The originals had the full spectrum and clarity. Just sparkle. The Kinmans are second. The CS Broadcasters had nice modern low end. The others were unremarkable for me.
@V Thanks, some people just don't see that... you could put a $10k guitar and a $250 guitar through a Fulltone OCD and they will sound very much alike! Thanks for listening
The 56 has it all. Sweet lows, sparkling highs.. the right mids. - The Bardens seem tamer but have a similarly pleasing spectrum of frequencies. The others are all missing a lot compared to the 56... but all fine sounds regardless. That 56 is a treasure.
@@guitarguitarsguitars1711 Not that I think there is a huge difference in them but if I may, are your Bardens Vienna made or Manassas made? Either are very good pickups and were my favorites in the demo. Of course the old fender pickups sounded good too just not as articulate as the Bardens. Great Demo Thanks!
I wonder how many people could pick out the '56 is this had been a true blind test without even naming the candidates before hand. Thanks for posting and thanks for not using distortion, or god awful delay.
This is probably the most informative pickup comparison I've ever seen. Well-played, well-recorded, organized by pickup position, no overdrive or effects. The Kinman neck pickup really impressed me but I don't think anything touches the vintage bridge pickup. What a special guitar you had there, too.
Hi Guil... after this video, I tweaked the back pickup by just 1/32 of an inch and it made a huge difference! Sounded much clearer with more presence. I love Bardens, just know height makes a difference. Thanks for watching!
Too me the difference was so minimal your amp settings could compensate for any of it. I do appreciate your non distortion approach to make the comparisons as that is the true voice . Thanks from an every night tele player
thanks for listening! Yes, that 56 blew me away... the Bardens are great all around pickups, both live and in the studio... I agree with your assessment! Thanks again
I thought that the Barden equipped Tele sounded great in the in-between setting and especially the neck pickup but I found the bridge to be slightly flat sounding .
There was a significant drop in volume in all of them compared to the original. I was surprised I thought the Bardens were kind of weak. They were balanced but didn’t impress me at all. And I’ve been considering them for years
I have a thinline with Nocasters in both neck and bridge, and was basically here to check out the Bardens. But really the guitar with the Nocaster Bridge/ Twisted Tele was my favorite (aside from the sweet purity of the original 56). This is maybe the fourth time I've ended up talking myself out of the Bardens (and in this case , into a Twisted Tele neck pickup). I see other comments praising their *clarity*, but they sound like the sparkle is completely gone. I played with a great player for years who had Bardens in a G&L Tele and sounded fantastic, though always had a bit of overdrive in his sound. I think for what I like in a truly clean sound they just lack the harmonics and sparkle I like to have, even if I do roll some of it off with the tone knob.
Holy cow! This was spectacular. I was going to get Bardens until I heard this. Nothing wrong with those at all, but the Kinmans are definitely more of what I’m looking for.
Great video - very excinting ! Doing the comparison under clean-conditions is additional the best way to realize how good the Tele-sound is. Thank you very much !
Thanks Steve, I appreciate you watching and saying that. In fairness to the Bardens: After this video, I didn't think they sounded very good. What I did was raise them about 1/64ths higher than the manufactures specs. Steve, it made all the difference in the world! It sounded like a different guitar. I never thought it would be such a dramatic change. So don't give up on them, they aren't bad! All the best!
Great to hear hear a video not drowning in overdrive. Much more informative, many thanks. 56 just shades it, but surprised at how close the Kinman gets. All great sounding pickups in their own right.
Excellent comparison and thank you for doing it with clean sounds. 56 and Kinman for the bridge, 56 and Barden at the neck for me. And yes, I watched it all the way through. Right up to the curious spelling and beyond ;)
That is a great idea... I'd like other the Barden's with 500k's too... if I ever do it, I'll be sure to let you know... thanks for the good idea and for listening!
You are welcome and thanks for listening... I have to say, that 56 was magical! :-) And yes, I could never understand why people do demos with drive. Happy picking!
@@guitarguitarsguitars1711 You are so right, clean is best, and for hearing amps too. You can always degrade your tones from there with distortion, overdrive, fuzz, etc. But a good warm, shimmering clean in a tube amp is the ticket. Probably why I like a clean amp the best, like a good BF Fender Super Reverb or Vibrolux. I am impressed with the Tone King Sky King, it sounds great clean like a good blackface, but you can get a lot of other tones out of the second channel and the two built in attenuators. That is one cool amp, usable from bedroom to stage.
