Must be something to the materials used in a Barden

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5/2/2006 3:11 PM

gtrman

Must be something to the materials used in a Barden I just completed rewinding a Joe Barden Telecaster bridge pickup to the same specs it was originally, same wire, wind count, and wind pattern. I am impressed. I would have never thought a pickup, even A humbucker only toping out in the mid 4K range could sound so good. Clean it is beautiful, wonderful overtones, harmonics and clarity without being harsh. Under overdrive or distortion this thing keeps up with any PAF I have ever heard as far as output and clarity and smoothness, again no harshness at all, and harmonics and sustain for days. So I am convinced it is the materials that makes it what it is. Now to figure out what type metal was used in the blades, what strength the magnet is. It is just amazing and thats hard to get me to say.

 

5/2/2006 4:04 PM

Dr. Strangelove

gtrman wrote: quote: "I just completed rewinding a Joe Barden Telecaster bridge pickup to the same specs it was originally, same wire, wind count, and wind pattern."     Congratulations!     What was your windings count?     My guess was that Joe used ordinary 16 gauge steel (1016 or 1018) and C5 magnets.     I don't think you are giving away any family secrets since Joe Barden has been MIA for two years and his blade pickups are neither patented nor trademarked.     -drh   --

 

5/2/2006 5:25 PM

gtrman

Approxamately 2185 per coil give or take a few due to hand winding and differences in TPL and tension.   Hey, Joe is back in action. I went to his new website last night. He is getting 170.00 per pickup these days. I think he has been watching the market for some time and saw and evening out in the market prices for his pickups and saw his prime spot to come back on the scene. He should be rich in no time at the prices he has and the demand for Bardens.   PS. Thanks for the compliment.

 

5/2/2006 6:32 PM

Dave Stephens

There ARE some of us who can't stand those pickups, I'm one. The blades are just mild steel, you can buy that stuff at any welding supply place, the tone is mostly in the steel, they are plated of course. Blade pickups don't work with higher or normal winds, they get boomy and bassy and muddy so the winds are correct in those pickups, especially since there are two blades and humbucking to boot.     yes you should be congratulated on fixing the thing, I don't know anyone who will rewind those because they are difficult, Don Mare gave me a blow by blow on his attempts to rewind, said they rely on super glue to hold them together, he doesn't think much of them or the quality of manufacture either You may have actually improved the pickup without realizing it, as the ones I have heard are always harsh and irritating to me, its too bad Danny Gatton used them so much, I know a friend of his who tried to convince him to go back to a real tele pickup, no luck there... Dave

 

5/2/2006 6:42 PM

gtrman

Hi Dave, yes it was a pure bitch to put together, I actually had to rewind it about 5 times due to the stupid construction, they are not meant to be repaired but I was determined it was not going to kick my ass. I have heard bad things about their tone as well, like being shrill and even boomy. I guess I got lucky and did a good wind. Of course i did hand wind it, meaning hand guiding and hand tensioning. Who Knows? I just cant see the following he got?? You are right about the blades. It makes sense if you wound it any hotter it would bass out and get muddy. I learned something new today with this thing though so it wasn't a total pain i guess.   Oh and yes if it weren't for crazy glue I still wouldn't have the darn thing fixed

 

5/3/2006 1:04 PM

David Schwab

On 5/3/2006 12:32 AM, Dave Stephens said:     quote: "Blade pickups don't work with higher or normal winds, they get boomy and bassy and muddy so the winds are correct in those pickups, especially since there are two blades and humbucking to boot."     Very true. One thing that can help that is use laminated steel blades... but the stuff isn't cheap.     Speaking of blades...     I have an old Lawrence pickup home, it was the only one like this I ever saw. It looks like an EMG, with the solid cover, and has "Lawrence" written in gold, EMG style. I got it when I worked at American Showster back in the 80's. I think Lawrence sent it in for us to check out.     It was a VERY clean sounding pickup, with really glassy highs, and not harsh at all. Then one day one coil stopped working. Because it was encapsulated I couldn't fix it. The other day I found it and was checking it out. The resin is clear so you can see inside the bottom. It originally had black felt glued on the bottom. I noticed the case was a bit loose, so I pried it off (well I broke it off actually) and you can see the interior thought the resin. It's actually polyester resin, based on the smell when I got the cover off!     The bobbins are the same diameter as a standard HB, but shallower. It has two very thin blades and a large ceramic magnet connecting them. I read the one working coil and it was in the 4k range. I wonder what gauge wire it uses?     I'd love to see what's in an EMG!

 

5/3/2006 6:06 PM
Sheldon Dingwall	quote: "I got it when I worked at American Showster back in the 80's. I think Lawrence sent it in for us to check out."     You worked at American Showster?     I had a NAMM booth next to them a bunch of years ago. Cool guys. Neat guitars.

 

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