Frequently Asked Questions
Do you have questions? Write us at info@joebarden.com
Do you recommend a 4 way switching option for my Tele ?
We believe the 3 way is the best way to go with our pickups. Why? Doesn't everyone want as many sounds as they can get?
Well sure, but the series option was developed to allow two thin sounding stock pickups to be darker and louder for a meatier tele sound that stock pickups (as well as many "vintage" after-market pickups) simply can not offer. JBE pickups do not suffer from the thin sound of stock single coils, yet they still deliver authentic (albeit a bit more in your face) tele sound, without noise or hum. Equally important is that the neck and bridge pickup can be balanced to eliminate the disparity of volume between stock (and even many after-market) pickups exhibit.
Most JBE Tele players find that adding the 4 way for series really isn't needed becuase JBE pickups already have more Tone, Power, Punch, and Response that makes series wiring kind of pointless.
Having said this, series wiring is technically possible with JBE pickups and if you want to try it, you will do no harm to either the pickups or your guitar. It may even work for you sufficiently well to say it was all worth doing. But, in general most players who transition to JBE pickups find it is simply not needed.
But, don't let that alone discourage you from trying if you think a series option will work for you. In the end, remember that you as the player determines what works best for you. If it is good for you , it is good! There are many 4 way switching schematics on the web. Find one that suits your needs and above all....have fun.
What pot values do you recommend for your pickups?
Joe Barden pickups are designed to work best with 250k audio taper pots. Other pot values can be used and will affect tone slightly. 250k pots tend to give the guitar a warmer sound than pots with higher values. 500k pots are fine for darker guitars such as a Les Paul in which you would want to retain more highs. Teles and Strats are brighter guitars and benefit from the use of a 250k pot to add some warmth.
We recommend Audio taper pots to achieve more gradual audio reduction. Audio taper is more natural to the ear. Audio taper pots have most of its resistance in the last 50% of its rotation in contrast to a linear taper in which 50% of its total resistance is already achieved at the halfway point of rotation.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Do you recommend use of capacitors (caps) for volume and tone controls, and if so what values?
We recommend using a 120pf (pico farad) capacitor on the volume control and a .047uf (micro farad) for the tone control.
As you back off the volume slightly, the objective is to reduce volume, maintain tone and limit the amount of highs that get rolled off. Volume caps allow you to preserve more highs as the volume is rolled back.
Tone pots act as a variable low pass filter. They roll off the highs by sending them to ground. This means that as the tone pot is turned down only the low frequencies pass to the output and the higher frequencies are cut (sent to ground). The cap value determines the cut-off frequency and how much highs (everything above the cut-off frequency) are reduced. Smaller caps have a higher cutoff and sound brighter while larger caps have a lower cutoff frequency and sound darker in the bass.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Why do your pickups use 4 wires instead of 2 wires like other pickup manufacturers?
Guitarists are always looking for new sounds and ways to experience all the capabilities our design offers. Since our pickup line is all hum cancelling, we incorporate two coils to eliminate hum and noise and still achieve accurate single coil sounds in our S-Deluxe and T-Style model.
Using 4 wires instead of the usual 2 allows the coils to be split if so desired. We generally do not recommend coil splitting in this manner as the resultant sound is not true single coil in nature, nor frankly very pleasing; and as with all single coils, noise and hum are introduced. But for some players who demand this flexibility, we provide the means to do it. The resultant sound is not true single coil in nature. It is a ‘different’ sound that in the hands of the right players offers additional tonal effect.
In contrast to coil splitting, our HB Two/Tone TM pickups employ coil tapping and 6 wires to allow switching between the two modes of the pickup. We tap the coils at an optimum point in our winding process. With an HB Two/Tone TM you can switch between its’ full-bodied humbucker mode and our alternate mode. The alternate mode yields a true single coil sound without introducing hum or noise. The HB Two/Tone TM is dead quiet in either mode. See our website for more info on this unique pickup and why it is a boon for HSS (hum/single/single) Strat configurations.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
What do you mean when you say that Joe Barden Engineering is a new company? The name is basically the same? What has really changed?
The new company is not merely a rethread of the former Joe Barden Pickups Inc. It is a new legal entity, with a new management structure that allows Joe to focus on his core strengths while freeing him from the operational day to day activities of the business.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Is Joe Barden still with the new company?.....Bobby L.
Absolutely!