Each pickup has it strengths and weaknesses. I am going with a set of Barden pickups for the double coil him cancel and the sound is a bit fuller than a single coil however they don’t look as nice 😂!
I'm in at least three different FB Tele-related groups and we love our Teles whether Fender or T-style... the Holy Grail '56 and the Joe Barden loaded Telecasters are my favorites though the other two almost identical soundwise; straight-no-chaser is the way to go!
I have owned 20 or 30 Telecasters since I bought my first one in 1968. Fender promoted a “Summer sale”. Brand new, $225.00. At age 15, I bought a “Brown one” at a music store in Gary, on layaway. This was a very early all rosewood model with gloss finish. My most prized is an all original November/1954 I purchased from Gruhn’s. In most of the guitars, I immediately swapped pickups, from the late 70’s to current. The Early Bardens were nice. Not authentic Vintage tone, but very versatile. Currently running a set of Fender Custom Shop ‘51 Nocaster pups in a MIJ Pink Paisley with satisfying results. Have owned several Fender Custom Shop Telecasters, and one CS ‘51 Nocaster. Perhaps the biggest surprise of all the Teles I have messed around with modifications is a Squier Classic Vibe ‘60s sunburst double bound body, with a deep C neck shape All Parts Stratocaster Maple neck, Jason Lollar Vintage T pickups, Emerson Custom Shop 4 way switch/Bournes potententiometer control assy. and Gotoh 6 saddle bridge. A tribute build to Eric Clapton’s Blind Faith Hyde Park Show guitar. The tone of this guitar through any of my amps is my favorite Tele tone, ever.
I'm here on RU-vid searching for Tele pickups, and I run across this video...I own a Warmoth Tele that I built that has the Joe Barden Danny Gatton pickups, and I play it through my Kemper Stage with my favorite profile....you guessed it, the Carr 6V. Maybe I should stop looking. Lol
Great demo, I have a few Teles myself, 2 of them homemade partscasters . Have to say that they all sounded great but think the original 56 had the edge. I know the sound is not for everybody but I always liked the way Danny Gatton could make those Bardens squeal like an ice pick to the brain !!!
Sounds like you have some great guitars! And yes, that 56 does shine. I adjusted the Bardens a bit after this video and they sounded even better. Happy picking!
The original is the cleanest sounding and retains all the highs. The Barden set comes close to the original bridge and the Barden neck pickup sounds better than any on my studio momitors. Great comparison! Thank you! I've been a recording engineer for 45 years and I can't tell anything about tone run through low wattage amps that automatically break up or run through distortion boxes. I like to hear only the pickups please. Best shootout there!!
Thanks for the upload. Although one can't beat the looks of a true '56 Tele, the Joe Barden set came very close tonewise. The spectrum is very well balanced plus you get very little if no hum with these. Special mention for the twisted Tele neck pickup: one of my favorites. 4 beautiful Tele specimens: kudos !
Thanks Brian, I really appreciate that... one of my pet peeves is when people use drive for demos... drive will color tone no matter how you look at it and sort of homoginize everything... through a Tube Screamer, a 56 Tele and a $125 sound pretty close - happy picking!
Excellent video ! I really liked the originals first and most , but those Kinman pick ups , for me , had the vibe I'd be into if I was to purchase . Mind you , all sounded very good . Nice collection . Very well done . Much appreciated .
Great demo. They all sound great. The 56 is pretty amazing, esp. in bridge and middle positions. Really dig those Kinmans too. The Bardens sound less sterile here than in other demos I've heard. Great playing too. Thanks again and God bless you too!
Hey Jesse, thanks for the kind words and for listening! Yes, that 56 is hard to beat... also, after this video, I adjusted the bridge pickup of the Bardens by lowering it just 1/32 and it sounded better - thanks again and happy picking
true, and this lady will only sing if i bow right. but when she sings… (though after a career of 44+ years she needs a bit of maintenance.) i liked the honesty of your stories and playing, so i liked your video. first one ever. when finally you're at peace with your guitar playing, you know that when you die and go to heaven you take a tele. the question is: which one?
