The tele is ever so slightly brighter, but tone adjustments could make a difference too. I could probably make the tele as warm as the Les Paul. I was on team Gibson in my youth, but as I age I vastly prefer fender. I just got a Squier semi hollow tele with humbuckers...which Is what brought me here. It's a sweet little guitar AND much lighter than a Les Paul tank. I totally agree with the comments about fatigue playing a Les Paul. Don't forget the real ones weigh as much as the tree they are carved from.
Wow! I have an HH Tele with treble boost and was thinking about getting a Les Paul, but after listening to this, I think I don’t need one. Sounds like buying an HSS Strat or Semi hollow as a next purchase would provide more variety.
Funny thing, I came here to talk myself out of buying a HH tele or any tele at all, I‘m not a fan of the guitar and I dissed the guitar a lot, but I cannot deny the very distinct sweet dominant bright tone. But the video only makes me want to get a tele now.
I think both a hh telecaster and a les paul sound great, but I personally like the telecaster because the sound has a bit more clarity and for bonuses it’s a bit more comfortable and I like that the controls are a little more easy to figure out
The difference was small. The tele sounds like you turned up the treble a tick on the amp and the bass down a tick. You could make the tele sound exactly the same with some amp tweaking.
As a longtime fender man who’s had split loyalties since playing a few vintage Gibsons that made me want an HH guitar, I think the Tele Deluxe might well be my next purchase
From Leo: There is an improved tone difference with the 25.5 inch scale Telecaster. I once had the idea to put a 24.75 " conversion neck on my Fender thinking it would help when going back and forth with my archtop. It played well as far as fingering but lost a dynamic in the tonal character. Sounded like old dead strings. I put the old neck back on. My Tele also has split pickup switching so I can get some additional tones.
@@kennisrussell Sorry for the confusion. It is not a quote, at least from anyone famous. My name really is Leo and I have 10 years of research on my computer that I don't want to risk to any virus. I use my wife's computer for social media.
What a great comparison video man. I wish there were more like these - genuine comparison playing identical licks and flicking between the 2. Thanks man. Would have liked to see the comparison to a real LP, but this was super.
Most of the difference that gets to your ears is from the difference in scale lengths. Note there is practically no difference in the neck pickup sounds, but there is much more top end with the telecaster bridge pickup, which makes the tele sound "thinner" than the LP when both are played on the bridge pickup.
The Tele sounds brighter because it has a longer scaled neck which causes the strings to vibrate faster compared to a shorter scaled Gibson neck which produces a darker, warmer tone.
I love the sound of a Gibson, but something about the feel of a Fender, even the MIMs..it’s just a smoother experience. And that single coil Tele bridge sound just resonates with my soul, not so much the humbucker
Gibson is way overrated, IMHO. I was in awe of the brand until I actually owned one. Now I pretty much buy anything BUT with a fender/Squier preference.
Yeah my es333 has a neck crack under the headstock I’ve had repaired twice. I then found out that’s a Gibson trademark. I do love the guitar, but I’m not that impressed. I’ve never had a Fender fall apart on its own.
I have a Les Paul Studio & it doesn’t stay in tune from the start of a song to the end. I thought it was always a fault with the set up or the way I was playing, but all I’ve seen is people with the exact same problem. Currently saving for a Jaguar HH.
I've own two of them and feel the same way. Love the LP tone, but too bulky and can never get it to stay in tune for my use. Think I'll sell my LPs and get a Tele HH setup.
Tele sounds thinner, more open, more treble-y, and "longer". Les Paul sounds thicker, bassier, a little "sweeter" and "shorter". Which makes sense as those are the actual physical differences. They get even more different when they're ripping it in the heat of battle, and when different players bring out and exaggerate their characteristics by the way they play and through different amps and such. Still a good test though.
Tele was brighter all around. Les Paul has way more mid & bottom frequencies, BUT the Shawbuckers in the Tele had a WAY wider dynamic range. The Les Paul bridge pickup sounded dull by comparison.
I don't think those are shawbuckers, they are standard humbuckers they probably stick in Mexican HSS srats and such. The difference in brightness is probably the scale length. Also, put a good humbucker in either of those guitars and it will sound better.
This was a fun comparison, that said, to really isolate what the differences in sound are you would need to use the exact same pickups. In addition, as others may have pointed out, Telecasters, Stratocasters, and Jazzmasters are 25.5" scale guitars. Les Pauls are 24.75" scale. The longer neck of these Fenders has a pretty significant impact on sound as well as feel. If someone wanted a Fender that sounded a bit closer to a Gibson, they could try a Jaguar or Mustang with humbuckers. These guitars have an even shorter scale length at 24", so you'll never quite get there -- But the point is a tele will always be brighter and perkier feeling than a Les Paul due primarily to the scale length differences.
I use all Les Pauls with Tonerider Alnico 2, PAF, low output, scatter-wound pickups. I own one Telecaster Deluxe HH. I decided to try those same Tonerider humbuckers I use in my Les Pauls in it. I was actually surprised at how different the Telecaster was. Its tone improved with those pickups, but no matter what I did on my rig, the Tele never was even close to the sound of the Lesters.
BTW,...all of my Les Pauls have a very similar sound to the Gibson P90 sound. It is those PAF scatter-wound humbuckers. There is magic in this type of humbucker, in a Les Paul.
I have a Squire Classic Vibe Tele and i put a Guitar Fetish Little Puncher which is a hot rail humbucker which supposed to be a humbucker in a single body, it sounds good 👍
This is going to be my new line everytime a have a gig 1:38 "Listen to my tone don't listen to my playing" Anyway you sound awesome thanks for the video!
The difference I’m hearing is the darker tone of the mahogany neck and body in the Les Paul. Tele sounds more clear, and probably would sound better in a mix, as you’d probably be trying to EQ out the low mid muddiness anyway.
Two very different guitars here with too many variations to put it down to one thing. However, I have a few Teles with the same pickups fitted but with maple, rosewood, and ebony fretboards. There is a subtle difference, and I prefer maple because my old ears don't hear highs as well as they used to.
its actually a relative thing. The import Fenders and Epiphones source their pickups from same place. Now if you put the RIGHT resistors, caps, pots and pickups in those guitars the compare and contrast results would have been starker and more obvious.
