Howdy

[Slowpoke]

Howdy! I'm a guitar noob with a few questions, and I heard you folks are knowledgeable on the subject.

I love les paul guitars. I have ever since I was a kid. I'm not sure who I saw/heard playing one first, but I've always dug their look and sound. I recently started learning how to play the guitar on one of my friend's fender stratocasters, and I'm having fun with it. Enough that I want to buy a guitar of my own to play.

I've heard that epiphone makes some pretty nice les paul guitars for reasonable prices, but there are so friggin many that I'm not sure which one is right for me. I've played a few different ones at the local guitar shop, but they're horribly overpriced compared to what I see online with guitar center and musician's friend, so I'm not really too keen on buying from said shop. I have read some horror stories about purchasing online, since I guess no two guitars are exactly alike, even if they're the exact same year and model. Would you guys recommend buying through a site like GC or MF?

Also, I've noticed that it feels easier to play a guitar like a strat than it does an LP. Like, even when they say the action is good, it feels like there's less resistance on the strat when I push down on the strings, and when I strum. Is that just a difference between the two that I would need to get used to?

So yeah, TL;DR version: Which LP is good for a beginner? Is it wise to buy guitars from online stores if you don't have a good local shop? And are LPs supposed to feel tougher to play than a strat?

Sorry for being so long-winded in my first post!

[music to my ears]

Howdy partner!

[the1jj]

The neck is definitely fatter on a paul. And Ive never picked up a guitar in a shop that was set up 1000% the way I like. Makes it hard to distinguish the good ones from the lemons if youre inexperienced.

But if youre dead set on finding the right one for you, theres always a few things you can do. I got my first paul from Craigslist. Love it, will never let it go. Also whichever you get, play it acoustically first. Everything in the guitar can be changed to taste, except for the wood. And when most of us buy epiphone, we buy the 'feel', and modify for tone. Lastly, fall in love with whatever you purchase. If you love it, youll want to play it more, youll get better at it, and it will begin to sound better to you and everyone around you.

Good luck and welcome to the forums <3

[Slowpoke]

Good advice. Thanks!

[dcgrocknroll]

Hey man, most people have a particular preference as to what feels best for them. Personally nothing feels better to me than a heavy Les Paul with a fat neck. I can't play a guitar I feel like I'm about to break. That being said, if you tried some Epis at music stores I can tell you that most music stores don't set them up correctly, or at all before putting them on display, so when playing them keep that in mind. I impulsively bought one a month ago, when I got back with it, the action was high, but the sound was amazing, I got it set up by a local luthier and now the guitar plays better than Gibson in my opinion. It feels like magic every time I run my fingers up and down the fret board.

Happy hunting! Epis are beautiful! (My recommendation would be for a good standard)

-Don

[Slowpoke]

Thanks Don. I drove two hours to get to the nearest guitar center, and spent a few hours playing everything I could get my hands on. I wasn't impressed with any of the strats or teles, nor was I all that impressed by the LP standards they had. I did try the 1960 standard and that thing sounded amazing. It blew the other ones out of the water, but it's much more than I'm willing to spend right now.

You're right about the store display models not being set up properly, a lot of really high action and out of tune guitars. I spent a good chunk of time just tuning them so I could play. Though with my current lack of skill, being in tune isn't going to help all that much. Haha.

I also played one of the gibson nighthawks they had there and that was a pretty good guitar. Had a nice sound and it had a similar feel to the fender guitars. Does anyone know how close the epiphone nighthawks are to their gibson counterparts? That might be worth getting since the prices for those are really good.

[Shagnwagon]

Honestly its hard to do whats a good guitar for you, but you have gone and played a bunch so you know what you like and dont somewhat. I would check the used section at GC they can have a gem every so often and they are cheaper than something new. Its atleast worth checking out.

Welcome to the forum!