varitone update

[eljay]

could not edit previous post. to avoid kenny's scolding , i called the factory since it's business hours, now. the answer was a polite no-freakin'-way. just kidding, a firm, polite, no.

 

the retrofit idea--assuming competent craftsmanship, of course--seems like a good idea, though.

 

shrug and exit, eljay

[tulk1]

I scowled anyway, even tho' you couldn't see me.

 

Not surprised they said no. I had asked them to use a GraphTec Ghost Wrap bridge on my Custom Prospect. But since they weren't familiar with it and how to fit it to a semi-hollow, they declined.

[111518]

For what it's worth, my main guitar for many years was an es355, and, even though I had the best known repair guy in the eastern part of NC at the time and an electronic engineer buddy of his take a shot at making the varitone more useful, I never found it good for much. (They did come up with a very useful way to bypass the stereo.) The varitone is just a variable filter --uses different capacitors to suck off different frequencies-- so IMHO you lose the girith of sound you want from a semi with 'buckers. Mine, after modification, produces an interesting range of sounds, but all in the end pretty anemic .... only thing I've ever found useful is the first click away from bypass, which doesn't dramatically change tone but does cut volume --sort of like a rhythm/lead switch. Again, all just my opinion, but it makes sense to me that vintage 335's usually go for more than same-year 345s or 355s --the stereo/varitone idea was just not a particularly useful addition. Now if you used a similar switch for different coil combinations of tapped pickups, I think that might be cool, but I don't know enough about electronics to know if it would work. I think sometimes about experimenting with mine, but I just sort of appreciate it for what it is, now.

 

So, though I can understand someone wanting to replicate a guitar they loved, if I wanted to replicate my 355 I'd leave off the stereo choke and the varitone, not to mention the pencil neck in the first position. I've noticed that many of the custom shop 355s are in fact wired exactly like 335s, they just have the fancier binding and inlays.

 

Maybe the Heritage guys just don't think varitone is an idea that merits resurrecting.

[Gitfiddler]

Maybe the Heritage version of the VariTone was their VariPhase (coil tap, phase, out of phase) Switch...that they have since eliminated. It makes sense that if they did away with their own tapping system, that they would not be interested in Gibson's proprietary version.

[Kuz]

Most guys that I knew that had 355s were always trying to bypass/disable the darn thing. Go figure, to each their own.

[High Flying Bird]

A Buddy has an Epiphone Jack Cassidy bass with this thing in it. It's dead.

[High Flying Bird]

After Ren hung up the phone he was so pissed that he kicked Vince's desk and broke his foot. As a cruel joke Katey handed him a Rick 12.

[blueox]

Over the years, a number of professional musicians have played guitars containing the VariTone switch, including Elvin Bishop and B.B. King. They have sold a ton of albums, and their guitar-playing fans would naturally be inspired to check out guitars so equipped in search of the ultimate tone. Gibson, along with the Epiphone brand, has continued to offer the VariTone as a selling point for those so inclined. As far as having a Heritage so equipped, one would think that a bonafide custom order for an H555, for example, could be built, if the buyer provided the VariTone during the build process.

[Kuz]

Over the years, a number of professional musicians have played guitars containing the VariTone switch, including Elvin Bishop and B.B. King. They have sold a ton of albums, and their guitar-playing fans would naturally be inspired to check out guitars so equipped in search of the ultimate tone. Gibson, along with the Epiphone brand, has continued to offer the VariTone as a selling point for those so inclined. As far as having a Heritage so equipped, one would think that a bonafide custom order for an H555, for example, could be built, if the buyer provided the VariTone during the build process.

 

Probably a Gibson patent and we don't want to kick a sick dog!

[blueox]

Would this work with no patent problems on a custom Heritage order? Stewart-MacDonald

[FredZepp]

Ironic.. in the Dec 2010 issue of Vintage Guitar, someone asks if disabling the varitone in a '65 ES -345 would affect the value... the answer, most players don't use it , so disabling it wouldn't negatively affect value. Also the change is reversible.