Varitones

[mr.mow]

I'm thinking of adding a varitone to my SG bass, does the Varitone replace the tone pot, or do you still run both tone AND varitione.. or one a little redundant?

[Crater]

According to the schematics I just looked up, you have both the standard tone controls AND the varitone circuit.

http://www.flatearthguitars.com/file..._Varitones.jpg

[SGD Lutherie]

Originally Posted by mr.mow

I'm thinking of adding a varitone to my SG bass, does the Varitone replace the tone pot, or do you still run both tone AND varitione.. or one a little redundant?

That depends on what you call a Varitone. A real Varitone is a midrange notch filter, and it uses an inductor. Gibson used these on the ES-345.

What some people call a Varitone is really a "decade" switch, and has a series of caps to cut the high end like a regular passive tone control, but at different frequencies. This is what the Tonestyler is.

Lastly some people refer to a rotary pickup selector as a varitone, such as the rotary switch on the original EB-3 bass.

So, if the Varitone you want has the midrange choke, then you would use that along side a regular tone control.

If it's a decade switch, it would replace your tone control, but you can also wire those up with a pot to adjust how much treble cut you get.

[mr.mow]

Originally Posted by SGD Lutherie

That depends on what you call a Varitone. A real Varitone is a midrange notch filter, and it uses an inductor. Gibson used these on the ES-345.

What some people call a Varitone is really a "decade" switch, and has a series of caps to cut the high end like a regular passive tone control, but at different frequencies. This is what the Tonestyler is.

Lastly some people refer to a rotary pickup selector as a varitone, such as the rotary switch on the original EB-3 bass.

So, if the Varitone you want has the midrange choke, then you would use that along side a regular tone control.

If it's a decade switch, it would replace your tone control, but you can also wire those up with a pot to adjust how much treble cut you get.

Oh.. I dunno.. whatever guys on the fleabay are selling..

[Fly Guitars]

The varitone on the EB3 was both pickup selector and tone choke, depending on the position - so you had a tone control aswell.

Are you planning on drilling extra holes, or do you intend to do this without modding the bass itself?

[SGD Lutherie]

Originally Posted by Fly Guitars

The varitone on the EB3 was both pickup selector and tone choke, depending on the position - so you had a tone control aswell.

Good point. I didn't want to confuse the issue with that one!

I'm guessing he's talking about a decade switch.

BTW, I've been a fan of your website for years now. Handy place to get info on Gibson basses.

[mr.mow]

Originally Posted by Fly Guitars

The varitone on the EB3 was both pickup selector and tone choke, depending on the position - so you had a tone control aswell.

Are you planning on drilling extra holes, or do you intend to do this without modding the bass itself?

Either/or really..
The control cavity in current SG basses is the standard guitar cavity, so there is room for a 3 way, 4 knobs AND an output jack.. though granted they do place one of the controls (2nd vol) between those places.. either way, its easy to move the output jack to where it normally sits on an SG (just below the tone) and shuffle things around.

So, does anyone make a 'period correct' choke/tone varitone thing rather than a preselected tone switch?

[dmaki]

Big D Guitars makes high quality varitones for guitar and bass:

http://bigdguitars.com/varitone.html

Better components, better construction, smaller footprint, and lower price than the Gibsons. I have the guitar version and it sounds great.

[mr.mow]

Originally Posted by dmaki

Big D Guitars makes high quality varitones for guitar and bass:

Big D Guitars - Varitone Specs

Better components, better construction, smaller footprint, and lower price than the Gibsons. I have the guitar version and it sounds great.

That was one of the ones I was looking at..
Can you guys tell me, are his 'proper' varitones (not just 5 way with various cap tone preselects)..

[dmaki]

Originally Posted by mr.mow

That was one of the ones I was looking at..
Can you guys tell me, are his 'proper' varitones (not just 5 way with various cap tone preselects)..

By "proper" I imagine you mean does he use an inductor? In which case, the answer is yes.

He uses a 6-way switch: 5 settings select a different cap with the inductor, the last is true bypass.

[Jeff Huber]

If you're talking about the varitone controllers sold on ebay I can vouch for them and the guy who makes and sells them (raw sound). I have one in my MIA J and my Squier Aff J, and they're wonderful alternatives to the OEM gear. They also don't require soldering, so they make for much easier pup replacement in the future.

He makes several varieties of the Jazz plate, and I believe he also makes a version for the P.

I'm transitioning to active with an Audere module, but I plan to hang on to my Rawsound veritones. They're a terrific product.

Jeff

[loopee]

are these Rawsound varitones similar to the Tonestyler?

[SGD Lutherie]

Originally Posted by loopee

are these Rawsound varitones similar to the Tonestyler?

Yes, but with less positions. I have one of those control plates here. The customer wanted the decade switch (which is what a ToneStyler is) removed and replaced with my 2-band preamp. The issue was that the Rawsound had two stacked volume/tones plus the decade switch, so it was kind of redundant.

But it's the same thing as a TonStyler; a bunch of caps and a rotary switch.

[loopee]

Hi David
That's what I thought....thanks....wondering if I should get one...I'd have to get the pedal though since I have 2 passive basses and I'm not too handy with changing the electronics myself though it seems easy enough but I'm not willing to mess up 2 custom basses (one of which has your pups in it)...do you think it's worth it? That's right, you have preamps now....hmmm

[SGD Lutherie]

Originally Posted by loopee

Hi David
That's what I thought....thanks....wondering if I should get one...I'd have to get the pedal though since I have 2 passive basses and I'm not too handy with changing the electronics myself though it seems easy enough but I'm not willing to mess up 2 custom basses (one of which has your pups in it)...do you think it's worth it? That's right, you have preamps now....hmmm

The Rawsound stuff has solderless connections for the pickups which is nice. It looks very well made.

I'm going to add varitones and decade switches to my website as soon as I get a chance...

[loopee]

I've googled Rawsound but can't find anything....so I'll be checking out your web site from time to time and see what you have that could work for me....

[SGD Lutherie]

Originally Posted by loopee

I've googled Rawsound but can't find anything....so I'll be checking out your web site from time to time and see what you have that could work for me....

They are on eBay.


rawsound2003 | eBay

[AltGrendel]

I have one of these in my Jag SS: CertainBass.com

Works as stated on the web page. I'm very happy with it. I'm sure if you contacted them and asked, they'd use two seperate vol pots instead of stacked. I think that'd work for an EB3-ish setup.

[loopee]

I clicked your link.....I don't have a Fender so I'd have to figure something else....also, there was no soundclip (they didn't work).....I really don't want to mess up my bass so looks like I don't have a choice but to get the pedal Tonestyler.....thanks

[SGD Lutherie]

Originally Posted by loopee

I clicked your link.....I don't have a Fender so I'd have to figure something else....also, there was no soundclip (they didn't work).....I really don't want to mess up my bass so looks like I don't have a choice but to get the pedal Tonestyler.....thanks

You have a PM. I'm adding varitones and decade switches, but I haven't put them on the site yet.