I NEVER understood why so many people don't like the Varitone. Every sound it is capable of making is great in its own right. Don't moan about it, be creative and use these sounds. Not everyone wants to hear all the same old sounds again. That's the reason why a lot of guitar players try out different pick-ups, or use quirky pedals with filters and all sorts of stuff. I don't get it. I WANT to sound different. I don't need to be different all the time, but at least I want to experiment with sounds that's not your typical Les Paul in a Plexi, or a Telecaster in a Deluxe. What's the joy of REcreating old sounds when you can't create NEW sounds? Shoot me, I don't get it.
Especially with all the cool boosts, drives, distortions, comps etc. we have these days. Been looking into building serval vairone type circuits to mix things up on my custom guitars.
Hate nearly all the music that is new theses days - then I find Chris Buck. Your playing, latest songs with Cardinal Black, this channel - mate you are an extraordinary musician and have inspired me to pick the guitar up and be better. Thank you so much for your music and this great channel/content.
You have to be aware that you are in the conversation for the best guitarist living today. And you do it all with your thumb faithfully wrapped around the top of the neck. I respect that. I'm not moving mine, either. And that stance exacts a price.
That Shinichi Ubukata 335 sounds great, and especially so in your hands, but all the Gibsons of this general type do as well. For many years I had a '61Cherry ES-345, wired in mono. I played it at gigs and recorded with it. It was one of the best guitars I've had. As usual, I sold it and, of course, I'm sorry I did. Its Varitone was not at all "tone sucking". When in the off position (1), even if it was in the circuit, it was as if it wasn't there, and the tone was killer. In any other position, it was fascinating and useful. I often used it to emulate a single-coil sound (positions 3, 4, and 5). Rumors to the contrary, the Varitone is a great addition to the guitar.
@@fongy200 O. K. You're correct. I didn't notice the different headstock or the fingerboard inlays, Chris's amazing playing blinded me to anything else. I like six on a side better, anyway. It's easier to re-string. Thanks for the information, I'll edit.
In my opinion, there is no such thing as a 'good' or 'bad' guitar, there is just the right guitar for a player. if you enjoyed the guitar, its good for you, if others dont, too bad for them
You are killing it on this guitar! I have LONG been a fan of the Gibson stereo/Varitone tone circuit, starting with Mike Pender and the Searchers. I have owned a 1973 ES-355 since 1974, and currently have it in a fabulous set up. Used to love the No. 3 position best; but have graduated to the No. 2. SO many sounds you can get from these guitars! I have the catalog, by the way, from which that 345 ad came ... Gibson called the sound of these guitars ... "Throaty." If you really want to be knocked out by one of these ... run one through TWO amps. Good grief. Most every one of these guitars I have ever played (several) have had an out-of-phase sound when run through the same channel of an amp, or two channels of a Fender amp with reverb. The Showman I have, gives the full in-phase sound, whereas my Twin, in OOP. BTW: Some of the earlier Telecasters were also wired OOP, using the No. 2 switch position. Ricky Nelson's guitar player (remember that guy?) played some of his most famous leads, in that position. By the way ... that Marty Time Zone guitar difference thing ... IIRC ... is called an "anachronism" ...
Fuuuuuck the jam is so good here. As always, well done man. You should release these soloes as standalone videos as well, sort of like Ichiko. They would be more algorithm-friendly and I think they would get loads of views
I've said it before, and I'll say it again...when are you going to release an instrumental album? Think Joe Satriani, etc... I'd buy it in a heart beat!
Chris, it doesnt matter what topic are your videos about. When it comes to your guitarplay, it makes me forget everything and just listen. You are one of the greatest guitar players in history. Thank you.
I had an Epiphone BB King guitar with the varitone. I could never get, what I would call, great tone. Sold it, never looked back Love your channel and your guitar playing. Thanks
Once upon a time, there was a guy (let's call him 'Big D Guitars') who installed a VariTone in a Tele, to see what it cut with single coil pick-ups. His results were 'mixed' with the different caps in the various clicks of the switch, and, instead of ending his experiment there, he tried a few different cap values for the ones that sounded weak....started making his own 'custom capped' VariTones. I tried one in a non-reverse Firebird I was wiring up w/ 3 P-90s, then I got a few more, for a lipstick Strat and a weird Eastwood 'California Rebel' with '60s' single coils. Awesome sets of sounds. I learned that the whole 'tone pinch' works differently based on whether your VT is wired to the volume pot or to the output jack (more prominent with your volume on 10, or more if it's somewhere down in its range). Big D Guitars of Nashville still makes/sells his, for around $50, if you're interested. I picked up an Epi Blueshawk Deluxe (P-90s) with one, too, a few years ago, and the neck p/u gets total Tele-tone in the 2 and 4 notches. My own report on VariTone notch-filters is that they're ~great~, and they're NOT just for the humbucker guitars they were first installed in......and with a push/pull volume pot, you can pull it in or out without having to click around to 'off' each time.
Thanks for the deep dive into the Varitone thing. Your expertise is appreciated. What do you think of using a Varitone in a pedal? Is the effect better if it’s in the guitar wired to the volume pot like you mention?