@@allguitar3349 good question. I prefer the sound of a humbucker tele to a single coil and also way prefer it to a les Paul. The hh tele doesn’t compress the amp as much as the les Paul so it’s way more dynamic with a really nice top end. The single coil Tele’s in my opinion are just unlistenable when practicing by yourself. I can not bare them. BUT they really perform outstandingly well with a band and have incredible power to roar thru the mix!
Tele was less muddy the LP seemed a little higher out put, I think if you adjusted the amp a little between switches you could make it hard to tell the difference.
If someone were to ask me what the difference in a Fender Tele HH and a Les Paul is, I would say that the Tele sounds like a nice young chap just learning what distortion is, and a Les Paul sounds like a middle aged drunkard who smokes 3 packs a day and starts drinking Mad Dog 2020 at 5 in the morning. I like the Tele better because I can't play a Les Paul because the neck is too wide for my hand
There are versions of the les paul with a narrower neck. And it even feels like a toy compared to a strat or a tele. I prefer the normal les paul because the neck is similar to a classical guitar. But I also like strats and teles a lot. And I even prefer them over gibson designs. So if you prefer narrower and thinner necks there are les pauls that fit the part.
I have a Custom Shop Les Paul which is a thing of beauty and an amazing guitar to play. With that said, I would much rather take any of my Fender guitars to a gig.
Honestly the only tonal difference is down to the pickups used. The Fender Wide Ranges are specifically designed (by Seth Lover no less) to be a little bit clearer than PAFs, and the Epiphone PAF replica is know for being a bit muddier than most other PAFs. So at the end of the day, pick the design you think looks and feels best and adjust the pickups for the sound you want.
I would have thought that the Gibby would have been wired in series. The Tele seems a smidge brighter which could be the pickups or perhaps it's wired in parallel.
its so funny how people think that the longer scale length sounds brighter, when the shorter the scale length the brighter the tone, vs longer scale length being warmer, say for example ukulele vs upright bass @@@grygrskls
Same scale length at the same note. Let's see you play the same note on an open string with a ukelele and that same note on an open string on an upright bass! Also, the volume of a ukelele has a very different resonant frequnce than the much larger volume of a double bass. You want to make this even more fair and even closer? Put the same strings (a new set) on both the telecaster and the LP.
Thanks Kennis for all the work that goes into making a proper A/B comparison, your video really helped. I'll be swapping my LP for an HH Tele as soon as possible. Well, as others have said, the Fender sounds like a Fender and the Les Paul sounds like ... a Les Paul. The Tele makes a sound that is definitely different from a standard Tele but still nice and crisp, well balanced. Sorry for you LP fans but for me the Epi sounds dull, maybe the strings are old. Very similar to my Gibson LP with 490 / 498 pickups which is wearing ancient strings at the moment. You can talks about the different scale lengths, different neck settings etc. but surely the pickups are the biggest factor in the sound you get from an electric guitar - they turn string vibrations into the electrical signal which gets amplified. And it's surprising that Fender seem give us better humbuckers than Epiphone. Still, it would be good to know exactly what these two different sets of humbuckers are.
Awesome. I'm so glad someone else wants this config...and if it could split tge humbuckers .imagine with a piezo bridge also...what a guitar it would be...have you done it yet ?.
If your only criteria is 2 humbuckers then any guitar could be considered a Les Paul if it had 2 humbuckers but the tonal difference is obvious. Not sure if it's the pickup difference though.
Great comparison. Agree with everything said here. They are so close in tone with the Tele very slightly brighter when driven but I could n't tell any difference in clean mode. The Les Paul just sounded dull and muffled. For me the the neck of a player Fender is superb. Fender all the way.
I could hear the les paul distorting with the clean setting whereas the telecaster maintained it's clarity. I enjoyed the sound of the telecaster more than the les paul.
Tele Solid body, low output pickups, maple neck/fretboard, longer scale length, hardtail bridge. Apparent brighter sound but not like turning up the tone knob. More like higher top end frequencies. More single coil snappy jangly sound. Les Paul Shorter scale length mahogany body/neck/fretboard, weight relieved body, stud based bridge/tailpiece mostly has metal based resonant points except nut, more cavity routing, maple cap, routed fretboard for trapezoid inlays(,yes even this can effect frequencies), higher output pickups. Warmer rounder sound. Weight relief adds hollow space for more resonance which explains the darker sound, similar in effect to how an acoustic works, shorter scale length requires thicker strings to feel the same tension as a fender, which under some cases removes top end frequencies, and in other adds low end frequencies, higher output pickups may be snappy and bright in bridge position, but in neck usually aren't the best adds to warm sound, maple cap could definitely have a role to play in the middle range sound of Gibson/Epiphone while being able to sound dark, but not in the bad way. With this being Epiphone, I notice that all Epiphone guitars tend to be darker and more compressed for some reason. Even after upgrading. And when I mean upgrading, I mean everything has changed except the wood itself. My conclusion. Listen to both and pick your favorite. Single coil tones are my favorite, and ironically I love metal. However, single coils under heavy distortion, overdrive, fuzz, and a noise gate, can give you that single coil tone without dealing with pickup hum. It'll still be there but similar to an overdriven humbucker WITHOUT a gate. Billy Corgan did it so why can't I?
Wow. What a huge difference. One i wasnt expecting. Every a/b the tele sounded so much more clear and present. I cant believe how much the tones differ. Tele all the way.
Similar PUs level the field. The Fender a bit brighter and chimy, the LP a bit fatter. Wonder how much the scale length (25.5" vs 24.75") affects the tone due the tension differences. I notice this when playing my LP and Tele.
I have a Tele partscaster with mini-hums and a ToM bridge modded to fit the neck radius. All quality parts. Still sounds like a Telecaster. The glued-in neck of a Gibbo-style makes a huge difference - as you will hear just playing them acoustically. That and the scale. Nice video Kennis, thanks. Very interesting and well-made..
I never really like Les Pauls or Teles but once I bought a Telecaster with Humbuckers I became a fan. Now I gig with two Teles ; Fender FSR Blacktop Telecaster and Fender American Series Telecaster. So Yeah Tele HH for the win !
Maybe I missed it at the beginning but are the pickups the same in both guitars? Are they set at the same height? The Epi sounds louder and warmer but I’m wondering if it’s from the height difference or not. I love comparisons like this though. Oh and does the Epi have a 300k or 500k pot? Maybe the tele has a 500k pot? That would be weird since Fender uses 250k pots on their single coils but could have a 500k pot. Lol I’m not trying to avoid the “there’s a difference because of the body wood” and I’m open to there being a difference. EDIT* watched until the end, different pickups 😣 yeah, that could DEFINITELY affect the tone as well as thicker strings typically on LP’s.
