Les Paul Vs The Rest

Hi Guitar Mates,

I've been playing a Gibson LP Standard for 10 years now. I use ernie ball 11-48s and an EMG 81 in the bridge. It's a beautiful guitar and recently had a tune up with a pro-tech I trust. It sounds great and very Zakk Wylde-esque.

My first electric was a nice American Strat about 20 years ago. I thought it sounded way too clean for the "shred" guitar I wanted to emulate (forgive me I was a young teenager). I traded it in for an upper end Ibanez S-Series which I liked much better. Learning Eddie, Hammett, and Satriani riffs was a blast and I fell in love with two hand tapping. It was a Floyd Rose so bends were smooth and the whammy bar was always fun to mess with. Although my style was very sloppy, I loved how fast and smooth everything seemed.

Although the Ibanez was perfect for the heavy stuff (I think Kirk Hammett smashes up the exact model in Cunning Stunts), it really left something to desire for everything else. As I diversified more, I realized I couldn't get a great Eagles type sound and open chords really sounded thin. Although a tech did a thorough tune up, I couldn't get a sound I really loved. I figured it was me and I needed to practice more. I played with a band in High School and as bad as it sounds, I played a Creed song for a school concert. On tape it really doesn't sound great although I know the notes were in tune and I was playing them correctly.

One day I picked up an Epiphone LP at Guitar Center and instantly heard something I hadn't ever from the Ibanez. It was beautiful and balanced and strumming chords sounded incredible. I got the Epiphone and later went on to get a new Gibson LP standard.

I've tried other guitars since I bought the Gibson but always go back. I love the sound, the look, and the way it feels. Zakk Wylde and Slash are my two favorite guitarists to play. In my current band we play a mix of covers, including Sweet Child of Mine and Nightrain. Almost every show someone tells me how awesome the Guns and Roses guitar solos sound. This is all phenomenal.

If you're still reading, thank you. This is the point of the whole thing. I play Master of Puppets and Cowboys from Hell perfectly (all lead parts), and through the Dual Rec they sound pretty nasty. It seems though like it takes so much extra time and effort to learn and master these licks. My rhythm guitarist plays a nice schecter and when we switch guitars, it feels like going from a Bentley to a Lotus. Heavy and solid, to light and nimble and easy to move around quickly.

I'm trying to learn some of Muris Varajic (Vai Jem) and Pavel Denisjuk's (Wolfgang,?) lessons and some of the stuff seems nearly impossible to play on a heavily stringed LP. I have an older Ibanez RG with floating trem and play it sometimes for these lessons (The Ibanez pickups sounded terrible to me so I put Seymour Duncan's in place). It is much easier to do some of the fast tapping, string skipping, and sweeps. However, it feels like a totally different instrument. It's like relearning.

Is it worth getting a nice Ibanez, Schecter, ESP, Strat (25.5) with smaller strings to learn and play some of these tracks? I don't know if I want to spend the time getting used to another guitar. Plus I think switching back and forth would be confusing for the hands.

-Should I keep on with Zakk Wylde and Slash riffs and accept I'll never be able to play Malmsteen or Vai on the LP?

-Keep trying on the LP until one day (when I am 80 years old) I can play all these things?

-Get a longer scale, high quality guitar with easy 24 fret access and a FR and simply put in the time to get accustomed to it and play both guitars?


I don't know many shred guitarists playing an LP. Wylde, Skolnick, ? I haven't seen any LP's in 7-10 level lessons.