Questions re: Epiphone Shinichi Ubukata ES-355 Custom

lex666

lex666

New member
I’m very interested in learning more about the Epiphone Shinichi Ubakata ES335.

https://www.zzounds.com/item--EPIIGES355CSU?siid=337959

I’d like to know how reliable is the tremolo/vibrato system on this guitar. I’ve heard that Bigsby type tremolo’s are only good for slight bends otherwise it goes out of tune. I haven’t had any experience with Bigsby’s… is this true?

Also, the Varitone switch. Will this provide any single coil or acoustic sound? What benefits can I expect from the Varitone?

Thanks!
 
Bigsby vibratos are for ...wait for it... vibrato, not dive bombs. So set expectations accordingly. I haven't had real tuning problems with all my Bigsby's, but I've gotten used to them. There are also various adapters that can make them more tuning reliable.

Varitone is a tone switch, not a coil tap. So it's not going to give you single coil or acoustic sounds. It sets a specific peak to the tone, like having a parametric EQ with 4-5 presets to accentuate a particular frequency. It's not as severe as a cocked-wah pedal, but it's very similar since it uses an LRC circuit with an inductor.
 
I used to have a Gibson 345 with a Varitone. I really liked it even though I only used 2 or maybe 3 of the settings. But like beau said, it doesn't do split or parallel.
 
I also liked the Bigsby on my 345. It does a really good natural sounding mild vibrato. I've never been into extreme vibrato or dive bombs so it was fine for me.
 
I love Bigsbys and have several guitars with one. But you need to set up the guitar for success if you plan to use it. That being said there will still be places a string can bind up and end up out of tune. I have used roller bridges and graph tek saddles and carefully filed the nuts for the least chance of binding up and use graphite in the nut slots. But if I wail on them they can still go out of tune. With slight vibrato I have “0” issues. They will never be a Floyd with a locking nut. I also really like the gentle and musical action of the bigs a lot.
 
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