Thanks for a great comparison video. There was much less difference than I would have expected. Basically either guitar could do the same job, all down to which one you prefer playing.
I've changed my factory installed stratocaster pickups with the 59 Vintage Anlico V pickups. I'm sure there is a difference in tone when I play but I can't hear the difference. Maybe hearing aids are in order
The Tele has more clarity in the cleaner tests. With the dirtier setting the difference is less obvious although I would say the Tele still has a little more edge to it. With the lead samples the Epi was slightly fuller sounding. Overall I would say the Tele is the better guitar in this test as it would probably be more versatile in the gig situation. Very interesting test and really well presented.
Point well made. They are similar. The Telecaster is a bit brighter and clearer. I can't decide what I like better. I think I am leaning towards a Telecaster. Now I just need to decide whether I want HH or SS.
HH with coil split...versatile and essentially the best of both worlds. I recently got the special edition Fender FMT Tele. Mahogany body with flamed maple top, set mahogany neck, Seymour Duncan pearly gates in the bridge and a '59 in the neck. It maintains the profile of a Tele, with the comfort of a belly cut, and oozes tone. Everything I love about a Les Paul on the profile of a Tele! Coil splits via push pull tone pot and it's quite inspiring for everything from chicken picking to metal! Possibily the perfect guitar!
I have a HH Thinline Tele, Semi Hollow Body. And it's got that Les Paul like sound overall. I'd rather get a LP, or possibly a SG just because I want to lighten the weight a bit... As for your comparison here, there were only a few points where I could tell a difference. So Good Job Ken! 🙂
I put DiMarzio Fat Strat and Pre-BS Tele pickups in a 1982 Telecaster, and viola! I had a Les Paul with P-90s. I needed to add a Squire Affinity Tele just to get a 'standard' Tele sound for recording.
They're pretty different: scale length, body and neck woods, feel in string tension, etc. The Tele is brighter, more articulate, and has more string seaparation while the LP is warmer with looser bass and more present mids. But that atiff could be changed with a pickup swap or EQing
Les Paul sounds fatter and warmer for rock and jazz, with a little throatier midrange for crunch. Tele is a little brighter, more present and snappy for country and cleaner pop rock. The difference in scale, neck joint method and tone wood combinations all have an effect too. I prefer the Gibson over Fender, having both myself, but the Fenders are more practical for daily practice and gigging. Less cost, less prone to headstock damage and less desirable for theft, more durable. Gibson is good stuff, just requires more care to keep in good shape. The 3x3 tuners and nut can cause tuning issues too.
Also, Fenders are a lot easier and cheaper to modify, customize and repair. Fender definitely is ubiquitous in both more players owning those and also making their own “partcasters”, with the caster part historically derived from Strats and Teles. Gibson and Fender definitely set the patterns and models for most other manufacturers to copy or template off of.
@@kennisrussell Y/w, and thank you for a good video. I did my own HH Tele project partscaster, by putting together a Squier Std. Series 22 frets Tele neck, Squier Tele 72 Deluxe body, 920D Custom Shop red tortoise pick guard cut for the 72, Ibanez V7 and V8 humbuckers, with two volumes and two tone controls, a three way toggle switch in the upper bout, and all new USA pots and wiring. Had a good tech put it all together for me. He had to modify the neck cavity some for the 22 frets neck. Looks, sounds, plays pretty cool. Needed it like another hole in the head with all my existing guitars, including a Gibson LP Std., but I just wanted a Tele set up like a Les Paul, ha.
The tele wide range hbs are very different from the traditional humbuckers. Seth lover designed them to be so! But of course as w any pickups once you throw gain on it the difference gap becomes much smaller.
I have one of these tele's and it is a very comfortable guitar. These things can be hot rodded out, for the money, an all-around great guitar. What would be cool is a comparison through a nice Marshall. Great job on this video!
Scale length affects the tone more than the mahogany vs alder theory. Even the bodyshape of a guitar impacts on tone. Humbuckers do not sound the same on Fenders vs Gibson/Epiphone when guitars are played clean. With half a dozen pedals going and computer-generated programs anything can be made to sound similar...almost anything. That being said no two guitars, inc. same model, will sound alike.
Great playing!. There are a lot of differences even within the construction of the humbuckers. But also types of wood used, and more determinant factors like scale length (this makes a lot of difference), bridge and so on. They both sound like guitars with humbuckers. But sound definetely different. A matter of taste. I like the sound of both. But prefer a "fender-type" guitar because that is what I am used to.
I agree that the fact that they’re both HH guitars is where the similarities end. The scale length and radius differ and create a different playing experience. I love Teles and Les Paul’s, but they’re different. When it comes to humbucker tones, I don’t think anything beats a Les Paul. Just one man’s take. :)
I have a USA Tele HH and a Les Paul. Tone wise, the difference is the Tele is much brighter and definitely retains a Fender tone. However it can challenge the Gibson for grit at higher gain levels. If there weren’t such a thing as Gibson and Fender. Id put it down to Alder VS Mahogany!
I think an SG and the Tele might be even closer. The SG had an obviously larger bottom end but in a mix with other instruments I think that the Tele would do a little more.. Like an SG does. Alone the LP just does It's thing
The Les Paul is a chunk of heavy wood and a baseball bat neck on a shorter scale. The pickups range from low wound PAF's to high output humbuckers. The Tele version is close but the neck is not as big and the wood is lighter in the body and the pickup are usually a low impedance pickup. In person they don't sound the same, but close, the Les Paul carries the mid-tones better. But they are both good guitars.
To do a fair comparison, I would say, that the two guitars needs the same set of pickups, pots and wiring. Especially the Les Paul can sound different, weather it's a 50's or 60's style wiring.
2 distinct sounds it comes down to what tones you want they are both equal in sound quality I will say that for anything with a country flavor teles are good , they are great when paired in songs
The epiphone sounded darker but only slightly. I think it has more to do with one being a string-through and the other one being strung through the tail piece. I don’t know how much the pickups actually effected the tone. You should do a comparison with a US made Les Paul as epiphone pickups always sound darker compared to a US made Les Paul.
