That Les Paul tone.....

Probably best take up the tuning issue with Mr M!

The sound I heard was via iPhone and to my untrained ears the tones weren’t similar, but certainly in the ball park!

I can’t imagine that Bernie has SE pickups in his guitar, however he obviously likes it ‘cos there is significant wear on the lacquer below the bridge, I presume from lots of playing.
Investing in vintage humbuckers instantly transforms the Bernie/SE245 into a very convincing Les Paul experience. Now, it doesn’t sound anything like my ‘79 Les Paul, but my ‘79 doesn’t sound like a vintage Lester, either.

I own a BUNCH of (non chambered) R9s that are 8.5 lbs and under.
And, they’re gorgeous and they sound fantastic. You are aware that you probably own ALL of the light weight Les Pauls on the planet, right?
Huh??? I can only make a joke here, since I've never played one under 8.5lbs ... I mean, I believe you, but... I'm surprised. And, if they aren't chambered and are that light, how do they sound?
I’ve seen and played them and they defy logic. As the owner of an 11 lbs. Les Paul, I could not believe it when I picked up the first one. Gibson holds back the light wood sets for the right customers. ;)
 
Investing in vintage humbuckers instantly transforms the Bernie/SE245 into a very convincing Les Paul experience. Now, it doesn’t sound anything like my ‘79 Les Paul, but my ‘79 doesn’t sound like a vintage Lester, either.


And, they’re gorgeous and they sound fantastic. You are aware that you probably own ALL of the light weight Les Pauls on the planet, right?

I’ve seen and played them and they defy logic. As the owner of an 11 lbs. Les Paul, I could not believe it when I picked up the first one. Gibson holds back the light wood sets for the right customers. ;)

I had a 2005 gold top with BB pros, it was a beast, shame it was bone-crushingly heavy.
 
I hope I’m not taking the thread too far off-topic, but one thing I love about PRS guitars is being able to shape my own sound without being quite so boxed in by having the guitar dictate how things are going to end up.

What I mean here is the responsiveness to the tone and volume controls, the ease of expression, etc., that PRSes bring to the party.

LPs are wonderful guitars, but I find it more difficult to get where I want to go musically when playing one. Then again, I don’t play covers, so I lean toward wanting more colors in the crayon box than I can get with LPs.

However, I get that lots of players want that one particular tone. And there’s nothing wrong with that. Choices are what make music more interesting.
 
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I've read many threads on many forums where the opinion has been expressed that there is something in the sound of a Les Paul (usually referring to low end 'grunt' or similar) that is not present in any PRS. I don't have enough experience to hold an opinion.

What do you folks make of this ?

I think that a similarly constructed PRS can get 'close' to any sound... It just depends on whether close is close enough for the listener's ear. Try as I might, I have yet to find a PRS that is a dead ringer for a strat or a dead ringer for a LP... But I have heard many of them get close enough for my ears. These same guitars dont get 'close enough' for others ears.

I recently surprised myself by finding a Gibson that I like... Problem is that it sounds more like a strat or a PRS than the Gibson that it is so go figure.

:cool:
 
I think that a similarly constructed PRS can get 'close' to any sound... It just depends on whether close is close enough for the listener's ear.
As we evolve our cork sniffing super powers, “close” just doesn’t cut it if that’s the sound you desire. But if you let each guitar be and do it’s own thing, you’ll never be disappointed.
 
Now to really stroke the flames... while I love my Strat-like EG through my plexi-ish Marshall Class 5, I actually like my LP-ish SC250 better through Fender-ish amps. So now I'm eying blackface Vibro Champs on Reverb while they're still somewhat cheap.
 
I have had a long history of Les Pauls. A large number of them passed through my hands. In recent years, some things came into my possession that cover all the bases, to my satisfaction, in the sense of singlecuts that "do that LP thing". Three of them are PRSi, three are Nik Hubers and one each Scott Walker and Fibenare. That is no doubt excessive, but suffice to say that my very last Gibson LP went out the door in 2017.
FWIW, I am now down to a single Gibson, my favorite (of many) ES-3xxs that have passed this way in the past 40 or so years. And it is now up for sale.
 
I own a Les Paul, a Strat and a few PRS's....all fantastic instruments. The sounds of all three are distinct and their own...but for me, I choose to pick up my PRS's more often than not because they make me happy...it's like the old, worn in leather recliner at your grandparents house that just feels right!
 
I have had a long history of Les Pauls. A large number of them passed through my hands. In recent years, some things came into my possession that cover all the bases, to my satisfaction, in the sense of singlecuts that "do that LP thing". Three of them are PRSi, three are Nik Hubers and one each Scott Walker and Fibenare. That is no doubt excessive, but suffice to say that my very last Gibson LP went out the door in 2017.
FWIW, I am now down to a single Gibson, my favorite (of many) ES-3xxs that have passed this way in the past 40 or so years. And it is now up for sale.

Do you have a favourite out of your LP type guitars ?
 
It is hard to pick a favorite. Two of the three PRSi stand out above the other, in my mind. The one (PS) with "Pauls" type switching and piezo is the most versatile. The Orca 59 MAY be the most "authentic" albeit with 25" scale. The Fibenare is a slightly different animal.....Good thick LP body, but chambered to be very light weight, Just a touch more "air" to it. The Hartung just might be the "stunner"
you'd pick out of a lineup.
 