@@renodavid I connect mine to the output jack, because I generally have my guitar volume pot maxxed (never below 7 or 8). If you 'use' your vol knob a lot(!), you'll get the better sounds of the VT with it wired to the vol pot instead.... I lost some right-hand dexterity when I broke my ~neck~ a long time ago in the military, and now simply picking is a full-time job for my r/h. I use a volume pedal for adjusting my vol and 'swells', which is way past the guitar in my 'signal chain'. I think that harmonically-balanced pickups sound their best when they are NOT treble-choked from a 'tone pot' anyhow...A VT is more like having a series of EQs on your board, each with a different mid-band pulled out....~that's~ useful. I'd bet that putting a VT in a pedal, though, will leave the circuit too far away from the pickups (I think it needs to be the FIRST thing your signal goes through; keep it in your guitar). Hope that helps.....
That position 2 is beautiful! (Maybe this is because I grew up playing a Strat.) It’s like combining the best of both worlds from Fender and Gibson neck pickups.
as soon as Chris switched to position 2 my ears pricked up, a sound memory from the 80s listening to BB King and the like, happy days, thanks for that : ))
Great job. Had a Gibson Stereo 345(?) in 1969. Loved it. Got taken by a bigger group, Marshall Amp fed back too much, so bought a 1970 SG. One day you will muse over the ones that got away.
I would be sitting on a pretty nice hunk of change if I hadn’t sold or traded in some of the gear I had in my early guitar days. Oh well. Such is life.😉🤷♂️
I have an original Gibson Blueshawk and part of the appeal of that was the versatility added by the varitone. It differs slightly in that it's a push/pull pot so has two bypass positions, position 1 and any other position when the knob is pulled out. It means you can quickly switch between bypassed and say position 5 just by hitting the knob. The thing I hate most about that guitar is the scale length; it feels alien to my small hands as everything else I play is Gibson scale length!
Great history of the varitone. I own a 1971 345 that is my favorite instrument I’ve ever owned. I had it switched to mono. I like the varitone for a quick mid range cut at 2-3 on the dial. I hardly ever use 5-6 but they are useful for special effect if you wanted. Excellent description of the out of phase feature too.
Ha ha...never thought I'd see this! In 1967 I got a 1954 Strat in a trade. What I really wanted was a LP. I was a big fan of BB King and got my mind blown one night in 1968 at the Fillmore West in SF by Peter Green's Mac! I really like that "tubular" tone that both artists got. I was aware that BB had a Varitone on his ES 355. So I got the parts for the Varitone, took them and my '54 Strat to the Alembic shop in SF and had them install the Varitone into my Strat! I know this is a travesty but in order for the Varitone to work I had to put 2 humbuckers on my Strat wired in STEREO and buy or make a STEREO "Y" chord! It's important to remember that I couldn't have sold that '54 Strat for even $15 in 1968! This was before the silicon chip was invented so, in addition I had to install 2 big metal transformers into the body of Strat to make the Varitone work! If the Strat hadn't been heavy before it was really heavy with those bars inside! They also installed a cut off switch which with the 3 position toggle switch, the tone and volume pots made more cool tones. Dude that guitar screamed! I used to put it through a Super Reverb and a vintage Fender one piece Bassman with the "Y" chord. When I would switch the toggle to the Super I would get Reverb! A la Peter Green who used to flip his reverb on and off for different sections of his solos. I remember being at someone else's rehearsal one afternoon and demonstrating the Varitone to a musician by playing the same lick over and over and tuning the Varitone switch just as you do in this video)
I have the Epiphone BB King 345 that I put Gibson 57 pickups in and I looked at comparison schematics of the modern vs vintage hand wired varitone circuit and there are some differences in resistance values on a few positions. However I too like position 2 as well and get lots of compliments on my great tone while playing jazz/ blues single note runs , fills , and solos. The Gibson 57’s are standard I believe on modern ES 345’s and make my much less expensive Epiphone guitar comparable to its Gibson counterpart. I researched it to possibly change it to the hand wired vintage style but found that to be extraneous as the tone is outstanding. It has full size pots and a Gibson branded micro tune stop tailpiece once again just like it’s counterpart. Thanks for the great episode on the 345 and it’s parts. All my best Dave Simpson
My blueshawk has a varitone that has nothing but tone,tone,tone x2. I just had to add that your playing at the end raised the hairs on my arms as usual. Great work Mr Buck
I remember when I saw U2's Rattle and Hum in the theater. B.B. and The Edge are talking about playing together and B.B. says he doesn't know how to play chords. I'd never realized that until then because I was just mesmerized by him.
Hey Chris, funny thing, I bought a custom SUPERSTRAT, and apparently the previous owner had it build with this 'contraption' in it. I took the complete guitar apart for an overhaul, so never heard what this switch was all about. 2 weeks later; Chris Buck with this video.. thnx maestro! Not sure if it will work on a Superstrat, but it's fun experimenting with it.
There are many really good guitar players on CZcams but Chris Buck is. Extremely talented in his use of dynamics,speed,articulation which sets him apart from others.Good Luck to you Chris.I wish you success.
