LP vs Strat: ease of play?

[Isa]

Strange question, but:

I'm interested if players have found a difference between the Les Paul and the Strat, as far one being easier to play and learn on than the other?

[Soliloquy]

umm...really depends on the way you play. for me, i play my strat with half the body sitting on the right side of my leg, and the other half on the other side of my leg(so not the classic position). and i find that easy. but when playing with the LP and in the same position, i find my sholder on my strumming hand get really tired really fast.

how ever, if you change your position to the classic position(the guitar body between both legs) then you wont be able to tell the difference. its comfortable that way.

now for the neck. the LP necks seem to be much thicker around the 17th and plus frets. so, if you're a metal guitarist, or you shred all over the place, then that thickness might get a lil annoying. yet, if you're familiar with guitarists such as Zach Wylde, and Buckethead, then you would know that they use LP guitars. and they do shred all over the place. so shredding on them is indeed possible.

now the weight. LP's are generally around 9 lbs. but dont be surprised if they are for 15 lbs as well(ive seen a few). where as a strat, like a fender stratocastar are usually around 7 lbs. and those higher end G&L guitars can be found at even 6 lbs. sure, those 3 extra lbs shouldnt make much of a difference, but playing that while standing can start digging in your flesh. it all depends on YOU the guitarist.

some people like their guitars heavy, others like em light. so if you're really interested, go to a guitar store and pick up both guitars. make sure you pickup a few SuperStrat guitars as well. compare a super strat, to a normal strat, to an LP. play it while standing, sitting, in classic position, lead, rhythm. everything.

[straycat113]

A les paul is by far more player fiendly then a strat. A Strat you have to fight with a bit as with most Fenders,but a lot of players like that about them myself included.To me a les paul is like being on auto pilot ,the thing that gothers me about them though is the weight as they are extremley heavy.Both have diferant but killer tones and are the 2 most famous guitars in history.

[LionSlicer]

As straycat says, Les Pauls are obscenely heavy. Even the low-end epiphone models with horrible sustain still weigh quite a bit as far as guitars go.
In all honesty, I'd rather have an LP, as it is more versatile than the strat, but the strat is lighter and sometimes easier to play.
Also, your main question about ease of play is based on the way the neck is and how close the action is. If you get a strat set up professionally it would play far better than an LP from guitar center that's been smacked around by a few hundred players.

[El CHupacabra]

Being a bassist first, I'd say that if you can exercise at least a bit and practice standing w/ the guitar, you can eventually adjust to the weight. Although I'd not want to play a 15 pounder every night...
The only electric geetar I have is a modded 60's strat I bought from some old blues clubber. He did a bunch of stuff to it like shaping a new neck, adjusting frets and action, etc. so that now it's much more comfortable than any LP i've tried. If your hands are of the smaller persuasion (like mine, that's why I use a J Bass), a strat neck is a little easier to wrap around than a chunky LP. And the thing about Fender's is that if you don't like that particular neck after a while, you can either modify it, or order a new neck from Warmoth.com or some such place. Can't change an LP neck too easily.

AS A SIDE NOTE: If you like mahogany but prefer the strat, Fender does have a mahogany strat priced around $1200 I think. Just something to consider.