$600 for a set of Barden Tele Pickups...

[Lewguitar]

I thought I might win a set on Ebay for $400 or so, so I typed in what I thought was a reasonable maximum bid of $500...never thinking they'd go for that much.

In the last minute of the auction they went all the way up to $600!:smack:

Holy Moly!

Lew

 

[ratherdashing]

Re: $600 for a set of Barden Tele Pickups...

For $600 they'd better make me sound like God on a good day.

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: $600 for a set of Barden Tele Pickups...

Bardens are amazing pickups and the truth is that $600 is a good price!

 

[PUCKBOY99]

Re: $600 for a set of Barden Tele Pickups...

NUTS!!!

:no:

 

[gripweed]

Re: $600 for a set of Barden Tele Pickups...

Apparently GFS makes a Barden style pickup that is supposed to be decent. I think they're called Little Killers?

 

[jeremy]

Re: $600 for a set of Barden Tele Pickups...

a friend of mine got $700 for the pair. they arent that good.

 

[Luke Duke]

Re: $600 for a set of Barden Tele Pickups...

Well Mike's (Mike Rocker) Barden equipped Tele sounded fantastic at UGD.

Luke

 

[Butch Snyder]

Re: $600 for a set of Barden Tele Pickups...

a friend of mine got $700 for the pair. they arent that good.

+1...

There too hi-fi for me. Plus they show all your mistakes - like I need that....:laugh2:

 

[gripweed]

Re: $600 for a set of Barden Tele Pickups...

a friend of mine got $700 for the pair. they arent that good.

IMHO, there is no set of pickups that is that good. I can get a great sound using Duncans for far less. Not that there aren't other more expensive pickups that I like. Just not 6-7 hundreds worth.

 

[gripweed]

Re: $600 for a set of Barden Tele Pickups...

+1...

There too hi-fi for me. Plus they show all your mistakes - like I need that....:laugh2:

Come on Butch, you don't need to be so modest. You have a hell of a lot of talent!

 

[Butch Snyder]

Re: $600 for a set of Barden Tele Pickups...

IMHO, there is no set of pickups that is that good. I can get a great sound using Duncans for far less. Not that there aren't other more expensive pickups that I like. Just not 6-7 hundreds worth.

Agreed....

 

[teleblooz]

Re: $600 for a set of Barden Tele Pickups...

Much like Gibsons PAF, when something is not made any longer, legend reaches mythical proportions and prices skyrocket. Are original PAFS worth what they go for? I guess they are worth what someone will pay for them.

Make no mistake, Bardens are good pickups ( although I have no experience with Bardens, several buds who have had them state they are very delicate, can break easily and are near impossible to repair...even by joe himself ) and for the right player, the extra bit needed to complete the tone factor. I have a Kirchin/Redd CD and it's cool to hear the differences in their teles.

Are they for me? No. Would I pay that much for a set of pups? No. But I have no problems with others who do. As a player, you do what you have to to get the tone you want.

 

[zionstrat]

Re: $600 for a set of Barden Tele Pickups...

My handle could just have well been Bardenstrat- I love Zions, but it's the match with Bardens that make them magical-

With enough pup theory, it seems that anyone should be able to duplicate the Barden sound but no one that I've tried is even close- Dmzo crusier and cool rails have some of the mojo, but they just dont come close to the Bardens-

My zion now lives exclusivesly in the house because I couldn't replace these pups and I've apromiated their sound to the degree that I can get most of my sounds live and in the studio. But it's not easy.

If any manufacturer, and I mean, any, puts out a Bardenish pup, I will be the first to try out a set (hint hint)- If you play a strat or a tele and want classic sounds as well as modern and moderately high gain, you're almost gauranteed to love these pups-

Agreed $600 is too much, but that's the point..they are very, very good and there's nothing very similar out there-

 

[Bludave]

Re: $600 for a set of Barden Tele Pickups...

a friend of mine got $700 for the pair. they arent that good.

Yeah... I agree I have played many guitars wired with them and quite honestly I found them to be way to bright. I would never put them in my guitar.

Ebay has a funny way of making everything sell for more than it should. I watch a lot of autions and almost all the items that I watched sold for aobout 20% more then what they should have. I guess people get into a bidding frenzy in the last few minutes.

