Bardens Vs. Other Dual/Stacked P/Ups

[brodus24]

I have a couple teles that I love--on a thinline reissue with humbuckers and the other is a (eek) replica by another company...with out going into detail and gathering flames here, I'l say that I REALLY like the tone of my stock p/ups, but have thought about puttin gin Bardens. Here's my Question:

Is there a noticable difference btwn the Bardens and other dual blade p/ups? What about SD 'lil '59 for Tele? Does anyone ever split the Barden?

THANKS!

[Aaron Schiff]

If you like what you have, maybe you should keep them. Having said that, Bardens tend to be a "love them or hate them" item. I've only played a few teles with Bardens and the only one I liked at all was a Zion Ninety Thinline. It is fantastic looking and the tone is superb, very clean but full and mellow at the same time. If I had a spare three grand, it would be sitting in my living room right now.

[brodus24]

Yeah, I know I should probably stick with what I have. A little concerned about noise, though.

I saw a great deal on a Barden Danny Gatton Neck, so I decided to jumped on it. These pickups definitely hold their value, so even if I don't dig it, someone else will!

I guess I am wondering how much difference there is btwn. a SD Cool Rails and a Barden.

--Jesse

[Tele295]

There's a huge difference between the Bardens and the Cool Rails. Bardens have more clarity, attack, and output than the CR.

[maxvintage]

I've tried the cool rails and hot rails, and to me they sounded like humbuckers, while the bardens retained the charater of single coils. The duncan rails seemed like they were for guys who wanted humbukers without routing. They were fine, but not to my taste. the bardens are more for people who want single coil sound and feel and a wide, sensitive range of response to pick attack and tone variation.

I will say the Bardens are not "voived" to sound like any other pickup. fender texas special strat pickups, for example, were voiced to sound like Stevie Ray. The idea was plu 'em in and you sound "like" something else. Not arguing against this, but the Barden's are transparent--they don't sond "like" any other specific sound. Some players love that--it's like blank canvas. I like the barden in my tele a lot, but it does not give me "___'s sound."

[Drak]

I love them.

I just re-installed a pair in my Tele after having them out for about a year...there's no place like home.

I had a HD S-90/bridge and the factory stock neck (no slouch) in it, but what a difference a Barden makes. And two?

Fuggedaboudit! Back in Tone Nirvanaland again.

[eggman]

Howdy,

Bardens were in teh running for my USACG Mahogany Tele, but very mixed reviews and thier price combined to scare me away. Instead i went with diMarzioo Twang Kings and like 'em.
The Idea of those trebly Bardens mounted onto my Mahogany Tele is still intriguing..somehow I just can't see shrillness being an issue on my Mahogany Tele; might be alot of fun.
I wanted to keep this thread alive, because Bardens pique my interest. Keep those posts (good and bad) coming about Bardens.

Respectfully,
Eggman

[bukowski]

I've been using the barden neck for ten years in my 68 tele its great for quiet restraunt type gigs nice and quiet and roll the tone knob and get a very nice mellow jazz tone ,at loud volumes it can sound straty and sound very fat in a blues rock setting I have no experience with the bridge barden ,I use an sd antiquity for a more traditional tele tone (hamel on the way)I've tried a few different neck pickups over the years and I always come back to the barden

[Admin]

I guess I must like the Bardens – I put THREE of 'em in my Nocaster Relic. ;-)

Ditto to what several folks have said, especially maxvintage's comments about the Bardens having the character of single coils and being very transparent. I've had occasion to transfer the same set of Joe Barden pickups from one Telecaster to another several times, and they always sounded noticeably different – a good indication to me that they were faithfully reproducing the sound of the guitar without undue coloration. Contrasting them with other pickups, I've used the analogy of a high-end studio mic like a Neumann U 87 compared with a "stage" mic like a Shure SM58; they're both good at what they do, but one provides a lot more detail and definition.

Full Disclosure Dept: I'm lucky enough to call JB a good friend. But I'd like the pickups even if I'd never met the man. They're my favorite pickups by far. :-) CS

[Bruce Kiely]

I found the Bardens to be very quiet and articulate, and extremely well made! I liked the Barden neck pickup a lot. Didn't really care for the bridge. Great pickup, but just not the right sound for me.

