• Guys, we've spent considerable money converting the Les Paul Forum to this new XenForo platform, and we have ongoing monthly operating expenses. THE "DONATIONS" TAB IS NOW WORKING, AND WE WOULD APPRECIATE ANY DONATIONS YOU CAN MAKE TO KEEP THE LES PAUL FORUM GOING! Thank you!

true bypassed mono varitone ...

strat71

Member
Joined
Jul 7, 2006
Messages
79
Hi,
i experimented recently in my '67 ES345 the varitone "loss of treble" described by J45 in a previous post...

i did my home work and concluded the loss of treble is caused by two things:
  • shunting the stereo output to build a mono output put the two volume pots in parallel thus giving a 250K instead of the 500K load...
  • a part of the varitone remains connected even in the so called "bypass position" i.e. position1...

so as my varitone only work on the bridge position, i decided to sacrify a half of the varitone and copie the mono varitone schematic and using the second half of the switch to disconnect the choke in the position 1... thus there won't be no varitone load and no paralleling of the pots...
here's the resulting schematic... mono schematic keeping the varitone fonctionnable but with a true bypass position...

http://storage.canalblog.com/70/58/274546/17141044.gif

ok, my 345 has been refinished recently so it's not a a very collectable guitar, hope it won't shock anyone here that i try to get the better of my guitar...

Ben
 

Mr. 355

New member
Joined
Jan 21, 2004
Messages
154
Interesting Ben. Am I correct in gathering that the modded varitone only works on the bridge PU or does it work in all positions.
 

keef

Active member
Joined
Jan 27, 2002
Messages
5,006
Cool - but what happened with the '60 burst you were working on that had termite holes in it........??
 

strat71

Member
Joined
Jul 7, 2006
Messages
79
Hi,

Mr 355, with this schematic the varitone work on both pickups, in fact it's a 335 schematic and at the output you find the varitone, so it works in all positions...

Keef, i'm very impressed by your memory.. i did this post on the termited burst months ago, but at the time i loose my login so i didn't follow the end of the post...
this burst doesn't belong to me (painfully), it's a friend guitar, and he doesn't want to sell it... it remains under his bed and rarely touch it... at the time he wanted me to look at his pots which weren't working very good, so i removed all the harness, keep it at home in a box and put a complete new harness... this way he got a working burst...
unfortunatly the pickups arent' originals...

a few years ago a guy came here and changed the pickups in all the old gibson he can touch... so now it's very rare to find original pickup in old gibson here... one day i saw an all original black '60 ES355 mono (the same as Keef Richard one..) with its pickups... but it was the only time...

for the termite hole we did'nt touch anything, as there's no good craftmen here and take it on the plane is taking too much risks..

i try to always keep an eye on this guitar so that nothing devaluable can occurs to it...

Ben
 

keef

Active member
Joined
Jan 27, 2002
Messages
5,006
OK - but I will your friend allow photos of his burst to be posted here..??

BTW old pots can often be repaired...you would be surprised about the prices of these vintage harnesses.

Termites and PAF robbers - maybe you should emigrate.
 

strat71

Member
Joined
Jul 7, 2006
Messages
79
i know the price of the harness and all vintage stuffs... that's why i disconnected everything and store it in a box...
i'll ask my friend to post photos...
about immigrating, i'm not sure, i'm so happy here, lot of vintage stuffs but often in a bad shape... that's why i repair/save so much things...
Cheers
Ben
 

keef

Active member
Joined
Jan 27, 2002
Messages
5,006
Make sure to post those photos here - I am sure many members would love to see those!
 

strat71

Member
Joined
Jul 7, 2006
Messages
79
Oooops...

Oooops this afternoon, i was beginning my transformation project and noticed some mistakes in my previous schematic..
here's the one corrected... it's just about the wiring of the volumes and tone... no big deal...

http://storage.canalblog.com/65/48/274546/17279181.gif

Keef sure i would post photos here if the original owners give me the autorisation...

Ben
 

strat71

Member
Joined
Jul 7, 2006
Messages
79
Done ... Sound GREAT!!!!!

Hi,
this week end i finished my modification project...

i removed all the harness, unsoldered everything except one half of the varitone (the other "cap" has been saved with all the harness wires to be able to reinstall every thing in the original state if needed...)

i soldered a new harness, it's easier and looks better than the original harness... thus mounting everything in the guitar was easier...

i used three wires to pull the output jack and the two tone pots in their respective holes...
before that i attached some little wires to the rest of the components (two vol, pickup switch and varitone switch...) to be able to catch and pull those components through the holes...

finally, everything is in place and i have tested the sound...
one word WOOOWWW!!!!

in the first position, you have a 335 sound... very clear without the muddiness of the stereo wiring... the varitone is true bypassed...

i let the pickups out of phase so that i can play some blues lick ala BBKing or Freddy King...

and in the 2,3,4,5,6 positions of the varitone you have this typical varitone sound... but clearer... very nice...

in conclusion, my schematic works great... i'm very pleased to have found a solution to the stereo / varitone problematic...
my 345 is very usable now...

you should try if you got a non original 345 / 355 or if you don't care to modify it... and please don't do it to collectors items...

Ben
 
Top