Do you believe what these two pickups are selling for???

[Scott Miller]

Re: Do you believe what these two pickups are selling for???

Ridiculous. Especially when you can get them from our custom shop for far less than that. Call MJ---she knows how to make them.

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Do you believe what these two pickups are selling for???

Ridiculous. Especially when you can get them from our custom shop for far less than that. Call MJ---she knows how to make them.

REALLY?????

Yow!

Now you tell me...

:laugh2: :laugh2: :laugh2:

Have you tried MJ's version?

Better yet: have you heard MJ's version and compared it to the Bardens?

Lew

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Do you believe what these two pickups are selling for???

OK Scott: I'm taking you at your word on this!

I just sent MJ a message and asked her to make me a couple of sets: one for my Strat and one for my three pickup Tele.

We'll see....

If anyone can do it, it'd be MJ......or Seymour.

She's wound me some killers over the past few years.

Lew

 

[Artie]

Re: Do you believe what these two pickups are selling for???

The next obvious question is . . . from Danny to Keith Urban, using a MIA Tele with Bardens, or a stock Squier . . . would the audience notice?

 

[Scott Miller]

Re: Do you believe what these two pickups are selling for???

Hi Lew,

I don't know about the strats, but I have seen her versions of the Teles. I'll load a guitar with them next week and let you know how they sound. The trippy thing about those pickups is that they are wound really low---like 2k per coil, but they are wired in series. It's almost like the opposite of wiring a hot rail in parallel.

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: Do you believe what these two pickups are selling for???

Scott...you have a PM good sir!

 

[1812many]

Re: Do you believe what these two pickups are selling for???

:smack: I'll admit that Joe Barden has made some good sounding pickups, but there is nothing "supernatural" or "magic" about them. They're just pickups--& one thing that I always disliked about them was that they were way too fragile--if you bumped one, you stood a good chance of having the signal drop off from the whole bobbin (not a good prospect with a humbucker, & completely intolerable with a single-coil).

In my humble opinion, Lindy Fralin is THE MAN when it comes to single coils--& Seymour is so close to catching up with him, I don't why anyone would want to bother with Bardens (other than being easily guided sheep who buy into hype WAY too easily).

 

[Zerberus]

Re: Do you believe what these two pickups are selling for???

Ridiculous. Especially when you can get them from our custom shop for far less than that. Call MJ---she knows how to make them.

:chairfall :laugh2: :laugh2: :bowdown: :bowdown: :bowdown:

 

[Curly]

Re: Do you believe what these two pickups are selling for???

I'm sure the price of the Bardens is partly reputation, partly supply and demand, and partly human nature: namely, you always want what you can't have.

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Do you believe what these two pickups are selling for???

I'm sure the price of the Bardens is partly reputation, partly supply and demand, and partly human nature: namely, you always want what you can't have.

And partly (the biggest part!) because they sound incredably good!:laugh2:

 

[Curly]

Re: Do you believe what these two pickups are selling for???

And partly (the biggest part!) because they sound incredably good!:laugh2:

I thought that was the "reputation" part, Bro

they probably sounded just as good before the price jumped to $500 + a pair

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Do you believe what these two pickups are selling for???

I thought that was the "reputation" part, Bro

:laugh2: You know Curly, I would never have spent $500 on a pair of pickups unless I'd heard them for myself in a setting where they really did it for me. That setting was NAMM when you and I were at the Talos Amp booth together. That Kirchen Tele and the Talos amp just blew me away. Best sounding guitar and best sounding amp I played through at that show.

And now my '54 Tele through my blackface Deluxe Reverb sounds just as good! :laugh2:

I have no regrets about spending $500 on the Bardens...but I'll be thrilled if MJ really can wind a set for my Strat that sounds just as good for less.

If she can, I'll brag them up on this forum with just as much enthusiasm too!

Lew

 

[zionstrat]

Re: Do you believe what these two pickups are selling for???

Isn't this getting a bit silly? What's wrong with us liking these pups? We've already agreed that the price is out of sight- Just supply and demand at work.