Thanks for this video. They are close, but I think the TELE has more high end. I’ve used them both live, and it’s like red delicious vs Granny Smith (both apples). Hard not love them both.
I'm very interested in this Player Telecaster HH but I'm a person who plays a lot standing up. I have searched in internet and have no found exact data about the weigth. Can someone tell me how much this guitar weighs exactly?
Bolt on neck Vs. Glued in neck construction. Its a Giant Cake Mix, and everything involved in the build completes the total sound, and Feel of said guitars .Yes, even scale length matters ie: Fender 25.5 inch scale, vs Gibson/Epiphone 24.75 inch scale. Good luck
I prefer the 'oomph' of a Les Paul - You recognize it more in the room. An SG vs the Tele would be hard to decide between - I like the bite of 80s rock, but prefer the 24.5" scale.
Really like your video. I'm doing just That. Making a tele and putting humbuckers in it. I like the way your humbucker tele sounds better than the LP Myself. The LP sounded muddier to Me.... I have both...
You can warm up a tele by rolling off the tone control... The neck pickup will give you a rounder, more Les Paul like tone. You'll need a boost pedsl maybe to get more output out of it... A real Gibson Les Paul will always sound thicker and beefier.. a tele with a rosewood or ebony finger board will also be less snappy than the solid maple neck on a telecaster... It's also in the fingers and your attack and style... For country you go to the bridge pickup and pick closer to the tailpiece for the twang.... Teles and Les Paul are both versatile and that's why they have been around since the 1950s... Each has it's own vibe..
Both chunks of solid wood. Put in the same pickup, the same pots, the same switch. Are they the same, I doubt it. Will they be different enough to make a difference? I doubt it. I didn't hear and differences in this video.
Audio Engineer here. You might be listening on headphones or speakers with auto compression, or automatic EQ. There’s some definite major differences in tone. Primarily the Tele has a lot more top end clarity, and better attack, while the Les Paul has a smoother mid range. Which is a great fat sound if you know how to set an amp up well, but very muddy if you don’t.
Great review! I think the intent of this comparo is lost on the "apples to oranges" people. I believe this is geared towards the person looking for an HH guitar, and wondering what the similarities or differences might be SONICALLY when buying either of these and not modding. I have the Epi, but prefer the Tele in this test.
Thanks for a great video gentlemen!Could you possibly give your opinion on which in between a custom shop 51 model with a Seth Lover 4C Rel humbucker pickup and a 63 custom shop model with a single coil neck pickup which is a better overall telecaster??? thanks a lot? I am talking about snap, clarity, gain sound, wolf voice and power.
Tele is brighter. Could be a combination of different pickups, woods and scale length. But you could A/B two les pauls and hear the same difference. Every guitar has it's own voice.
Great idea!!!!!!! Now I’m wondering what a top of the line “Custom Shop” Tele with the same strings etc. would match up against a “Standard Les Paul with PAF’s would sound? Both of these sounded different, but comparable.
The Tele sounds good. The Les Paul…still not a Gibson though. I owned the Epiphone and the Gibson and there’s a pretty big difference in feel of playing and the sound of a true Gibson. Just one mans opinion.
The tele sounds great. I expect the Epiphone has lower quality pickups. I don’t hear much upper mids chirp like one might with a quality PAF. The only way to get a true A/B comparison would be by using the same model of pickup in each guitar. Enjoyable video nonetheless.
I do 2 concentric 500k/500k pots and wire it 59 Les Paul style. Hard to find the knobs, so far I've needed to file the knobs to fit without moving each other. I love it and I can get the mid position magic with full neck/bridge interaction . Oh, that and a tel neck. 8O)>
The tele is ever so slightly brighter, but tone adjustments could make a difference too. I could probably make the tele as warm as the Les Paul. I was on team Gibson in my youth, but as I age I vastly prefer fender. I just got a Squier semi hollow tele with humbuckers...which Is what brought me here. It's a sweet little guitar AND much lighter than a Les Paul tank.
I totally agree with the comments about fatigue playing a Les Paul. Don't forget the real ones weigh as much as the tree they are carved from.
Wow! I have an HH Tele with treble boost and was thinking about getting a Les Paul, but after listening to this, I think I don’t need one. Sounds like buying an HSS Strat or Semi hollow as a next purchase would provide more variety.
Thats what I have. Blacktop HH telecaster, and American Special Strat HSS. Both great guitars!
@@F3502000 American Special Strat HSS is a wonderful machine. I had one years ago in black. I sold it and immediately regretted it
Funny thing, I came here to talk myself out of buying a HH tele or any tele at all, I‘m not a fan of the guitar and I dissed the guitar a lot, but I cannot deny the very distinct sweet dominant bright tone. But the video only makes me want to get a tele now.
Full hollow will provide more variety. Semi hollow isn't even hollow where it counts. Pretty much for looks. Don't tell anyone that though. 🤫
Don't underestimate a Tele... it doesn't matter the genre lol.
Now this is how you do a comparison A/B vid! Well done sir 👍
I think it's useless, since it's completely different pickups.
I like the way you A and B'd these. The tele was definitely brighter and more articulate when playing dynamically.
I think both a hh telecaster and a les paul sound great, but I personally like the telecaster because the sound has a bit more clarity and for bonuses it’s a bit more comfortable and I like that the controls are a little more easy to figure out
The difference was small. The tele sounds like you turned up the treble a tick on the amp and the bass down a tick. You could make the tele sound exactly the same with some amp tweaking.
As a longtime fender man who’s had split loyalties since playing a few vintage Gibsons that made me want an HH guitar, I think the Tele Deluxe might well be my next purchase
From Leo: There is an improved tone difference with the 25.5 inch scale Telecaster. I once had the idea to put a 24.75 " conversion neck on my Fender thinking it would help when going back and forth with my archtop. It played well as far as fingering but lost a dynamic in the tonal character. Sounded like old dead strings. I put the old neck back on. My Tele also has split pickup switching so I can get some additional tones.
@@kennisrussell Sorry for the confusion. It is not a quote, at least from anyone famous. My name really is Leo and I have 10 years of research on my computer that I don't want to risk to any virus. I use my wife's computer for social media.
Here I thought this was a Leo Fender quote
@@barbmelle3136good thinking, Barb. Umm I mean… Leo
What a great comparison video man. I wish there were more like these - genuine comparison playing identical licks and flicking between the 2. Thanks man. Would have liked to see the comparison to a real LP, but this was super.
