Les Paul or Strat

I have recently come across some extra cash, It's time for a new Ax, I have only narrowed it down to a Les Paul(gibson) or a Strat(fender).

What do you think people? I love the sound and feel of both, But can only have one. Which one would you choose.

Look as a poll I guess.

I would choose Gibson Les Paul ´cause I´m a Gibson freak.

Gibson is a rock guitar and a good one at that. Fender is a more versitile axe and i think it looks better. I have a fender and its great...but i wish i had a les paul...but thats the way it goes...if you have one your gonna want the other! So either way your ****ed!

p.s. actually one of the best guitars i played, in terms of feel is the telecaster...but thats not everyones cup of tea.

my vote is... fender, more versitile and to even the score

I don´t like guitars with whammy bar ´cause it´s s hard to mute strings ´cause the bridge makes the strings so low (if you get my drift). It´s much easyer on Gibson/Epiphone guitars and other ones wich don´t have whammy bar. Still, I think whammy is cool but I rather mute well than wham the hell out of notes.

I'd get the Strat. But then I have an SG and I miss the old whammy bar.

(To Polera:Telecasters are nice aren't they?but true not everyones thing)

I think most people take the Les Paul because its simply a Gibson, but I think you should go with the strat.

More versatile and you can come up with some really nice sounds out of a Strat, you don't need a Gibson to have a nice sound.

OK-fine, lets do this one more time...

Carefully read this thread. And the links in it.

Then if you're still not convinced, here's proof that I'm prepared to back up my stated preference with some coin. (Yeah, I've got [u]two[/u] of 'em now!) For a grand total of about US$1000.

I had a Jap-Strat 1962 Re-issue that I bought new in 1986. It was a nice axe, very well made, but aside from subtleties (that very few people can [u]really[/u] hear blindfolded), one Strat sounds pretty much like any other Strat that has the same pickups. A mid-80's Yamaha SBG 1000 covers the full range, while sounding better than either Fender [u]or[/u] Gibson.

Strats are tops. They're so easy to play, most playable guitars I've ever tried.
I guess it depends on the action of the strings but I've never found Les Paul type guitars (actually I've probably only ever played on copies so what do I know) with their more rounded fretboard and thick neck joint easy to play.