Les Paul's... thoughts vs Petrucci jp6's

[zif]

I know this is probably a biased place to ask, but I've been playing Gibson Les Paul's for the past two days in the various Guitar Centers around town hoping to add one to my collection ... every single 'Paul (up to $4k customs at the various stores) simply didn't have anywhere near the playability or build quality of any of my BFR or regular Jp6 guitar's ... do they just not set them up properly at GC stores, are good ones hard to find, etc or what?

I understand they are totally different neck/body dimensions but honestly... does anyone who's owned a JP6 also have a great/ comparable Les Paul standard or above? Makes me wish EB had some type of lookalike, so i could have that cool classic shape but a real quality instrument.

 

[B2D]

Les Pauls are TOTALLY different guitars than JP's are and IMO cannot be fairly compared to each other. It's not even apples and oranges... it's more like apples and beef stew.

Gibsons QC and marketing decisions have been questionable to most lately (especially since Henry J dodged that Premier Guitar inteview...) but they still make OK guitars. Maybe a little overpriced, but that's what the used market is for.

GC has a rep for treating their floor guitars kind of poorly, luckily most of the EBMM's I see in there are in pretty good shape. The F's and G's get it the worst. When i try out a guitar in there, I have to kind of see through whatever setup issues it may have. Maybe 1 guitar out of 100 in there is set up the way I like it. So it's jard to pass judgement that way.

I played a Les Paul Std Traditional Pro in Wine Red yesterday that was very, very nice. '57 classic pickups, coil taps from the factory, 60's neck... not bad at all. I'd like to get a good LP or LP style one of these days. I love the sound of a good LP but I need an LP to have some specific parameters in order to really get down with one.

 

[David Corrales]

Well, I recently bought a used 97' studio and I really like it. It's a different axe for sure, the scale and the playability change.

Having said that, I find myself thinking for "rock/blues" when I play the LP and "shred/prog" when I pick up the JP. Also, I think the LP was made to be played with a Marshall... with my JCM 2000 DSL it just rocks. The JP, it shreds

 

[paranoid70]

I cannot put down Les Paul guitars because quite simply a hell of a lot of great songs were recorded with them. That being said, they just never felt right in my hands. As soon as I picked up a Silhouette guitar, I knew I found the right instrument.

 

[gtrman66]

I know this is probably a biased place to ask, but I've been playing Gibson Les Paul's for the past two days in the various Guitar Centers around town hoping to add one to my collection ... every single 'Paul (up to $4k customs at the various stores) simply didn't have anywhere near the playability or build quality of any of my BFR or regular Jp6 guitar's ... do they just not set them up properly at GC stores, are good ones hard to find, etc or what?

I understand they are totally different neck/body dimensions but honestly... does anyone who's owned a JP6 also have a great/ comparable Les Paul standard or above? Makes me wish EB had some type of lookalike, so i could have that cool classic shape but a real quality instrument.

If you're looking for a guitar that looks alot like a les paul have you tried a PRS singlecut (US made)?IMHO every one that I've picked up (probably a couple dozen or so),even the ones with a so-so setup,have killed any post 1980 LP I've put my hands on except for a few rare exceptions.Gibson has had a lot of quality control problems over the past several years and hasn't seemed to have fixed them as of yet unfortunately.You might also want to wait and try out the new EBMM reflex when it comes out.The body shape is basically the same as the 25th anniversary model shown on mm's website.GC's have been carrying the first run (black with black open-coil p/ups)but the official release at summer namm will have chrome covers and be available in various colors/finishes.I'm really looking forward to checking them out when they are released.If you must have a genuine Les Paul take as much time as you need to find THE ONE and good luck!Sometimes it takes awhile to find a gem among the turds lol.

 

[Hendog]

Very different guitars. I have owned both and they excel in different arenas.

A good Les Paul has an incredible tone but the playability of a Petrucci is so much better it cannot even be put into words.

 

[guitfiddle]

I agree completely with Hendog. A good Les Paul does have a unique and incredible tone that you won't find in any other guitar. I have a first run Gary Moore (not the BFG, the real one) and it sounds unbelievable. It plays well too. Not EBMM or Anderson well, but as well as most manufacturer's. But the tone is gold. Depends upon what style you want to play. It wouldn't do prog, but it nails blues and rock.

 

[the24thfret]

Can't compare in the slightest.

 

[Colin]

chalk and cheese btw can you post a bigger pic of your avatar Zif?

 

[Big Poppa]

I prefer that we dont use"vs" It isnt a wrestling match they are all great guitars. I wish I could charge what henry does...and have the public accept it...It is really skimpy these days margin wise

 

[ScoobySteve]

Les Pauls are WONDERFUL guitars. I've been playing them exclusively until a couple years ago when I got my JP then my 25th.