Telecaster has a 25 ½" scale and Les Paul is 24 ¾" scale.
so if you wanna down tune, go for tele.
I agree in concept but something about the LP low end sounds better in this comparison vid to me.
@@timepaintertunebird8160 LP sounds more agressive and louder
Most of the difference that gets to your ears is from the difference in scale lengths. Note there is practically no difference in the neck pickup sounds, but there is much more top end with the telecaster bridge pickup, which makes the tele sound "thinner" than the LP when both are played on the bridge pickup.
pots difference
Really effective comparison method, with the frequent switching back and forth.
I like how that tele still "sounds like a fender" despite being basically a les paul.
Because it’s a better guitar
Easy answer: 1) it still has the Fender scale (25.5). That makes a Fender sound like one 2) the pots. 500k vs 300k. 3) different pickups.
@@ArielCardona plus fretboard wood and neck joint
Great video! As previously mentioned, that’s how you do a comparison.
i'd take the Tele, has more punch in the bridge, LP sounded dull but the neck pickups were pretty much identical.
The Tele sounds brighter because it has a longer scaled neck which causes the strings to vibrate faster compared to a shorter scaled Gibson neck which produces a darker, warmer tone.
Great way to do a side by side comparison. They are close...the tele seemed a little brighter.
I love the sound of a Gibson, but something about the feel of a Fender, even the MIMs..it’s just a smoother experience. And that single coil Tele bridge sound just resonates with my soul, not so much the humbucker
The Les Paul, as always, is going out-of-tune as the video goes forward. That's why I owned and sold 3 of them before giving up.
Gibson is way overrated, IMHO. I was in awe of the brand until I actually owned one. Now I pretty much buy anything BUT with a fender/Squier preference.
Yeah. I sold three Les Pauls too. I kept telling myself it would be better but it never was.
Yeah my es333 has a neck crack under the headstock I’ve had repaired twice. I then found out that’s a Gibson trademark. I do love the guitar, but I’m not that impressed. I’ve never had a Fender fall apart on its own.
I have a Les Paul Studio & it doesn’t stay in tune from the start of a song to the end. I thought it was always a fault with the set up or the way I was playing, but all I’ve seen is people with the exact same problem. Currently saving for a Jaguar HH.
I've own two of them and feel the same way. Love the LP tone, but too bulky and can never get it to stay in tune for my use. Think I'll sell my LPs and get a Tele HH setup.
Tele sounds thinner, more open, more treble-y, and "longer". Les Paul sounds thicker, bassier, a little "sweeter" and "shorter". Which makes sense as those are the actual physical differences. They get even more different when they're ripping it in the heat of battle, and when different players bring out and exaggerate their characteristics by the way they play and through different amps and such. Still a good test though.
Unless the pickups are the same, it's not really possible to compare the differences in the guitars themselves.
Tele was brighter all around. Les Paul has way more mid & bottom frequencies, BUT the Shawbuckers in the Tele had a WAY wider dynamic range. The Les Paul bridge pickup sounded dull by comparison.
I don't think those are shawbuckers, they are standard humbuckers they probably stick in Mexican HSS srats and such.
The difference in brightness is probably the scale length. Also, put a good humbucker in either of those guitars and it will sound better.
This was a fun comparison, that said, to really isolate what the differences in sound are you would need to use the exact same pickups. In addition, as others may have pointed out, Telecasters, Stratocasters, and Jazzmasters are 25.5" scale guitars. Les Pauls are 24.75" scale. The longer neck of these Fenders has a pretty significant impact on sound as well as feel. If someone wanted a Fender that sounded a bit closer to a Gibson, they could try a Jaguar or Mustang with humbuckers. These guitars have an even shorter scale length at 24", so you'll never quite get there -- But the point is a tele will always be brighter and perkier feeling than a Les Paul due primarily to the scale length differences.
I use all Les Pauls with Tonerider Alnico 2, PAF, low output, scatter-wound pickups.
I own one Telecaster Deluxe HH. I decided to try those same Tonerider humbuckers I use in my Les Pauls in it.
I was actually surprised at how different the Telecaster was. Its tone improved with those pickups, but no matter what I did on my rig, the Tele never was even close to the sound of the Lesters.
BTW,...all of my Les Pauls have a very similar sound to the Gibson P90 sound. It is those PAF scatter-wound humbuckers. There is magic in this type of humbucker, in a Les Paul.
I have a Squire Classic Vibe Tele and i put a Guitar Fetish Little Puncher which is a hot rail humbucker which supposed to be a humbucker in a single body, it sounds good 👍
I did the same thing with the exact guitar but with a seymour hot rails
This is going to be my new line everytime a have a gig
1:38
"Listen to my tone don't listen to my playing"
Anyway you sound awesome thanks for the video!
The difference I’m hearing is the darker tone of the mahogany neck and body in the Les Paul. Tele sounds more clear, and probably would sound better in a mix, as you’d probably be trying to EQ out the low mid muddiness anyway.
Wow ... tone wood? Sure. The difference is the unmatched pickups
Two very different guitars here with too many variations to put it down to one thing. However, I have a few Teles with the same pickups fitted but with maple, rosewood, and ebony fretboards. There is a subtle difference, and I prefer maple because my old ears don't hear highs as well as they used to.
Nice video Kennis. I prefer the Tele, comfortable guitar
I like more the fender. More detail in the sound
its actually a relative thing. The import Fenders and Epiphones source their pickups from same place. Now if you put the RIGHT resistors, caps, pots and pickups in those guitars the compare and contrast results would have been starker and more obvious.
Which are the right resistors caps pots and pickups?
For a live band situation, tele all day long.
Single coil. Or deluxe..I'm torn on which guitar to go with for a cover gig..we do anything from van .irrison to zz top
@@allguitar3349 good question. I prefer the sound of a humbucker tele to a single coil and also way prefer it to a les Paul. The hh tele doesn’t compress the amp as much as the les Paul so it’s way more dynamic with a really nice top end. The single coil Tele’s in my opinion are just unlistenable when practicing by yourself. I can not bare them. BUT they really perform outstandingly well with a band and have incredible power to roar thru the mix!
@@danabnormal5892 so am I to gather from this you play a hh tele
@@allguitar3349 install coil splitting.. have both in one.
