My 48 year old has got some kick back (ES-345 content)

Reinhard

My 345 is finally assembled and working ?

Rick Norman (Dr Vintage) did an incredible job to salvage the neck pup. And I am so thankful for it, this pickup sounds incredible. As I removed the varitone, I installed a dummy pot for the varitone knob, to keep the look authentic. I installed a standard ES-335 type harness, which is a bit of a mission, but the way Rick makes them really makes installation a lot easier.
I have a lightweight gold tailpiece I still need to install, and once I have played it a bit, it's off to Foster for a setup.

Tonewise, the guitar sounds fantastic. The bridge pup can get very nasty if you want. The 345 seems to be a bit more resonant than my 335, I think it may be from the extra wood routed for the varitone. The enlarged bridge cavity also made the harness installation easier. Overall I am very happy.
Below is a pic of the prewired harness:

vic

Lovely Reinhard ! Congrats on a great guitar ! It was all worth it hey ! :goodtimes:

aubs1

Congratulations Reinhard another one in the bag, looks awesome ....... :applause:

Keira-WitherKay

I'm unashamed to be so so so jealous of you for having that guitar ? awesome i'm 48 in feb and always wanted a guitar made in same year i was born and a gibson semi would so rock my boat ?

costafonix

beautiful... ?

Reinhard

Vic wrote
Lovely Reinhard ! Congrats on a great guitar ! It was all worth it hey ! :goodtimes:

Very satisfying indeed 8)

Keira I think the neck pup tone on this one would put a big smile on your face.

Thanks Aubs, Costafonix ?

AlanRatcliffe

Now that has character. Looks absolutely stunning.

That harness is well-made - the old way too. Nice attention to detail.

P.S. Am I the only one finding myself trying to identify the pedals on the board in the background (fairly successfully too)? ?

Reinhard

Alan Ratcliffe wrote Now that has character. Looks absolutely stunning.

That harness is well-made - the old way too. Nice attention to detail.

P.S. Am I the only one finding myself trying to identify the pedals on the board in the background (fairly successfully too)? ?

Lol@ the pedals. Lemme know if are having trouble identifying any.
I'll take some more pics sometime, the finish is played off the neck, but the body in general is in good shape. Has a little figure on the back which is cool.

vic

Oh I forgot to mention..... that real aged binding and tuners look awesome.

nick

Have you considered a Tokai?

makepeace

madness.. do you intend on getting the varitone working?

nick

makepeace wrote madness.. do you intend on getting the varitone working?

Circuit was removed and a 335 circuit installed so its merely there for show.

Reinhard

nick wrote Have you considered a Tokai?

LOL

makepeace wrote madness.. do you intend on getting the varitone working?

No I don't, the varitone needs a stereo cable and many feel it sucks tone, so I plan to keep it wired like this.

makepeace

nick wrote
makepeace wrote madness.. do you intend on getting the varitone working?
Circuit was removed and a 335 circuit installed so its merely there for show.

Yeah I got that, which was why I asked ?

Reinhard wrote
makepeace wrote madness.. do you intend on getting the varitone working?
No I don't, the varitone needs a stereo cable and many feel it sucks tone, so I plan to keep it wired like this.

Ah really? I thought that was kinda what made the 345's what they were? Oh, and stereo could be fun :-[ , but I guess you could just use a Y for all of that. Anyway, super awesome.

Reinhard

If I want to run it into 2 amps I can use my radial bigshot ? But I get where you are coming from, for me it's just a 335 with funky inlays ?

makepeace

Reinhard wrote If I want to run it into 2 amps I can use my radial bigshot ? But I get where you are coming from, for me it's just a 335 with funky inlays ?

well as is said: i can dig it ?

nice one

singemonkey

Congrats on having her up and running man. And all pickups working again. She's a total beaut. You collection is getting mighty impressive. Hope we hear these things live sometime soon.

kapepper

Congrats on that one
Well done!

Nicholas-L

? woweeee Its so pretty ?

Congrats man.

Reinhard

Nicholas L wrote ? woweeee Its so pretty ?

Congrats man.

Thanks man. Was playing it this afternoon, it' a keeper. ?