There were a few reasons for my decision to go with the EBMM. First of all, the Les Paul is a classic and a standard. With that so many musicians have developed their style around the instrument. I wanted my OWN sound. I wanted a guitar that featured options and choices the trendy (mind you just cause Gibson and Fender's are trendy don't mean they're bad, they're great) did not offer me.

What I came across was EBMM. Themes such as unfinished necks, highly figured woods, outstanding itemization making sure each instrument they produce is unique, and state of the art innovation (25th, must I say more?) is what got me hooked.

If I had a dream instrument from EBMM, it'd be a chambered African Mahog Body w/ a Koa top on a 25th w/ a Tune-O-Matic bridge.

But hey, EBMM's currently line up is perfect for me too.

Les Paul's are great, but for me as a musician it was time to move on. LP's and EBMM's will give you different sounds, go for the one that gives ya what you need.

 

[Warthog]

For me, the EBMM Petrucci is the best of both worlds and incorporated features that I like from the LP and Strat. Heaviness (tone) of the LP and solid construction of the Strat.

I would think that the reason EBMMs play so well in GC is because the care and set up they get before they leave the factory... also, the build quality is fantastic adding to the tuning stability. I traveled from the US to Europe and at the end of the trip I took my EBMM out of the gig bag and every single string was still in tune. That to me is impressive.

Oink

 

[walleye]

JP and les pauls are diametrically opposite
the only thing in common is that they have 6 strings, and thats only true for some JPs

 

[Big Poppa]

Hey B2D Not to split hairs but I always like to point out that every guitar starts out great at Guitar Center and the customers beat the living daylights out of them. THey are trying to keep the guitars better but it is amazing to spend a day there and just watch the disregard the customers have for all of the guitars there. It is a full time job trying to keep switch tips and stings and knobs on. Thats why the mom and popa stores qualifies and stands by the person while they play it. It is crazy to me that anyone would treat a guitar badly but it happens.

 

[Hookpunch]

I prefer that we dont use"vs" It isnt a wrestling match they are all great guitars. I wish I could charge what henry does...and have the public accept it...It is really skimpy these days margin wise

Just wondering, where the margins better in the past and what caused the thinning of them now if that is the case. I am guessing sales and therefore volumes are down due to the recession.

 

[balance]

I have a Les Paul that I love. I played many, many, many, Les Pauls in the past, but never one that just said, "This is it." I found mine hanging on the wall at Guitar Center...A/B'd it against some Custom Shop models (mine is a Standard with 60's Neck). This guitar is the lighest and most toneful Les Paul I've ever played. Les Paul's sound like Les Paul's. They really are quite unique.

JP's are a different animal completely in a good way. They do what they do and a Les Paul is not going to get to that territory.

I think a major difference is going to be consistency. EBMM's are going to be consistent from one guitar to the next, which is more akin to what the boutique builders offer than a company of EBMM's size. I think it speaks volumes that EBMM can maintain quality with their size and volume, not to mention the value of what you pay versus the quality you get.

 

[bkrumme]

I'm much like Steve. Until I bought my first EBMM, I played Les Pauls and also had a couple Jacksons.

Les Pauls are GREAT guitars. I will also mirror what BP said about the guitars at GC. They all start off great and get thrashed by customers over and over again. Case in point, I purchased my Les Paul Custom from GC as a special order and when I opened the case it was PERFECT. They had 2 more hanging on the wall which were not so great. I guarantee it's because they were played over and over again and just thrown back up on the wall without even a wipe-down.

My reason for choosing EBMM is the feel and playability. The first time I played a JP, I couldn't put it down. The neck was the perfect shape for my hand. The 25.5" scale length really helped, too, since I was tuning 6-ers down at the time.

The JP6 really is a completely different guitar from a Les Paul so a comparison isn't fair from the get-go. Just about every aspect of the guitars is different. In fact the only thing they share with each other is that they are both guitars.

 

[browndog]

I’ve owned several LP’s in my lifetime. After about a year of having my first Axis, I bought another LP. Back then I wasn’t the EBMM nut that I am today. I never thought back then about buying another Ball, its just that this LP was special. I just had to have it.

I was so used to my Axis by then that the LP didn’t feel right. I returned the LP and bought a big screen TV.

 

[Spudmurphy]

I was always a Les Paul player. Still have my '73 from new.

I guess the only real comparison is that they are both Humbucking guitars.

I don't play the Les Paul now but am happy to use the JP for the numbers the Les Paul used to handle.

 

[NewLukeGuy]

Let's face it folks...the LP has it's place in history and as BP points out it's not about one versus the other. It should be an "and" conversation not an "or" conversation.

I had an LP for years before I bought my first MM in 2009, a Luke. Now I've got a Morse too, sold my LP and not looking back/going back. It's what I want out of a guitar these days and the MM products provide so much more of what I prefer out of the instrument.