Hey Steve, thanks for checking out the video. Just FYI, after this video, I adjusted the Bardens just 1/64 further from the strings and they really came alive. In fact I bought a second set for my other Tele - I highly recommend then. PS - I also just put them in my Ric.
Great video. I'm a Tele luver and player myself and I'm always fascinated to hear different pickups put loaded into them. That said, I'm a fan of "old school" Tele tones and that '56 really captures that vibe (i.e. James Burton, Jim Messina, Roy Nichols, etc.). The others, to me, introduced too many mids in the bridge position, although the Barden actually did pretty well in sort of coping the old Tele bridge pickup vibe. In order of preference, I rank them 56, Barden, Kinman (pretty good), Beast (not a fan of that tone).
You have a good ear for tone! I think you assessed the pickups well... and I am more of an "old school" fan as well... I do find some of the other pickups to come in handy when I am doing different styles... thanks a lot for listening and for your excellent feedback!
Great comparison! Thanks for the video. Exactly what I was looking for and I think this keeps me from changing pickups to Kinman or Danny Gatton. I liked the vintage and the CS the most.
Thanks for watching! One note is that after this vid I adjusted the Gatton and they sounded even better. For some reason, they are very sensitive to height adjustment. Though the KInmans look more vintage of course, I think I prefer the Bardens a bit
Terrific video demo on the subtle differences...very helpful. I felt that of the 4 sets, the Bardens were the most different. They have the least amount of identifiable "Tele" sound. They are smooth and creamy, and clearn and they played quietest of the 4 sets. Highs and lows were less pronounced as compared to the other sets, I thought. But there's a place in the guitar world for a smooth single coil sound! The other extreme to my ears were the Kinmans, which had the most attack, with the sharpest highs and fullest bass. The other two to my ears had classic Tele sound and I couldn't tell much difference. All were terrific; thanks for a great video, and in particular, thanks for playing clean, as I agree 100% with your explanation.
Hey Phil, Thanks for checking out the video... you made a good assessment! The one thing I would note is that for better or worse, the Bardens are VERY sensitive to height adjustment... just 1/32 either way could make a huge difference... all the best
I love Lace Sensors... I would say, to my years, LS are a bit brighter and a touch more "airy." The JBEs have a bit more presence and m1ds - thanks for listening!
The Kinman's sounded closest to the 56's nice top end sparkle . The twisted Tele kinda weak and dark the Bardin's sounded really Good a nice compromise, a little more humbucker sounding than The Kinman's. I liked them all, guess that why I own 7 teles!
Hey Dawn, thanks for checking out the video. I think your assessment is spot on. The Bardens are my go-to live pickups. I love the KInmans, but have to shave just a hair of treble off the amp when playing or recording. Congrats on the 7 Teles!! Very cool!
I had a bass player bring in a case to a gig of a 52 Tele he got in exchange for working on a guys Cadillac. It was a $1200 bill and he didn't know what he had. I got to play it for a month at weekly gigs and at home. I told him that it was a 52, confirmed by G Gruhn. That guitar was amazing. Better than any guitar I had every played. it made me sound so much better and inspired me to play. There is magic in the old guitars.
Great, great demo ! I have Bardens on my favourite, but looking for something more vintage-sounding - I favoured the Twisted Tele pickups, but the Kinmans sounded best for my needs. Thanks !
Hi Guy and thanks for checking out the video... for what it is worth, if you want a true vintage tone, I have found that you just can't beat Lindy Fralin Tele pickups. Sadly, I didn't have any on hand for this demo. Thanks again and Merry Christmas!
@@guitarguitarsguitars1711 Good point...! I have some vintage-strength Fralin Blades on a Strat, and a vintage Fralin on another Strat... wonderful pickups. I was impressed with the Kinmans in your comparison since they sounded close to the originals in tone, yet they're noiseless... I have a pedalboard which makes pickup hum intrusive, so they'll be good ! Thanks again !
In the early'80's, before Seymour Duncan has all of the fancy names they have now. Anyway, these were installed in my '67 Telecaster Custom (which has long let me), but the pickups now live in my '92 MIM Tele.
Thank you for that great comparison, you did it PERFECTLY. My favorites are 56s and Bardens, both are very articulate and both sound good (I listened through a Sony headset used in studios, i don't have the model number). I suppose the 56s are simply unavailable but the Bardens should be. BTW, to my ear, I do not like the Modern Bardens, only the Danny Gattons. The modern are just too dark for me. BTW, I don't have the Gattons, but that is on my immediate bucket "to do" list. One last question, the sound track at the end (I really like it alot, it is interesting and can go in a lot of dirrections), I'm assuming you guys put it together, how did you get those sounds?
