Do Guitars Really sound That Different?

[@Rogo472]

Never let that p90 strat go, everything you'd want in a bright Tele and everything you'd want in a dark les Paul, yet holding its own voice. Magic

[@davidcook1057]

My favorite as well. That Beautiful Thinline Strat with P90’s - oh man.

[@just.for.the.downshifts]

Well said man

[@RickYentzer]

Agree. I was really surprised by just how good it sounded!

[@ronsiegel1084]

One of the reasons I love your videos is you don’t inundate your audience with noise and useless information. So many you-tubers feel they must post every day with ridiculous topics. Keep up the good work.

[@TheStudioRats]

Thanks Ron I’m trying not to

[@dinadams]

“This Helix patch blew my mind” etc. queue average Helix patch

[@hegartyj1]

Good point, and I agree.

[@Sioux177]

I’ll second that sir

[@edwardx.winston5744]

The intonation on that Esquire/Tele was absolutely perfect. Sounded incredible on every test.

[@IamMusicNerd]

I have felt this way for a long time. I once saw Eddie Van Halen play Panama on a Les Paul, and it sounded exactly like his famous Frankenstrat to me. And then I saw Jimmy Page play Whole Lotta Love on a Tele, and it sounded like his Les Paul. That made me realize the sound is mostly in the amp, speaker, pedals, and fingers, and not as much in the guitar itself. For me the guitar difference comes down to the pickups, not the wood, as some amps and pedals react slightly differently to different pickup outputs. The guitar obviously does make a difference, but it’s a much smaller difference than the amp, pedals, and speaker in my opinion.

[@riccardocauli5424]

I don't think so... the attacck tone and the relation between attack and sustain is very different between les paul and strat or prs... is a totally different tone

[@bobainsworth9571]

I am opening myself up for ridicule here, but I could hardly hear much difference between any of them! Must get my ears tested! Or is it pretentious?

[@riccardocauli5424]

@@bobainsworth9571 🤣🤣🤣 no... you aren't ridicolous and I think your ears are working fine... probably you are giving more attention to other aspects in tone like general frequency range, etc etc... regarding frequency range resposnse I partially agree with you... all guitars are tweekable... but the "shape" of tone is different between them and i think is something that is more audible from the player side that from the listener side...

[@tedlivermore6955]

@@bobainsworth9571 Correct, there is almost no difference.

[@yoshistover5881]

I feel like not so much the guitar. But mostly the pickups are a big difference. Just cause l feel like single coils have the hum, and there's a certain quality to them humbucker just lack. And actives are sort of like, single coils with no hum? But outside of that I feel like it's all the same, except maybe the difference between hollow bodies and solids. It's very subtle. But if you were to ask me the difference between two humbuckers it would be super hard for me to tell.

[@ransombaggins9301]

I’m reminded how awesome P90s can be. Awesome as always! Keep it up.

[@shaharbar]

The Les Paul with the P90’s is AWESOME! Almost Fender clarity and quack but still retains some grind.

[@richardsandson]

I'm with you there. Really lovely guitar.

[@brendanburdick5230]

Strat lover here and I couldn't agree more 👍

[@chrisb8193]

That Brian Setzer Gretsch is one of the most gorgeous guitars I’ve ever seen. Amazing finish.

[@Loathy]

I absolutely fell in love with it as well, both visually and sonically.

[@myrdin93]

If I had the possibility I would own both a telecaster and a les paul , their tones are the ones that fascinated me the most.

[@paulwintermute1495]

This!

[@Deatg-ek8rf]

They are the only 2 guitars you need ( I could take a LP or an SG).

[@andrewbroadhead1897]

Personally I loved the 57 CS Strat followed by the Ron Thorn Tele. All subtley different yet equally wonderful, great video as always Paul 👌👏👏👏

[@mando603]

That Tele esquire is one beautiful sounding guitar! The rest were nice also but that Tele really did it for me.

