pealock Posted July 16, 2010 Share Posted July 16, 2010 My beautiful slice of heaven. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L5Larry Posted July 16, 2010 Share Posted July 16, 2010 Here's it's sister, this one was built in 2000. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin Nahum Posted July 16, 2010 Share Posted July 16, 2010 My beautiful slice of heaven. Gorgeous. I've never seen a natural 345. Is it stereo? (I guess it can't be if it doesn't have a truss rod cover that says "Stereo". ) RN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanC Posted July 17, 2010 Share Posted July 17, 2010 Yeah she's really beautiful. I really like the natural finish particularly when it starts to yellow like yours has! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pealock Posted July 17, 2010 Author Share Posted July 17, 2010 Yeah it is stereo! It's a 93 re-issue of a 67. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dub-T-123 Posted July 17, 2010 Share Posted July 17, 2010 Sorry if this is a stupid question but why is there a 3-way toggle and the chicken head? What do they do? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pealock Posted July 17, 2010 Author Share Posted July 17, 2010 A better question is what do they not do. The 6 cycle gives me a full range from lows to highs. 1 is the full range, basically the "drive." 6 is nothing but treble, which works well for extremely twangy sounds and/ or solo-ing. Its a complex system that I myself have no idea how it completely works. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin Nahum Posted July 17, 2010 Share Posted July 17, 2010 A better question is what do they not do. The 6 cycle gives me a full range from lows to highs. 1 is the full range' date=' basically the "drive." 6 is nothing but treble, which works well for extremely twangy sounds and/ or solo-ing. Its a complex system that I myself have no idea how it completely works.[/quote'] The chicken head knob is the selector for the Varitone circuit - two actually - one for each pickup but not separately controllable. The 345 has a regular .022/500 tone circuit. The Varitone adds to this by allowing the signal to pass through a further RLC (resistor inductor capacitor) tone circuit which notches in various frequencies. A schematic of the Varitone chip reveals five RC combinations (the 6th position on the switch is bypass). The inductor is fixed and sits just near the neck pickup. RN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pealock Posted July 18, 2010 Author Share Posted July 18, 2010 That was incredible helpful. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin Nahum Posted July 18, 2010 Share Posted July 18, 2010 Here is my 1967 ES345. I play jazz - or try to, and this one had great tone - like an L5 when fitted with flatwounds - but the neck was one of those late 60s skinny ones that was too small for me. The photo also shows the passive breakout box. I ran a stereo lead to it and two mono leads out. I converted the stereo signal to a mono signal using a Barge Concepts VFX-2 that allowed me to control the amount of bridge pickup in the mix with an expression pedal. I traded the '67 for a Memphis Custom Shop 2002. This had '57 Classics but I was never happy with their tone, finding it harsh (except it would seem in the shop when I handed over my cash - or credit card details) and I replaced them with VintageVibe humbuckers with Alnico 2 magnets. These have a lower, more mellow output and this is now my go to guitar. I also replaced the heavy tailpiece with an aluminium one on the advice of my luthier. I think this helped too but if I was advising somebody on buying a 345 for jazz, I would recommend one with a trapeze tailpiece. I have to say that I find the mono output (the one nearest the strap button) very useful. ;) RN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artmaker Posted July 18, 2010 Share Posted July 18, 2010 Beautiful natural finish. Never have seen that before. Here's my Custom Shop 345 from 2000. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rame Posted July 19, 2010 Share Posted July 19, 2010 There are some great looking ES-345's in this thread! Thanks for the pics guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
funkmp Posted July 19, 2010 Share Posted July 19, 2010 I have given up on my 1967 ES345 (sunburst) as well. Too valuable to take to the pub and using a stereo cable on stage with one amp is not worth the hassle. You don't want to customise a 40+ old guitar, so I got a red 2007 one with the mono option. Still getting used to the gold on red Christmas-color-scheme though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin Nahum Posted July 20, 2010 Share Posted July 20, 2010 You don't want to customise a 40+ old guitar..... Agree, and 345s are particularly difficult to mono-ise correctly because of the Varitone. The tone circuit in my '67 was a mess after the previous owner had tried to do this, demolishing one of the chips along the way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanC Posted July 20, 2010 Share Posted July 20, 2010 Problem I have with the Varitone switch on my ES 137 is the massive volume drop off when moving between settings. Do others experience a similar problem??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin Nahum Posted July 20, 2010 Share Posted July 20, 2010 Problem I have with the Varitone switch on my ES 137 is the massive volume drop off when moving between settings. Do others experience a similar problem??? Yep. This is one more feature on my 345 that I do not use - well not on the fly anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaicho8888 Posted August 19, 2010 Share Posted August 19, 2010 Well, after 43 years, tonight I decided to take the bridge pickup apart and rotate the magnet and make both bridge and neck pickup in phase. It was out of phase from the factory. I got tired of having the middle position sounding very thin and a lower in volume when I just used a one channel amp. I use a stereo plug on the guitar side and a mono on the amp side. I soldered the stereo hot leads together on the stereo plug. With this I just use one amp and the ES345 sounds good in the middle position and not thin sounding. Also the volume is equal on the bridge, bridge+neck, and meck pickup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin Nahum Posted August 20, 2010 Share Posted August 20, 2010 Inspired by the "345/losing my mind" thread? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaicho8888 Posted August 20, 2010 Share Posted August 20, 2010 Inspired by the "345/losing my mind" thread? Hi Robin! I haven't been posting much...just lurking! Yeah, my ES345 was not used as much because of this "out of phase" pickups. It took me about 15 minutes to rotate the magnet. Wow, I can't stop playing this "thang"...it's like a new toy again! There is no drop in volume and no "thin" or treble sounding in the middle position. Jam'n on, baby! East Bay Blues Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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