Do veritone switches actually work?

[40Hz]

My experience with varitones on a bass is that maybe two settings end up being useful and the rest never get used. So a varitone basically ended up being nothing I couldn’t accomplish with a push-pull pot and two different capacitor values.

I’m a big fan of passive basses. I actually prefer them most times. Still, much as it pains me to say it, if you’re looking for a getting lot of tonal variation from a single bass then it’s probably better to go with an onboard preamp that has a sweepable midrange. Something like an inexpensive Audere preamp will provide more tonal variety than a complex passive tonestack ever will. Passive circuits tend to provide subtle variations. If you want something more dramatic, then active is the better way to go.

 

[GWGuitar]

In my experience yes and no. I had a Ripper and a Warlock that each came with a varitone knob. It definitely changed the sound of the bass, but really only one setting was usable (to me). There were a few settings that sounded hollow, thinner, or thicker for sure but only one sounded good for the type of music I was playing.

Yah, I played a Ripper back in the Seventies. A friend back then also had a Les Paul Recording bass. It had a varitone, too. You can get a lot of sounds out of a varitone. The problem is that not all the sounds are useable in the role of a bass. I found a P-bass with only one sound was far more useful.

 

[MVE]

My Fretless J has stack knobs with separate varitones on each tone knob, plus a series switch.
The whole contraption probably weighs over a pound. Since its a chambered Warmoth body, I think it probably does more to counteract neck dive than for tone.
Tone wise, the different capacitors change the range of the tone knobs more than the tone.
I have thought about removing the whole thing and just going for a VTB, but I drilled a side jack and it balances pretty well with it, so I haven’t bothered.
The series switch is definitely more useful and I use that when I want a thumpier tone.

 

[DanDBassist]

My 1971 Gibson EB3 had a 5 position (I think) black knob. I remember looking at the workings and saw one of the components was what I believe to be an inductor (choke?). Two positions for me, one for use with a pick and the other for fingers. I think that the choke is used to remove some of the bassiness of that big old neck pickup.

 

[Rolling Thunder]

The varitone 3 position switch on the Epiphone Jack Casady signature bass definitely affects the sound by changing the impedance from 50 to 250 to 500 ohms.

Not sure you could pick this up separately though or if it would even work with a Fender.

I find it to have a powerful effect on the JC pickup. Love it!

 

[fermata]

 

[NoiseNinja]

That homemade one sounded awesome and like it had a lot of useful positions, even before he soldered on the resistors to tame the resonance peaks I actually liked how some of the positions sounded.

The Stellartone in the other video not so much for me.

I'd imagine making a passive external box with a resistor pot to vary the resistance and then a multi position switch with different capacitors would offer awesome possibilities for passive tone shaping.

 

[fermata]

I'd imagine making a passive external box with a resistor pot to vary the resistance and then a multi position switch with different capacitors would offer awesome possibilities for passive tone shaping.

Another possibility would be the switch with different capacitors plus a switch with a fixed resistor (maybe 8-12K) that could be engaged to flatten the resonant peak or disengaged to allow the peak.

 

[packhowitzer]

The original BC Rich basses (Mockingbird & Eagle) had a varitone as part of their electronics package.
I have an original Stellartone Micro Pedal with 16 positions. It was designed for passive basses as well. To be honest, most of the positions don't work for me, but there are a couple that do work out. I find it works best on my P. It is fun to play around with!

I'm sure the new ones have distilled the optimum configurations of tonal variety. They may be just the ticket for you.View attachment 4465674

I have a stellartone on my Jazz and really like it. Like you, I find that not all of the positions are usable, but a few of them are better to my ears than just the standard tone pot. I have the one with 16 positions as well, but mine is the one without the notched detentes. Interestingly enough, as I sweep the knob, I can still hear the 16 steps cycling, but there is not a physical stop at each position.

overall I've been really pleased with it though.

 

[brianrost]

Do they work? On a passive pickup, yes, absolutely. Will you like and use all of the available settings? Probably not.

This. I had a B.C. Rich Eagle and found only two positions that sounded good. One was "off"

 

[Fresh Eddie]

I don't know about the Warlock, but the Ripper switch is a pickup selector (different combinations of series/parellel, phase, and pickups), so not at all like either a Gibson Vari-Tone or the Tone Styler which are controls independent of the pickup switching.

It has been so long since I owned it... I think I left it on "3" for a nice growly sound but I remember "1" was a nice deep full tone that would have been nice for reggae or old school sounds.

 

[Fresh Eddie]

Yah, I played a Ripper back in the Seventies. A friend back then also had a Les Paul Recording bass. It had a varitone, too. You can get a lot of sounds out of a varitone. The problem is that not all the sounds are useable in the role of a bass. I found a P-bass with only one sound was far more useful.

What I like about P-Basses is that they are very responsive to how hard I play, if I play harder it sounds more aggressive, if I play with a lighter touch, it warms up quite a bit.

 

[woodyng2]

I had a Guitar Fuel passive tone enhancer (pte) 6 position rotary switch, as part of a new Tonemonster wiring harness, installed on a Peavey Palaedium. With the palaedium having 2 pickups in a very widely spread layout, I found the rotary switch really gave a great variety of tonal options. Much moreso than with just the original passive treble pot.