Hi, After two years on my acoustic guitar and completing Beginners Grade 3, I am thinking of getting an electric. I want to concentrate on blues next year while starting the Intermediate grades and need advice on the best suitable electric for the task. Thoughts are either a Les Paul or maybe a 335. Is this the right avenue to go down.
Many thanks
Muzz
You can get some gorgeous LPs or 335s, plenty around, and they should in general do blues well
Depending on pickups and amp…
A lot depends on the amp…
Any suggestions would depend on your location and $
Thanks Rob. I currently have a Katana MkII which I have been using with my acoustic which I hope should do the job. Maybe an Epiphone Les Paul Standard 50s with humbuckers?
Yeah that’ll work!
A few things to look at - neck shape/size varies a lot on LP’s so make sure you find one with something you like.
Check the weight, some LPs can be heavy, 335’s are lighter
Some Epi’s come with gibson pickups, they tend to sound better but cost more.
Hi Muzza, I was smitten by LPs when I was looking for my first guitar, and then I picked one up. Whew, they are heavy! (I’m a fairly petite female.) That led me to wanting a 335. But alas, it was the time of covid, and none were available. Ended up buying a guitar that I didn’t love. Whatever you decide on, make sure the guitar you select speaks to you!
Thank you for your comments - will test a few out and consider weight, neck/size etc and take my time.
Take a look at what the blues masters are playing. You won’t see many Les Pauls. It seems to have become mostly Strat or 335 types being used in electric blues. B.B. King played a custom-shop 355, which is essentially an upscale 335, and you can’t get much better than the sound of Lucille.
Gibson do a Les Paul Modern Lite which is thinner and lighter among some other stuff , but its $1500usd or something, dont know if epi do one
You wont? !?!
One great deal to look for is one of the more recent Epiphone “Inspired by Gibson” '59 models with the Kalamazoo headstock. They come with Gibson Burstbuckers and it seems that lots of people are trying to dump them now to get the newest `59 model with an actual Gibson open-book headstock and Gibson Customshop pickups.
I’ve spotted a few on Reverb around the $600 to $800 range, and it was a $1,200 guitar when it was released. Y$MV, I’m in Canada so adjust accordingly.
Thats true, also the used market is absolutely flooded right now, esp in the USA and UK
Have to be a bit more careful buying but so long as its in one piece and everything works you should be ok.
Theres also a heap of non gibson/epi Les pauls out there ( and semi hollows etc).
I didn’t say none, but it’s not real common.
Don’t rule out a Strat or a Telecaster for playing Blues, I have had a LP but didn’t get on with it so it was back to a Strat. If you’re looking for a Humbucker sound (which isn’t really necessary) then a HSS Strat would work. With a Telecaster if Humbuckers are a must then a HH Telecaster is a good option.
LP style guitars are generally pretty heavy some over 9.5 lbs, a Single cut PRS SE is a great choice if Single cuts are the shape you want, also the ESP
LTD single cuts are lighter.
An Amp makes a huge difference for Blues, I use a 5W tube amp mostly for the sound and dynamics you get, SS amps no matter how good they are just can’t replicate it accurately.
Budget is vital.
But your desire is crucial too.
Do you lust after the look and style of the Gibson vibe?
Or are you basing your two choices on another consideration?
I am interested in blues, as well. Not exclusively, but it’s definitely something I want to play. I bought an Epiphone LP Modern because I like the sound of humbuckers. My instructor has just started me out working on some blues material and I do like how it sounds, even just running clean through my Fender SS amp. I do really like how the guitar feels in my hands. The Modern series aren’t as heavy as a more traditional LP if that’s important to you.
Don’t get me wrong, I like the sound of single coils, too. I’ll probably end up with a strat-type guitar at some point, also. For now, though, my LP can coil split and make a wider variety of tones than I know what to do with. Honestly when I really listen to a lot of music I like, I really enjoy bands that make good use of multiple types of guitars. Pretty common to see a strat type combined with a Gibson of some sort or another to round out the sound of the band and it’s fun when they play off of each other rather than just exist in their own specific parts.
Dig around and you’re going to find blues guitarists playing just about everything. Sister Rosetta Tharpe played a “Les Paul” (now known as an SG). The earliest masters played acoustics. Muddy Waters seems to have played just about every sort of guitar he could get his hands on, which did include a LP for a number of years. And a Tele. And an SG. And a Guild offset. And a whole bunch of acoustics (which included an archtop).
So, if you like a particular guitar, for whatever reasons you like it, then run with it. You can make good blues with it.
My advice, as with all guitar purchases, go to the local guitar store and play a bunch of LP and 335 and try a couple of other electrics while you are there. If you feel magnanimous, pay more and buy it in the store, if you are price sensitive, say thank you very much and order one online.
Certain “sound” or “feel” can deliver a type of guitar to a certain types of music, but you can definitely get the sound you want out of either, or even a bunch of alternatives.
I don’t think you would be disappointed with the sound either way. But you WILL be disappointed if you don’t buy the guitar that makes you personally happy. Or if you don’t try them out, you will always think "Oh maybe I would have been happy with the option that I didn’t buy.
♫⋆｡♪ ₊˚♬ ﾟ.
If you can support the bricks and mortar store then I think you should, at some point they’ll all be gone and we’ll all be sorry 
Moreover, if I am buying a Gibson I’d want to get my hands on it first as they vary a lot in terms of quality and for LPs weight too.
I should probably add my usual comment about buying used. I buy used pretty much all the time, better value and less deprecation.
This for sure.
I have an Ibanez SEW which is a very thin SSH S-style. It has the ultra thin neck as well as the body being very thin. This is my favorite to play. Easy to hold becuse weight is light and body doesn’t put my strumming shoulder forward very far.
I prefer to hear my PRS SE Tremonti which is quite similar to a Les Paul in body shape, but with a PRS neck. The sound from this is clear and the right mix of warm and articulate for my tastes. It is however a bit heavy. Using with a strap will fatigue my shoulder after a bit. I am noticibly stronger than most of my peers, so it isn’t just a strength issue.
The comments about the amp being an important part are certainly something you need to consider. Your Mk II should do just fine. I have found that I can get an amp model (on my Helix) that would generally be for metal to sound just fine for blues. It just takes a bit of adjustment of the break-up point for your playing and some EQ balancing for your taste. The traditional blues models in your amp will be already centered fairly well for playing blues.
100%, I did not intend to be so light about buying in store. I would always rather buy in store. My point is that even if you are going to buy online, you should still go to the store to try it (which I think is what the store wants so that you up your chances of buying in store anyway). The reality is that more often than not you can save buying online and it is relatively easy to try in store and then go buy the same thing online.
You can also make the argument that the one online (even the same model / year) is not the same as what you played in the store, but 9/10 there would be no noticeable difference.
I think this varies a lot by brand and budget… not all QC is equal