My Aria Pro II has a varitone switch. Which I found very useful for getting different tones for rhythm sounds rather than lead. It was the 80's and That Nile Rodgers sound was quite popular.
Everything used as an excuse to hear you play is good. And I happen to have a Gibson with Varitone switch and always enjoyed the possibilities it gives in tone variations, but somehow my playing never sounds as good as demonstrated by you? Must be a defect in the switch I guess.
Love having the Varitone in those guitars that could take the addition if it wasn’t included by the factory. The work very well with Lace Alumitones, Bartolinis, Seymour Duncans, DiMarzios and a few other pickup companies. Haven’t tried one with active pickups. Positions 2, 4, and 5 are favorites for me.
All any passive tone or volume CAN do is reduce (suck) tone. Out of curiosity I DYI'd one with a rotary knife switch with a neck filtertron and and bridge tele dual rail (push-pull cutout switches for each pup). The choke is a printed circuit model with more inductance than either pickups. The rail gives the most dramatic frequency profiles. So I can get from rockabilly to icepick on this "tele" partscaster.
I visited family in Mexico in the early 90's, and at my musician uncle's house I saw a blond Gibson ES345 (an early 70's model according to Whittier Music, where TV Jones was doing guitar repair before he didn't need to) in his clothes hamper. Apparently it fell from its nail and landed there. When I inquired he said I could borrow it long term. I hugged it all the way back to Los Angeles, Ca., had it wired to mono, and enjoyed it until he collected it 10 years later. I never turned that varitone switch as I though it detracted from the tone. Wish I still had it!
Hi. The early baritones do bypass in the first position. Later ones (about 1965ish on for a few years) had a slightly different collection of capacitors in a kind of solid state that 'leaked'. Later ones went back to the first system. Also the neck pickup in the stereo players often had the magnet in backwards - resulting in 1970s Les Paul's getting borrowed 345 pafs with Peter Green mid position out of phase without realising it. 59 to 64 345s and 355s have a real bite to the. And later gold plated humbuckers often had earlier patent applied for and patent number bobbins in them. Any way lots of great sounds are available!
Firts of, man, you're playing is awesome and refreshing! I think until 61 for the most part, the posish one was a real bypass. On my 66 345, it is not and yes, position 1 sucks...tone. And mine is not wired out of phase per se, but one of the pickup magnet is misoriented. And I do love this out-of-phase tone. I'll probaby rebuild the electronics and go back to a proper Varitone wiring and cap value to get close the what it was in its early days.
Hi. Great video. Should have watched to the end. Out of phase on the early 345 happens when the stereo output goes into a mono cable. Later Gibson's and the Epiphone equivalents have a mono and stereo output, or even mono only. If you have a 345/355 that works ok avoid being tempted to play with the wiring - getting it back into a thinline guitar is really difficult. Great fun playing through 2 amps. There are a couple of people making a varitone switch that solders directly across the positive and negative output leads on a normal guitar without some of Gibson's slightly quirky overkill wiring. Steve.
Fantastic playing as always. I couldn’t pick much between 2,3 and 4. 5 was noticeably different as was 6. I’m considering one of the new Epiphone BB along model and will be interested to see if the difference commensurate with this.
Tone suck or not, I LOVE the Varitone on my early 70's ES-345. Lots of beautiful tones to be had. Mine sounds a bit different, though. On mine there is a much more noticeable decrease in output when the Varitone is engaged. The modern one seems much more even in volume across all positions. However, the changes in tone on your examples also seem a bit more subtle. The changes in tone on my Varitone are quite drastic.
Great video. I own a 1974 ES-345 with the trapeze tail piece purchased used when I was a teen back in 1978. It's always taken sort of a back seat when compared to the es-345. But for funk, reggae and any kind of scratch rhythm it offers cool tones straight out of the cord. No pedal required. Of course one can also argue that just about any model into an EQ pedal or say a half-cocked wah could do the same. But given that its there the vari-tone is cool. Also the stereo wiring straight into a pair of DAW inputs and panned left and right is about the cleanest low noise way to get a spacious rhythm guitar track.
You and I are on the same line of thinking. Use a pedal for scooping the mids. And bring back stereo guitars. I wire mine in stereo and it's so killer to play one guitar and have two distinct signal chains (pup->pds->amp) running in stereo. What I do is add a bass-cut circuit to my guitars, in place of the volume control. Cutting bass gives the same response, in most cases, as cutting volume (like one does with fuzz pedals). But if you cut the bass and cut the treble, you can find a sweet spot where the mid hump is quite nice. And if you just attach that bass cut control to the neck pickup, when you're running both pups out-of-phase, cutting the bass equates to reducing the out of phase aspect for the lower freqs. So much fun stuff to do!
Not to mention on that 345 MJF played in BTTF2, that model did NOT come out until 1958, & that model he used as a prop, (had no bridge in it) was a 1970s model! LOL! Talk about temporal anachronisms!
My 1996 Gibson Blueshawk has varitone circuit also - however notches are modified slightly for that instrument. Great playing and topic coverage as always. Beware the internet rumor mill!!