I also didn't care for the Duncan Little '59. To my ears (and with my rig), it had a pronounced mid hump.

One dual blade humbucker that I liked a lot was the Kent Armstrong. Nice, strong pickup with a useable clean sound. It reminded me of a Gibson '57 Classic humbucker, actually.

Just my 2 cents ...... YMMV .....

:-)

Cheers,
BK

[MandyMarie]

My husband & I have a mostly original '51 Tele and we swapped it's original pickups (which are nicely sitting in Joe Barden boxes in a drawer right now away safe) for Joe's...since adding the Bardens that guitar is my number one Tele and it's how I make my livin' :D
Joe's pickups may not be for everybody, but when you like them, you love 'em - nothing else even comes close - they react like no other pickup on the planet. When you play soft, they're sweet, gentle and smooth...but when you really dig in they're just MONSTERS. I can only speak for me personally, of course, but I'm so used to the way Barden's react that I'm almost a little lost using a Tele that doesn't have them - I have a friends '59 Tele at the house right now (slabboard! I'm so sad because I have to send it back this week...) and it sounds amazing...but it just doesn't do what I want it to do. You get so used to the way Joe's pickups react, especially with pick and fingers, that anything else just will not work the way you want it to. Barden's are so dynamic.

Any other Barden lover will know exactly what I'm meaning.

Sorry I'm so chatty, I just got a new old amp, I can't sleep and I've been playing guitar all night.



I love 'em... :D

[tweedtone]

Got 'em in three different Tele variants that I gig with regularly, playing everything from rock 'n' roll to blues/jazz to surf, plugged into various Fender combos.

One thing I love is that every note everywhere on the fingerboard seems much more balanced than with other pups I've used. Tremendous range of sensitivity and a wealth of tones just from your pick attack. I've sat in with lotsa of folks on their (sometimes not-so-nifty) rigs and the Bardens give me the confidence that I get a serviceable tone no matter what.

[Twangmeister]

We did an amp/Tele shootout the other night, and all agreed that the Bardens in my CS Tele were very touch sensitive, balanced, and "three dimensional." They will certainly bring out all of the beauty (and flaws) in your guitar and picking style, but worth the effort in my very humble opinion. Give 'em a spin if you can afford them at the current price.

[Roel from Holland]

Just go to http://www.pair-a-dice.nl/mp3.htm and listen to the clips. Let me know on which tracks the guitar sounds the best and I'll let you know if you will like Bardens 8)

[bo]

I think most has already been said. Bardens sound like a quiet Tele pickup on steroids. They're very sensitive to height adjustments and it helps to have a good tone pot. They are extremely clear sounding. I also have some Hotrails in another guitar. They sound pretty much like a regular humbucker. Maybe a little brighter as they aren't as wide, but with noticeably less clarity. Certainly nothing like a Barden. I like both for different things.

[UBC]

I have had a set of Bardens in my Warmoth Tele a few years back. I will have to say that, played clean, they are excellent. All the things that everyone have said so far is true. However, they are IMO not really made to be played overdriven. I use the Menatone Blue Collar pedal and I felt that I had to fight the guitar to get a half-decent rock tone. I think due to their dynamics and 'hi-fidelity', the pickups are really resisting being overdriven. So depending on the material you play, they could be the best or the worst. I have since changed to a set of Kinman Broadcasters. They sound very similar to the set of Fender 52RI pups that I have in another 52RI partscaster I have and they are totally quiet.

[Gino]

Here's another Barden-fan from ol' Germany.
I bought a terribly beat-up '94 AmSt tele in 1996 from a guy in a punk band and after cleaning, reparing and setting up I didn't like the stock pups. Having read about the bardens [you couldn't play them nowhere over here!] I blind-ordered them and have been in love with them ever since. From clean to chrunch to crazy overdriven - they do it all! I think what is true about sensitivity in your plying also relates to bardens and amps. With my setup [Mesa Boogie Maverick 2x12 and Mesa Boogie V-Twin floor pedal] they sound fantastic over the entire range of tube saturation.
So: if you can get your hands on them [Joe Barden is supposedly out of business] - I almost say for ANY price - get them!
Peter