It sounds like there's a few of us who have had incredible experience with Bardens, but is there anything strange about that? I bet most of you have found a pup that you would really, really not want to see discontinued, right? What if it was the custom or the JB or 59?

I'll be the first to say that the 'original PAF' craze is also out of control, but that pup been analyzed 100 times sideways, and every manufacturer has given at least a couple of shots at a good repro- So what's the problem if we really like Bardens and wish someone would bring down the price?

I don't think that anyone is saying that pups are everything, I've used the 80/20 rule for years, you can get most of the way on practically any guitar that is setup close to what works for you- And again, I like my cruiser and cool rails, but is it any surprise that they don't sound terribly close to my bardens?

I'll be glad to sit the rest of the tread out if I'm missing something, but just to sum up my pov one last time, I like Bardens (delux S in case anyone ever does anything) a lot and would gladly pay $3-400 to get 3 more exact copies-
But unless someone takes a dead one apart and figures out what's making this pup so destinctive (for bardem players) it's a moot point isn't it?

Peace

 

[GuitarJonz]

Re: Do you believe what these two pickups are selling for???

Hey Lew,
I've seen you around the guitar boards forever, and am also a Barden fan. I was just wondering, was this the first time you had played Bardens yourself, or maybe you had played them before, but never really spent enough time with them to really check them out? I know you've tried so many pups over the years, I am surprised that you just now discovered the Barden sound.

 

[zionstrat]

Re: Do you believe what these two pickups are selling for???

The next obvious question is . . . from Danny to Keith Urban, using a MIA Tele with Bardens, or a stock Squier . . . would the audience notice?

Artie, missed this one earlier and wonder if the audince isn't really the point?
If I've got an accoustic gig comming up, I pull out the Fender, not the Lowden to get the rhythem back- The night before, I switch over to the Lowden and the result is magical for me- In otherwords, I know the audience can't hear the differnce in the two accoustics via the sound system, but they will definately hear a differnce in the way I play- The Lowden 'makes' (inspires, maybe some other word) me play better than I really am.

Same thing wiht Bardens- I expect only the pup nuts in the crowd have a chance of hearing the difference- But again, they 'make' me play better and I bet a lot of others have had similar expereince with a favorite pup type- Make sense?

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Do you believe what these two pickups are selling for???

Hey Lew,
I've seen you around the guitar boards forever, and am also a Barden fan. I was just wondering, was this the first time you had played Bardens yourself, or maybe you had played them before, but never really spent enough time with them to really check them out? I know you've tried so many pups over the years, I am surprised that you just now discovered the Barden sound.

Yep...I've seen you around forever too!

When I played Bill's Tele at NAMM it was the first time that the Bardens really spoke to me. I believe I played a Gatton Tele when they first came out but I guess the situation wasn't right...new guitar (alittle tight and stiff)...couldn't turn the amp up enough to make them sing...maybe I was having a self concious or bad day or something, and my impression was similar to that of some of the other posters here: they seemed cool (humfree and all) but not spectactular and a little hi-fi.

I was wrong...because I love 'em and just bought a second set for my other Tele!

Lew

 

[J Moose]

Re: Do you believe what these two pickups are selling for???

OK Scott: I'm taking you at your word on this!

I just sent MJ a message and asked her to make me a couple of sets: one for my Strat and one for my three pickup Tele.

We'll see....

If anyone can do it, it'd be MJ......or Seymour.

She's wound me some killers over the past few years.

Lew

Bump from the dead!!!!



Lew - Whuz the verdict here? Did you get your MJ wound "Bardens" and if so, how are they?!

 

[emilio]

Re: Do you believe what these two pickups are selling for???

f*** that!

 

[Chris Downing]

Re: Do you believe what these two pickups are selling for???

There's only so many things you can do when building a PU - magnets, windings, wire gauge, materials quality and build quality. Do you think that SD wouldn't have bought some of these, disassembled them and taken some ideas (if there were any)? What;s so special that there would be a patent applying - therefore other manufacturers can make just the same PU.