Gibson ES-345 vs ES-335: Is the Varitone Worth It?

Here is the short version, because I get asked this across the bench about once a week: an ES-345 is basically an ES-335 with three things bolted on — a Varitone switch, stereo wiring, and a fancier cosmetic package. The body, the neck, the semi-hollow construction with its solid maple center block, the scale length, the pickups: all essentially the same guitar. So whether the 345 is “worth it” comes down to whether you actually want the Varitone and the stereo trick, or just like how the thing looks. For most players, the honest answer is that you're paying for the looks.

Let me walk through what those extras really do, because the Varitone in particular is one of the most misunderstood circuits Gibson ever shipped.

What the ES-345 actually adds

Gibson launched the ES-345 in 1959, slotting it between the plain-Jane ES-335 and the top-shelf ES-355. From day one the 345's calling cards were the Varitone rotary switch and stereo output. Cosmetically it also got upgraded from dot inlays to pearloid split-parallelogram inlays and gold hardware in place of nickel. That's the package. Not a different guitar — a dressed-up one with a couple of extra circuits.

If you glance at a 345 and a 335 side by side, the giveaway is a fifth knob near the treble-side f-hole, usually with a numbered ring around it. That's the Varitone.

The Varitone: a passive tone filter, not a magic tone knob

People hear “six preset tones” and imagine a mini pickup-swap in a knob. It isn't that. The Varitone is a six-position rotary switch. Position 1 is a straight bypass — the signal passes through untouched, exactly like a 335. Positions 2 through 6 each pair a different capacitor with an inductor (a small coil, often called the choke) to form a notch filter. Each one scoops out a band of midrange, and as you rotate through the positions that notch moves around. So instead of a tone knob that just rolls off treble, you get a series of fixed midrange “scoops” at different frequencies.

In practice, the extreme positions get thin and nasal in a hurry — useful for a specific out-of-the-band cluck or a nasal blues voice, less useful for everyday rhythm and lead. Some players love position 2 or 3 for a slightly hollowed-out cocktail-jazz tone. Plenty of others rotate through it once, shrug, and leave it on 1 forever.

The catch nobody mentions in the sales copy

Because the original Varitone is a passive circuit built around an inductor, engaging any filtered position also drops your output. It's not a huge amount, but you can hear it: flip from position 1 to position 2 and the guitar gets a touch quieter and a little less lively. That volume and “tone suck” is the single most common complaint about the circuit, and it's real — it's physics, not a defect. This is exactly why so many vintage 345s you'll find on the used market have been modified: previous owners hard-wired the guitar to bypass the Varitone, or pulled it entirely and treated it as a 335. If you're chasing collector value, that matters; if you just want to play, a clean bypass mod is one of the more sensible things a former owner could have done.

Stereo wiring: a party trick almost nobody uses

The 345's other headline feature is stereo output. The neck and bridge pickups are wired to separate conductors on a stereo (TRS) jack, so with the right Y-cable you can send each pickup to its own amp. Gibson originally paired this with stereo amps of the era. It's a genuinely cool idea — neck pickup into a dark amp, bridge into a bright one — and it's genuinely impractical for most of us. It needs two amps and special cabling, and the moment you plug in a normal mono guitar cable, both pickups simply sum back to one output and the guitar behaves like any other semi-hollow. So the stereo feature costs you nothing in mono, but it also does nothing in mono. Treat it as a bonus you'll probably never use rather than a reason to buy.

Do the modern reissues even have a Varitone?

This trips people up, so check the specific guitar in front of you rather than trusting the model number. Over the years Gibson has gone back and forth: some ES-345 runs shipped with the Varitone and stereo wiring intact, and other production periods dropped the Varitone entirely, leaving you with essentially a 335 wearing gold hardware and split-parallelogram inlays. A modern “345” without the Varitone is a fine guitar, but it means the only thing separating it from a 335 is cosmetics. Before you pay a 345 premium, confirm whether the circuit is actually there — look for the numbered ring and the second (stereo) jack, or just ask.

So which should you buy used?

My take, after having plenty of both on the bench: buy the ES-335 unless you specifically want the Varitone's voices or you fall in love with a particular 345's looks. The 335 is the simpler, more universally loved instrument, it tends to be easier to resell, and you're not carrying a circuit you'll likely bypass. Go 345 if you've played one and genuinely like a notched-out position for jazz or funk rhythm, if the gold-and-parallelogram aesthetic speaks to you, or if you find a vintage example priced right.

When you're inspecting a used 345, add a few things to your usual semi-hollow checklist. Confirm the Varitone still functions and rotates cleanly through all six positions without crackle. Check whether the guitar has been rewired to mono or bypass — extremely common, and not a dealbreaker for a player, but it should be reflected in the price and disclosed. And weigh it against a comparable 335: if the 345 is asking a big premium purely for looks, that's your negotiating room. Everything else — neck angle, fret wear, binding, the center block, the usual Gibson headstock checks — is identical to buying any 335-family guitar.

If you want to compare real examples rather than spec sheets, it's worth watching what actually comes through a used shop. You can see what's currently on the bench in our guitars in stock — semi-hollows move in and out regularly, and playing a 335 and a 345 back to back tells you more than any article will.

FAQ

Is an ES-345 better than an ES-335?

Not better, just different. Same core guitar with a Varitone, stereo wiring, and dressier trim added. “Better” only if you actually use those extras.

What does the Varitone switch do?

It's a six-position passive filter. Position 1 is bypass; positions 2–6 notch out different bands of midrange for a series of fixed, progressively thinner tones. It also slightly lowers your output when engaged.

Why do so many used ES-345s have the Varitone bypassed?

Because the passive circuit saps a little volume and tone, and many players prefer the guitar to behave like a straight 335. A clean bypass or mono rewire is one of the most common mods you'll see, and it's reversible on most examples.

Do I need a special cable for a stereo ES-345?

No. A normal mono cable works fine and sums both pickups to one amp. You only need a stereo Y-cable if you actually want to run the two pickups into two separate amps.