Joe Barden bridge strat PU?

Re: Joe Barden bridge strat PU?

I have a Barden in one of my Esquires...not a Strat I know but I love it!

It's bigger than a trad single coil...more highs, more lows more mids...just more and lots of output but still has a very single coil like tone.

Dead silent and very articulate which some people do not like.
 
Re: Joe Barden bridge strat PU?

Hi Guys! I've got a set of Joe's "Strat" pickups in my G&L SC-3 and I like them a lot. It's my only "Strat" type guitar with rails style Strat humbuckers.

As Christian knows, I also have a set of Barden Tele pickups in my Tele.

The Barden Tele pickups in my Tele sound pretty spectacular. I got to play Bill Kirchen's old 50's Tele with Barden's at NAMM and I really liked what I heard...so I bought a set of Barden's and replaced the original pickups that came in my '54 Tele.

I'm pretty sure Joe told me that the bridge pickup in his Strat set is wound for the same output as the bridge pickup in his Tele set. But it doesn't sound the same. As you would expect with a guitar with a Strat type vibrato, it's a little thinner sounding but still really good.

I love Seymour's Antiquity single coils and use them in my favorite Strat...the one I play most often. But when it comes to noise free Strat size humbuckers with no hum I do like Joe's Strat pickups. And the rails design seem to give me more sustain.

I like the bridge pickup in my G&L but I wouldn't mix it with regular Strat type single coils. I did that in my MIJ Tele Custom, using an Antiquity Strat pickup for the neck and a Barden Tele pickup for the bridge and I didn't think they combined well. Just two very different tones.
 
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Re: Joe Barden bridge strat PU?

Right on, thank you for the responses!

This is for an alder strat, med. weight, maple/Brazilian veneer.

Acoustically, it has some highs, but not much in the way of high mids.

I'm even using 500k pots in it...strung with elevens, down a 1/2 step.

I like the vintage type stuff in the neck and middle, but the bridge pu has got to go. I'd love for it to sound like a D-tuned Tele being thrashed by a 7' inbred named Billy Bob in the bridge position, or as close as possible....that's why I'm considering the Barden.

:)
 
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Re: Joe Barden bridge strat PU?

Hmm...

I'm not sure I'd mix trad singles with a Barden but if you're not looking to get a good sound with them combined youmight do well...

I'd also go back to 250k pots with a Barden...no need to add more clarity or top end with those!

All that said it's stillnot gonna sound like a Tele until you fill in that hole for the tremolo and put a box bridge on it...but you might get close!
 
Re: Joe Barden bridge strat PU?

Hmm...

I'm not sure I'd mix trad singles with a Barden but if you're not looking to get a good sound with them combined youmight do well...

I'd also go back to 250k pots with a Barden...no need to add more clarity or top end with those!

All that said it's stillnot gonna sound like a Tele until you fill in that hole for the tremolo and put a box bridge on it...but you might get close!

Ah, ok...I was wondering about mixing them.

I could add a 470k resistor from the Barden hot to ground for the pot issue.

What would you recommend as a bridge p/u in it's place, then? Right now, the neck and middle sound great...then I hit that bridge pu, and it just falls away...less output, less drive, etc.
 
Re: Joe Barden bridge strat PU?

The Duncan Little '59 and JB Jr. come to mind. I like them both and actually prefer the neck model JB JR. used as a bridge pickup. More highs and enough of a boost in output compared to a vintage Strat pickup to satisfy me.

I found the Duncan Hot Rails to not have a tone that was right for me but it was the strongest and pushed my amp the hardest.

I've used them all. I have a hard time recommending something other than a Duncan pickup on Seymour's own forum. Let me say that my buddy AJ has a Jimmie Vaughn Strat and I put a Duncan SSL-1, Duncan SSL-1 RW/RP and a Fralin Steel Pole 43 in that guitar. I really like how ALL of the pickups in that guitar sound - individually and combined.

If you're after the tone of a full sized Gibson style humbucker, no single coil sized Strat pickup will really get 100% of that tone and overdrive.
 
Re: Joe Barden bridge strat PU?

The Duncan Little '59 and JB Jr. come to mind. I like them both and actually prefer the neck model JB JR. used as a bridge pickup. More highs and enough of a boost in output compared to a vintage Strat pickup to satisfy me.

I found the Duncan Hot Rails to not have a tone that was right for me but it was the strongest and pushed my amp the hardest.

I've used them all. I have a hard time recommending something other than a Duncan pickup on Seymour's own forum. Let me say that my buddy AJ has a Jimmie Vaughn Strat and I put a Duncan SSL-1, Duncan SSL-1 RW/RP and a Fralin Steel Pole 43 in that guitar. I really like how ALL of the pickups in that guitar sound - individually and combined.

If you're after the tone of a full sized Gibson style humbucker, no single coil sized Strat pickup will really get 100% of that tone and overdrive.

Excellent, thank you for all of that info.

I will look into those. I like the idea of the neck JB Jr. in the bridge. I have other guitars for the full-on humbucker thing. I built this one as a sixties clone, Brazilian and all, but went modern on a few things (EJ tuners, lubri-nut, stainless frets) and have found that the vintage output bridge pu just doesn't get it, compared to the middle and neck.
 
Re: Joe Barden bridge strat PU?

I forgot to mention the Antiquity Surfer Custom bridge pickup and Antiquity Texas Hot Custom bridge pickup. I use the Antiquity Texas Hot in my Strat. Maybe do a search on the forum for info on them. They get discussed a lot. We started off with this being a thread about Joe's pickups and I completely forgot to mention what I use myself.
 
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