[@miketrott4534]

That is the best tone comparison demo I have seen / heard. I would keep all the guitars because you can never have too many guitars… keep up the great work. Superb Channel…

[@Paul197A]

Fantastic video. Great to hear them all back to back like this. I found myself being drawn to the ‘57 Strat in almost every instances.

[@blackmanx5845]

That was one of the best comparisons I've ever seen. My favorite of all was the Tele, it just seems to hit the sweet spot of all those tests overall. Thanks and happy new year!

[@hollywoodactress]

Totally agree 👍 fantastic comparison video

[@nekkon1989]

This is not excessively nerdy, and I love it. You showcase in a video the voice that every guitar player has inside their heads

[@djdnz39]

Great video - really enjoyed it. People I’m sure will lean towards the guitar that they own or hits their style best. But the single coils to me were fantastic in every setting where the heavier pickups (LP with HB especially) sounded like a blanket over the amp with clean tones and neck pickups. That’s why I say the Strat is the most versatile guitar ever, especially with a HB in the bridge - it can literally play anything well. Nice collection of guitars and to me this demo shows why you really need one of everything. Cheers!

[@jeffhirata]

Thanks for the comparison! I love it! I kinda like the 1st tele the best overall but that strat neck pickup is something special. I think they all have a purpose for a different sound. Definitely keep them all 😃

[@garyslash7552]

All your guitars sound awesome - and your playing is absolutely outstanding. Although I'm a Les Paul guy, my favorite is your green Tele

[@kjneese]

Tele/Esquire for the win! Such a great video!

[@paultuffin5781]

Never seen any of your previous videos but really loved this. So to the point and each section short enough to remember each of the previous sounds..

[@aintnotomgrossi9116]

One of the best produced comparisons on youtube. Thank you so much !!!

[@Chris-ik3on]

That green tele is the one. The others have all been totally heated and played out. That green tele is amazing. I would just use it and what it gives you. And it looks the best.

[@steelisreal]

This confirmed something I've felt for a while, and it's that I want to swap out the humbuckers in my LP for P90s.

[@Doowopsid]

I love these comparison videos and yours is great for so many reasons- lots of guitars, great narration and terrific playing and sound. Hope you decide to keep them all. Every guitar has a distinctive soul.

[@jimamsden]

I'd rather have the high-end end clarity of the single coil pickups since it's a lot easier to just turn the guitar tone down a little to warm things up than it is to try to scrape that clarity out of humbuckers. But I was surprised that I liked the P90s a lot. They're right in the middle so to speak. I coil tap the Tom Holmes humbuckers in my Les Paul and that makes it a more flexible instrument. I do like the way the Les Paul feels too.

[@parlance.electricco]

So true regards trying to get that sparkle from humbuckers...it's not hard to get some savage tones from bridge single coil with the tone backed off some and added overdrive...

[@lemac3200]

Great video! Man, I regularly get shivers of joy when I hear slightly overdriven or high gain distorted P90s. I really started to like them over the last year!

[@skidogbill]

Top notch vid! I was surprised how much I liked the tele bridge. I haven’t owned a Tele since I was 18. My favorite passive pickups are the P coil of a PRail in the neck and a Warman GRail in the bridge. My absolute favorites are Fluence P90s. They smoke everything!

[@edwardjons8684]

There are some really drastic differences, but the Esquire tele really impressed me. So much definition even with overdrive. The strat in the neck position did that strat thing beautifully as you’d expect. The Les Paul with humbuckers just sounded a little mushy to me throughout - I’d be straight on to Lollar to order some replacement pups after this! The strat with p90s was the weakest to me all round. I was also impressed with how much of that boxy midrange character the Gretsch retained even at high gain. Btw, which amp were you using?

[@fleetwoodmat8822]

I think overall the Gretsch beats them all, but the P90s strat sounded awesome clean on the neck pickup, definitely one of the best sounds you got. The filtertron tele with gain also sounded really badass.

[@TonyFrankenstein]

Nice comparison. Funny how our preferences can differ so much. For me, that LP with the humbuckers was tops. It just had a thick hot sound, and a LOT of presence. I like the resonance of the Gretsch when you would let it ring out a bit. All were good, though.