Perhaps the Varitone circuit was more useful in the days before EQ Pedals and other devices that allow one to change EQ and save and recall the different EQ settings when needed? The Varitione circuit may be useful for those who like simplicity, but I don't see a need for this circuit in this day and age when I can save EQ settings on an amp or some other device, and have those options for whatever guitar I choose to use.
I have a 59 reissue es345. It’s mono, but still has the Varitone. I rarely use it to be honest, but when I do it has a loss of volume & nails the BB King tone. I’ve never thought it ever sucked tone, volume when used, but not tone.
I have a 1960 Gibson GA-79 amp. It is stereo (two independent 15 watt channels) that was made for the stereo guitars.I've owned it since the mid 60's. I still use it.
Very interesting Chris ! The demo with position 3 on sounded like a humbucker on a single coil setting ? My favourite 345 player is Bill Nelson but his was a 345 standard which was in the wars I believe and now has new pickups . Only thing I’ve played near this was a 64 reissue 335 with the nylon saddles etc , gorgeous but pricey -Gibson usp right there 🤣
Here’s a question: If you could only have a standard tone knob, or a Varitone switch to cut specific frequencies at the different pre-set notches - but not both at once - which is better? (Update: After listening more to your playing samples, it’s no contest. Even just one pickup with a Varitone control is killer.)
I've removed the 'tone' pot/cap from half my guitars anyway....4 of them have VariTones, though. They slay with single-coils (and don't drop your output volume as much as with HBs). I have an EQ on my board for 'darker' tones than a 'non-choked from the top' pickup produces....but I don't use it much.
They're very different impacts to the sound. The tone knob bleeds high end to ground like a treble cut. The varitone is a frequency specific filter by placing capacitors in a circuit with a choke/inductor which modifies the eq of the guitar. If anything you could claim a tone knob is way more of a "suck" literally than a varitone
Very interesting as I've finally found out why I couldn't get the right tone out of Freddie's guitar back in 1969, (apart from the fact that I wasn't Freddie). And by the way, Mr. Buck, you are a hell of a guitarist!
![The Gibson ES-345 [In Defence Of The Varitone & Stereo Output]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/-nHwoIgysnQ/mqdefault.jpg)
Friday fretwork’s easily the best thing about Fridays!
I have to say Saturday morning in Australia 🇦🇺
It's the best thing about CZcams
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Leaving aside the sheer brilliance of the guitar playing this is a consistently interesting show/ broadcast. Thank you Mr Buck
Broadcast? Are you watching this in black and white on your box tv?
@@TheLowestwow that almost sounded mean lol
Hey I don't think they meant it wrongly lol
Maybe they're really older and this made them feel old? Lol idk. I feelt bad for a bit tho. Lol.
@@TheLowest😶
I NEVER understood why so many people don't like the Varitone. Every sound it is capable of making is great in its own right. Don't moan about it, be creative and use these sounds. Not everyone wants to hear all the same old sounds again. That's the reason why a lot of guitar players try out different pick-ups, or use quirky pedals with filters and all sorts of stuff.
I don't get it. I WANT to sound different. I don't need to be different all the time, but at least I want to experiment with sounds that's not your typical Les Paul in a Plexi, or a Telecaster in a Deluxe. What's the joy of REcreating old sounds when you can't create NEW sounds?
Shoot me, I don't get it.
Especially with all the cool boosts, drives, distortions, comps etc. we have these days. Been looking into building serval vairone type circuits to mix things up on my custom guitars.
guitar players don’t want cool sounds they want the most generics compressed sounds to make sure you could hear their 300 note flurries the best
@@dank6852right, good on/for you!
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@@drunkenbugsuckright lmao
please do a lesson on how you learnt guitar, you’re easily the best guitar player to grace youtube since ever
Varitone isn't for everyone, but for those who know how to use it, it's absolutely amazing
Hate nearly all the music that is new theses days - then I find Chris Buck. Your playing, latest songs with Cardinal Black, this channel - mate you are an extraordinary musician and have inspired me to pick the guitar up and be better. Thank you so much for your music and this great channel/content.
I agree bro!! Chris Buck's playing is awesome along with very informative content!! 👍💯
Hey bro post a video of you playing??
Your tone and technique are things of beauty. The guitar's not bad, either.
You have to be aware that you are in the conversation for the best guitarist living today. And you do it all with your thumb faithfully wrapped around the top of the neck. I respect that. I'm not moving mine, either. And that stance exacts a price.
Chris you’d make a shoelace tied to a snow shoe sound awesome mate.
That Shinichi Ubukata 335 sounds great, and especially so in your hands, but all the Gibsons of this general type do as well.
For many years I had a '61Cherry ES-345, wired in mono. I played it at gigs and recorded with it. It was one of the best guitars I've had. As usual, I sold it and, of course, I'm sorry I did.
Its Varitone was not at all "tone sucking". When in the off position (1), even if it was in the circuit, it was as if it wasn't there, and the tone was killer. In any other position, it was fascinating and useful. I often used it to emulate a single-coil sound (positions 3, 4, and 5). Rumors to the contrary, the Varitone is a great addition to the guitar.
It's not a Trini Lopez, If it was a Trini it would have the Hockey stick headstock, it's a Shinichi Ubukata 335.
