doscazadores Posted February 14, 2013 Share Posted February 14, 2013 Probably should have done a search first but . . . I guess I'm lazy. The hollow bodies that have the stereo selector, or whatever it is, what is the difference in the tone or sound that is produced? I'm new enough to the hollow bodies that I've never quite understood this particular version. If you are going to try to explain, use little words and short sentences so I'll get it! Or maybe there's a recording on the Internet somewhere? (O.K., looked and couldn't find anything that actually gave me a taste of the sound. Or maybe I'm completely overthinking this.) Vic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L5Larry Posted February 14, 2013 Share Posted February 14, 2013 A "stereo" guitar, such as the Gibson ES-345, allows you to send the signal from each pickup to a separate amp (or amp channel, or effects, or recorder channel, etc). The guitar itself is no different other than the internal wiring path, and makes no "stereo" sounds. The effects it allows is up to your imagination such as amp settings and how you patch pedals and effects. A couple of typical uses would be run the neck pickup through a "clean" amp, and the bridge pickup into an "overdrive" amp (or channel). Another would be to run one pickup "straight" and the other through pedals. By switching pickups, and blending pickups in the "both" switch position, you can "dial in" different sounds from your outboard settings and effects. That said - I do not own a stereo guitar, although I do own a "mono" 345, which I bought because it WASN'T stereo. The original Gibson stereo ES models required a special cable, and trying to run them through a "Y" cable, or into the same amp (or channel), many times cause "phase" problems, so you HAD to carry around two amps. Special cables and extra amps never appealed to me to be worth the effort. It has always been my opinion that the downfall of the original ES-345 and 355 models was that the majority of them were "stereo". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spitball Posted February 14, 2013 Share Posted February 14, 2013 Because you mentioned "stereo selector", I will guess that you are actually asking about the Varitone control, which is not related to stereo or mono wiring, but is often found on "stereo" models like the ES-345 and ES-355. The Varitone is something many players claim to dislike, either dislike overall, or in particular because they feel it has an effect on the guitar's tone when it shouldn't - i.e., still affecting tone when it is switched to position "1" which is supposedly a bypass. That said, the switch removes portions of the signal (certain quantity of decibels from certain frequency ranges) as you change it from 1 to 6. The result are varyingly more nasal/thinner tones as you go up the switch level. As I said, some hate the resulting tones...I absolutely DIG them. The voice of an ES-345 is different from that of an ES-335. A good example of recorded Varitone usage is that of Freddie King with his guitars in the 60s and 70s...especially his ES-345 used in the 60s. Check out his performance on "The Beat" on Youtube for an idea. Admittedly, it is a kind of "dated" sound, but to me it is uniquely cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jayyj Posted February 15, 2013 Share Posted February 15, 2013 My ES-355 has the same take on stereo wiring as used in the later Lucilles: there is no jack on the front, but two on the rim: the first gives standard mono, but plugging into the second splits the two pickups so that one goes to one lead and one to the other. It's a much better system than the standard version used on earlier versions - the only drawback is that moment of panic when you accidentally plug into the wrong socket and find you have no output from one of the pickups! The single jack versions do suffer from phase cancellation on the middle position when used with a Y cable - it doesn't seem to be the case on dual output guitars. So, is it any use? Early on in owning that guitar, I tried using the stereo thing, the bridge pickup being overdriven into a Fender and the neck much cleaner into a little Vox. I rather liked the effect but probably more through enjoying the novelty than any great tonal reward, and certainly sound engineers and anyone helping lug my gear around weren't quite so thrilled. My current bass player has a Rickenbacker with the same stereo outs, and we've experimented with that a bit more than on the 355. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doscazadores Posted February 16, 2013 Author Share Posted February 16, 2013 Thanks, all. Makes a little more sense now, and gratefully killed any idea I had about getting one if the opportunity arose. "Novelty," was all I needed to read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spitball Posted February 16, 2013 Share Posted February 16, 2013 Thanks, all. Makes a little more sense now, and gratefully killed any idea I had about getting one if the opportunity arose. "Novelty," was all I needed to read. I can't imagine that many people seek out the stereo feature now, or ever have. At least the new models, like what Jayyj described, have both options by default. I have no intention of using the stereo feature of my guitar...and with the mono jack, I'm good to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmyl51 Posted February 16, 2013 Share Posted February 16, 2013 I believe that one point that was left out in this discussion was placing us all back in say the late 1950's/early 1960's where the big rage was 'stereo' and everything else 'new' in that time period..............I have yet to meet a professional guitarist from that period that has suggested that 'stereo' on a guitar had any affect on his career........it was always what was in 'his hands' that made the difference..........jim soon to be back in Maine from Oklahoma City Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pin Posted February 17, 2013 Share Posted February 17, 2013 That said, the switch removes portions of the signal (certain quantity of decibels from certain frequency ranges) as you change it from 1 to 6. The result are varyingly more nasal/thinner tones as you go up the switch level. As I said, some hate the resulting tones...I absolutely DIG them. The voice of an ES-345 is different from that of an ES-335. A good example of recorded Varitone usage is that of Freddie King with his guitars in the 60s and 70s...especially his ES-345 used in the 60s. Check out his performance on "The Beat" on Youtube for an idea. Admittedly, it is a kind of "dated" sound, but to me it is uniquely cool. Well said spitball. I love the varitone too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spitball Posted February 17, 2013 Share Posted February 17, 2013 Pin, nice to know some other players like what they hear in the Varitone. When I say that I like the Varitone on Internet forums I feel like I am finally admitting to people that I dig the cross-eyed girl next door. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Versatile Posted February 17, 2013 Share Posted February 17, 2013 I like the Varitone... I like the cross-eyed girl next door (wealthy brain surgeon)... :blink: V Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L5Larry Posted February 18, 2013 Share Posted February 18, 2013 I've been playing a "mono" 345 for 13 years (played a 335 for twenty years before that), and do like the options the Varitone affords me, but the volume drop in the higher numbered settings make many unusable for switching on the fly in "live" settings. Other than #1 (bypass), the only other setting I use on stage is #3. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.