Fender 70th Anniversary Ultra Stratocaster HSS vs Epiphone Les Paul Prophecy

Swap

Browse >>

Swap

Browse >>

Fender 70th Anniversary Ultra Stratocaster HSS

Epiphone Les Paul Prophecy

VS

Playability

70

Sound

77

Build

75

Value

64

Score

74

FIND IT ON:

Playability

80

Sound

81

Build

64

Value

80

Score

75

FIND IT ON:

Set a price alert

Set a price alert

Had

Have

Want

Add to Compare

Had

Have

Want

Add to Compare

Add more to comparison

Show Diagrams Comparison

Price History Comparison

3 MONTH 6 MONTH 12 MONTH

Fender 70th Anniversary Ultra Stratocaster HSS Prices

• New from $2,499.98 >>
• New from $2,499.98 >>
• New from $2,499.98 >>

SET PRICE ALERT

Set a price alert for the Fender 70th Anniversary Ultra Stratocaster HSS We'll send you an email if we find the price you want

Email

Price

From To

Also send me news, reviews, tips and exclusive offers and promotions from FindMyGuitar.

Epiphone Les Paul Prophecy Prices

• New from $899 >>
• New from $899 >>

SET PRICE ALERT

Set a price alert for the Epiphone Les Paul Prophecy We'll send you an email if we find the price you want

Email

Price

From To

Also send me news, reviews, tips and exclusive offers and promotions from FindMyGuitar.

These are affiliate links. We may earn a fee if you purchase after clicking. These prices are prone to error. Make sure you're buying the right product after clicking on a link from our site. We are not liable if you buy the wrong product after following these links. As an Amazon Associate site we earn from qualifying purchases.

Hand Size Comfortability

And after taking into account the scale length, nut width, neck profile and fretboard radius, we can conclude that the Epiphone Les Paul Prophecy favors large hands more than the Fender 70th Anniversary Ultra Stratocaster HSS. But it's still more comfortable for people with small hands, as you can see in the score meter below.

Fender 70th Anniversary Ultra Stratocaster HSS:

Epiphone Les Paul Prophecy:

Beginner Friendliness

The Fender 70th Anniversary Ultra Stratocaster HSS meets 7 out of our 8 criteria items for beginner friendliness, while the Epiphone Les Paul Prophecy meets only 5. This takes into account the type of frets, scale length, nut width, bridge type, fretboard radius, and neck profile to determine the easiest combination for new players.

Sound Quality Comparison

The wood used in an electric guitar or bass is not as important to determine the final tone. However, some people prefer specific wood types, so we'll take a look at those first. Then, we'll take a look at the electronics to determine the versatility and sound quality of each instrument.

Woods Used in the Fender 70th Anniversary Ultra Stratocaster HSS

Roasted Maple is just maple without a finish. It's technically cheaper than regular maple, but it doesn't have any extra disadvantages because of this. The color is darker, and it's lighter weight and very stable even when there's a lot of humidity.

Maple is one of the most popular necks for good reasons. It is a strong wood that is relatively cheap to make and looks beautiful. The highest quality maple is the hardest that comes from North America. Find out more about Maple.

Alder is the most popular wood that Fender uses in most of their guitars nowadays. Even though they say it's because of its balanced tone with an emphasis in the upper midrange, it probably is because it isn't too expensive, and it's also pretty lightweight—more than Mahogany. Find out more about Alder.

Woods Used in the Epiphone Les Paul Prophecy

Mahogany is a fairly rare wood nowadays. It's used mostly for bodies due to its relatively lightweight. Gibson popularized it with their Les Paul guitars during their golden years, so this wood has a lot of good reputation behind it. The most expensive type comes from South America and it's still used by Gibson even today. Find out more about Mahogany.

Ebony is a high-end wood, so it is not cheap. It's only used for fretboards because it's also very heavy. It does an excellent job as a durable material while looking elegant. Find out more about Ebony.

Winner: Epiphone Les Paul Prophecy.

Pickup Configuration

The Fender 70th Anniversary Ultra Stratocaster HSS has an HSS configuration while the Epiphone Les Paul Prophecy has HH pickups.

HSS provides a great balance if you like to play with a lot of distortion, but also love to use clean tones. You'll get a lot of output at the bridge position, but you'll be able to play bright clean tones at the other positions.

On the other hand, Double Humbucker (HH) is the choice for people who want a fuller, more round sound with tons of mids and lows. Humbuckers also get rid of the hum noise that plague single-coil pickups. They can work out for almost any genre going from Djent to even Jazz.

Pickups Quality

Both come with very good pickups from at least one of the specialized brands in the market. With pickups like these, you probably won't need an upgrade anytime soon.

However, the Fender 70th Anniversary Ultra Stratocaster HSS has a slight sound quality advantage when taking into account other factors like the type of pickups, magnet, position, etc.

We found the same or similar pickups to the Epiphone Les Paul Prophecy's online:

The Fender 70th Anniversary Ultra Stratocaster HSS's pickups are Passive while the Epiphone Les Paul Prophecy's are Active.