Hey Johnny, thanks for the kind words and for listening.... I agree with you that I like the original Barden's better myself... the music at the end is just a "clip" that was available for free on the net. Stay safe out there!
Good call not using an overdrive . All sound real good. I have bardens n their best for im doin,but if doin something different i may want 1 of the other set. Lol , seems its all so relative . Thx for doin this.
Thanks for listening Glenn! After this video I raised the Bardens only about 1.32nd of an inch and they sounded so much better. I can't believe that such a small increment made such a difference!
@@guitarguitarsguitars1711 100% , Especially on a Tele . Bridge and neck . Subtle height adjustments yield major results . Its great when you get them in that perfect sweet spot . I use Alnico's .... which yield less string pull / loss of sustain and or that warbly sound you can get with the strong magnetic pull of ceramics . Alnico 5 and right height for me does the trick . Every Tele is a lilttle bit different , as well as string guage variables , so no defined heights can be written in stone . Great topic and observations .
Thanks for doing this video! That original 56 sounds incredible. But honestly to my ears the second guitar (52 custom shop with nocaster in bridge and twisted tele) wasn't far behind it. Heck let it season for another 50 years and it might be there.
The 56 sounded the best to which I wasn't expecting to be honest, thought they might sound a bit thin but wow, such a multi dimensional sound. However I was really impressed with the Kinman's. To my ears they sounded the closest to the 56 .. not quite as sweet but with them being noiseless, the advantages are obvious because you can crank 'em up without the hum. The "beast" sounded ok but a bit subdued and the Bardens had plenty of clarity but they get 3rd and 4th place for me. Would be nice to hear all of them cranked up into overdrive for some snarly Tele with attitude sounds.
You have a good ear and I can see why you say that... the Kinmans are a tad bright, but, they are the most 3D of them all... One note, after the video, I set the height of the Bardes about 1/32 higher than their recommended specs and it made a huge difference. They became much more "alive." Thanks for checking out the video.
Great video and comparison. I have been using Bardens in a Tele and a Strat since 94 and they are my fave over my other Fenders and perhaps overall...but that's just my ear, right? Thank you!
They all sound good to me but my question is ``what's the name of them SPLIP tuning keys you have on the yellow fender, they should be all like this, easy to string them up with the hole and the splip shaft. Thank You.
They are all great and similar in terms of the characteristics, but Kinman & Barden have a quite modern sounding, more gain, more low-mid end, more sparky. Can’t say which one is “better”. But I will still go for the Fender’s. The balanced harmonics are just special and versatile to be played with stompboxes & amps. Nice vid! Just sub!! Cheers from Hongkong 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
Thanks for that. I totally agree about demoing the pickups clean and not over driven which sometimes turns more into an amp or OD pedal demo than a pickup demo. How a pickup overdrives is important but not as important as the clean sound. I hate to say this but I kind of liked all the pickups. They each had their own thing going on and it was all good. I recently picked up a Buzz Feiten T-Pro and I might change the pups out so I'm doing research. That was a great demo thanks!
Hi Jeff and thanks for watching the video! I agree that each had their one thing going on and I guess it depends on the sound you are looking for as well as the type of music you are playing. Congrats on the new BF. They look like fun guitars, but I've never gotten a change to play one. Have fun with the pickup search!!
Having known Danny Gatton a wee bit back in the day in MD (he had a repair shop in Oxon Hill, MD, and worked on two guitars for me circa 1979), and talking to him three weeks before he passed in 1994, I was expecting the Bardens to be the best. However, I knew really nothing about the Kinmans, but they sounded the best to me. Everything clear, bright and twangy that you want in a Tele, but with some extra fatness/warmth to them. I am impressed with those and will be researching them. I have a USA G&L ASAT Classic S, and it sounds good, but the bridge could use some oomph, it's a bit thin to my ears, not quite the Tele honk. In my thumbnail, I have my 1990s, three bolt neck plate USA G&L ASAT Special, which is a great sounding Tele with its MFD pups (some say P-90-esque, but good twang in the bridge and just amazing in the middle and neck too). God bless you, brother, for making a great tone test video, with some sweet chickin' pickin' too (my wife, not so musical, even picked up on it and liked your style). I knew Buddy Church pretty well down in Memphis, and he was an amazing chickin' picker who toured with Tammy Wynette, Jerry Lee Lewis, etc. Too sad he passed also. He was the top guitar salesman at the GC down in Memphis, TN, and also made some good side dough in a trio around town. Ah, but I digress. Still, good to remember great folks like him, and Danny.
