Fender Stratocaster vs Gibson Les Paul: An in-depth comparison
What are the differences between these iconic instruments?
When it comes to iconic guitars, it doesn’t come any bigger than the Les Paul and the Stratocaster. They’ve both endured for over half a century, spawned countless imitators, and continue to be among the most popular guitars in the world today.
If you’re looking to buy a new guitar, or even your first guitar, you might be wondering: what’s the difference between the Strat and a Les Paul? Is it just aesthetic, or are they each designed to play specific styles of music?
Well the answer to both of those is “no” — each is more than capable of playing almost anything you want to throw at it, and there’s a lot more separating them than just the body shape.
In this article, I’m doing a deep dive to show what these legendary guitars offer, including how they differ, to help you make a decision for your next purchase.
And if you’d prefer to watch a comparison video instead, I’ve included one of those too:
The main differences between a Strat and Les Paul
There are multiple key differences between Stratocasters and Les Pauls, so I’m going to break this article down into multiple sections for easier reading.
This will include their shape, the woods they’re built with, the tones they produce, and more.
Before we go any further, I also want to make it clear that the comparison is between Gibson and Fender models, not the incalculable copies that are on the market — although they’re generally very similar, I can’t for certain say that the wood selections will be identical or the wiring will be the same.
Also, this comparison is between their standard models. You’ll find Les Pauls with ebony fretboards instead of rosewood or a single pickup or 3 pickups, and you’ll find Stratocasters with hardtails instead of floating bridges for instance. This comparison isn’t about going into the minutiae for every version the companies ever released, but about their typical, flagship models.
With that said, let’s get started.
The woods used in a Strat and Les Paul
Fender Stratocasters most typically are built with either alder or ash for the body — alder being the primary choice since the mid ‘50s. Fender has written more about this here.
The Gibson Les Paul has a mahogany body, and often a maple cap glued on top of that. Some models don’t have the maple, opting for only the mahogany.
The Les Paul has a mahogany neck and headstock, with a rosewood fretboard. The Strat usually has a maple neck with either a maple or rosewood fretboard. You can easily identify the two: maple is a light-coloured wood, while rosewood is dark. Rosewood is unfinished, so you can condition it, whereas Fender will apply a lacquer over the maple to seal it.
Neck construction for Strats and Les Pauls
Leo Fender wanted to build utilitarian guitars for hard-working musicians. This meant using simple construction, both to keep costs down and to make repairs and maintenance work easier.
As a result, Fender necks use a bolt-on construction method — the neck is simply screwed into the back of the body. You can unscrew it and remove it, which players often do when it’s time to do a fret dress or other maintenance work. You can also buy a new neck and replace it very easily.
Gibson has a different approach. With the company’s background in making instruments like mandolins, the Les Paul’s neck is glued in (this is called a set-neck).
This is a longer process in the manufacturing stage: starting with body and neck blanks, the builder has to carefully sand each neck down so it’s a perfect fit for the guitar it’s going into. Then they have to apply glue and wait for it to dry before it moves along to the neck stage in the factory.
Both construction methods are perfectly fine, and each has its advocates — some people swear that a set neck will have better sustain while the bolt-on neck has better attack.
But the main consideration should be that if you don’t like the neck on your Les Paul, or you somehow damage it, it’s a much more difficult (and thus expensive) process to repair or replace it.
Scale length differences
Scale length is the distance between a guitar’s nut and bridge. A Gibson Les Paul has a 24.75” scale length. A Fender Stratocaster has a 25.5” scale length. The longer scale length means a few main things for you as a player:
More tension
More ‘snap’ to the tone
Wider frets
The extra tension means strings feel a little heavier, so you’ll notice some resistance when trying to bend strings compared to a guitar with a shorter scale length. It’s not uncommon for players to use slightly lighter strings on a Fender — for example if a player uses 10s on a Les Paul, they may use 9 or 9.5 gauge on a Stratocaster.
But the extra tension also contributes to the famous bright snappiness of the Strat. In comparison, the Les Paul has a warmer, more ‘rounded’ sound, and string bends are comparatively much easier.
Although may you develop a preference for one over the other, most guitarists enjoy playing on different scale lengths and may find themselves gravitating to one over the other for certain songs.
Lastly, the frets. If there’s more distance between the nut and bridge, the fretboard needs to be longer. The only way to do that is by increasing the distance between the frets.
It’s not a drastic difference — there is only 0.75” to be accounted for across the neck — but it’s enough for you to notice it if you’ve not encountered it before, and especially if you’re playing in the first few frets.
Which is heavier: Strat or Les Paul?
Les Pauls have developed a reputation over the years of being heavy — sometimes even too heavy. While there’s some truth to it, it’s not universal.
In the past, the prevailing wisdom has been that a heavier guitar has better tone and better sustain. In the 1970s specifically, Gibson was releasing very heavy models, of 10, 11, 12lbs or even more.
Thankfully, this didn’t last forever. They have also released guitars with chambering and weight relief, which basically means having parts of the wood removed to make the guitar lighter. Here are the different methods Gibson has used, and you can read about these different methods and which guitars Gibson applied them to on GibsonTraditional:
These days, a typical Les Paul Standard is usually around 9lbs. This can vary though, and it’s also worth mentioning that Gibson Custom Shop chooses lighter mahogany, so it’s more common to find those models around the 8lb mark.
(If you find that you have a low back pain from playing a heavy guitar, I’ve made a video explaining a common cause for this and how to fix it. Watch it here.)
