Fender American Ultra II HSS Strat vs Gibson Les Paul Standard 50s & Friedman JEL-20 vs Soldano SLO-30 - Vids

[HowieJams]

Yesterday I decided to see how some of my guitars and amps compared to each other.
I ran my Fender American Ultra II HSS Stratocaster and my Gibson Les Paul Standard 50s through my Friedman JEL-20 and my Soldano SLO-30, both amps use Friedman 1x12 closed back cabs with Celestion Creamback G12m-65 speakers.

I compared all over the same Funk Rock backing track.

To my ears the results surprised me.
My guitar of choice is always a Gibson Les Paul, whether it be my R9, R8, or Standard 50s and my 1st choice of amp would be my Soldano SLO-30.

I made 5 videos and my favorite tones came from my Fender American Ultra II HSS Strat through my Friedman JEL-20.
I did a short at the end using the Strat though my SLO-30 and that was my 2nd favorite.

This truly surprised me as I would had have thought the Gibson would have been my favorite?
The Friedman JEL-20 definitely sounded great yesterday and so did the Soldano, but the Friedman and Fender was my favorite combo yesterday.

See what you all think...

 

[guitup too]

So while playing you prefer LP/Soldano, but when listening back you prefer strat/JEL? Is that correct?

 

[Fiesta Red]

The Soldano sure has a really throaty tone to it. Great stuff!

 

[HowieJams]

So while playing you prefer LP/Soldano, but when listening back you prefer strat/JEL? Is that correct?

Pretty much....
My guitar tone of choice is usually a Les Paul and my amp tone of choice is one of my Soldanos (SLO-30 or Astro 20).
So if I had to choose a rig that I think would sound best it would be a Les Paul through the Soldano.

However, when listening back to all of them, the Strat through the JEL and the Soldano sounded at least as good.

I was listening again in the car today on my way to and from work and to me all of them sounded great in terms of tone (not my playing so much) and I can't say the Strat wasn't right there with the Les Paul or the JEL wasn't on par with the Soldano.

Of course, this is all high end gear and I guess it all should sound pretty good.

 

[HowieJams]

The Soldano sure has a really throaty tone to it. Great stuff!

Thanks...
The Soldano is awesome, but the JEL held its own also.

One guy on YouTube said the Les Paul through the Soldano video sounded like a mix of Ace Frehley and Billy Gibbons, I can't complain about that.

 

[guitup too]

The first vid I'm assuming is the strat into the JEL. Its brighter, more strident than the strat tbru the Soldano. Soldano sounds fatter, smoother, throaty as Fiesta Red said. Both sound good. JEL sounds like it would stand out in a mix more. Nice gear btw.

 

[HowieJams]

The first vid I'm assuming is the strat into the JEL. Its brighter, more strident than the strat tbru the Soldano. Soldano sounds fatter, smoother, throaty as Fiesta Red said. Both sound good. JEL sounds like it would stand out in a mix more. Nice gear btw.

Yes, first video is the Strat through the Friedman.
All combinations sounded really good to my ears.
I guess I am learning to love Strats.

My Ibanez AZ2402 Prestige arrived today and I letting it acclimate before unboxing, can't wait to hear it though the same amps.

 

[Simon Dorn]

my favorite tones came from my Fender American Ultra II HSS Strat through my Friedman JEL-20.

This

 

[HowieJams]

This

They all sounded great to me, but for some reason I Iiked this one immediately.

Thanks for comfirming.

 

[Fiesta Red]

You're getting great tones all around. Very nice!

 

[JohnnyGtar]

Every video you posted sound killer, dude. You have some great tonal options at your fingertips!

Also, that new Strat screams and sings. Concerning the bridge pickup in the Strat, I saw 2 screws on the left side of the pickup, so I'm assuming it's stock. Amirite? Damn it sounded really good. If it's a stock pickup, no doubt Tim Shaw was involved. And Tim created/designed the Dirty Fingers for Gibson way back in the day. Tim also designed Wolf Van Halen's new pickups. Fender was smart to snag him.

 

[Fiesta Red]

Every video you posted sound killer, dude. You have some great tonal options at your fingertips!

Also, that new Strat screams and sings. Concerning the bridge pickup in the Strat, I saw 2 screws on the left side of the pickup, so I'm assuming it's stock. Amirite? Damn it sounded really good. If it's stock, no doubt Tim Shaw was involved. And Tim created/designed the Dirty Fingers for Gibson way back in the day. Tim also designed Wolf Van Halen's new pickups. Fender was smart to snag him.

I am actually surprised at how good that stock humbucker sounds.

 

[Alpha Stryke]

JEL + LP =