. You can kind of get a compromise with a Superstrat, but not really.
But as far as traditional Fenders and Gibson go, yeah they're radically different. I can totally see someone who is a lifetime Fender-style player not ever getting along with a Gibson. And vice versa. Some players do manage to navigate both guitar styles with total ease, like Gary Moore or Eric Johnson, or Page, even. But for most players, when they're strong on one guitar type, the other is a bit of an afterthought or a struggle

[TurboPablo]

Over the years I have concluded that most players hang their LP's(and most other guitars) too low. That makes a big difference in comfort and perception. Especially when it comes to neck profiles. Raise it up, straighten your wrist out and let them run free. As far as scale length goes, there is honestly no way to compare it fairly. A strat with a HB in the bridge is still a 25.5 guitar. That's how it will always feel and sound. Just more crunchy. A LP with a split hb or single coil will banjo like a mofo. It doesn't work. But it will still always play like a 24.75" guitar. It's almost apples and bowling balls.

As for me, I switch between them without blinking. I used to fuss over that kind of stuff. But now I just accept the moment or two it takes me to adjust and play away.

[greatmutah]

Most neck profiles don’t throw me too much. The only major outliers in my collection are two of my 3 Charvels (the 83 is a D shape and the Pro Mod feels closer to a D shape than C), my HM Strat (D shaped, super wide and thin) and my Gretsch (also more of a D shape). The shoulders of those can throw me off a bit at first. Everything else is fine with minimal adjusting. Even the ginormous R7 neck. Although every time I pick up my 85 and 94 LPs, I really like hunk about refrets on both due to the old railroad tack frets.

The one neck I like to play but bothered my hand was the neck on ny HP Special. Mainly closer to the nut. The neck was super comfortable otherwise but the lower fret area caused my hand to cramp. Great guitar otherwise, just not for me. Funnily enough my G&L has the 1 5/8” nut but the standard C shape feels better.

[GuitarBilly]

yeah I can work with most neck profiles. I am much more sensitive to the bridge angle. I am so used to anchoring my hand on a TOM bridge that a flatter bridge like a strat throws me off, as far as fast alternate picking stuff goes. It's weird, because I got used to it at some point and used strats from 2000 to about 2007, then I went back to Gibson style guitars and haven't been able to adapt to strats again. I think the older you get, the harder it is to change your technique. (well that probably goes beyond guitar playing, it's harder to change anything these days ).

I've been planning to force myself to put the LPs down and just play strats for a while, but with the somewhat busy gig schedule it's been difficult to find enough times in between gigs.

[greatmutah]

I get that. I can adapt pretty well but Strat bridge or recessed Floyd does have a different feel than a stop tail and tune o matic. Floating top mounted Floyds get close to that. I think that’s why it’s easier for some guys to transition from a LP to a shredder with a top mount Floyd. It’s a similar angle and height. I feel like my PRS and G&L trems, height and angle wise are in between a tune o matic and Strat bridge when floating. To me, those two feel pretty natural after coming from a tune o matic for a while.

[GuitarBilly]

I get that. I can adapt pretty well but Strat bridge or recessed Floyd does have a different feel than a stop tail and tune o matic. Floating top mounted Floyds get close to that. I think that’s why it’s easier for some guys to transition from a LP to a shredder with a top mount Floyd. It’s a similar angle and height. I feel like my PRS and G&L trems, height and angle wise are in between a tune o matic and Strat bridge when floating. To me, those two feel pretty natural after coming from a tune o matic for a while.

Yeah 100%. Top mount Floyd's are fine.

I need to revisit PRS trems. I don't remember if I had an issue with them or not, it's been a while since I've played one.

[EndTime]

The first REAL guitar I ever got at 13 was a 1991 Les Paul studio. I was able to save up $250 from grass cutting and 8th grade graduation and my parents paid the other half. Yep, $500 back in 1991. It was a great guitar in basically all sense. Never bonded with it but I did like the tone quite a bit. Then a few years later at 15, having had a job for over a year, I bought my next “nice” guitar a 1993 MIJ Jackson Kelly pro. I almost never played the Gibson from that point on. But it was my 1st real guitar and sounded good so I kept it for awhile. Then sold it to a friend for a few years. Eventually saw it again and it was sorta in disrepair and I said let me buy it back if it’s just gonna go to shit… Bought it back, fixed it up, never played it for the next 15 years, sold it AGAIN back got that same dude. Lol. And I haven’t thought about it until this thread. So that’s my story on how little I like LPs too.

Sound good, play like clunky old Planks of wood to me. And I work on ENDLESS LPs these days. Some sure feel pretty decent but they never feel great to me. I can appreciate em, I think some LOOK fantastic, but… nah.

[Loop Bizkit]

Funny, my first REAL guitar was an LP too. '79 (Norlin era, right?) LPC that I kinda got a "perma-loan" of from my uncle.

Fast forward to today... I too own an LP that never gets played. I've almost always had one in the stable, some epis, some gibsons.... but I always gravitate toward my superstrats. It's a combo of scale length and neck thickness on the LP that never feels like home to me. Also, I have stubby farmer hands, so none of this makes any sense to me.

[MacaroniSalad]

I find as time passes that I'm not super big on playing LPs. I grew up on them, so its not that I'm not comfortable, but I'm just sort of narrowly focused on my other superstrat things. I don't really care for the fat singing sustainy, John Sykes sort of tone. I would rather a bit of twang.

[EndTime]

Yea, I’ve basically turned into a “Strat” guy as far as classic tried and true styles go. I find them to be way more comfortable and more flexible, even tho “true” Strats have some quirks that are dumb. But even on those once dialed in and tweaked to remove some of the inconsistencies like the saddle height screws ripping one’s palm apart, lol, they just feel and play way better. Then of course the “Superstrat” with a humbucker in the bridge and a Floyd for me, Altho I have really come around to the standard Strat bridge. Especially the bent steel saddles. Those sound unique. Anyway, Strat over LP for sure

[Tortuga]

Came in here expecting OP saw the Barbie movie and liked it

[screamingdaisy]

Over the years I have concluded that most players hang their LP's(and most other guitars) too low. That makes a big difference in comfort and perception. Especially when it comes to neck profiles. Raise it up, straighten your wrist out and let them run free. As far as scale length goes, there is honestly no way to compare it fairly. A strat with a HB in the bridge is still a 25.5 guitar. That's how it will always feel and sound. Just more crunchy. A LP with a split hb or single coil will banjo like a mofo. It doesn't work. But it will still always play like a 24.75" guitar. It's almost apples and bowling balls.

As for me, I switch between them without blinking. I used to fuss over that kind of stuff. But now I just accept the moment or two it takes me to adjust and play away.

Low is fine, but you need to adjust your grip to keep your wrist straight. If you’re a MelBay, thumb on the skunk line type player you should wear it like a bib, but if you worship at the altar of the Rev Billy Gibbons just wrap your thumb over top and give it some swag.

[Bonano]

Came in here expecting OP saw the Barbie movie and liked it

[RaceU4her]

It took me awhile to like les pauls too so i get it. I always preferred SG's any day. What neck type is it? Generally there are 50's = phat baseball bats, 60's = thinner and in between. I found like the baseball necks a lot.

all i know is its a 96 standard, im gonna guess its the fat baseball bat. its hard to believe but i never played any kind of les paul before this so i really have no reference. i feel a little better now skimming through the thread and seeing im not the only one who dosent exactly love theirs either, it was really bumming me out for a while

[GuitarBilly]

96 Standard has the '59 Rounded profile, which is in between the full baseball bat 50s profile and the slim 60s profile.