@@fongy200 O. K. You're correct. I didn't notice the different headstock or the fingerboard inlays, Chris's amazing playing blinded me to anything else. I like six on a side better, anyway. It's easier to re-string. Thanks for the information, I'll edit.
Thanks for the ID, had to know what that was it, it’s amazing!
In my opinion, there is no such thing as a 'good' or 'bad' guitar, there is just the right guitar for a player. if you enjoyed the guitar, its good for you, if others dont, too bad for them
@@jochem420 With some extreme exceptions, I agree.
My brother had a 345 and I loved the Vari. You are a fantastic musician! God loves a melody man.
Had to listen to this quite a few times on headphones - NOT because I couldn't hear the different tones but to listen to CB play again and again.
You are killing it on this guitar! I have LONG been a fan of the Gibson stereo/Varitone tone circuit, starting with Mike Pender and the Searchers. I have owned a 1973 ES-355 since 1974, and currently have it in a fabulous set up. Used to love the No. 3 position best; but have graduated to the No. 2. SO many sounds you can get from these guitars! I have the catalog, by the way, from which that 345 ad came ... Gibson called the sound of these guitars ... "Throaty."
If you really want to be knocked out by one of these ... run one through TWO amps. Good grief. Most every one of these guitars I have ever played (several) have had an out-of-phase sound when run through the same channel of an amp, or two channels of a Fender amp with reverb. The Showman I have, gives the full in-phase sound, whereas my Twin, in OOP.
BTW: Some of the earlier Telecasters were also wired OOP, using the No. 2 switch position. Ricky Nelson's guitar player (remember that guy?) played some of his most famous leads, in that position.
By the way ... that Marty Time Zone guitar difference thing ... IIRC ... is called an "anachronism" ...
Fuuuuuck the jam is so good here. As always, well done man. You should release these soloes as standalone videos as well, sort of like Ichiko. They would be more algorithm-friendly and I think they would get loads of views
Friday Fretworks has quickly become a highlight of my weekends
I watch your videos to watch you play so I can try to steal some of your techniques, then get sucked into the information. Great job!
I've said it before, and I'll say it again...when are you going to release an instrumental album? Think Joe Satriani, etc... I'd buy it in a heart beat!
Especially loved that outro jam, you killed it, like absolutely killed it!
Really like your playing style as you strangle the neck of the guitar. Cool!
Chris, it doesnt matter what topic are your videos about. When it comes to your guitarplay, it makes me forget everything and just listen. You are one of the greatest guitar players in history. Thank you.
Always get both inspired and "taken to school" when I watch you plunk...
Thanx mang
I had an Epiphone BB King guitar with the varitone. I could never get, what I would call, great tone. Sold it, never looked back
Love your channel and your guitar playing. Thanks
Your tone is consistently dark and smooth like a fine Whiskey! I struggle to get something similar! The final track was great BTW, TGIF!
Again you absolutely destroy me with your great playing. Well done mate.
Once upon a time, there was a guy (let's call him 'Big D Guitars') who installed a VariTone in a Tele, to see what it cut with single coil pick-ups. His results were 'mixed' with the different caps in the various clicks of the switch, and, instead of ending his experiment there, he tried a few different cap values for the ones that sounded weak....started making his own 'custom capped' VariTones. I tried one in a non-reverse Firebird I was wiring up w/ 3 P-90s, then I got a few more, for a lipstick Strat and a weird Eastwood 'California Rebel' with '60s' single coils. Awesome sets of sounds. I learned that the whole 'tone pinch' works differently based on whether your VT is wired to the volume pot or to the output jack (more prominent with your volume on 10, or more if it's somewhere down in its range). Big D Guitars of Nashville still makes/sells his, for around $50, if you're interested.
I picked up an Epi Blueshawk Deluxe (P-90s) with one, too, a few years ago, and the neck p/u gets total Tele-tone in the 2 and 4 notches.
My own report on VariTone notch-filters is that they're ~great~, and they're NOT just for the humbucker guitars they were first installed in......and with a push/pull volume pot, you can pull it in or out without having to click around to 'off' each time.
Thanks for the deep dive into the Varitone thing. Your expertise is appreciated. What do you think of using a Varitone in a pedal? Is the effect better if it’s in the guitar wired to the volume pot like you mention?
@@renodavid I connect mine to the output jack, because I generally have my guitar volume pot maxxed (never below 7 or 8). If you 'use' your vol knob a lot(!), you'll get the better sounds of the VT with it wired to the vol pot instead.... I lost some right-hand dexterity when I broke my ~neck~ a long time ago in the military, and now simply picking is a full-time job for my r/h. I use a volume pedal for adjusting my vol and 'swells', which is way past the guitar in my 'signal chain'.
I think that harmonically-balanced pickups sound their best when they are NOT treble-choked from a 'tone pot' anyhow...A VT is more like having a series of EQs on your board, each with a different mid-band pulled out....~that's~ useful. I'd bet that putting a VT in a pedal, though, will leave the circuit too far away from the pickups (I think it needs to be the FIRST thing your signal goes through; keep it in your guitar). Hope that helps.....
It would be much easier to focus on the tones if I wasn't so mesmerized playing "where's the pick" lol, great video, please keep them coming.
