..but honestly, I find them big and heavy and hard to play. On most Les Pauls I've played, the action is so high it feels like playing a Koto, and they're so hefty they might as well be made out of cast iron. The only decent Les Paul I've played was a semi-hollow body LP copy, and even then it felt awkward.

Therefore, I prefer Strats and ESPs and lighter electrics. I guess I'm just a sucker for low and fast action. What's your opinion?

Les Pauls are ucky. I hate em.

You are all false. Les Paul's own you.

I demand proof!

stop being such a wimp... les pauls aren't that heavy you big sissy

my cheap no-name POS strat wannabe was heavy

real les paul are great and have alot of character in their tone. mahogany is heavy, deal with it, but it sounds so thick and rich that I'll take weight over flimsy tone anyday. and higher action is great, makes the notes really jump out of the fretboard. and with some work you can play just as fast with high action too.

I mean the tone of Les Pauls are great, I just hate the action, doesn't feel comfortable to me.

well, kinda like most Tune-o matic type guitars, instead of the strings being set real flat, they kind of "plunge" into the fretboard. (notice the neck is a bit tilted back) so that must be why.

I personally like high action/heavy gague strings.

i like action high enough that lets me lay a finger flat across the strings i don't want to hear while my fretted notes are just below it and ring well. great for octaves among other things. the little rakes you can do on the muted strings are sweet.

I can't stand flabby strings either. i use 10-46.

I'm at 11-52...

Hey speaking of strings, is there a brand that's not going to get worn out in a few days? Right now I'm using Dean Markley strings, but only because they're cheap. In the past I've used regular D'dadarios (?) and flatwound "Chromes" by the same compay, which were total bull****. I play a lot (like many hours every day) and it'd be nice if I could get something that would last a couple weeks.

acoustic or electric? (i think you're a mostly acoustic player right?) electric my d'addarios have never let me down and i usually play from 2 to 6 hours a day. acoustic i wouldn't know, i don't own one. on my classical i use yellow card savarez which tends to last for a while. I heard good things about the Martin SP strings, maybe you can try that out?

it's really personal i think. dean markleys aren't compatible with my hands and corrode to all hell after just a day, while d'addarios usually last for a good month (well, considering i always trade playing time with my two guitars to even out the wear) before i get sick of the tone. some people swear by ernie ball strings and i tried a pack once and within two days i broke a string.

I'm playing a strat. Forgot to mention it.

While I have to admit the tone of a nice Les Paul is very beautiful, I'm not exactly willing to trade playability for sound. Not yet, anyway. Maybe it's because I've only been playing guitar for about 6 1/2 years, and maybe I'll change my mind later.

'Tis all a matter of personal opinion, I just wanted to hear you guys' thoughts.

I love Les Pauls. Of course, I love all sorts of different guitar tones. IMO, my favorite sounds are not really stock instruments. Brian May and his Red Special are definitely one of my tops.

I prefer lower action, but not super low, I think it gives me a nice compromise. My only requirement is that it be high enough to accomodate a slide, but certainly not near 1/4" at the 21st fret.

Tune-o-matic electics are by far my favorite, and that must be part of why I like playing it, but the tone just kills me as well.

I have a LP semi-hollow copy, not mahogany, but it has a nice character that I like better. I just put a bigsby on it, and I'm seriously considering redoing the switching, so that I can switch on the individual coils in the humbuckers, and switch them all in and out of phase. And if I get really crazy, I might get a piezo tune-o-matic. :O

What the hell is this "tune-o-matic" jazz? Anyone explain?

I was going to get a Les Paul, but I got the SG instead because it was so much lighter and still had a great tone. Plus, it was more of what I was going for anyways.

The type of bridge most Les Pauls have.

I loathe the bridge system, and they're heavy as hell. I'm one for thru-body stringing; feels much tighter and cleaner to me.

It's the piece between the neck and stoptail where you adjust intonation, they're usually found on LP's but are used in many other guitars.

LPs take some time to getting used to, especially if you aren't used to heavier guitars, as said before, welcome to mahagony.Usually people hang LP's pretty low and have the weight being supported by their thighs ( ie Jimmy Page). Plus, it just looks a hell of a lot cooler that way :P. I actually never have experienced a particularily high-action LP. I'm used to playing with a pretty high action so maybe they just feel lower compared to others. It might have been just the LP you played, i couldn't have not been properly set up. Also, it wouldn't suprise me if it just came out of the factory like that, Gibson has been notorious lately for terrible quality control.

Tracer: get Elixir's. I could kill a set of Cold Steels or D'Addario's in three days flat with my omgultra-corrisive sweat, but I can use a set of Elixir's for about 3-4 weeks.