Joe is the Chief of Technology. He is responsible for R&D, new product design, and is the caretaker of the product line. He ensures that the Joe Barden sound is as good today as it was before with no sacrifices in tone or response that may result from “improvements” in our manufacturing processes.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Do these pickups sound exactly the same as the originals before they were stopped being made. Are they made the same way? ….Billy M.
The pickups we make today are the same as those made by the former company. The design is the same, windings are the same, materials are the same, the vendors we purchase our materials from are the same, and they are still made by hand in the USA.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I am a left-handed player. Do you offer pickups for my left-handed Tele and Strat?
Yes. The staggered blade design of our bridge pickups requires special variants of our T-Style and S-Style pickups for left-handed guitars. These pickups are special orders which your local dealer will be happy to assist you with. If the dealer is unaware that these pickups are available, please have them give us a call so that we can help them help you quickly. By the way, there is NO PRICE INCREASE FOR THEM.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Intonation problems: I use a .010,.013, 017,.030, .042,.052 set on my Tele and none of the compensated saddles seem to deal with my "G"/"D" saddle arrangement. I really don't like the individual steel saddle bridges. ...Dave L. TX
Hi Dave! Thanks for using my saddles, and don't forget, every household needs a set, so tell your friends and neighbors to buy them!
All “seriousness” aside, we used both 9 to 42 and 10 to 46, typical Ernie Ball® Slinkys® when we were experimenting with the angles, and we found that while we could get the guitar's intonation incredibly close with either set (and we had all the other brands of "new, compensated" saddles on hand for comparison; mine blew them all away, as mine were the only saddles drilled at 3 different angles; everybody else's were drilled at one angle only), we knew that, as always, we were going to have to shoot for the best compromise, because:
- String sets vary widely in string gauge
- Everybody sets their guitars up differently, and,
- Every guitar is inherently different anyway.
Your string set is heavier on the bottom, so you may need to compensate a bit.
First, the guitar MUST be on its' side (on a padded surface, please), in playing position, whenever you are tuning, or setting intonation. If the guitar is laying down flat, the string tension is going to be pulled unnaturally, from somewhere, somehow, screwing up your adjustments; trust me on this one.
Second, use a good tuner with a good built-in mic when doing these adjustments, so that you can play through your amp at a reasonable volume, and the reading will be taken by the tuner's mic. You want to force as much reality into the process as possible.
Third, DO NOT use the usually recommended intonation method of the12th fret octave with the 12th fret fretted. This will never work, as the nut, being parallel to the first fret, is going to always leave the guitar out of tune somewhere on the fingerboard, unless you use all 6 strings of equal diameter (Use all "D" strings! You'll be a pioneer!). Actually, even with perfect intonation, at least 5 of the 6 open strings and their 1st fret note are always going to be out of tune, because the nut has no way to compensate for the other strings' different diameters. With guitars, you're almost always stuck living with the best compromise, but I feel that my parts leave you with a much better compromise than anyone else's!
The typical method of setting the intonation is to have the 12th fret harmonic in tune with 12th fret fretted note. This does not work, and it may, in fact, exacerbate the aforementioned nut issue. An infinitely better method of intonation adjustment is to fret each string at it's 1st fret, and compare that to the same string fretted at it's 13th fret, setting the saddles so that each fretted note is in tune (fret very lightly, so as not to stretch the string behind the fret. I actually press the string to the top of the fret with my fingernail). This method should get you much closer, or even spot on! If you still can't get it right, set the saddle so that each string needs each side of the saddle to be moved the same amount in order to be in tune, and then, with a screwdriver touching the back of the saddle on the side closest to the nut, give the screwdriver a GENTLE whack with a pair of pliers, or something sturdy that is NOT A HAMMER, and you will then wind up with a very slightly bent length adjustment screw, but one which allows the saddle tops to be in the right location. This is the old method that Danny and Roy taught me for getting the saddles angled correctly, but back then we would have to bend the screw an enormous amount, so much that you were always stuck with only being able to adjust the saddle one half of a turn at a time, because the saddles were straight to begin with. Ya gotta do what ya gotta do, right?
One other thing: always start by replacing the two strings on each saddle at the same time, and while the old strings are off the guitar, screw the saddle back towards the back of the bridge a little bit, so that all adjustments (with the exception of the sadism outlined above), involve moving the saddle forward, towards the nut, as this will leave any kinks in the string leftover from the adjustment process behind the saddle, where they will not affect the even vibration of the string.
