Any love for the ES345 with varitone?
- Thread starter giovanni
- Start date
SillyOctpuss
Well-known member
I've always wanted a 345 with nickel hardware but purely for really shallow reasons. Split parallelogram inlays are sub zero cool.
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t1redhands
Active member
I have a varitone of sorts in a Gretsch and I like it a lot. I don't have an inductor or transformer on mine, though. 6 different capacitor positions for increasingly dark tone, a bypass position, and a high pass position. The high pass is really worthwhile, in my opinion. On filter'trons it's really easy to get a sizzling AC/DC tone.
Smrtokvitek
Well-known member
vigilante398
Authorized Vendor
Story time!
When I worked as a guitar tech during college an older lady brought in a beat-up case and said it was her husband's guitar. He used to play professionally in the 60s but hasn't played in decades so the guitar sat in a closet or under a bed for years. She wanted to get it fixed up for him as a Christmas present that year and asked if I could take a look.
It was a 1962 ES-345.
The finish was checked as you would expect of a guitar that old, and the whites had yellowed to that classic creamy color. The tuners were rusted, the pots were dirty, and the wiring was falling apart. But DAMN those pickups sounded amazing. I told the owner of the store about it, and he told me basically to charge her cost, it was a cool story and he didn't want to make money on it. It was about $100 in parts and a week of labor, but we got it done before Christmas.
The store owner asked me to follow up with her after Christmas, and she said they had their kids and grandkids over for Christmas, and when everyone was gathered she brought the guitar out and her husband immediately cried. I would have loved to have gotten it on camera, but as just some guy that works in a store that obviously would have been a weird thing to ask her to do.
Anyway. That was quite possibly the best sounding guitar I have ever heard in my life. The tonal possibilities with the varitone were awesome, and the slim 60s neck is the best for my little hands. Killer guitar.
When I worked as a guitar tech during college an older lady brought in a beat-up case and said it was her husband's guitar. He used to play professionally in the 60s but hasn't played in decades so the guitar sat in a closet or under a bed for years. She wanted to get it fixed up for him as a Christmas present that year and asked if I could take a look.
It was a 1962 ES-345.
The finish was checked as you would expect of a guitar that old, and the whites had yellowed to that classic creamy color. The tuners were rusted, the pots were dirty, and the wiring was falling apart. But DAMN those pickups sounded amazing. I told the owner of the store about it, and he told me basically to charge her cost, it was a cool story and he didn't want to make money on it. It was about $100 in parts and a week of labor, but we got it done before Christmas.
The store owner asked me to follow up with her after Christmas, and she said they had their kids and grandkids over for Christmas, and when everyone was gathered she brought the guitar out and her husband immediately cried. I would have loved to have gotten it on camera, but as just some guy that works in a store that obviously would have been a weird thing to ask her to do.
Anyway. That was quite possibly the best sounding guitar I have ever heard in my life. The tonal possibilities with the varitone were awesome, and the slim 60s neck is the best for my little hands. Killer guitar.
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Feral Feline
Well-known member
A friend just picked up a Tint Tone Varitone, and initial impressions are quite good.