Passive pickups are what most guitars use. These have a normal output that works well for most genres. However, Active pickups are the preferred choice of heavy metal players because they offer extra output thanks to their 9v battery, which results in a heavier, more distorted sound. Bear in mind that achieving a completely clean tone with them won't be easy. So if you want to also use clean tones, you might want to avoid Active pickups.

Winner: Fender 70th Anniversary Ultra Stratocaster HSS.

Versatility Comparison

Some instruments offer you more ways to explore your creativity than others. Below you'll find how both compare when it comes to versatility.

Switch Options

The Fender 70th Anniversary Ultra Stratocaster HSS gives you 5 switch options while the Epiphone Les Paul Prophecy gives you 3. This means that the Fender 70th Anniversary Ultra Stratocaster HSS gives you more options to find the right pickup combination for the type of sound you want to achieve

Only the Epiphone Les Paul Prophecy comes with some kind of pickup modification: Coil Split, Multi-Voicing.

Coil Split lets you disconnect one of the pickup coils. When used with humbuckers, it turns them into single-coil with lower output and cleaner tone.

Multi-Voicing means the pickups come with multiple ''voices'', which means they can change the tone and gain by a simple switch or knob. Piezo, Fishman and similar are considered multi-voicing pickups.

When evaluating versatility, we also take into consideration bridge and neck joint type, number of frets, switch options, amount of pickups and more.

Winner: Fender 70th Anniversary Ultra Stratocaster HSS.

Final Sound Quality Scores

Build Quality Comparison

When it comes to build quality, we like to take into account everything used to build the instrument. This includes materials, hardware and the quality control expected depending on the country where it was built. Let's see how the Fender 70th Anniversary Ultra Stratocaster HSS compares to the Epiphone Les Paul Prophecy.

Country of Origin

The manufacturing country can tell a lot about the build quality of an instrument. The Fender 70th Anniversary Ultra Stratocaster HSS is built in United States while the Epiphone Les Paul Prophecy is made in China.

The United States is considered one of the best electric guitar manufacturers in the world. A guitar made in this country is supposed to have world-class quality control. Nowadays, guitars made in other countries can beat some of the ones made in the US, but most of the time, this country offers the best you can get. Of course, that comes at a price.

China has a bad reputation when it comes to building quality. However, times have changed and now respectable brands use China's cheap labor to build good instruments for a lower price. Don't discount a guitar only because it was built in China, but also expect more quality from countries like Korea.

Winner: Fender 70th Anniversary Ultra Stratocaster HSS

Nut Material

If you want your guitar to stay in tune and sound good, you need a well cut nut. Nut quality can be inconsistent even when comparing two copies of the same model. The best way to make sure you're nut will be well done is by getting a nut made by an expert company like TUSQ or Micarta.

The Fender 70th Anniversary Ultra Stratocaster HSS has a Bone nut. It's a type of nut found in high-quality instruments. They sound similar to Ivory since they give a lot of sustain and a bright sound (at least when striking open strings). The only problem they can run into is that you may get a bone piece that simply doesn't sound as well as others because that's just how natural materials are.

On the other hand, the Epiphone Les Paul Prophecy comes with a NuBone nut. It's made by the same company that makes TUSQ nuts. It's slightly softer but hard enough to give you a brighter sound when playing open strings. It's also self-lubricating, so it's good for tuning stability.

Winner: Tie.

Fret Material

Most fret wire is made of nickel silver. This material eventually wears down after a lot of use and most instruments end up needing a complete fret replacement. However, some expensive models come with stainless steel frets. This is what you should aim for if you can afford it.

Unfortunately, none of them come with stainless steel frets.

Winner: Tie.

Bridge

The perfect bridge for you will depend on your playstyle because they all have advantages and disadvantages. However, some bridges are more expensive—like Floyd Roses and Evertunes—and thus add more value to a guitar.

The Fender 70th Anniversary Ultra Stratocaster HSS's brige is a Tremolo. Tremolo bridges give you more versatility than fixed bridges. They let you perform the intense vibrato effects that would be impossible with a fixed bridge. However, since the bridge floats and there's less contact with the body, the strings lose sustain slightly faster. They can also be a bit harder to restring and set up correctly than fixed bridges.

On the other hand, the Epiphone Les Paul Prophecy's is a Fixed. It's a simple bridge that is very beginner-friendly since it doesn't require any set-up. You can swap strings easily. It might also give more sustain since it doesn't have complex moving parts that make the strings lose vibration. However, it doesn't have the same versatility as a tremolo bridge.

Since we need to be objective, the most expensive type of bridge will be the winner of this section. In the end, this doesn't matter if you're not going to use the bridge for its original purpose, so choose the bridge that fits your playing style better.

Winner: Tie.

Tuners

They both have locking tuners. They'll help to keep your guitar in tune because they allow you to tune it without wrapping the strings around the posts. This avoids variations in the tuning due to the strings changing position at the post after a bend. They come at the disadvantage of being slightly heavier than regular tuners. Also, it makes it a lot easier to restring.

Winner: Tie.

