Joe Barden's - does anyone NOT like them?

[Bobbofallenstar]

That's my question - just a simple, anyone out there try them and not like them?

Oh, and what were you playing through and trying to get out of them?

I'm thinking of getting a set and I'm tight on cash and want to be sure.

thanks!

[Bobbofallenstar]

So there's a statement - No one replied saying they didn't like them!

[sanhozay]

I had a set in my Tele for about five months and - hated the bridge and liked the neck. Just a bit too much heat and horsepower for me.

[Dana Olsen]

I don't like 'em much - too bright for me. I DID like the original single blade Bardens, but Joe stopped making them years ago. Ten years ago at NAMM I personally asked Joe Barden if he'd consider making the old style single blades again.

"No", he said. "The new design is much better".

"A lot of guys still like 'em, though, and prefer 'em", I said.

"They're wrong", said Joe.

Dana O.

[testing1two]

I had a set in my Tele for about five months and - hated the bridge and liked the neck. Just a bit too much heat and horsepower for me.

I tend to agree. The Barden sound is a great sound, but IMHO it doesn't have the same compression or top end sweetness of a hand wound single coil.

Since you're in So Cal, a great person to talk to is Don Mare: www.buckcannon.com (http://www.buckcannon.com). Fantastic pickups and Don is frequent poster here...he really knows his sh$t.

[GuitarsFromMars]

in order to take full advantage of what they offer,you really need to be,or be striving to be an extremely clean player.otherwise,it could be a very fruitless venture.ymmv.

[AndrewSimon]

I have them in a Strat.
I made them work.
It took me a while but now I'm very happy with it.
I went to Ash body with rosewood neck, I lowered the Neck and Mid pups a lot (5/32" -ish) and I'm using 500K tone pots with a "no-load" switch.

Bardens have huge dynamics, super wide Hi-Fi style sound, less string pull or something, not sure why buy with the Bardens installed the guitar sustains forever.
Anyway.... they are DIFFERENT!
Some will not like it, some can't live without it.

:confused:

[mark norwine]

I like them.

One cavaet: If you're a great player, everyone will know it. If you suck, everyone will know it. Barden's "tell all"...

[Dave Orban]

I don't... too sterile sounding, to me. I don't like Lollar stock P90s, for the same reason.

[mark norwine]

:rolleyes: Do we agree on anything?

Why are we friends?

[Dave Orban]

Who said anything about...

Oh, never mind... :jo





































LOL!

[jawjatek]

Had the strat set awhile but sold them in favor of some Fralins. Too clean and strong for me (blues player), and I got very little traditional strat sounds out of them.

OTOH, I have a tele with a Barden bridge and old Gibson neck. I love the tone and get a lot of cool sounds with this combo. YMMV
This tele:
http://bellsouthpwp.net/l/o/loftusj/blues/t1.JPG

[hangten]

i've got some in a mustang that i enjoyed for a while, but am going to pull out and sell...

loved hearing them in danny gatton's guitar, liked 'em in mine for awhile, but for me harmonic design's vintage+ tele pickups are the way to go. power and clarity!

sorry, but the only way to be sure is to try some in your git-tar...

[shallbe]

I can't stand them.

I had a set in a custom Tele for a while. Too bright, harsh, sterile and clacky for me.

This past weekend, I had to sit in for another guitar player on a gig that was not feeling well. I had to use his G&L with three Bardens. It almost took my head off whenever I would pop a string claw-style. Nothing sweet about them, IMO. I NEVER made it to the bridge pickup.

Years ago, I talked to Joe about the early pickups like Dana. He said no dice. So I mentioned my issues with his currentr pickups, and he said they would make me play better, and it sounds like since I was struggling, it was working. I have been playing paying gigs since before he wound his first pickup.

Seriously, it did not bother me when he went under.

[Dana Olsen]

I can't stand them.

I had a set in a custom Tele for a while. Too bright, harsh, sterile and clacky for me.

This past weekend, I had to sit in for another guitar player on a gig that was not feeling well. I had to use his G&L with three Bardens. It almost took my head off whenever I would pop a string claw-style. Nothing sweet about them, IMO. I NEVER made it to the bridge pickup.

Years ago, I talked to Joe about the early pickups like Dana. He said no dice. So I mentioned my issues with his currentr pickups, and he said they would make me play better, and it sounds like since I was struggling, it was working. I have been playing paying gigs since before he wound his first pickup.

Seriously, it did not bother me when he went under.Yeah Steve - Joe can be kind of a 'tough hang' some days (GRIN).

One day I emailed Joe about Tele bridges - this was just before he started making his own brand of Tele bridge - to ask his opinion on the thickness of the metal Fender used and the plating and their effects on the tone of a Tele. It was a simple, short email asking for a short response on the subject. I thanked him in advance and wrote that a simple and short response was what I was after so as not to waste his time.

Joe's response to me was that I oughtta practice more, that that's what would help my tone more. Pretty prickly response to a professional guitar player inquiring abouit vintage Tele tone and how the bridge contributes to it. I guess Joe was fairly unimpressed with my pedigree and chops, and he was quick to let me know. I don't think he'd ever heard me play.

Ya gotta love it, Dana O.

[reentune]

I have three sets: The singles, the humbuckers, and the Two/Tones.

Get the Two/Tones. They do everything for me.

Absolutely love them.

[phatsolid]

I hated the Barden Tele pups with 500 K pots... WAAAAY too bright. They were better with 250K pots, but a totally different bag than a vintage Tele tone.

Gatton was a very interesting player but I never liked his tone on a Telecaster.

[mark norwine]

Get the Two/Tones. They do everything for me.

I've been so tempted for so long.....but every time I get a few bucks in hand, something else tempts me more...

[shally]

honestly, i dont think they have what i would classify as a "traditional" sound..
maybe ?? just too much horsepower ?

i like the fralins, or some of dave stephens vintage efforts better..
maybe i am just weak and need a weak pickup output ?? lol

i had heard that kinmans were really good, but dont have any experience with them personally.
i did have a strat with van zandts in it that was great (tell me why i sold it ???) but they made a lot of models so i couldnt tell you which one

[jetlag]

I have an older set of tele pickups - ones that predate his shutting down and predate the "tweak" or second version. They are really nice pickups and I particularly liked the front pickup. I wouldn't say they sound traditional at all, just are clean, noiseless pickups with a nice, full sound. Good output. I kinda missed the warts and lumps and bumps, the grease of good alnico rod pickups so I went back to that. But the bardens are really nice.

[bickertfan]

I used bardens in my nitefly for a long while. They sound unique, when I first heard them I kinda of thought wow. My ears did tire of them though. In the end they sounded sterile and klanky.