Varitone Switch Demo
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- čas přidán 7. 09. 2024
- #Gibson #ES345 #VaritoneSwitch
Very simple playthrough demo of the Gibson ES-345 and its unique 6-position Varitone Switch. I didn't want any talking just some written thoughts on what the Varitone switch does in my opinion, and how it affects my sound - and you can come to your conclusions about what your ear picks up. You might love a Gibson ES-345, or a guitar with a V-Tone Switch, its one of the greatest guitars ever in my opinion.
GEAR:
Gibson ES-345
Orange Rockerverb 100W
Orange 2x12 Cab
(Treb/Mid/Bass/Gain @ Noon)
Song:
Excerpts from "Varytones" jammed by James Lighter (Upcoming release)
Subscribe:
/ @jameslightergtr
Yess how great is that 4 setting!!!
Its the bomb!
44 years ago my guitar mentor had a Gibson L6-S w the Veritone switch. One day when I went over to his house to play, he pulled a brand spankin' new gorgeous sunburst Fender Strat out of the case he had just bought that morning. It had what was back then the "all new 5 way switch". We spent the next 6 hrs playing both guitars and were absolutely blown away at how close his L6-S came to his stratocaster on the 3 and 4 positions of the Vertione switch.
That's a great story, those 3 and 4 positions on the Varitone are really something aren't they??
@@jameslighterGTR They really are. Any serious player cannot appreciate the flexibility in tone this switch offers unless they've ever played a Gibson equipped with one. BB King LOVED the Varitone switch and described it as the "Magic" in his guitars. 3 & 4 positions are AMAZING and in the Gibson L6-S, are hands down, the closest you will ever get to Strat tones in a Gibson guitar. IMO, Gibson missed a golden opportunity in 1981 to leverage this feature of the Varitone. That was the beginning of the EVH, metal Stratocaster craze where stratocasters started outselling Gibson guitars in spades. Gibson tried to compete by coming up w the MVX Victory which featured three single coils, but aesthetically it looked like an early 70's, cheesy, pathetic attempt to match the Strat in looks. The results were DISASTROUS with little or no sales, mainly because the guitar was so goofy-butt ugly looking (no offense to anyone who likes the MVX). Had Gibson offered a version of the Gibson Explorer with the Varitone switch and marketed it as "strat tones" they would have sold a ton of them. Coincidentally, it was also at this time that Gibson built a very limited number of RD Artists w the MVX Victory necks on them. Aesthetically, these guitars are stunningly beautiful because the symmetry between the body and headstock is absolutely perfect - far better looking than the RD Artists with the traditional Gibson 3 keys on either side, headstocks. The reason these never caught on was because they all came with the goofy moog electronics that are almost completely unusable; i.e. really cool looking guitar that was almost strat like, but almost completely unplayable w those horrible electronics (the RD standard did come with regular pickups and electronics). Had Gibson instead equipped them with standard SG / Les Paul / Explorer electronics and then added a model which featured the Varitone switch, they would have had a guitar that could match the strat in looks but offered BOTH, classic Gibson tones and strat tones in one guitar.
@@GTX1123 Just came back, forgot how epic your original comment was! Cheers.
I just got a 1981 mahogany, sunburst Gibson RD Artist with a MVX Victory neck - a rare find indeed. I just removed the goofy moog circuit board, pickups, pots etc and am preparing to refit it with passive alnico's, new volume and tone pots etc. This guitar has two toggle switches, so I'm going to replace one of the toggles with the Gibson Veritone switch. The Veritone switch will help me pull some strat like tones out of it. This bad boy will be one of a kind...
The RD Artist is quite a unique one. I've got an 82 Gibson ES Artist, I guess they're cousins in a way! Man I hope you post something when you've made your changes and customizations I am extremely interested in seeing and hearing how it turns out!
@@jameslighterGTR Thanks for your reply. For those who don't know, the ES Artist is a Gibson classic ES body shaped, semi-hollow guitar. The RD Artist is totally different because it's a solid body guitar shaped very similar to a Firebird and is chambered on the back of the body to fit the moog electronics it originally came with. Most RD's & RD Artists aren't rare, but mine is. This is because most RD's & RD Artists came with the traditional Gibson "open book" headstock with the tuners 3 to a side. The particular RD Artist I have has an MVX Victory neck which looks like a reverse Firebird headstock with the tuners 6 in a row, on the top of the headstock. The first phase of this project is to refit it with passive alnico pickups and all new wiring, volume & tone pots and the Varitone switch. The second phase will be a refret w jumbo frets, add a stetsbar and new locking tuners. I will post a vid once I have everything sorted out on it.
@@GTX1123 That's amazing that you ended up with the more rare neck! How is the project coming along? Did you get the Stetsbar on?
@@jameslighterGTR So it took a while but I had it rewired with a Varitone switch. The pickups I chose were a 498t wound to 13.5k in the bridge and 490 wound to 7.5k in the neck. The 498t was a bit ice picky due to the A5 magnet and the 490 was a bowl of mud so I swapped the A5 mag w the A2 mag from the neck and put an A3 mag in the neck. The A3 in the neck is beyond AMAZING. I HIGHLY recommend an A3 in the neck with a 6 to 7k wind in Les Paul's, SG's etc. The A2 in the bridge is still growing on me but the problem with both is that air got trapped under the covers which as you know, results in that horrible whistle feedback. I need to remove the covers and play it for a while. I may actually want to replace the A2 with an A4 in the bridge because I hear that A4's are absolute magic with overwound HB's in the bridge position. Once I sort that out, then I'm going to have a refret done and replace the microfrets with medium jumbo's. Then after that, replace the tuners with gold lockers and put a gold stetsbar on it.
@@TheRealThomasPaine1776 Man I played an Epiphone 335 Dot, a white one, black one, iced tea burst, one with a Bigsby... then had a Sheraton and a Casino. Basically tried every hollowbody Epiphone I could, as well as an Epi LP and even an Epi G1275 doubleneck, before finally getting a Gibson ES345. It is a serious financial commitment for sure, but I have now had mine 10 years and definitely don't regret it. I believe you are going in a completely logical direction in terms of trying Epiphones first. What kind of bass did you play?
I just built one and put in my les paul, pretty cool.
That's imaginative! Do you have any videos up of that?
@@jameslighterGTR No, I might make one though if I get bored.
Oooh nice one! With or without an inductor?
That is a gorgeous guitar!
Thank you very much!
Just got an es 137 custom with varitone. Very excited. Awesome and informative video. I think I’ve saved money on having to get a start or tele after this!
Thank you for checking this out. ES series provides for unique tonal options that's for sure!
I am going to put in a Varitone switch in my 355, but after looking at the sound wave charts, I'm going with a newly manufactured deLisle "Pentatone" switch. Its a match, in looks, but sonically it just carves a better picture, from what I can tell. If anyone has any experience with the deLisle switch i'd be happy to hear. I have a few weeks before any work gets done. Also, I'm going to add in a tiny bypass switch, like Alex Lifeson had on his. That way, I can set the varitone at a position, but just snap to it for a short section of the song, and snap back, without having to reach down and dial back a few positions, trying to find the bypass.
Thanks for sharing this, I have an Epiphone Lucille and find myself sitting on the bypass position in bc it’s heavy, once I start turning the switch the volume just disappears. But I still need more noodling time. Cheers.
Yes, just keep messing around with it! Sounds like a great choice you made with Lucille.
nice
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