Barden pick-ups

[chrisboss]

Amongst the Tele-lovers brigade there seems to be some kind of reverence reserved for Joe Barden pickups.  Are they as good as they're renowned to be?  They certainly seem to fetch high prices!  I'm already converted to Bareknuckle and have Boss pickups on my tele but I'm intrigued as to the mystique surrounding these Bardens.  Also can somebody tell me why they have blades instead of pole pieces?

Thanks,
Chris

[Tim]

You'll find an equal amount of lovers and haters of Bardens, as with all things!
They're not real Tele pickups in the traditional sense of the word, they're actually mini humbuckers with two small coils.....the blades are poles and transmit the magnetism up from the bar magnet(under the coils) to the strings.
No really a true Tele tone but they were quiet so attracted alot of attention from that..........plus Roy Buchanan and Danny Gatton where both users...........serious players too 8) !

[nineacres]

I have a set of Barden's Two-Tone humbuckers on my Heritage535. They sound absolutely amazing, both in split and in humbucking mode. Bridge PU gives a very traditional LP-type sound (obviously, not exactly as we're talking about a semi-acoustic here) - OK, very Larry Carltonesque. Only problem with them was that the total cost (including shipping & customs) was £400. I'm still trying to put that at the back of my mind. The Mules I got from Tim cost just under £200. 'nuff said.

[nineacres]

By the way, does anyone know what happened to Joe Barden - I've been hearing for some months that he's no longer making pickups but no hard facts have so far emerged. He hasn't taken the veil, or anything like that, has he???