It is hard to pick a favorite. Two of the three PRSi stand out above the other, in my mind. The one (PS) with "Pauls" type switching and piezo is the most versatile. The Orca 59 MAY be the most "authentic" albeit with 25" scale. The Fibenare is a slightly different animal.....Good thick LP body, but chambered to be very light weight, Just a touch more "air" to it. The Hartung just might be the "stunner"
you'd pick out of a lineup.
Totally agree on the Orca. The pickups are very versatile with the coil splits too. Haven’t tried the other two..yet? :rolleyes:

But nothing beats Miss Pernie on overall versatility (P22) in my collection. She also has that nice ‘growl’ thanks to 57/08s and South American hog!
 
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excellent thread, I keep ping-ponging back and forth for 10 years now, between a PRS and a Les Paul, and of course you have to have both.
I've had about 10 of each, a Les Paul axcess, was a very nice attempt at improving the playability aspects, but the tone was not like my Les Paul classic, I had a 12 pound Les Paul and it had that thing that is described as grunt, it mostly showed up on the bottom three power chords, the PRS 594 can cover the guitar approximately 95% of the tones, but those bottom 3 to 4 power chords just have that extra magical quality, but you only hear it when you pick up the guitar and play it yourself, when I play the PRS I feel like I have it as well, they sound awesome, then I pick up the Les Paul and I say oh this has it too and it's even slightly better. I do think it has something to do with the mass of the guitar, but then of course the rest of the playability and tones of the PRS, lead playing, note clarity, complex chords, feel, you see the PRS outshines the Les Paul,

I was just recently listening to bad company cranked on the car radio OMG, that 59 Les Paul rock 'n roll power chords nothing like it. but close enough is close enough. I hate to buy a guitar for three , notes and three notes only. but the only reason I have a les paul is to listen to those G,E & F power chords. I've had the 2016 Les Paul high performance for about a year now, it is definitely the best Les Paul that I have owned it is amazing, I sold my PRS singlecut 594 to get it. but now I miss the 594, so I've recently ordered a double cut 594, I play a lot of Pink Floyd and I need access to those upper frets, so I'm looking forward to my new 594, I consider the Les Paul the super sexy blonde, a little bit crazy idiosyncratic,, the PRS 594 is the brunette, super sexy, very smart, has it all together, potential long-term relationship. I'm probably going to get in trouble comparing guitars to women.
 
I've read many threads on many forums where the opinion has been expressed that there is something in the sound of a Les Paul (usually referring to low end 'grunt' or similar) that is not present in any PRS. I don't have enough experience to hold an opinion.

What do you folks make of this ?

Agree. And PRS has an upper mid snarl you cant get with an R9. I have had 5 or 6 of them along with my PRSs. I always like my PRSs more. No more R9s.
 
I consider the Les Paul the super sexy blonde, a little bit crazy idiosyncratic,, the PRS 594 is the brunette, super sexy, very smart, has it all together, potential long-term relationship. I'm probably going to get in trouble comparing guitars to women.

No worries. I compare guitars to men all the time. Its the best way for me to convey how I feel about strats and prs guitars (or a better choices of words would be strat vs prs). Makes perfect sense to me.
 
Totally agree on the Orca. The pickups are very versatile with the coil splits too. Haven’t tried the other two..yet? :rolleyes:

But nothing beats Miss Pernie on overall versatility (P22) in my collection. She also has that nice ‘growl’ thanks to 57/08s and South American hog!
You know what would have been killer? A Bernie with Pernie..

Alas, no more...
 
I would still say there is no such thing as an ‘LP tone’ nowadays.

There is only a singlecut solidbody tone, and the LP, SC549, Bernie Marsden, Orcas etc are all variants of it. Even different LPs sound different as you move from Epi to standards and CS R’s.

Saying the Bernie Marsden almost sounds like an LP is the same as saying the LP almost sounds like a Bernie Marsden.
 
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I've asked this before... has anyone attempted to EQ in that LP low/low mids thing? I know its a wood/mass thing, but I would think that with a good para EQ or a graphic with lots of bands, a little bit of boost in the right place and you could get even closer.
 
excellent thread, I keep ping-ponging back and forth for 10 years now, between a PRS and a Les Paul, and of course you have to have both.
I've had about 10 of each, a Les Paul axcess, was a very nice attempt at improving the playability aspects, but the tone was not like my Les Paul classic, I had a 12 pound Les Paul and it had that thing that is described as grunt, it mostly showed up on the bottom three power chords, the PRS 594 can cover the guitar approximately 95% of the tones, but those bottom 3 to 4 power chords just have that extra magical quality, but you only hear it when you pick up the guitar and play it yourself, when I play the PRS I feel like I have it as well, they sound awesome, then I pick up the Les Paul and I say oh this has it too and it's even slightly better. I do think it has something to do with the mass of the guitar, but then of course the rest of the playability and tones of the PRS, lead playing, note clarity, complex chords, feel, you see the PRS outshines the Les Paul,

I was just recently listening to bad company cranked on the car radio OMG, that 59 Les Paul rock 'n roll power chords nothing like it. but close enough is close enough. I hate to buy a guitar for three , notes and three notes only. but the only reason I have a les paul is to listen to those G,E & F power chords. I've had the 2016 Les Paul high performance for about a year now, it is definitely the best Les Paul that I have owned it is amazing, I sold my PRS singlecut 594 to get it. but now I miss the 594, so I've recently ordered a double cut 594, I play a lot of Pink Floyd and I need access to those upper frets, so I'm looking forward to my new 594, I consider the Les Paul the super sexy blonde, a little bit crazy idiosyncratic,, the PRS 594 is the brunette, super sexy, very smart, has it all together, potential long-term relationship. I'm probably going to get in trouble comparing guitars to women.

No trouble from me, but pics of the blonde and brunette might make the analogy better.
 
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