|
Post by justblues on Nov 14, 2014 20:27:05 GMT -7
So I recently started playing with a new band a couple months ago and have been using my PRS DGT with my Ghia and it sounds fine. I've been using a guitar with humbuckers partly for the sound, but also for the lack of hummmmmm. It turns out that almost every place this band plays uses dimmer switches on lights and fans making the use of true single coils difficult and noisy. Last weekend, I broke out a tele with Bardens and was blown away how good it sounded. Now, my favorite guitar is a Rittenhouse strat with Lollar Blonde pickups (the guitar in my Avatar) -- love the sound, but way too too noisy for these places, so I've decided to put some Bardens in my guitar.
Anyway, the pickups arrived today, so I plan to install them this weekend. I'll report back! Fwiw, I plan to hang on to the Lollars because they sound great.
|
|
|
Post by wraparound (Steve) on Nov 14, 2014 22:39:14 GMT -7
Good idea to hang on to the Lollar's 'cause things change and you may get another guitar to put 'em in. I am traditional in pickups and guitars, but frankly I have toyed with doing the same thing in my Tele, as my old 335 is the only electric I own with humbucking pickups. Sometimes you have to be practical, and last I checked Jeff Beck's tone does not suffer from using hum canceling pickups in his Strat!
|
|
|
Post by "Z" Steve on Nov 15, 2014 6:47:19 GMT -7
I saw a video of Scott Henderson using a Strat loaded with this gadget in a small club in L.A. It eliminated almost 100% of the noise. He had a push/pull pot on the guitar so he could disengage the device and WOW - what a difference. I've never used one and haven't seen one 1st hand, but if your Bardens don't work out this may be an option. www.fralinpickups.com/bpncs.asp
|
|
|
Post by justblues on Nov 15, 2014 7:31:57 GMT -7
Good idea to hang on to the Lollar's 'cause things change and you may get another guitar to put 'em in. I am traditional in pickups and guitars, but frankly I have toyed with doing the same thing in my Tele, as my old 335 is the only electric I own with humbucking pickups. Sometimes you have to be practical, and last I checked Jeff Beck's tone does not suffer from using hum canceling pickups in his Strat! Yes the Lollars are great pickups and sound amazing through my Maz 18NR. It's strange because I had almost no problems with hum with the last band I played with. Almost every gig we played was outside -- common in SW Florida. For whatever reason, my new band plays mainly indoors in places with lots of ceiling fans and lights on dimmer switches. Anyway, I miss playing my favorite guitar. (Pictured in my Avatar) . Hopefully the Bardens will sound as good in my strat as they do in my tele.
|
|
|
Post by justblues on Nov 15, 2014 7:35:18 GMT -7
I saw a video of Scott Henderson using a Strat loaded with this gadget in a small club in L.A. It eliminated almost 100% of the noise. He had a push/pull pot on the guitar so he could disengage the device and WOW - what a difference. I've never used one and haven't seen one 1st hand, but if your Bardens don't work out this may be an option. www.fralinpickups.com/bpncs.asp I thought about the Ilitch system ... Looks like a great device.
|
|
|
Post by markT on Nov 15, 2014 7:41:51 GMT -7
I had Bardens in a Strat of mine for a few years. Sounded clear & great. They were dead quiet. I changed to Lollar Blondes and liked them much better!..lol Much smoother, sweeter with more vintage Strat character. Sorry you have to change, but good luck with the Bardens. Maybe you'll be able to change back one day. Good luck with the Bardens.
|
|
|
Post by justblues on Nov 16, 2014 7:52:24 GMT -7
Done ... still sounds like a Strat ... with hotter pickups and no hummmmmmmm.
|
|
|
Post by Traumatized (Eric) on Nov 16, 2014 8:10:06 GMT -7
I have bardens in one of my Strats and a couple of Teles. I love them for gigs. You definitely get more beef, but lose some of the sweetness/glassiness of single coils, which is a great trade-off since I hate noise lol.