That position 2 is beautiful! (Maybe this is because I grew up playing a Strat.) It’s like combining the best of both worlds from Fender and Gibson neck pickups.
Agreed. I grew up with strats and eventually bought my dream guitar, a 335. When I heard that position 2 it was a bit of a revelation.
@@samfarina It’s got everything that each camp’s neck pickup does really well, but is lacking in the other.
as soon as Chris switched to position 2 my ears pricked up, a sound memory from the 80s listening to BB King and the like, happy days, thanks for that : ))
Been playing a 355 since 1974, and No. 2 has become my favorite.
Great job. Had a Gibson Stereo 345(?) in 1969. Loved it. Got taken by a bigger group, Marshall Amp fed back too much, so bought a 1970 SG. One day you will muse over the ones that got away.
I would be sitting on a pretty nice hunk of change if I hadn’t sold or traded in some of the gear I had in my early guitar days. Oh well. Such is life.😉🤷♂️
Always look forward to Friday Fretworks!
Always a pleasure to listen to your playing mr Buck. Love your work man.
Usual mix of great playing and fascinating info, Chris!!
I have an original Gibson Blueshawk and part of the appeal of that was the versatility added by the varitone. It differs slightly in that it's a push/pull pot so has two bypass positions, position 1 and any other position when the knob is pulled out. It means you can quickly switch between bypassed and say position 5 just by hitting the knob.
The thing I hate most about that guitar is the scale length; it feels alien to my small hands as everything else I play is Gibson scale length!
Great history of the varitone. I own a 1971 345 that is my favorite instrument I’ve ever owned. I had it switched to mono. I like the varitone for a quick mid range cut at 2-3 on the dial. I hardly ever use 5-6 but they are useful for special effect if you wanted. Excellent description of the out of phase feature too.
That outro solo was 🔥
Ha ha...never thought I'd see this! In 1967 I got a 1954 Strat in a trade. What I really wanted was a LP. I was a big fan of BB King and got my mind blown one night in 1968 at the Fillmore West in SF by Peter Green's Mac! I really like that "tubular" tone that both artists got. I was aware that BB had a Varitone on his ES 355. So I got the parts for the Varitone, took them and my '54 Strat to the Alembic shop in SF and had them install the Varitone into my Strat! I know this is a travesty but in order for the Varitone to work I had to put 2 humbuckers on my Strat wired in STEREO and buy or make a STEREO "Y" chord! It's important to remember that I couldn't have sold that '54 Strat for even $15 in 1968! This was before the silicon chip was invented so, in addition I had to install 2 big metal transformers into the body of Strat to make the Varitone work! If the Strat hadn't been heavy before it was really heavy with those bars inside! They also installed a cut off switch which with the 3 position toggle switch, the tone and volume pots made more cool tones. Dude that guitar screamed! I used to put it through a Super Reverb and a vintage Fender one piece Bassman with the "Y" chord. When I would switch the toggle to the Super I would get Reverb! A la Peter Green who used to flip his reverb on and off for different sections of his solos. I remember being at someone else's rehearsal one afternoon and demonstrating the Varitone to a musician by playing the same lick over and over and tuning the Varitone switch just as you do in this video)
Dude I needed my weekly fix.. very cool. I love gibsons these are so nice..
Another great job Chris. Thank you from across the pond in New York! 🎸👍
The Varitone when used with the volume control creates an amazing set of sounds.
Every guitar should have one.
Gotta be one of your best intro tracks! Loves it!
I have the Epiphone BB King 345 that I put Gibson 57 pickups in and I looked at comparison schematics of the modern vs vintage hand wired varitone circuit and there are some differences in resistance values on a few positions. However I too like position 2 as well and get lots of compliments on my great tone while playing jazz/ blues single note runs , fills , and solos. The Gibson 57’s are standard I believe on modern ES 345’s and make my much less expensive Epiphone guitar comparable to its Gibson counterpart.
I researched it to possibly change it to the hand wired vintage style but found that to be extraneous as the tone is outstanding. It has full size pots and a Gibson branded micro tune stop tailpiece once again just like it’s counterpart.
Thanks for the great episode on the 345 and it’s parts.
All my best
Dave Simpson
My blueshawk has a varitone that has nothing but tone,tone,tone x2. I just had to add that your playing at the end raised the hairs on my arms as usual. Great work Mr Buck
I sometimes think "maybe that guitar will solve everything" when I watch your videos, LOL, keep up the great work.
Quiet the inspired exit solo. I always enjoy viewing your Friday fretworks!
I've always dug the Varitones I've played, but never owned one. It's "on my list!"
Thanks 4 shedding some light!
Chris is just an incredible guitarist. Just wanted to voice my appreciation.
Beautiful playing today Chris, that guitar has a wonderful tone. Thank you.
what do you mean by "today " ?
@@yaroslavromanov8357 today means the day the video was released.
I remember when I saw U2's Rattle and Hum in the theater. B.B. and The Edge are talking about playing together and B.B. says he doesn't know how to play chords. I'd never realized that until then because I was just mesmerized by him.
Now I want Keenan Thompson to star in a BB King bio pic, spitting image to the photo used for the video image.
