Comfort or Sound

[j4bis]

Hello,

I’ve been away from the forum for a while and I am saddened to see that the forums aren’t as busy as they used to be.

My question is for anyone who plays.

I am a gigging musician. My main guitars are a PRS CE-24 and A Gibson Les Paul. In my opinion, the Les Paul sounds better but my PRS is more comfortable to play. The crowds can’t tell the difference but I hear the difference. I’ve played shows with both and the Gibson sounds better but is heavy and not as well balanced. The PRS is well balanced and more comfortable.

Which would you prefer, comfort or tone?

Thank you,
Joel

[superblonde]

can you take the unbalanced guitar to a really really good luthier and ask them to “make it balanced” ? Maybe they can measure its center of gravity while you wear it, then adjust it, like a tailor would do with a suit, or something?
Personally I would go for function over form (aka comfort) because tone can be shaped (ie what is an electric guitar except the pickups and the strings and the preamp circuits).

I'm an intermediate student of Metal Method. I play seitannic heavy metal. All Kale Seitan! ♯ ♮ ♭ ø ° Δ ♩ ♪ ♫ ♬
And on the Seventh Day, Mustaine said: ∇ ⨯ E = - ∂B / ∂t ; and there was Thrash; and it had a ♭3; and it was good.

[j4bis]

I hadn’t thought of altering the Les Paul. I’m not sure that is a road I want to go down. I’ve always thought that was a part of their sound and tone.

Thank you for your response.

[Rob]

Sound & Tone are the aesthetics of being a
musician.

As a fan, it doesn’t matter to me.
I enjoy the fact you
guys are out there doing what you do, sharing your talents and inspiring others.
As a fan, I honestly can’t tell between a
Les Paul, Jackson, Charvel, or Strat.

Comfort means you can play longer with
less fatigue.

I see where you get the question.

If you prefer the Sound and Tone, you personally will be happier with what you play
for the audience.

If doing a long show, I most likely would opt
for weight savings.

How often do you take both with you?

In For The Learn

[j4bis]

Thank you for your response!

I always take both guitars and use the other for back up in case I break a string.

You’re right. On the longer shows, I always play the PRS.

[Rob]

A thought just crossed my mind.

On the Les Paul, what type of strap do you
use? I am just wondering if you are using a
3 inch wide leather as compared to some type
of Nylon or other woven material?
Maybe a 3 inch would help spread the weight?
Padded may help for a while, until it gets
that worn out section where the weight puts
the most stress on the material.

Just a thought.

In For The Learn

[j4bis]

I use a 2 inch nylon strap. It’s new buy maybe I should try a 3 inch padded strap.

Thank you!!!!

[superblonde]

j4bis wrote:

I hadn’t thought of altering the Les Paul. I’m not sure that is a road I want to go down. I’ve always thought that was a part of their sound and tone.

I was thinking that you meant the neck dive problem with talking about lack of comfort. Center of gravity can be changed by adding a weight or by moving the strap button, stuff like that. If it is the #1 guitar you want to play…then could be worth it. It’s kind of interesting that there is a lack of guitar lesson content anywhere on getting guitars to fit a player better. After all, people have different body shapes and arm lengths etc, and guitarists sure spend a lot of hours wearing their instrument, so “making it into a tailored fit” should make sense.. (especially as we all get older)

btw this is one big reason i play my headless guitar, great center of gravity, also the flip-out lap stand, the question in this case would be, if all electronics could be changed, would it ever sound like a particular LP, I have no idea.. (one thing about the LP is the scale difference too)

I'm an intermediate student of Metal Method. I play seitannic heavy metal. All Kale Seitan! ♯ ♮ ♭ ø ° Δ ♩ ♪ ♫ ♬
And on the Seventh Day, Mustaine said: ∇ ⨯ E = - ∂B / ∂t ; and there was Thrash; and it had a ♭3; and it was good.

[vinay]

As for a comfortable strap, I prefer one from MONO which is padded with memory foam. I actually got it because my guitar (Jackson JS22-7) has quite some neck dive too (or at least I want the neck pointing up quite a lot maybe just because I come from playing classical guitars initially). I suspended a compact camera bag at the tail-end strap button and stuffed it with steel bolts and nuts. Not sure how much I’ve added but it is well over a kg I think. So that put too much weight on my collarbone. I broke it a few years ago and I don’t like the loaded strap rubbing the scarred skin over the metal plate. The MONO strap spreads the load a little.

My youngest daughter also feels her 2″ wide nylon strap too uncomfortable over her shoulder. She’s got a 3/4 size electric guitar. I wrapped a sleeve around it with some air cells, actually intended for this purpose. It works nicely though if you also rely on some grip of the strap over your shoulder, it is gone when you use this sleeve over a nylon guitar strap so good to keep in mind. But yeah, it does help to spread the load.

[rightonthemark]

i’ve never known les pauls to be unbalanced.
i love the way mine feels.
les pauls, despite their weight, just feel right. the way a guitar should feel. and the sound and playability.
now my brian may red special is another story. while it is much lighter it is not well balanced. and the burns single coils are so clean i had to add an overdrive pedal to my rig.
i take both guitars to gigs.
i use them for different things because each are great for certain things.
nothing wrong with using multiple guitars; especially when they provide you with differences that make each better suited for certain songs.

🤘🏽🎸

rock and roll ain't pretty; that's why they picked us to play it.

[Anonymous]

I opt for comfort, but….Like I heard George Lynch say in an interview, if the tone isn’t firing on all cylinders, then neither is my playing. What is it about the Les Paul that is so much different in sound to you? You could change pickups to compensate, or re-eq your amp, tweak a few pedal settings, etc. Sometimes you hear what you hear . And when you do, nothing else is gonna’ suffice. I totally get it. I would go for comfort live. Especially if you are playing long shows, multiple sets, or long sets.

I could never bond with Les Pauls. Don’t know why. They just never suited me. I think they are great in the right hands. They just don’t happen to be MY hands.

[Author]

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