 

[gripweed]

Re: $600 for a set of Barden Tele Pickups...

My handle could just have well been Bardenstrat- I love Zions, but it's the match with Bardens that make them magical-

With enough pup theory, it seems that anyone should be able to duplicate the Barden sound but no one that I've tried is even close- Dmzo crusier and cool rails have some of the mojo, but they just dont come close to the Bardens-

My zion now lives exclusivesly in the house because I couldn't replace these pups and I've apromiated their sound to the degree that I can get most of my sounds live and in the studio. But it's not easy.

If any manufacturer, and I mean, any, puts out a Bardenish pup, I will be the first to try out a set (hint hint)- If you play a strat or a tele and want classic sounds as well as modern and moderately high gain, you're almost gauranteed to love these pups-

Agreed $600 is too much, but that's the point..they are very, very good and there's nothing very similar out there-

Have you tried the GFS pickups?

 

[MikeRocker]

Re: $600 for a set of Barden Tele Pickups...

Well Mike's (Mike Rocker) Barden equipped Tele sounded fantastic at UGD.

Luke

Thank you! When I was building that guitar I couldn't find any, and I kept calling around all over the place and finally found some at Elderly Instruments (one of my all-time favorite stores). I think they had 2 sets left - I should've bought them both!!! I think I got some of the last available. I'm a traditionalist when it comes to tone, but I really love the Bardens, they sound great. They really do sound Tele-like. I would love to get another set, but I wouldn't pay $600 for them. I'm afraid to take the guitar in for any work if it ever needs it, for fear that the pickups will disappear!

 

[BlueGuitar]

Re: $600 for a set of Barden Tele Pickups...

I thought I might win a set on Ebay for $400 or so, so I typed in what I thought was a reasonable maximum bid of $500...never thinking they'd go for that much.

In the last minute of the auction they went all the way up to $600!:smack:

Seems to me that we need a computer virus that will attack EVERYBODY ELSE who goes to that auction page... their computer will crash so they can't outbid you at the last moment! :banana:

Just kidding, of course. :smack:

P.S. I heard them in a friend's Tele and would sure like to have a set in one of my teles...

 

[gripweed]

Re: $600 for a set of Barden Tele Pickups...

Seems to me that we need a computer virus that will attack EVERYBODY ELSE who goes to that auction page... their computer will crash so they can't outbid you at the last moment! :banana:

Just kidding, of course. :smack:

P.S. I heard them in a friend's Tele and would sure like to have a set in one of my teles...

I've never heard Bardens, at least not that I'm aware of. What is so special about them?

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: $600 for a set of Barden Tele Pickups...

I've never heard Bardens, at least not that I'm aware of. What is so special about them?

Bardens are hard to explain and they are NOT for everynody...listen to some Danny Gatton and you'll get the idea...simply amazing sounding pickups but again, not for everybody

 

[zionstrat]

Re: $600 for a set of Barden Tele Pickups...

gripweed-
yeah im trying the gfs in my current project to comare and contrast to a cool rail- but I'm not getting my hopes up as i only hear middle of the road for gfs-
As far as how they sound, I never use the word bright, but others do-

Instead I would call it very clear, clean and detailed when it's not overdriven, and remains very articulate when you overdrive- I think this is why some see them as bright, a cool rail breaks up much faster and gets 'muddy' much quicker-

but heres the trick- I happen to love this detailed aspect and use it a lot- but when you spin a split these pups have an entire contium of tones as well, much much more than any other spin I have ever found..

Full pup is a very articulate mini-hum sound- very good bass, LP deluxish- Now imagine all of the sounds between this and a classic low gain strat, because thats what you get when you almost completly roll of the 2nd rail- Somehow it stays noiseless until you competly roll out the 2nd blade-

Not many know this diversity, but Zion made a number of models in the 90s that came stock this way- Once I heard it, nothing, and I mean nothing has been really close-

I've got a JB cool rail and crusier in my nightfly as my live zion replacement and I love them and their own versitility. But it's really only a similar sound, I've only had this exact barden sound with bardens-

hope this helps!