Wow, thanks for sharing those incredible memories! I miss Danny so... BTW, after this video I adjusted theBardnes about 1/64th and it made a huge difference!
@@guitarguitarsguitars1711 Y/w, and it's Way too sad that he passed so young and unnecessarily, no doubt. I read that you adjusted the Bardens a bit lower? I have a friend who has a Tele and swears by the Bardens. He lived in Northern VA and could visit Joe to buy them back in the day, early 2000s, etc.
The bridge on the original 56 was amazing.... too bad they don't make em anymore. The bardens were very nice on the bridge, mellow, but plenty of twang and bite. The kinman bridge was great too but has more growl to it. On the neck pickup the kinmans were the best in my opinion though. Since I would like to pump some overdrive on the bridge too, I think the kinmans would be a great fit for me, but for anyone looking for a clean setup, the bardens are a very nice option as well. Didn't care much for the twisted tele set though.
You make a great point... yes, you are probably right... there is perhaps some truth around the folklore about magnets aging, the windings being scatter wound, etc... but you have a great ear as that did sound the most "classic" to me - thanks for checking out the video!
they all sound very similar .. in a band sitution or in a mix you probably couldnt tell the difference.. not to say there is no difference for the tele freak, but any of these sound as good as the next...
Thanks for posting such a comprehensive pickup comparison, it's perfect. A Tele freak myself, I'd like to point out that one should not forget that the 56 pickups have lost part of their initial charge. If they did sound amazing, they were probably runchier to begin with. And I think the beast must sound quite similar to what the 56 sounded in 1956. My favorite guitar here indeed is the beast. Crazy, right? It has that classic Johnny Burnette Train kept a rollin compression I love on a good Tele and that I am missing from the 56. The best neck pickup though cleary is the 56, as it mellowed, it is clear, deep and sweet. Joe Barden pickups nail the Gatton sound. Not a fan of the Kinman, nice but lacking personnality. MHO. And give me any of those 4 and I'm happy :-) Cheers.
Curious why you chose to mix the nocaster and twisted tele sets. Can you elaborate what drove that decision? Why not use a whole nocaster set or a whole Twisted tele set. Your input would be real helpful. The video was great and I really dug the 56 the best. Thank you for the time you put into making it
I'm in the process of planning a Telecaster build and have decided to use the Barden "Gatton T-set" pickups. After watching and listening to your demo, I'm curious about your Barden neck pickup. When you played the bridge and then the bridge-neck combined on the other guitars, the Barden pickups seemed more subdued, almost as if the volume had been lowered. Only when the neck pickup was isolated did it then seem to be comparable to the other three neck pickups. Was the sound quality on RU-vid the same as it was on your studio playback?
You have a great ear! Yes, it does sound subdued in the recording. However, I went back and set up the guitar and moved the pickups about 1/64 to 1/32 closer than the manufacturer recommends and now the guitar REALLY shines - I played live with it a few weeks ago and it was like a whole new guitar. What a difference a small adjustment could make with these pickups. I highly recommend them!!
I’m a three Tele owner, a Nashville, 03’ USA stock with hot pups (noisy) and my 12’ deluxe with JBE DGs. The deluxe with the JBE is the best sounding and playing of all my teles, strats and Les Paul’s. The original N3 noiseless couldn’t touch the JBEs. Yea it’s that much better. It’s the pickups. (My deluxe, is highly modded, Reverse Controls, it’s just amazing). Great Video.
great comparison... nice and scientific. Thank you for using clean and for the methodical approach. The p'ups in the original '56 are the most musical. I was surprised at how 'hard' the Barden's sounded...like neon lighting vs the candle light of the '56's. I guess it's the world we now live in.
Also, I like these type of videos where you don't tell people which pickup is in which guitar, maybe reveal in a different video. 80% of people are going to say they like the vintage one best even without hearing it
