Joe Barden pups in a nashville tele

[oldschool]

I'm kicking around a custom tele configuration. I'm going to build it with a Warmoth swamp ash tele body with two strat routes in the neck and the middle with a standard tele bridge route.

Has anyone ever done this with Barden pups in particular with a the Barden tele set plus one strat pup in the middle?

Let me know what you think.

Lew have you ever tried this combo in a tele?

 

[crusty philtrum]

Re: Joe Barden pups in a nashville tele

Hi
A while back I was looking into getting a Barden bridge pickup for my Tele Custom (has the big wide Fender humbucker at the neck, regular bridge style). The distributor told me i'd probably need to replace the neck with a Barden as well as they are so much louder than most of the other pickups used in Tele's. If that's the case, a Strat pickup in between the 2 Bardens may seem very lost in comparison, volume-wise. I didn't end up going down that Barden road,(didn't want to get rid of the fabulous Bigbucker in the neck), but it might be a subject that you need to investigate further.
Apart from the possible volume discrepancy though, I reckon it could make for a nice sonic combination.

 

[oldschool]

Re: Joe Barden pups in a nashville tele

Hi
A while back I was looking into getting a Barden bridge pickup for my Tele Custom (has the big wide Fender humbucker at the neck, regular bridge style). The distributor told me i'd probably need to replace the neck with a Barden as well as they are so much louder than most of the other pickups used in Tele's. If that's the case, a Strat pickup in between the 2 Bardens may seem very lost in comparison, volume-wise. I didn't end up going down that Barden road,(didn't want to get rid of the fabulous Bigbucker in the neck), but it might be a subject that you need to investigate further.
Apart from the possible volume discrepancy though, I reckon it could make for a nice sonic combination.

The volume difference was what I was wondering about. Not having heard any of the Barden pups I didn't know what the difference would be.

 

[crusty philtrum]

Re: Joe Barden pups in a nashville tele

Hi
You probably have done this already, but if you haven't, go to the Harmony Central User Reviews and look at what people have to say about the Barden's. It's been a while since i read them, but i seem to remember they are known for having big output (the pickups, not the reviewers!). You might encounter someone there who was combining them with other brands, and get some insight that way. Obviously it's a big investment to make and then find out afterwards that they are going to overpower any non-Barden pickup you have in there with them.
Is there any kind of Barden user group where you could make enquiries from that end of the equation I wonder?
There would be a way you could counter this issue if indeed it is an issue, though it's a bit weird....
go ahead and have the Fender pup in the middle and feed it, and only it, through a small booster, just a simple 1 transistor job....it would be between the middle pickup and the selector switch or controls, whatever the pickup would normally go to first. A small pre-set pot in place of the booster's regular control pot would be set to match the levels. Obviously it would need to be powered, most likely by a 9 volt battery. It would work fine but may not be an area you want to go into, I'd be the same, but it is a thought to throw into the pot here....

(BTW....the booster could change the phase of the pickup so that would need to be kept in mind when wiring it all up....a 1 transistor booster would turn the phase around 180 degrees...)

 

[oldschool]

Re: Joe Barden pups in a nashville tele

Hi
You probably have done this already, but if you haven't, go to the Harmony Central User Reviews and look at what people have to say about the Barden's. It's been a while since i read them, but i seem to remember they are known for having big output (the pickups, not the reviewers!). You might encounter someone there who was combining them with other brands, and get some insight that way. Obviously it's a big investment to make and then find out afterwards that they are going to overpower any non-Barden pickup you have in there with them.
Is there any kind of Barden user group where you could make enquiries from that end of the equation I wonder?
There would be a way you could counter this issue if indeed it is an issue, though it's a bit weird....
go ahead and have the Fender pup in the middle and feed it, and only it, through a small booster, just a simple 1 transistor job....it would be between the middle pickup and the selector switch or controls, whatever the pickup would normally go to first. A small pre-set pot in place of the booster's regular control pot would be set to match the levels. Obviously it would need to be powered, most likely by a 9 volt battery. It would work fine but may not be an area you want to go into, I'd be the same, but it is a thought to throw into the pot here....

(BTW....the booster could change the phase of the pickup so that would need to be kept in mind when wiring it all up....a 1 transistor booster would turn the phase around 180 degrees...)

I'm trying if at all possible to keep it simple. I guess what I need to do is contact Barden to see what the implications of mixing pickups would be which is probably what I should've done in the first place. Thanks for the tips.

 

[GuitarJonz]

Re: Joe Barden pups in a nashville tele

There are guys over on the telecaster discussion page who have this very setup. I asked one of them how it worked, he told me it was a great setup, and that the 2&4 positions quacked "like a raft of ducks".