Tele was less muddy the LP seemed a little higher out put, I think if you adjusted the amp a little between switches you could make it hard to tell the difference.
If someone were to ask me what the difference in a Fender Tele HH and a Les Paul is, I would say that the Tele sounds like a nice young chap just learning what distortion is, and a Les Paul sounds like a middle aged drunkard who smokes 3 packs a day and starts drinking Mad Dog 2020 at 5 in the morning. I like the Tele better because I can't play a Les Paul because the neck is too wide for my hand
There are versions of the les paul with a narrower neck. And it even feels like a toy compared to a strat or a tele. I prefer the normal les paul because the neck is similar to a classical guitar. But I also like strats and teles a lot. And I even prefer them over gibson designs.
So if you prefer narrower and thinner necks there are les pauls that fit the part.
I'd rather have the Tele. My preference is maple fingerboard and the modern Teles are a better $$$ value.
I have a Custom Shop Les Paul which is a thing of beauty and an amazing guitar to play. With that said, I would much rather take any of my Fender guitars to a gig.
Honestly the only tonal difference is down to the pickups used. The Fender Wide Ranges are specifically designed (by Seth Lover no less) to be a little bit clearer than PAFs, and the Epiphone PAF replica is know for being a bit muddier than most other PAFs.
So at the end of the day, pick the design you think looks and feels best and adjust the pickups for the sound you want.
I made up my mind, I will simply buy both. The longer I watch comparison videos the less time I'm spending playing guitar
I would have thought that the Gibby would have been wired in series. The Tele seems a smidge brighter which could be the pickups or perhaps it's wired in parallel.
it's most likely the difference in scale length. It wouldn't be very smart to do a comparison with different wiring.
its so funny how people think that the longer scale length sounds brighter, when the shorter the scale length the brighter the tone, vs longer scale length being warmer, say for example ukulele vs upright bass @@@grygrskls
Same scale length at the same note. Let's see you play the same note on an open string with a ukelele and that same note on an open string on an upright bass!
Also, the volume of a ukelele has a very different resonant frequnce than the much larger volume of a double bass.
You want to make this even more fair and even closer? Put the same strings (a new set) on both the telecaster and the LP.
Thanks Kennis for all the work that goes into making a proper A/B comparison, your video really helped. I'll be swapping my LP for an HH Tele as soon as possible.
Well, as others have said, the Fender sounds like a Fender and the Les Paul sounds like ... a Les Paul. The Tele makes a sound that is definitely different from a standard Tele but still nice and crisp, well balanced. Sorry for you LP fans but for me the Epi sounds dull, maybe the strings are old. Very similar to my Gibson LP with 490 / 498 pickups which is wearing ancient strings at the moment.
You can talks about the different scale lengths, different neck settings etc. but surely the pickups are the biggest factor in the sound you get from an electric guitar - they turn string vibrations into the electrical signal which gets amplified. And it's surprising that Fender seem give us better humbuckers than Epiphone. Still, it would be good to know exactly what these two different sets of humbuckers are.
Ultimate Tele would be HSH pickups. I've never seen one, so I'm going to do it to mine! Ha ha ha ha ha (mad laughter). I'll post it when I'm done.
Awesome. I'm so glad someone else wants this config...and if it could split tge humbuckers .imagine with a piezo bridge also...what a guitar it would be...have you done it yet ?.
Best comparison video around, period.
Very good comparison. They sound very similar
Pretty close sound. In my experience the amp has much more to do with the overall sound than does the guitar.
True, but the guitar does make a difference in tone, no matter what amp you use.
If your only criteria is 2 humbuckers then any guitar could be considered a Les Paul if it had 2 humbuckers but the tonal difference is obvious. Not sure if it's the pickup difference though.
The scale lengths are different so it is going to effect the sound slightly as the pickups are in slightly different positions.
you would have to use 2 guitars with the same scale lengths.
Wow the les Paul starts to distort fast. I guess it depends on what you are looking for.
Hotter pickups do that which can be easily changed
@@PragmaticDany yeah, but what's the point in the comparison if you are using after market pickups.
Great comparison. Agree with everything said here. They are so close in tone with the Tele very slightly brighter when driven but I could n't tell any difference in clean mode. The Les Paul just sounded dull and muffled. For me the the neck of a player Fender is superb. Fender all the way.
I could hear the les paul distorting with the clean setting whereas the telecaster maintained it's clarity. I enjoyed the sound of the telecaster more than the les paul.
The Les Paul have hotter pickups and drive the amp quicker, therefore, it sounds muddier and kind of muffled.
Tele
Solid body, low output pickups, maple neck/fretboard, longer scale length, hardtail bridge.
Apparent brighter sound but not like turning up the tone knob. More like higher top end frequencies. More single coil snappy jangly sound.
Les Paul
Shorter scale length mahogany body/neck/fretboard, weight relieved body, stud based bridge/tailpiece mostly has metal based resonant points except nut, more cavity routing, maple cap, routed fretboard for trapezoid inlays(,yes even this can effect frequencies), higher output pickups.
Warmer rounder sound. Weight relief adds hollow space for more resonance which explains the darker sound, similar in effect to how an acoustic works, shorter scale length requires thicker strings to feel the same tension as a fender, which under some cases removes top end frequencies, and in other adds low end frequencies, higher output pickups may be snappy and bright in bridge position, but in neck usually aren't the best adds to warm sound, maple cap could definitely have a role to play in the middle range sound of Gibson/Epiphone while being able to sound dark, but not in the bad way. With this being Epiphone, I notice that all Epiphone guitars tend to be darker and more compressed for some reason. Even after upgrading. And when I mean upgrading, I mean everything has changed except the wood itself.
My conclusion. Listen to both and pick your favorite. Single coil tones are my favorite, and ironically I love metal. However, single coils under heavy distortion, overdrive, fuzz, and a noise gate, can give you that single coil tone without dealing with pickup hum. It'll still be there but similar to an overdriven humbucker WITHOUT a gate. Billy Corgan did it so why can't I?
Wow. What a huge difference. One i wasnt expecting. Every a/b the tele sounded so much more clear and present. I cant believe how much the tones differ. Tele all the way.
Similar PUs level the field. The Fender a bit brighter and chimy, the LP a bit fatter. Wonder how much the scale length (25.5" vs 24.75") affects the tone due the tension differences. I notice this when playing my LP and Tele.