Fender Stratocasters typically weigh around 8lbs, some lighter and some heavier. On paper, a difference of 1 or 2lbs doesn’t sound like much — but it can make a remarkable difference to how they feel on the shoulder, so always try to play a guitar standing up before you purchase it.
Finishes on Strats and Les Pauls
If you’re walking into a shop and buying a brand new model today, the Fender will probably have a polyurethane finish and the Gibson will have a nitrocellulose finish.
Gibson, helpfully, keeps a few things simple: all of its Gibson-branded guitars are made in the USA and have a nitro finish.
Fender-branded guitars aren’t quite so easy — they could be manufactured in America, Mexico, or previously Japan. If that matters to you, it’s important to get familiar with Fender’s product lines before going shopping.
Fender also isn’t as simple with finishes as Gibson. They mostly use poly today, but you can find nitro on its more expensive models, including the Custom Shop.
Does it matter? Well, the answer is “it depends.” There are players who will only play nitro, and players who will only play poly.
Critics will say poly feels like plastic. Advocates praise its consistency and it being hard wearing.
Nitro critics will say it gets brittle and cracks over time. Advocates love these things as it gives the guitar character as it ages, and say it feels nicer to play.
It’s a “your mileage may vary” topic. Personally I own guitars with both, and have no complaints.
However, if you buy a guitar with a nitro finish it’s important to know that it’s more sensitive than poly. For example, it can react with the typical guitar stands or wall hangers, leaving a ‘burn’ in the guitar. So it’s advised to wrap the stand or hanger in something cotton, like an old sock or t-shirt. There are also nitro-specific cleaning products.
It’s a whole topic in itself, so I won’t go into detail here. But I do recommend doing some reading or watching some YouTube videos explaining the differences between the two if you’re curious.
Tuners: 3-per-side vs 6 in a row
Aesthetically, these two guitars are completely different. And one of those differences is the headstock. The Fender has all 6 tuning pegs on one side of the headstock, while Gibson opts for 3 per side:
This is mainly an aesthetic difference. The 6-in-a-row headstocks are a bit longer, and they allow the strings to travel in a straight line from bridge to tuning peg which may help with tuning stability, but there aren’t many pros or cons to worry about with the two options.
Configuration of knobs and pickups
The knob and pickup selector configuration isn’t just cosmetic, it’s a major part of the tone and practicality for each guitar.
Notice, for instance, how close the volume knob is to the bridge and strings. Some players hate this because they accidentally bump the volume while playing. Other players love it because they can easily adjust the volume while picking or strumming, which is much more difficult on the Les Paul.
You’ll also notice the Les Paul has 4 knobs to the Strat’s 3, so let’s explore that.
The Strat has 3 pickups. The volume knob is a master volume, meaning it controls all 3 pickups. The first tone knob, directly beneath the volume, controls the neck pickup only. The second tone knob controls the middle pickup only, and the bridge pickup doesn’t have a tone control. The 5-way selector switch allows you to select each pickup individually, or neck/middle, or middle/bridge.
Things work differently on the Les Paul. There are usually two pickups, and each one has a master volume and master tone control, allowing you to get full control over the range of each pickup.
For example, because there isn’t a master volume that controls all the pickups at once, a Les Paul allows you to have the pickups set at different volumes and use the selector switch to instantly go between them. Players will commonly set one pickup as the rhythm tone and the other for the lead tone, then flick the switch instead of using a boost pedal.
You’ll also occasionally see players set one volume to 0, then use the switch to rapidly toggle between both pickups. This creates an interesting effect, as heard around the 1:30 mark in this Vintage Trouble song just before the guitar solo.
Unlike the Strat’s 5-way switch, the Les Paul has a 3-way switch giving access to each pickup independently and the middle position. The independent tone and volume controls open up a huge range of sounds in the middle position, allowing you to blend anything from pickup being at 10 and the other at practically off, and everything in between.
If you’d like to find out more about using the knobs on a guitar to access more tones, here’s a dedicated article on the topic.
How do they sound against each other?
This is perhaps the million dollar question. As I said in the accompanying video to this article, I believe that most guitars can do most things, so you should buy the one that most appeals to you.
That said, the Les Paul is very renowned for its warm, creamy, rich tones while the Strat is renowned for its clarity, attack, and brightness.
But don’t let that fool you. As the saying goes, “nothing sold more Les Pauls than Jimmy Page’s Telecaster.” In other words, much of the fame these guitars have for their sound is because of how players have used them, rather than their limitations to just one sound. Both have been used across a wide range of genres from pop to metal.
With some conscious effort and tweaking your amp EQ you’ll be able to get both to do most of what you want. If you specifically want their signature sounds though, then you probably already know which one is for you.
Conclusion: which is better?
Both guitars have endured for as long as they have for one simple reason: they’re both great. They’ve spawned a million copies and imitators for the same reason.
If you’re in the market for a new guitar, it helps to know if you want specific features. If you want a floating bridge, or a maple fingerboard, or to frequently adjust the volume as you play, then you’re probably best off looking at the Fender.
If you want the flexibility of dedicated tone and volume knobs for each pickup, or a shorter scale length, you’ll probably gravitate to the Gibson.
But there is no “better” or “worse” here — just two extremely iconic, popular, enduring guitar designs that are loved around the world for good reason.
Play both, experiment with the sounds they offer, how they feel in your hands and over your shoulder, and go home with the one that you don’t want to put down.