|
|
|
Post by Funk#49 on Nov 17, 2014 11:23:17 GMT -7
I often fight with 60 cycle hum at most of our gigs. I have a set of Seymour Duncan vintage stack pickups in my tele and I can't say enough good things about them. I had them installed with a push/push pot so I can run them in hum canceling mode or run them as single coil. They sound great either way. I'm thinking about buying a set to try in one of my strats.
|
|
|
Post by schultz on Nov 18, 2014 6:42:38 GMT -7
I have some on my Jazzmaster and now on my Bass VI, they are great pickups and dead quiet.
|
|
|
Post by Paul (TRANE) on Nov 18, 2014 17:38:53 GMT -7
I have noise issues with P90s and Humbuckers at church.....tons of dimmers and more to mess with your noise floor. I wound up getting a Decimator II noise pedal. No issues at all since then. I like Bardens. Anything that fastens up a strat is great by me. I guess I like big legged women....tone wise of course.
|
|
|
Post by "Z" Steve on Nov 18, 2014 18:09:26 GMT -7
Whoever installed those Bardens sure tore up your Strat! Glad it worked out for you though!
|
|
|
Post by justblues on Nov 18, 2014 20:07:26 GMT -7
Whoever installed those Bardens sure tore up your Strat! Glad it worked out for you though! Ha ha! It's funny, I always thought the relic'd look was odd ... Not for me... Until I picked up this guitar second hand and bonded with it immediately. The original pickups had aged covers ... I bet the builder would cringe at my new choice.
|
|
|
Post by freddieg on Nov 18, 2014 20:44:22 GMT -7
Bardens are nice pickups. Very versatile,
|
|
|
Post by Jacques Belanger on Nov 20, 2014 20:31:18 GMT -7
I can't say enough good things about them. I have them in every guitar I own. ('cept the Cabronita....hopefully that will change soon.) lol
I actually like them so much that as soon as I went opened my own shop... I became a dealer. lol Only one in Canada. (fwiw..that's not a sales pitch...just a demonstration of how much I like them)
Did you get the regular..or Chunky strat set?
|
|
|
Post by justblues on Nov 21, 2014 11:35:37 GMT -7
I got the regular Bardens.
So far I think they are great. I'll be able to try them out on a gig this weekend.
|
|
|
Post by freddieg on Nov 26, 2014 8:27:34 GMT -7
I am just curious, how do you like playing through the Joe Barden Bridge pickup (by itself) on your Strat through the Ghia, especially with the Vet 30 speaker...?
I am playing thru a ghia/Red Fang. I have a set of Joe Barden P-90's for my Gibson Tribute guitar. They are dead quiet. Love the neck pickup, couldn't quite bond with the Bridge pickup, and I gave it time. It just had too much treble for my taste. I got a really good tone on the bridge pickup through the Ghia by turning the Ghia Tone knob almost all the way to the right FWIW.
Eventually i put a Duncan Antiquity Mini-Bucker in the bridge because i wanted more of a humbucker PAF tone as a lead tone, and that pickup combination is stellar for my uses. The Duncan Antiquity gives a volume boost as well as being a bit less "shrill" so i think it is a great setup.
I will say that the Joe Barden Bridge P-90 pickup performed much better in a "Loud Band / Live" setting than it did at home or at low volume band practice setting. It cut through the mix like crazy.
However, I would like to know how to tame the treble in a Joe Barden bridge position pickup? I did mess with pickup height, but I did not mess with capacitors, etc...
Thanks, Gray
|
|
|
Post by justblues on Nov 28, 2014 7:08:33 GMT -7
I use the Ghia with a 2x12 THD cab with WGS Green Beret (their version of Greenbacks). Yes the bridge pickup can be a bit brite. I have a tone control hooked up to the bridge and it works great.
My tele also has Bardens but with the Barden "Modern" bridge pickup ... A little less biting. I disconnected the tone control from the neck pickup so I set the amps tone for the neck and use the tone control to tame the treble on the bridge pickup -- I have several guitars setup this way and really like the way it works.
|
|