Joe Barden Tele pickups

TimmyO

Anyone used Joe Barden Tele pickups ? 

I'm doing a build and not sure whether to go for these (err, just because, and the noise cancelling would be cool) or a set of basic Lolars  (because I recall they were great and versatile in the Warmoth Tele I had) 

In fact, if you were putting pickups in a Tele, not with the aim of playing both kinds of music (Country AND Western) but as a versatile (funk, blues, classic rock) guitar, what would you be thinking? 

ta 

simonk

I've just stuck one of Oil City's excellent tapped bridge p'ups along with a custom wound Crash Magnetics neck into one of my Teles and couldn't be happier with the results. I was aiming for versatile and would say I've nailed it. I've been down the noiseless route and would say don't get hung up on it.

Lew

Yep they are good fun. BKP have just released the Cobra Tele pickups too. I'd like to give those a go.

Richardj

The Bardens are lovely, but very pricey. I have been through a *lot* of Tele pickups and, genuinely, the best I have found so far is the Oil City Californian neck and Forty Niner bridge. Really. Dynamic, pokey, defined, they have it all. Honestly, talk to Ash.

TimmyO

Yes another set of Oil City is an option.

stickyfiddle

I had a set in my black paisley for a bit. Really nice, maybe a little shrill if you're used to meatier sounding things and play into a Twin, but I like a lot of top end so I loved them. The noiseless-ness was really nice for gigging. 

I only swapped them when I got a set of BKP Bosses in the other Tele, which were just so meaty and juicy and all the other daft "tone words" that the Bardens felt a bit weedy.

BigLicks67

This is video might give some food for thought (bit of funk, country and rock in there)

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EdGrip

I've got a Wilde L48TL in my guitar at the moment. It's rather nice. I prefer it to all the bridge pickups so far (Tonerider hot classic, one of Mojo marc's Broadcaster pickups, and a Bareknuckle Yardbird) none of which sounded as Tele as I had in mind - this one does, frequency-wise, although the attack is maybe not quite as gunshot-spanky as a true Tele SC. 

At the same time as I bought the L48TL, I bought an L200TL to experiment with - it's their take on a more classic Tele sound, with alnico rod magnets instead of rails, but still noise-cancelling. I haven't got round to putting it in to try yet. In fact, you can borrow it if you like. 

rpr

Thought about bardens myself. think Hotrox are the only UK dealer and they dont have the modern t (warmer ,more mids less toppy) in stock- Buying from US would prove expensive with taxes and such

Worth having a look at Wilde pickups made by Bill Lawerence-they do have twin blades tele bridge, hum cancelling with pole pieces and keystones which although not humbucking are designed for low noise.

Sound pretty good to my ears

    

EdGrip

The caveat with the Wilde rail pickups is, apparently Bill couldn't get a twin-blade pickup into a tele neck sized pickup without it being too much of a tonal compromise by his reckoning. So if you want the matching neck pickup, you have to get one of his strat pickups and open up the hole in the scratchplate. Or get one of his other, non-rail, noiseless tele neck pickups.

Jalapeno

Consider some Mojo Pickups' Tele options. 

Rox

Does the USA Vice-President really have the time to wind his own pickups?

Jeremiah

For noise cancelling, the DiMarzio Area T seem to have a good reputation though I can't say I've tried them myself - and cost a lot less than the Joe Bardens.

woody

BigLicks67;653739" said:

This is video might give some food for thought (bit of funk, country and rock in there)





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woody

Serious playing there big licks.

BigLicks67

woody said:

Serious playing there big licks.

Yep, he's called Jarmo Hynninen  - check out some of his other videos on you tube : >

koneguitarist

I have the Voodoo TE50 used just about everything over the years, but stopped dead after this one. Do still like the idea of a Oil City tapped pickup though.

Rocker

I can't believe that nobody has mentioned that Joey Barton is now a free agent as he was released by Queens Park Rangers.....

octatonic

I have Bardens in a bunch of guitars (including a certain gold top telecaster). 

They are much brighter than most people expect them to be.

That can require taming, but if you can work with that they are very dynamic and raw sounding.

Jimbro66

I've been using Joe Barden pickups in various Tele-style guitars for longer than I care to remember - almost since he started making them. In a nutshell, I love the single-coil sized neck humbucker and it is my No 1 choice for Tele neck pickup. I found the single-coil sized bridge pickup to be a just a little shrill and lacking in harmonics regardless of the body wood (swamp ash, alder, poplar and embuya) so I've generally used single-coil non-humbucking pickups at the bridge. However, I have an alder-bodied Tele with the Barden single-coil sized humbucker at the neck and a Barden Two-Tone full-size tapped humbucker at the bridge and that is a really nice sounding setup. Charlie Chandler stocks a range of Joe Barden pickups. I don't know about Hotrox.

TimmyO

octatonic said:

(including a certain gold top telecaster). 

Oh you had to rub it in ;-)