I I honestly didn’t really like the les Paul. They sound so muddy to me. But the tele sounded amazing imho
I have a Tele partscaster with mini-hums and a ToM bridge modded to fit the neck radius. All quality parts.
Still sounds like a Telecaster.
The glued-in neck of a Gibbo-style makes a huge difference - as you will hear just playing them acoustically. That and the scale.
Nice video Kennis, thanks. Very interesting and well-made..
I built a set neck Tele. It sounds like a Tele.
I never really like Les Pauls or Teles but once I bought a Telecaster with Humbuckers I became a fan. Now I gig with two Teles ; Fender FSR Blacktop Telecaster and Fender American Series Telecaster. So Yeah Tele HH for the win !
Maybe I missed it at the beginning but are the pickups the same in both guitars? Are they set at the same height? The Epi sounds louder and warmer but I’m wondering if it’s from the height difference or not. I love comparisons like this though. Oh and does the Epi have a 300k or 500k pot? Maybe the tele has a 500k pot? That would be weird since Fender uses 250k pots on their single coils but could have a 500k pot. Lol I’m not trying to avoid the “there’s a difference because of the body wood” and I’m open to there being a difference. EDIT* watched until the end, different pickups 😣 yeah, that could DEFINITELY affect the tone as well as thicker strings typically on LP’s.
Tele still has a fender sound even though it has humbuckers. Brighter. I like the feel and playability of fender 9.5 radius
Thanks for a great comparison video. There was much less difference than I would have expected. Basically either guitar could do the same job, all down to which one you prefer playing.
I've changed my factory installed stratocaster pickups with the 59 Vintage Anlico V pickups. I'm sure there is a difference in tone when I play but I can't hear the difference. Maybe hearing aids are in order
The Tele has more clarity in the cleaner tests. With the dirtier setting the difference is less obvious although I would say the Tele still has a little more edge to it. With the lead samples the Epi was slightly fuller sounding. Overall I would say the Tele is the better guitar in this test as it would probably be more versatile in the gig situation. Very interesting test and really well presented.
Point well made. They are similar. The Telecaster is a bit brighter and clearer. I can't decide what I like better. I think I am leaning towards a Telecaster. Now I just need to decide whether I want HH or SS.
HH with coil split...versatile and essentially the best of both worlds. I recently got the special edition Fender FMT Tele. Mahogany body with flamed maple top, set mahogany neck, Seymour Duncan pearly gates in the bridge and a '59 in the neck. It maintains the profile of a Tele, with the comfort of a belly cut, and oozes tone. Everything I love about a Les Paul on the profile of a Tele! Coil splits via push pull tone pot and it's quite inspiring for everything from chicken picking to metal! Possibily the perfect guitar!
@@elihue_redneckreview I’ve never considered a HH Tele until recently but your comment just sold me! How are you liking it so far?
You’re very modest ,I’m listening to your playing....lovely.
I have a HH Thinline Tele, Semi Hollow Body. And it's got that Les Paul like sound overall. I'd rather get a LP, or possibly a SG just because I want to lighten the weight a bit... As for your comparison here, there were only a few points where I could tell a difference. So Good Job Ken! 🙂
Exceptional A/B comparison!
I put DiMarzio Fat Strat and Pre-BS Tele pickups in a 1982 Telecaster, and viola! I had a Les Paul with P-90s.
I needed to add a Squire Affinity Tele just to get a 'standard' Tele sound for recording.
They're pretty different: scale length, body and neck woods, feel in string tension, etc. The Tele is brighter, more articulate, and has more string seaparation while the LP is warmer with looser bass and more present mids. But that atiff could be changed with a pickup swap or EQing
Les Paul sounds fatter and warmer for rock and jazz, with a little throatier midrange for crunch. Tele is a little brighter, more present and snappy for country and cleaner pop rock. The difference in scale, neck joint method and tone wood combinations all have an effect too. I prefer the Gibson over Fender, having both myself, but the Fenders are more practical for daily practice and gigging. Less cost, less prone to headstock damage and less desirable for theft, more durable. Gibson is good stuff, just requires more care to keep in good shape. The 3x3 tuners and nut can cause tuning issues too.
Having said all that, you got a lot more choices today than when I grew up and Gibson and Fender dominated the market.
Also, Fenders are a lot easier and cheaper to modify, customize and repair. Fender definitely is ubiquitous in both more players owning those and also making their own “partcasters”, with the caster part historically derived from Strats and Teles. Gibson and Fender definitely set the patterns and models for most other manufacturers to copy or template off of.
@@kennisrussell Y/w, and thank you for a good video. I did my own HH Tele project partscaster, by putting together a Squier Std. Series 22 frets Tele neck, Squier Tele 72 Deluxe body, 920D Custom Shop red tortoise pick guard cut for the 72, Ibanez V7 and V8 humbuckers, with two volumes and two tone controls, a three way toggle switch in the upper bout, and all new USA pots and wiring. Had a good tech put it all together for me. He had to modify the neck cavity some for the 22 frets neck. Looks, sounds, plays pretty cool. Needed it like another hole in the head with all my existing guitars, including a Gibson LP Std., but I just wanted a Tele set up like a Les Paul, ha.
the Tele has more top end and the LP has more low end
The tele wide range hbs are very different from the traditional humbuckers. Seth lover designed them to be so! But of course as w any pickups once you throw gain on it the difference gap becomes much smaller.
I have one of these tele's and it is a very comfortable guitar. These things can be hot rodded out, for the money, an all-around great guitar. What would be cool is a comparison through a nice Marshall. Great job on this video!
Scale length affects the tone more than the mahogany vs alder theory. Even the bodyshape of a guitar impacts on tone. Humbuckers do not sound the same on Fenders vs Gibson/Epiphone when guitars are played clean. With half a dozen pedals going and computer-generated programs anything can be made to sound similar...almost anything. That being said no two guitars, inc. same model, will sound alike.
I find Fender necks more comfortable than Gibson necks but I'd love to own either of these guitars.
Very useful and thorough!
How would you compare a SS fender telecaster with an epiphone lp standard? I want to boy one but I'm torn between the two
Great playing!.
There are a lot of differences even within the construction of the humbuckers. But also types of wood used, and more determinant factors like scale length (this makes a lot of difference), bridge and so on. They both sound like guitars with humbuckers. But sound definetely different. A matter of taste. I like the sound of both. But prefer a "fender-type" guitar because that is what I am used to.