[@PrisonerD]

Agreed - the Esquire did it for me in most settings there, but as Paul pointed out right at the end the Les Paul was his least favourite until the last clip - it sounded great playing the rock progression at the end. The Strat CS had to be my least favourite of all of them for tone. Have always played Gibsons myself, but may have to pick up a Tele some time.

[@Tstdycgyr]

Ye the humbucker LP tops

[@MrGuitarfreak132]

I think a overdriven bridge humbucker in a les Paul is something to behold. So much raw power and aggression. Incredibly fun to play one through a cranked amp. However I personally really dislike the humbucker in the neck position on a les Paul. Always sounds muddy to me.

[@Driftuner]

Omg that Esquire is on another level. Gotta say the P90 Strat impressed me a LOT as well. What amp is this going through?

[@wayne5354]

Been a Les Paul player for 18 years. I love the tele sound the most on every clips!

[@Hickeroar]

Those Filtertrons/Powertrons are awesome. It's crazy how different they all sound clean, and how similar they all sound with the gain cranked up. `Tron pickups just sound so good in the bridge. They're really highly underrated in high gain applications.

[@TheGuitarEffect]

Hi Paul. Great video as always. It’s a real no nonsense channel this, I really enjoy your videos. The most shocking thing overall about this video is (IMHO) the only time I heard a real noticeable meaningful difference was clean tones on the neck pickup. They were pretty wildly different. The rest of the time I could hear the differences but they were WAY more subtle than I thought they would be. P90s are very interesting pickups they sounded the most surprising to me. Even the difference between the P90 strat and P90 les Paul was very surprising. Lastly the tele was the only guitar that literally sounded great in every section. Did you set the amp up with the tele maybe? It just worked every time. They are an unbeatable guitar.

[@TheJstewart2010]

This is one of the best and most informative comparisons that I've ever seen. I thought I knew how they would sound, and for the most part, I was right, but the Gretsch was a surprise. I've been a big P90 fan since playing with a bandmate in church who played them a lot.

[@keithcrabtree5951]

Incredibly tasty tones, Paul. Gorgeous guitars to boot, as well! The cleans and edge of breakup you have going on here are fantastic! Were you using the FAS Rhythm and JTM 45 combo still? I'd love to be able to dial this in on my end and have a go. Any chance you see yourself putting up anything on axe-change, doing preset deep dives, or offering preset packs? From one Fractal junkie to another, please consider! 🙏

[@TheStudioRats]

Hi Keith, yes it was those models. I will be doing a axe patch set as soon as I can get round to it. Take care P

[@johnwaller9399]

Thanks for confirming my purchases of 7 guitars ;). With the idea that each has different sounding pickups as well as body shapes .

[@rainbowhill1912]

Thanks for the demo! Can’t help steal your low gain neck pickup riff, sounds really great!!

[@andrewbecker3700]

Now, this, is how you do pickup/guitar comparisons. Basically everything we know gets reinforced except the few surprises. Even on a cell phone I'd imagine the average guitar goon could hear some fairly drastic differences. The funny part is that MAYBE, with the exception one of the goldtop LPs, all of them must be retained. The Gretch sounded crushing on the last run through. For me, the little Frusciante shuffle part was where the biggest differences could really be heard. Great stuff man, bravo!

[@repsaknesral]

Great comparison, Paul! The differences were quite clear. I really like the P90s, especially in the strat, but I agree with you on the Esquire - it just sounds magnificent. The others were not far behind, though, and I think this video proves once again that the single most important thing in the sound of a guitar is the player. Someone with your skills can probably make anything sound good!

[@BrianMorris-zc4md]

For those about to rock, with Paul, we salute you! Thanks for bringing the goods with this one.

[@rob8482]

After listening without looking, I really don't hear major differences. some are thinner, but nothing is a day and night difference to me. Thanks!

