Gibson CS Posted February 3, 2008 Share Posted February 3, 2008 I have never played a Gibson hollow body. I was wondering... On the BB King model, and im sure there are a few others. There are the 4 knobs (2 volume/2 tone)...Pup selector. Then the dial switch...with the chicken head knob. It has numbers on it....what does this switch/dial do? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L5Larry Posted February 3, 2008 Share Posted February 3, 2008 This is what Gibson calls the Varitone switch (circuit). In general, it creates 6 preset tone configurations. Used in combination with the pickup selector, it gives a wide variety of options. My Historic 345 has the Varitone (of course), and although some of the settings get sounding pretty thin, the lower numbered settings are very useful. I use mainly 1 & 3. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spitball Posted February 3, 2008 Share Posted February 3, 2008 I once recorded a few random licks using all six settings of the Varitone dial. You can hear them HERE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L5Larry Posted February 3, 2008 Share Posted February 3, 2008 I once recorded a few random licks using all six settings of the Varitone dial. Great demo. There you go, for anyone interested in the the Varitone circuitry, spitball has just posted the answer to all your questions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gibson CS Posted February 3, 2008 Author Share Posted February 3, 2008 Nice guys! Thanks for the demo. It does get pretty thin as you go up doesnt it? Still, I can think of alot of uses for a switch like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spitball Posted February 3, 2008 Share Posted February 3, 2008 Glad I could be of service, fellas. :) Wish I recorded more 'cuz I can't now, as I have recently sold that 345. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gibson CS Posted February 3, 2008 Author Share Posted February 3, 2008 L5Larry... What is that guitar at the far left in your avatar picture? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L5Larry Posted February 4, 2008 Share Posted February 4, 2008 L5Larry...What is that guitar at the far left in your avatar picture? That's a 1947 L-7. A beautiful old Gibson, plays and sounds like a dream. I do a lot of acoustic blues and jazz gigs, and I picked that up a few years ago specifically for that purpose. I built a new pickguard with a floating Benedetto S-6 pickup mounted to it, and the amplified sound, either through a PA system or my '61 Gibson GA-8 Discoverer amp, is just that woody tone you would expect from that guitar. It's really a joy to play with a neck somewhat like a Louisville Slugger baseball bat (I like big fat necks, something to grab on to). The body size is exactly the same as my L-5, and the difference between the L5's top mounted pickups and the L-7's pickguard mounted pickup give me a nice array of sound options. They're both strung with LaBella nylon wound 14's, which scares most guitar players off, but really they're not that bad, you get used to them. I have always liked heavy guage strings, and think the heaviest strings you can stand will only help magnify the tone of any instrument. The Gibson instruments in the picture are left to right: 1947 L-7 2000 Historic '59 ES-345 1930 Tenor Banjo 1975 Les Paul Standard 1990 L-5CES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaicho8888 Posted February 4, 2008 Share Posted February 4, 2008 The varitone switch comes in handy for quick select...1 is bypassing the filter. Position 2 or 3 are the only useful one for me. The other positions filter out the the bass/midrange too much. But 99% of the time I use the volume/tone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gibson CS Posted February 4, 2008 Author Share Posted February 4, 2008 L5... Its gorgeous!...It looks huge. Big guitar + big strings can only= big sound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ES345 Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 Spitball, good representation of the varitone, the ability to quickly select another tone for a different part of a song, or a different song, i think you will actually agree on the subtle to significant tones available, sounds like at least 3 or 4 different guitars, anyway what i have always done, especially when slecting 4 -6 is increase the volume with a a volume pedal, because these positions do have a volume drop, you can boost the volume thru the volume pedal or if you have a multichannel amp, selecting another channel, my mark iv, can be clean on 1 and two, with a little more sparkle on number two, or engage the eq switch as well, the tones are really almost limitless, and all with one guitar. just bring strings, by the way, i can't remember the last time i broke one. spitball that was a very nice '68. peace Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spitball Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 Spitball' date=' good representation of the varitone, the ability to quickly select another tone for a different part of a song, or a different song, i think you will actually agree on the subtle to significant tones available, sounds like at least 3 or 4 different guitars, anyway what i have always done, especially when slecting 4 -6 is increase the volume with a a volume pedal, because these positions do have a volume drop, you can boost the volume thru the volume pedal or if you have a multichannel amp, selecting another channel, my mark iv, can be clean on 1 and two, with a little more sparkle on number two, or engage the eq switch as well, the tones are really almost limitless, and all with one guitar. just bring strings, by the way, i can't remember the last time i broke one. spitball that was a very nice '68. peace[/quote'] After my brief affair with that 345, I must say I dig the Varitone. You're right, ES345, the tones are almost limitless. I'll look for one again when the time is right. *sigh* Glad I still have my 335! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rd_artist Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 I dig the varitone switch, so I found one on ebay and had it installed on my Epi Dot studio,it's a wonderful mod. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaicho8888 Posted February 11, 2008 Share Posted February 11, 2008 rd_artist, did you install the varitone through the bridge pickup? By the way, nice mod... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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