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spitball

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  1. Ah, OK, I asked because that seems to be an age-old (as the internet anyway) question; namely, "Does the Varitone truly bypass in position 1? " By the sound of my modern Memphis VT guitar, I'm believing "yes". Based on two older ('68 and '71) VT guitars I had, I'd say "not sure".
  2. Sounds like you looked at the wiring and confirmed that the VT was out of the circuit in position 1. I believe the "reissue" ES-345 that was being made in Memphis 2002-2012 had the same wiring with 57 Classics. Mine is from 2011. I prefer the jacks being on the rim, despite the non-traditional look, and VT position 1 absolutely sounds bypassed. The case has "BB King" stenciled on the neck, so take it this guitar's approach was a preference of BB's...sort of a semi-Lucille 345.
  3. Oh yes! You found a wonderful guitar and are putting it to fine use! I, too, love the look of the black with the Vibrola. Nice bass playing too!
  4. Bumping this thread with my 2011 ES-345. I've gone through a number of Gibbys over the years, but, ten years ago, the buck stopped with this one...I found my "one".
  5. Kind of sad to see the "ES-345" come standard without Varitone. I wonder if Gibson modified the Varitone sometime after the 1970s and fixed the issue wherein Position 1 was not true bypass. My 1968 ES-345 and 1971 ES-355 never sounded right to me compared to a 335, but my 2011 ES-345 (Memphis) does sound right - position 1 truly takes the VT out. Having two output jacks on the rim, making mono and stereo options both available, is another plus. IMO, that Memphis line of ES-345 made from 2002 to 2012 was the way to go...
  6. This 2004 R7 was mine once upon a time. I love the spiffy blacktop, but man, the neck on this thing was twice as thick as it should be, IMO. Despite the huge neck, it weighed well under 9 pounds. It was almost worth the price just for the privilege of staring at it.
  7. qblue, I'd love to play that "brick" ES-347...they are classy lookers for sure, and I think of them as something akin to LP Custom, so I expect them to have some mass. My 1967 ES-335 is the lightest Gibson I've ever owned - around 7 1/2 pounds. It doesn't have quite the same sustain as most LPs do ('specially with that trapeze tail), but it sings as sweetly as I could ever want, and it can still growl mean enough for my needs. Best-sounding of the 10+ Gibbys I've ever had.
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