[@keithb5612]

Thanks for the review Drew. I heard a shootout on the same amp settings between a Gibson Les Paul with P90s, Humbuckers and Mini Humbuckers. The Mini Humbuckers won out on top with all pickup tests. It was surprising and I wasn't alone in this conclusion. I now have a guitar with a Mini Humbucker. Great review. Cheers

[@thewaldfe9763]

Thanks! This again confirms my preference towards single-coils (incl. P90s), even for higher gain sounds.

[@normbarrows]

Excellent demo. The different tones of the different pickups is easy to hear - and as expected. The Gretch sounds the best to me, with the Tele a close second.

[@PrantoKoX]

Excellent video, well shown and explained, and finally someone who does not talk & blabber between the examples, but consistently plays them back to back. Well done! 👍👍

[@bekish]

Amazing demonstration Paul! Great work was made to catch "The Thing" of each guitar. And yep, "Until I Heard This Clip" and the end is really true :)

[@francoislouw181]

Personally I think your Esquire, the paisley Stratocaster, green Tele and 57 Les Paul sounded the best. What more could you need. Would've liked to hear the PRS in there too.

[@micwalt]

Fave: Regular Tele, followed by P90 LP. Least Fave: Filtertron Tele. Great vid!

[@RobvandenBoogaard]

Love the P90 paisley strat and the green tele with trons, but you cannot go wrong with your esquire tele. It does it all!

[@jimdunlop1957]

That was the most clearly unbiased comparison I’ve ever seen… I have a fair number of those guitars (or guitars that approximate them).. You confirmed my bias towards my ‘56 P-90 Les Paul and my Tele partscaster with the Seymour Duncan vintage Broadcaster pickups.. I think they call this confirmation bias..ha!!!

[@leandrocamiolo7761]

I discovered this chanel searching for some info about the boss gt-1 that i bought like two weeks ago, and now i have to say im impressed. All of your videos go to the point, dont have nonsense talk and have a lot of playing. And thats what i like. I wanna hear guitars.. not a guy talking for 20 minutes xD. Sorry for the shi*** inglish. Greetings from argentina, you got a new suscriber!!!!

[@cathybaker262]

Absolutely love your videos. Hard decision when you have to let go of some of your instruments. I’ve recently had to limit myself. Four electrics- G&L asat Fullerton Bluesboy, 2015 ASAT Deluxe P90, Gibson Les Paul and Prs se custom with Seymour Duncan Hot Rodded. Your choices were extremely nice and the voices came over very nice. As usually very much enjoyed your video and really like your contribution to the Boss Katana fans. Thank you!

[@martinclayton7260]

I really love that paisley strat, and that green Tele. But I really like the sound of the 57 strat the most.

[@TheStudioRats]

It’s interesting how everyone has different favs.

[@markfahey3921]

your gold top with P90's sounds immense, beautiful tone.

[@CJZM7777]

they all sound great to me. I just play at home as a hobby and I love my PRS S2 singlecut with humbuckers. Not sure why, but I like the warm sound of the humbuckers and the easy playability of the PRS. It would be hard for me to let go of the LP with the humbuckers.

[@mckayuk]

Good Topic, I myself have the following Guitars - Fender Telecaster & Stratocaster, Gibson SG, Hagstrom Viking Deluxe & 2 Highend Acoustic guitars and the only Amp I have and need is the Yamaha TH30 Wireless Mod Amp and without changing any of the settings I get pretty much the same sound regardless of which I plug in which I find awesome. I appreciate however that this might not be the case were I a professional playing big stages thru big P.A. systems. However with this excellent little Amplifier I can plug in any one of those guitars, get pretty much the same sound and the only reason to choose a particular guitar comes down to being able to play it i.e. Joni Mitchel or Fleetwood Mac songs in non standard Tunings suits the Acoustic guitars better but for any Electric guitar songs then any of the ones mentioned give good results.

