What sub-$700 guitar sounds, but doesn't look/weigh, like a Les Paul?

Joe Bfstplk said:
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/se...29yeSI6WyJHdWl0YXJzIl19fQ&category-redirect=1

I sold my Gibson LP Studio after trying one of these.

It sounds and plays great. The sound has a girth to it and a clarity that defies the lack of back-breaking weight. The only thing it needed was a little attention to the nut from a good guitar tech....
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Glad to know you like your PRS, price is quite reasonable, but I was specifically responding to the idea the it should be an actual Les Paul. Has Gibson been able to do quality at a good price?
 
mr_fender said:
I'd say the biggest contributors to the Les Paul sound are the set neck design, the tune-o-matic bridge/stop tailpiece, and the pickup choices (PAF style or P90's). Wood does matter as well, but not as much as many people think.

Perhaps an Epiphone Explorer or Flying V. Those are both still in the Les Paul tone ballpark and their longer body shapes should help make them less prone to neck dive.
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jlynnb1 said:
I honestly feel like a guitars sound is very tied to it's build, shape etc. Will one of those get you close, probably, maybe, like any other guitar. Will it sound like an LP? nope.

Even guitars that are meant to be more modern versions (PRS SC, Eclipse, etc)...they just get some of the way there. If you want LP tone, it's gonna have to be as close to a LP ad you can get!
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It would appear shape or wood matters not at all. Neither for tone nor sustain. Electronics, pickups, pots, first and foremost. Set neck or bolt on? Hard to say because you can't do any blind tests with a bolt on or a set neck guitar that are otherwise identical, because no two guitars are EVER identical. There's so many factors that make up a guitar that not even two identical will play and feel the same. So get a cheap LP lookalike, or some HH Tele or hard tail Strat and make sure its wired like a LP with similar pickups. That will probably get you there 95% of the way. And since no two LP's will sound the same either 95% is as good as you will get.
 
I think SGs sound very similar to les Paul’s and the body is completely different. My best theory is the tone comes from the bridge and pickups mostly, then neck
 
Dr. Dipwad said:
Lots of great replies here; thank you fellas!

To clarify the original note, I've added the following: For this guitar, I'm not so much looking for modern metal or active pickup sounds. I'm more interested in the range of Les Paul sounds from Joe Perry and Jimmy Page to Slash.

While I'm looking at the ones you've suggested, I thought I'd ask:
  • Any experience with the Dean Icon X?
  • Any experience with the ESP LTD PB-500?

They both aren't so Les Paul looking, but have the right kind of bridge, so I thought they might be able to do the job...?
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It's not just about the bridge though. It's about the 24.75" scale, the mostly or all mahogany construction, and the number of frets (determines where your neck pickup will go).

How much of a concession tonally are you willing to make?

Is it the singlecut body shape that's stopping you?

For the record I don't think we can talk you into a singlecut of any brand if that's the hangup, but then you may need to adjust into "les paul ish" sounds. At which point there's a lot of great doublecuts we can recommend.
 
Dave Merrill said:
Glad to know you like your PRS, price is quite reasonable, but I was specifically responding to the idea the it should be an actual Les Paul. Has Gibson been able to do quality at a good price?
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If you see one in a local shop, you owe it to yourself to try it out. It was everything you'd want out of a good Lester, at a nice price....
 
You could buy a chibson for couple hundred, spend 300 on pups n electronics, and couple hundred on a luthier for a setup.
 
have a look at the yamaha revstars. mahogany / maple body. mahogany / rosewood set in neck. 22 frets. paf style pickups. 24.75"

RS420 / RS620 / RS820 i think. and they look cool.
 
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Joe Bfstplk said:
If you see one in a local shop, you owe it to yourself to try it out. It was everything you'd want out of a good Lester, at a nice price....
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Haven't found one at any of the local GCs, or the one other local PRS dealer I'm aware of (Boston area).

I gather these have straight-up Les Paul style wiring, 3-position switch, 2 volume 2 tone, right? No switching pots etc? Not a deal breaker, just checking.
 
Budda said:
@Dave Merrill try matt's music
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Yeah I did. They've only got a couple PRS's. Great shop, but I don't quite get their relationship to PRS. Doesn't show on the electric guitars main page, and almost everything that comes up is sold, but they do appear to be a PRS dealer. Weird.

EDIT: Does that mean you're in the Boston area yourself?
 
Dave Merrill said:
Haven't found one at any of the local GCs, or the one other local PRS dealer I'm aware of (Boston area).

I gather these have straight-up Les Paul style wiring, 3-position switch, 2 volume 2 tone, right? No switching pots etc? Not a deal breaker, just checking.
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Yes. The placement of the knobs is different, but stone simple to switch to the LP knob arrangement. I added s/p switching pots and a phase toggle to mine.
 
Dave Merrill said:
Yeah I did. They've only got a couple PRS's. Great shop, but I don't quite get their relationship to PRS. Doesn't show on the electric guitars main page, and almost everything that comes up is sold, but they do appear to be a PRS dealer. Weird.

EDIT: Does that mean you're in the Boston area yourself?
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I think they lean pretty hard into suhr these days. Ive checked their site for Suhr jazzmasters in a fit of boredom recently.

Im not near Boston, but the old owner of a couple other forums is and Matt's is a vendor there. Got my line 6 wireless from them years ago.
 
OrganicZed said:
My favorite shop in the Boston area is The Axe Palace. They don't really stock much in the sub $700 category, but their shop is loaded with cool guitars and amps.
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Yeah they have some stuff, especially if you're metal, and have lots of money, of which I'm 0 for 2. They have a few things I'd be interested to check out if money.
 
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