Need some Tele pickup advice - warmer tone? (clip inside)

[Marinblues]

**reposted here after Tips & Clips**

This is how my Tele with Bardens sound today:

Barden Tele blues

Although very clear and responsive, and I have liked them in the past, I was looking for a smoother and warmer sound i.e. the one I get with the Seth Lovers.

Any suggestions what to put in?

(also, it's a good time to sell the Bardens... )

thanks

[STRATDELUXER97]

**reposted here after Tips & Clips**

This is how my Tele with Bardens sound today:

Barden Tele blues

Although very clear and responsive, and I have liked them in the past, I was looking for a smoother and warmer sound i.e. the one I get with the Seth Lovers.

Any suggestions what to put in?

(also, it's a good time to sell the Bardens... )

thanks

Marin...Hook up with Curly or Lew and if that doesn't work call the guys at Duncan..Ask for Scott Miller...He's been a Godsend to me over the years with my Duncan pickups..

John

[Curly]

I'll have to defer to Lew on the tele stuff ... so far I've tried the Broadcaster and JD in the bridge, and the Vintage Rhythm. I have a custom set headed for my next custom project when it's finished, and an Antiquity set on the way from Lew.

Stevo has tried a lot of the non-vintage type tele pickups. I know he likes that BG 1400, among others.

I would guess that the Bardens are kind of hi fi, high output pickups. That's not really my thing - I also prefer smooth, warm tone with mids.

the Stacks and the Hot Rails look similar to the Bardens, as far as the hum cancelling goes, FWIW

sorry, not much help from me

[Marinblues]

Thanks Curly.

Anyone else has some thoughts?

[tone4days]

first - i love the tone and playing of that clip (as always!) ... but i respect that you want something different ... be careful not to make all your guitars sound too alike ... that would take the fun away from having more than 1 (or 2 or 5 or ...) ...

is that clip the bridge pup playing melody and the two pups mixed playing rhythm?

do you need the pickups to remain noiseless? or would traditional single coil pups be acceptable?

if you want to sell the bardens .. let me know :-)

cheers
t4d

[Marinblues]

first - i love the tone and playing of that clip (as always!) ... but i respect that you want something different ... be careful not to make all your guitars sound too alike ... that would take the fun away from having more than 1 (or 2 or 5 or ...) ...

is that clip the bridge pup playing melody and the two pups mixed playing rhythm?

do you need the pickups to remain noiseless? or would traditional single coil pups be acceptable?

if you want to sell the bardens .. let me know :-)

cheers
t4d

Yes, I agree that I do have a tendency to really like one sound in a particular moment of time and then want all my guitars to sound the same.

However, I feel that I am neglecting the Tele these days because of the brittle sound of the Bardens. I guess that I have EQ-ed the rest of my gear to my other guitars so the Bardens now stand out as the odd ones.

Also, they appear to be running for 600$ a pair lately so I thought it would be a good idea to spend 200$ on pickups I prefer now and keep the 400$ for other expenses.

You want some Bardens? I didn't know you had a Tele?

thanks.

[Lewguitar]

I think the alnico 2 (Jerry Donahue & Alnico II Pro) Tele pickups have the warmer, middier, quackier tone and that the alnico 3 (Fender Nocaster) and alnico 5 (Duncan Broadcaster) Tele pickups tend to have the brighter, more edgy classic Tele tone.

The Duncan a2 Antiquitys are brighter than the a2 Jerry Donahue pickup but still have a lot of quack and warmth.

Anyways, I'd go for a2 Duncans to warm your Tele up: either the Jerry Donahue for more mids and output or the Antiquitys for a little brighter, slightly livlier tone with slightly less output than the JD. I like and use them both!

The Antiquitys remind me most of Roy Buchanan's tone.

I'm still looking for the ultimate Tele neck pickup. A2 is a little to warm for me as a neck pickup...I'm looking for one with the brighter, bouncier tone of a vintage a5 Strat neck pickup. MJ is winding me one in the Duncan custom shop...but it'll be a few weeks before it ships to me so I can try it.

But if you want a warmer tone, I'd say the Duncan Antiquity neck is a great pickup for that...as is the Alnico II Pro.

At the moment, the a5 Fralin Blues Special neck is still my favorite, but it is unavailable as a covered pickup and doesn't look "right" in my old '54 Tele. Of the covered Tele neck pickups I've tried, I like the Nocaster in my '53 Fender CS RI Tele alot.

But I have high hopes for the A5 Duncan Custom Shop neck pickup MJ is winding for me.

Lew

[Marinblues]

I think the alnico 2 (Jerry Donahue & Alnico II Pro) Tele pickups have the warmer, middier, quackier tone and that the alnico 3 (Fender Nocaster) and alnico 5 (Duncan Broadcaster) Tele pickups tend to have the brighter, more edgy classic Tele tone.

The Duncan a2 Antiquitys are brighter than the a2 Jerry Donahue pickup but still have a lot of quack and warmth.

Anyways, I'd go for a2 Duncans to warm your Tele up: either the Jerry Donahue for more mids and output or the Antiquitys for a little brighter, slightly livlier tone with slightly less output than the JD. I like and use them both!

The Antiquitys remind me most of Roy Buchanan's tone.

I'm still looking for the ultimate Tele neck pickup. A2 is a little to warm for me as a neck pickup...I'm looking for one with the brighter, bouncier tone of a vintage a5 Strat neck pickup. MJ is winding me one in the Duncan custom shop...but it'll be a few weeks before it ships to me so I can try it.

But if you want a warmer tone, I'd say the Duncan Antiquity neck is a great pickup for that...as is the Alnico II Pro.

At the moment, the a5 Fralin Blues Special neck is still my favorite, but it is unavailable as a covered pickup and doesn't look "right" in my old '54 Tele. Of the covered Tele neck pickups I've tried, I like the Nocaster in my '53 Fender CS RI Tele alot.

But I have high hopes for the A5 Duncan Custom Shop neck pickup MJ is winding for me.

Lew

Thanks Lew.

I really can't decide....

I am also looking at the Kinman Broadcaster set so I can maintain the noiseless option.