These videos have become a part of my weekly fabric, so well done, thanks for all the great content and amazing playing, cheers sir!!
Intriguing Playing, I must Say! Shalom, birdsongz
Loving your clean lead style ! 😁🤘
Hey Chris, funny thing, I bought a custom SUPERSTRAT, and apparently the previous owner had it build with this 'contraption' in it. I took the complete guitar apart for an overhaul, so never heard what this switch was all about. 2 weeks later; Chris Buck with this video.. thnx maestro! Not sure if it will work on a Superstrat, but it's fun experimenting with it.
Holy jeeze dude your playing is absolutely smokin
another incredible show, thanks a lot.
when you play, it feels so easy to do, almost seamless. not the case when i try to repeat after you.😚
There are many really good guitar players on CZcams but Chris Buck is. Extremely talented in his use of dynamics,speed,articulation which sets him apart from others.Good Luck to you Chris.I wish you success.
I am so familiar with the solo at the end cause of listening over and over to the video where you play it!
My Aria Pro II has a varitone switch. Which I found very useful for getting different tones for rhythm sounds rather than lead. It was the 80's and That Nile Rodgers sound was quite popular.
Everything used as an excuse to hear you play is good. And I happen to have a Gibson with Varitone switch and always enjoyed the possibilities it gives in tone variations, but somehow my playing never sounds as good as demonstrated by you? Must be a defect in the switch I guess.
Or your fingers !
@@malcolmhardwick4258 In all honesty, I think only Chris can sound as good as Chris, no matter what guitar is used.
3:58 - Position 1
4:13 - Position 2
4:27 - Position 3
4:40 - Position 4
4:55 - Position 5
5:08 - Position 6
Jam Section:
8:16 - Position 1
" WOW" Chris you sure do play a mean guitar. "Bravo" "Bravo" John. I'm sure you could make any old shitty axe sound Brilliant.
Love having the Varitone in those guitars that could take the addition if it wasn’t included by the factory. The work very well with Lace Alumitones, Bartolinis, Seymour Duncans, DiMarzios and a few other pickup companies. Haven’t tried one with active pickups. Positions 2, 4, and 5 are favorites for me.
All any passive tone or volume CAN do is reduce (suck) tone.
Out of curiosity I DYI'd one with a rotary knife switch with a neck filtertron and and bridge tele dual rail (push-pull cutout switches for each pup).
The choke is a printed circuit model with more inductance than either pickups.
The rail gives the most dramatic frequency profiles. So I can get from rockabilly to icepick on this "tele" partscaster.
Thank You Chris, much appreciate your demonstration of the Varitone circuit.
Great playing man ! Just subscribed and really liking your phrasing !
Hey Chris! Did anyone ever tell you, you sound like Jimi Hendrix's child, adopted and raised by David Gilmore at Gary Moore's house? (
Excellent video informative and with some awesome playing thanks for taking the time
I visited family in Mexico in the early 90's, and at my musician uncle's house I saw a blond Gibson ES345 (an early 70's model according to Whittier Music, where TV Jones was doing guitar repair before he didn't need to) in his clothes hamper. Apparently it fell from its nail and landed there. When I inquired he said I could borrow it long term. I hugged it all the way back to Los Angeles, Ca., had it wired to mono, and enjoyed it until he collected it 10 years later. I never turned that varitone switch as I though it detracted from the tone. Wish I still had it!
Was that Whittier music in Whittier, CA?
Hi. The early baritones do bypass in the first position. Later ones (about 1965ish on for a few years) had a slightly different collection of capacitors in a kind of solid state that 'leaked'. Later ones went back to the first system. Also the neck pickup in the stereo players often had the magnet in backwards - resulting in 1970s Les Paul's getting borrowed 345 pafs with Peter Green mid position out of phase without realising it. 59 to 64 345s and 355s have a real bite to the. And later gold plated humbuckers often had earlier patent applied for and patent number bobbins in them. Any way lots of great sounds are available!
Great demo .. some great tones and always playing to inspire ✨
Firts of, man, you're playing is awesome and refreshing! I think until 61 for the most part, the posish one was a real bypass. On my 66 345, it is not and yes, position 1 sucks...tone. And mine is not wired out of phase per se, but one of the pickup magnet is misoriented. And I do love this out-of-phase tone. I'll probaby rebuild the electronics and go back to a proper Varitone wiring and cap value to get close the what it was in its early days.
Hi. Great video. Should have watched to the end. Out of phase on the early 345 happens when the stereo output goes into a mono cable. Later Gibson's and the Epiphone equivalents have a mono and stereo output, or even mono only. If you have a 345/355 that works ok avoid being tempted to play with the wiring - getting it back into a thinline guitar is really difficult. Great fun playing through 2 amps. There are a couple of people making a varitone switch that solders directly across the positive and negative output leads on a normal guitar without some of Gibson's slightly quirky overkill wiring. Steve.
Fantastic playing as always. I couldn’t pick much between 2,3 and 4. 5 was noticeably different as was 6. I’m considering one of the new Epiphone BB along model and will be interested to see if the difference commensurate with this.
There is considerable difference, in person ...
