Sting’s guitarist explains why the Les Paul is the “perfect” instrument, and why it’s more “reliable” for tuning than a Fender
Dominic Miller, a guitarist currently working with Sting, has explained why the Gibson Les Paul is the “perfect” instrument, in his opinion.
Gibson and Fender remain the two largest players in the guitar market, and while some players strictly prefer one to the other, Miller has used both Gibson and Fender models across his career, and often plays a Strat while out on tour. Overall however, he feels the Les Paul comes out on top.
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He tells Ultimate Guitar: “They’re two completely different instruments. Let’s go to the strengths. The strength of a Les Paul is the intonation stays really, really in, much more reliably than on a Fender. And the tuning always stays in. It’s a much more reliable instrument in terms of tuning and intonation.
“And also, what I love about a Les Paul is it’s got a wider tonal range than a Strat, I think. And the lows are much lower, and the high is not quite as high as a Strat, but it’s got a very bright, bright sound on the bridge pickup, which I like. And you can really mess around the volumes on the two different pickups, which makes a difference on the sound if you’re using both pickups,” he says.
However, he goes on to add that “there’s nothing that you can’t do on a Fender Strat”, and that its sonic range is “incredible”. But the Les Paul stands alone in his belief: “It’s its own continent in a way that nothing sounds like a Gibson Les Paul. I mean, maybe an SG would sound a little bit like that because it’s a solid body. It’s got that ‘Gibson sound.’ But a Les Paul is a perfect instrument. I love it,” he says.
“The weakness of a Fender is the tuning goes out really easy, because it’s a wobblier neck. It’s not such a sturdy neck. You can have noise issues, I mean, depending on what pickup configuration you have. But yeah, that main weakness is just the tuning. And the weakness of a Les Paul I would say that the bridge pickup is not as glassy as a Fender. That nice, very pristine upper range, it hasn’t got.”
Miller is currently playing with Sting on his Sting 3.0 tour, for which he is also joined by drummer Chris Maas. Together, they play a mix of solo material, and tracks from The Police. Speaking of his experience of playing The Police’s music, Miller previously told UG: “I highly respect Andy Summers, and I don’t want to mess with what he’s actually done with The Police. So, I’m trying to play what he’s playing, but I want to have fun with it. So I’m not going to stick completely to his script.”
Find out where you can catch Sting on tour.
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Source: www.guitar-bass.net