I agree that the fact that they’re both HH guitars is where the similarities end. The scale length and radius differ and create a different playing experience. I love Teles and Les Paul’s, but they’re different. When it comes to humbucker tones, I don’t think anything beats a Les Paul. Just one man’s take. :)
Wood doesn't matter at all with solidbody guitars. The scale length DOES.
I have a USA Tele HH and a Les Paul. Tone wise, the difference is the Tele is much brighter and definitely retains a Fender tone. However it can challenge the Gibson for grit at higher gain levels. If there weren’t such a thing as Gibson and Fender. Id put it down to Alder VS Mahogany!
I think an SG and the Tele might be even closer. The SG had an obviously larger bottom end but in a mix with other instruments I think that the Tele would do a little more.. Like an SG does. Alone the LP just does It's thing
The Les Paul is a chunk of heavy wood and a baseball bat neck on a shorter scale. The pickups range from low wound PAF's to high output humbuckers. The Tele version is close but the neck is not as big and the wood is lighter in the body and the pickup are usually a low impedance pickup. In person they don't sound the same, but close, the Les Paul carries the mid-tones better. But they are both good guitars.
I’ve been thinking about selling my Epi Les Paul to get a Fender HH. I guess this clinched it. 🙂
Dont sell it. You will regret it. Both guitar are good, so buy a tele and dont sell your lp
To do a fair comparison, I would say, that the two guitars needs the same set of pickups, pots and wiring. Especially the Les Paul can sound different, weather it's a 50's or 60's style wiring.
Great comparo Kennis 👍🏻 I have both but didn’t realise they are so similar 😁
2 distinct sounds it comes down to what tones you want they are both equal in sound quality I will say that for anything with a country flavor teles are good , they are great when paired in songs
The epiphone sounded darker but only slightly. I think it has more to do with one being a string-through and the other one being strung through the tail piece. I don’t know how much the pickups actually effected the tone. You should do a comparison with a US made Les Paul as epiphone pickups always sound darker compared to a US made Les Paul.
Thanks for this video. They are close, but I think the TELE has more high end. I’ve used them both live, and it’s like red delicious vs Granny Smith (both apples). Hard not love them both.
I'm very interested in this Player Telecaster HH but I'm a person who plays a lot standing up. I have searched in internet and have no found exact data about the weigth.
Can someone tell me how much this guitar weighs exactly?
How was the les paul wired tho? Because it was pretty dark even for a Paul
Bolt on neck Vs. Glued in neck construction. Its a Giant Cake Mix, and everything involved in the build completes the total sound, and Feel of said guitars .Yes, even scale length matters ie: Fender 25.5 inch scale, vs Gibson/Epiphone 24.75 inch scale. Good luck
Isn’t there a dual humbuckers And steel humbuckers?
I prefer the 'oomph' of a Les Paul - You recognize it more in the room. An SG vs the Tele would be hard to decide between - I like the bite of 80s rock, but prefer the 24.5" scale.
Really like your video.
I'm doing just That.
Making a tele and putting humbuckers in it.
I like the way your humbucker tele sounds better than the LP Myself.
The LP sounded muddier to Me....
I have both...
You can warm up a tele by rolling off the tone control... The neck pickup will give you a rounder, more Les Paul like tone. You'll need a boost pedsl maybe to get more output out of it... A real Gibson Les Paul will always sound thicker and beefier.. a tele with a rosewood or ebony finger board will also be less snappy than the solid maple neck on a telecaster... It's also in the fingers and your attack and style... For country you go to the bridge pickup and pick closer to the tailpiece for the twang.... Teles and Les Paul are both versatile and that's why they have been around since the 1950s... Each has it's own vibe..
Both chunks of solid wood. Put in the same pickup, the same pots, the same switch. Are they the same, I doubt it. Will they be different enough to make a difference? I doubt it. I didn't hear and differences in this video.
Audio Engineer here. You might be listening on headphones or speakers with auto compression, or automatic EQ.
There’s some definite major differences in tone. Primarily the Tele has a lot more top end clarity, and better attack, while the Les Paul has a smoother mid range. Which is a great fat sound if you know how to set an amp up well, but very muddy if you don’t.
25.5" scale length and maple fretboard on the Tele are probably going to be the two things that contribute the most to any tonal difference here 🤔
Slight difference in the Paul bridge,vs.the Tele,but darn close yes siree Bob.🎸👍😎
Great review! I think the intent of this comparo is lost on the "apples to oranges" people. I believe this is geared towards the person looking for an HH guitar, and wondering what the similarities or differences might be SONICALLY when buying either of these and not modding. I have the Epi, but prefer the Tele in this test.
Thanks for a great video gentlemen!Could you possibly give your opinion on which in between a custom shop 51 model with a Seth Lover 4C Rel humbucker pickup and a 63 custom shop model with a single coil neck pickup which is a better overall telecaster??? thanks a lot? I am talking about snap, clarity, gain sound, wolf voice and power.
Tele is brighter. Could be a combination of different pickups, woods and scale length. But you could A/B two les pauls and hear the same difference. Every guitar has it's own voice.
Very very similar tones, Tele definitely brighter on the bridge though!
your amp settings are what makes the slight difference, not the pickups themselves
Why not a Gibson les paul vs fender telecaster? epiphone doesnt sound as nice
Bc Gibson doesn't make a $500 Les Paul
The different scale length changes things 👌
Great idea!!!!!!! Now I’m wondering what a top of the line “Custom Shop” Tele with the same strings etc. would match up against a “Standard Les Paul with PAF’s would sound? Both of these sounded different, but comparable.
The Tele sounds good. The Les Paul…still not a Gibson though. I owned the Epiphone and the Gibson and there’s a pretty big difference in feel of playing and the sound of a true Gibson. Just one mans opinion.
The tele sounds great. I expect the Epiphone has lower quality pickups. I don’t hear much upper mids chirp like one might with a quality PAF. The only way to get a true A/B comparison would be by using the same model of pickup in each guitar. Enjoyable video nonetheless.
So similar when distortion on. Nice video, thanks.
I do 2 concentric 500k/500k pots and wire it 59 Les Paul style.
Hard to find the knobs, so far I've needed to file the knobs to fit without moving each other. I love it and I can get the mid position magic with full neck/bridge interaction . Oh, that and a tel neck. 8O)>