Great Video Chris.....and love your right hand views......
sounds sick, don't see what folks are upset about
Tone suck or not, I LOVE the Varitone on my early 70's ES-345. Lots of beautiful tones to be had. Mine sounds a bit different, though. On mine there is a much more noticeable decrease in output when the Varitone is engaged. The modern one seems much more even in volume across all positions. However, the changes in tone on your examples also seem a bit more subtle. The changes in tone on my Varitone are quite drastic.
Great video. I own a 1974 ES-345 with the trapeze tail piece purchased used when I was a teen back in 1978. It's always taken sort of a back seat when compared to the es-345. But for funk, reggae and any kind of scratch rhythm it offers cool tones straight out of the cord. No pedal required. Of course one can also argue that just about any model into an EQ pedal or say a half-cocked wah could do the same. But given that its there the vari-tone is cool. Also the stereo wiring straight into a pair of DAW inputs and panned left and right is about the cleanest low noise way to get a spacious rhythm guitar track.
You and I are on the same line of thinking. Use a pedal for scooping the mids. And bring back stereo guitars. I wire mine in stereo and it's so killer to play one guitar and have two distinct signal chains (pup->pds->amp) running in stereo.
What I do is add a bass-cut circuit to my guitars, in place of the volume control. Cutting bass gives the same response, in most cases, as cutting volume (like one does with fuzz pedals). But if you cut the bass and cut the treble, you can find a sweet spot where the mid hump is quite nice.
And if you just attach that bass cut control to the neck pickup, when you're running both pups out-of-phase, cutting the bass equates to reducing the out of phase aspect for the lower freqs.
So much fun stuff to do!
Christonabike Chris, to Hell with the guitar, you're some player lad. Brilliant.
wow, that outro jam!
Not to mention on that 345 MJF played in BTTF2, that model did NOT come out until 1958, & that model he used as a prop, (had no bridge in it) was a 1970s model! LOL! Talk about temporal anachronisms!
Enjoyed the lesson/information and the playing 👌🏿
Greetings from Uganda 🇺🇬👊🏿🖤
Bypass: 3:58
Position 2: 4:13
Position 3: 4:27
Position 4: 4:41
Position 5: 4:55
Position 6: 5:09
My 1996 Gibson Blueshawk has varitone circuit also - however notches are modified slightly for that instrument. Great playing and topic coverage as always. Beware the internet rumor mill!!
amazing jam and info my dude
Solid episode, beautiful guitar, even better playing. Waiting on a Chris Buck guitar course for you to pass on some of your magic techniques.
Perhaps the Varitone circuit was more useful in the days before EQ Pedals and other devices that allow one to change EQ and save and recall the different EQ settings when needed? The Varitione circuit may be useful for those who like simplicity, but I don't see a need for this circuit in this day and age when I can save EQ settings on an amp or some other device, and have those options for whatever guitar I choose to use.
I have a 59 reissue es345. It’s mono, but still has the Varitone. I rarely use it to be honest, but when I do it has a loss of volume & nails the BB King tone. I’ve never thought it ever sucked tone, volume when used, but not tone.
That jam at the start was SLAMMIN!
Best riff of the year !!!
I have a 1960 Gibson GA-79 amp. It is stereo (two independent 15 watt channels) that was made for the stereo guitars.I've owned it since the mid 60's. I still use it.
The Back to Future guitar was discussed in a recent video by Norms Rare Guitars including the choice of a guitar not yet produced.
Youa have a great feel man! Congratulations!
Smoking Buckmaster. Smoking.🔥🔥
Opening jam! 🤯
The tone 🤤
Closing jam!! 😍
That's a nice lick you played in your demo !
Love Live at the Regal, will listen with the out of phase in mind
Very interesting Chris ! The demo with position 3 on sounded like a humbucker on a single coil setting ? My favourite 345 player is Bill Nelson but his was a 345 standard which was in the wars I believe and now has new pickups . Only thing I’ve played near this was a 64 reissue 335 with the nylon saddles etc , gorgeous but pricey -Gibson usp right there 🤣
Here’s a question: If you could only have a standard tone knob, or a Varitone switch to cut specific frequencies at the different pre-set notches - but not both at once - which is better? (Update: After listening more to your playing samples, it’s no contest. Even just one pickup with a Varitone control is killer.)
Varitone. I have a guitar with it, it's great for recording and cutting through different mixes.
I've removed the 'tone' pot/cap from half my guitars anyway....4 of them have VariTones, though. They slay with single-coils (and don't drop your output volume as much as with HBs). I have an EQ on my board for 'darker' tones than a 'non-choked from the top' pickup produces....but I don't use it much.
They're very different impacts to the sound. The tone knob bleeds high end to ground like a treble cut. The varitone is a frequency specific filter by placing capacitors in a circuit with a choke/inductor which modifies the eq of the guitar. If anything you could claim a tone knob is way more of a "suck" literally than a varitone
Very interesting as I've finally found out why I couldn't get the right tone out of Freddie's guitar back in 1969, (apart from the fact that I wasn't Freddie). And by the way, Mr. Buck, you are a hell of a guitarist!
Great playing in the jams and the repeated riff.
Damn, your playing is inspiring, I gotta get to playing!