[@EnFuegoPlays]

Fantastic video. Fun to watch the tonal differences. Especially because you are such a consistent player. For me, my favorites were the 57 Strat and your LP with humbuckers. Both guitars sounded glorious. My least favorite was the Tele with gold foils. Everyone has different tastes. 😊

[@deddiev1718]

Wonderful playing and touch and tone. Miss your DGT I have the gold top with the moons. It’s an incredible guitar

[@sudanjackson]

Cool, Shaun. Thanks for a great video! Now everybody go out and watch "Chicken in the Corn". Dude's not just got one guitar, but one String on. May all the gear snobs be cured.

[@DavideBaroni]

I confess. I really LOVED the sound of that Gretch. I thing that one is my favourite. 🙂

[@MattyH3839]

Crazy that the dude from Mr. Inbetween has a guitar channel... Great video my man!

[@mougabo]

you answered in the first 29 seconds, amazing, thanks. To me: neck pickup: Strat all day long bridge pickup: Les Paul with Humbuckers all day Most versatile: Tele agressive sound: the Les Paul p90 all that said, i have to say that the clean sound of a semihollow or hollow Grestch is suuuuuuuuuuper cool!!!!!!!

[@4034miguel]

Wow! I love the sound of those Filtetrons on the Telecaster

[@quantumvox8424]

You have the greatest guitar tone on KZbin. What a great taste!

[@stevendegoodmojosmet4034]

Great collection, me like the P90 sound.. in all of the test's :) Thank you sir. Greatings from Belgium.

[@jerrycarroll9068]

Hi Paul, my order oddly enough was the same as yours with one exception. I chose the green tele third and the CS Strat 4th. Great video new subscriber! hello from the USA

[@S1ipperyJim]

It's hard to know what to keep outside of a band/mix but the CS was head and shoulders better than most of those guitars I also liked both les Paul's the P90s being slightly better, the Gretches were bottom barrel for me

[@JamminJim42]

The Gold Foil Tele is my fave. Looks and sounds great !! Cheers Paul.

[@mrc2662]

What an outstanding video - absolutely loved this! Green ‘tron Tele and 57 Strat both joint winners for me, but agreed on the Goldtop at the end - that was mega.

[@masterofreality230]

That was a neat little edit at the beginning. Been a Les Paul guy for decades, I think it is the best for over driven tones, and splitting the neck get me by for cleans.

[@Gitfiddle]

This video just sold me on Filtertron pickups. Damnit!!!! More stuff I need to buy.

[@erikhartley2494]

Love these back to back videos! There’s nothing I nerd out about more than the subtle differences between tones. My favorite clean neck pup tones were the tele with goldfoils and the Strat. The Gretsch is the most unique sounding out of all your guitars. My most used guitar is my PRS Core Starla with its stock pups, which is a great unique tone. Perfect for rock/metal or the church worship environment where it does “the sound”. However my favorite overall lead tone is my US tele with Duncan Vintage Stacks. Something about the nasally yet powerful bridge pup tone is impossible to get out of any other instrument. Every wife needs to see this video 😂

[@circleVI]

wicked comparison & playing. will definitely reference this when it comes time to add a guitar to the arsenal!

[@jayblair816]

Best comparison vid ive ever seen..shared it immediately..great job!

[@benhoward7006]

First of , you are a great player. I loved your CS '57 Strat. I especially liked the p90's in all of your guitars. Great video.

[@ryersondodge1998]

Wow what way to enjoy my Sunday morning 🌄 🙂 coffee ☕️ I just realized that 2 cream, two sugar and 8 guitars makes it taste perfect!!!!! You're lucky to have all the guitars you have keep them all you deserve it Paul. Btw the 57 strat, esquire and paisley are my favorites. Thanks

[@goswo]

Great video. Really really liked the Tele Esq and the Gold Top P90 :-) And true, the last clip with the LP… wow. Try to boost a EP booster into a Barber Shop and use your Gold Top p90 in bridge. Its the most magical tone. Thing you will like it…

[@DDWyss]

I loved the sound of your CS 57 Strat!

[@kenswanson1093]

Nice demonstration, .. nice approach to comparing these .. nice playing .. aw .. sounds like you want to keep your P90 Les Paul, .. dang .. if you change your mind, .. give me a shout? .. :)

[@Cali559]

Paisley Strat with the P90's sounds incredible! Have mercy... P90's are my favorite pickups. Paul, what magnets are in the two P90 guitars you're playing?