Neck Joint

Contrary to popular belief, the difference in sustain and tone that some neck joints give to a guitar is simply unperceivable—if they're all well built. However, some of them do have advantages over the others.

The Fender 70th Anniversary Ultra Stratocaster HSS has a Bolt-On neck joint. This neck is joined to the body by 4 bolts that you can simply unscrew. This allows you to replace the neck or take it off for travel. It's the most common and cheapest way to build a guitar.

On the other hand, the Epiphone Les Paul Prophecy comes with Set neck joint. This neck is tightly glued to the body. They give you the least versatility because you can't swap them for a neck that fits your hand better if you want to, unlike bolt-on necks. Some people think this gives more resonance and sustain, but there's no real difference if the bolt-on joint is well built.

Winner: Fender 70th Anniversary Ultra Stratocaster HSS.

Here is the list of features that were considered when choosing the winner in the Features subcategory:

Final Build Quality Scores

Playability Comparison

Let's now compare their playability. Bear in mind that the instrument will feel different depending on your hand size and play style. That's why you should always test before buying. But if you can't or want a second opinion on it, we can still take a look at each of the important measurements of the instrument for you. This way, we can predict how easy a guitar might be to play, or how different it will feel compared to the other.

Remember that, even though the difference might seem small, every inch counts when it comes to feeling of the instrument in your hands. Any variation can completely change how comfortable a guitar feels in your hands.

Nut Width

The nut width will affect the separation between strings at the nut. In this comparison, the Epiphone Les Paul Prophecy has the wider nut with 43mm (1.693'') vs 42.8mm (1.685''). This is a 0.2mm (0.008'') difference

This means that it will be more difficult to do bar chords on the Epiphone Les Paul Prophecy, especially closer to the nut. However, it's also easier to play without muting strings accidently. This favors people with big hands.

Scale Length

The scale length is one of the things that influences playability the most. This is the distance between the nut and the bridge and will affect everything from low action allowance, difficulty to perform bends, fret separation, and even tone.

The Fender 70th Anniversary Ultra Stratocaster HSS has the longest scale: 25.5". The Epiphone Les Paul Prophecy is only 24.75" long. This is a 0.75'' (19.1mm) scale length difference.

This longer scale means that the strings need more tension to get in tune. This is good if you want to avoid fret buzz, which can happen when the strings are too loose and touch the frets while vibrating. This is especially important when playing in lower tunings. This will also let you reduce the gap between fretboard and strings (low action) to make them easier to press down. However, this higher tension will also make it harder to perform bends and vibratos as the strings will feel stiffer.

This also means that the frets have a longer separation between each other, so this will make it harder for people with smaller hands when playing some chord positions.

Another characteristic of a longer scale is that it makes the guitar sound 'snappier' or brighter. This is due to the extra separation between harmonics and overtones produced by the tension. This influences tone more than any other factor (except the pickups).

Lastly, remember that you can also affect the tension of the strings by changing your string gauge. You can use a thicker gauge for more tension and a lighter one for less tension.

Neck Profile

No single neck shape is better than others. However, most people tend to prefer a thinner necks because it doesn't get in their way when playing fast and most hand sizes can adapt to it pretty well. However, some people still prefer thicker necks for a better grip, especially if they have big hands.

In this case, both have different neck shapes:

The Fender 70th Anniversary Ultra Stratocaster HSS has a D type of neck. This is a thin and flat neck that is made for playing fast. If you prefer a neck that doesn't get in your way when soloing, this is the shape you should use. Guitarists that prefer to have a bit more grip won't like this type of neck.

The Epiphone Les Paul Prophecy, on the other hand, has a Asymmetrical neck. Even though this neck shape looks like a poorly-made job, it's, in fact, the neck that most naturally adapts to the arc of your hand when grabbing a guitar neck. You'll notice that the lower part of your palm makes a more pronounced, deeper curve while the upper part makes a more subtle arch. This is the shape that adapts the best to that natural arch your hand makes while playing.

Fretboard Radius

Most guitar fretboards are not flat; they usually have a curve or arc across their width. A curved fretboard will make it easier to perform chords without muting strings, while a flatter one will make it easier to play single notes, which is good for bending and soloing in general. The best fretboards have a compound radius that varies across the fingerboard, but they're not common since they take a lot more work to build.

In this case, the Fender 70th Anniversary Ultra Stratocaster HSS is the only one with a compound radius. This is a huge win because it will give you the best of both worlds: a more curved radius in the first few frets for chords, and flatter as you come closer to the body for soloing.

Fret Size

The Epiphone Les Paul Prophecy has Jumbo frets, which should be taller than the Fender 70th Anniversary Ultra Stratocaster HSS's Medium Jumbo frets.

Some people prefer taller frets because they result in more sustain since the strings get pressed cleanly without interference from the fretboard. However, if they're too tall—like Jumbo frets—, you might change the pitch of the strings accidentally if you press too hard because you won't be touching the fretboard with your fingers. This is also why some guitarists with a heavy grip prefer smaller frets. They like to feel the fingerboard to avoid pressing down too hard and getting out of pitch.

Final Playability Scores