[@tonyaguon2559]

1.57 Strat 2. 56 Paul 3. Gretsch Great channel, thanks!

[@Sunset1997]

Perhaps it’s lost in translation from what you’re hearing to what I’m hearing, but the differences all seem within the scope of what an EQ pedal could compensate for. That and a boost to cover the output levels. That said, don’t tell my wife because I have 15 electric guitars that I basically bought because I liked how they looked. 😊

[@johnsham7568]

She'd probably understand getting 15 guitars based on looks. That's one of the unique and very cool things about guitars: the variety of aesthetic options

[@briancoyne6700]

Nice! If I would get rid of the tele with the filtertron pickups. I’d also lose the Strat with the p90s. Those two sounded the least distinctive and most redundant. I’d keep all the others. The LP with the P90s really kicked butt.

[@alejandroalcalarodriguez]

For all the clean (cleanish/low drive) loved the p90 (especially the strat neck p90) and for high gain the les paul bride (p90 and humbucker) Great video!!

[@michaelweigert5081]

Great Paul. Great tone, great playing and an very interesting test. More of this content please.

[@jmcgregor316]

One of the most useful videos I have seen. Thank you.

[@davidtargy4839]

The Esquire is my favorite. Thank you for the comparison !

[@mv_5878]

The only guitar you really NEED is a Tele. The rest you just want. It's the most versatile and durable hands down.

[@maxcuthbert100]

Perhaps you could do a side by side comparison with the P90 Strat and the P90Les Paul (?). My least favorite was the humbucking Les Paul(very muddy) but the Gretsch was a revelation in this setting.Thanks for the vid, mate !

[@vladimirpoutine7522]

The P90 LP sounded quite like the humbucker LP when it needed to. Also sounded quite clear at the same time.

[@derosabike]

The Tele Esquire sounds absolutely great on all passes, full yet with clarity. For the cleaner sounds you'd have to brighten the amp up for the humbuckers/P90's to get close? Even the Gretsch sounded a little dark on cleaner sounds which was surprising on those settings but it really sounded great when overdriven. Pete Townsend used a Gretsch for driven stuff in the 70's and he sounded epic.

[@hollandguitars7086]

Good stuff Paul. The Tele over all for me, especially if you EQ it to your personal tastes. I have all types of guitars like you but no P90's. Keep up the good work! 🙂

[@mr.k905]

Cool video! What P90s are you using on the Gold Top? Those sound freaking amazing!!

[@TheStudioRats]

I’m afraid I don’t know but they’re the stock custom shop Gibson ones.

[@mingury]

Wow your Strat with P90 sounds so good to me. My own no.1 axe is an HSS AM standard, which I will not part until I die. Thank you so much for the comparison video.

[@grahamcharlton9704]

This was so useful - many thanks. Short pieces played on your lovely guitars. Keep them all! One problem it doesn't solve though is the ' amazingly cheap for a lovely tone' purchases. Heard the SubZero semi hollow Tele. shape with two P90s for £200 from Gear4Music? I bought one on Dave Simpson's recommendation - it's brilliant. So, the collection still proliferates at those prices.

[@aluminati9918]

Great video. The Tele my favourite too. Shines even more in mixes. Thanks for sharing.

[@Cactustone]

Such great tones! Please tell me you were using your AXE FX for this.

[@hallbergjonatan]

Great video! I love the Les Paul with the P90s. That guitar sounds incredible! Really makes me want to get a guitar with P90s. All of them sound great. Keep them all and buy more guitars 🎸 😉

[@christerdehlin8866]

Loved the P90s on the Strat! I didn't know that was a thing.

[@Musiczone2013]

Great demonstration of different guitar sounds. I use ep lespaul with Zoom multi effects processor,I just bought a stratocaster hss when I switched guitar in strat it change the sound on my presets,I need to udjust the e.q and make another patch for stratocaster guitar,thanks for the video