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Bill Lawrence L500-XL Sound?


rsf1977

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Supposedly the Seymour Duncan Dimebucker is a copy of this one.

 

I ordered one last year (the L-500 XL from the one and only Bill Lawrence at www.billlawrence.com, not the other fake site) and replaced the stock Ibanez pickup in my old SA160.

 

It was better, but I would be lying if I said it was a dramatic improvement (but that might because maybe the stock pickup was better than I thought it was).

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I really don't remember that well, I had for about 3 months before I sold my SA160 and decided I wanna go low and got myself a baritone instead.

 

I remember it was quite good, balanced and had a clean tone, but I think the original Seymour Duncan JB on my ESP sounded better.

 

But than the ESP costs 3 times as much as the Ibanez SA160 (which had a horrible tremolo that probably sucked out a lot of the tone), so it's hard for me to compare.

 

Either way, the L-500 XL is inexpensive ($55 or so) so even if you don't like it you should be able to easily sell it for $40 or more on EBay to people who want to get it right away instead of waiting 4-6 weeks to get them from Bill and Becky.

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Well, sometimes less bass is better...for example on my baritone I cut down a lot of the bass before the preamp and boost it only afterwards.

 

this helps a lot to get a really chunky sound when palm muting, 'cause boosting the bass on thick string will just make it sound like mud, especially on palm mutes.

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Originally posted by rsf1977

thin huh? that sucks? I thought people liked this for metal?

 

 

The EMG 81 is the thinnest sounding pickup i have ever heard, but it cuts ridiculously well. With the right eq'ing you can get them more beefy, obviously.

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Originally posted by EdgySwingsetAcid



The EMG 81 is the thinnest sounding pickup i have ever heard, but it cuts ridiculously well. With the right eq'ing you can get them more beefy, obviously.

 

 

good point! I should have thought of that lol I always want it to be perfect out of the box and i guess nothing really is :)

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Originally posted by Central Scrutinizer

i have the L500L, which is lower output, and it screams. the word i think of is "clear".

 

 

nice! what is 500XL supposed to sound like in comparison to the 500L?

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I have a genuine XL and yes, I would say clear is a better description than thin. There is a fair amount of treble, but I have found that with all ceramic magnet pickups I've played. It's great for hard rock and metal. Quite agressive nature overall and it has a surprisingly good twangy clean.

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  • 4 months later...
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Originally posted by SoundwaveLove

i'm insterested in the L-500 because of the blade setup but I don't like twang. looking for more of a blues cruch

Would i be better off with a L-500 R?

or should i look somewhere else

 

 

the R is the neck pup that is matched to the XL.

 

i'd go with an L. i like it in my ibanez.

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I got em in a 94 RR USA Jackson & were factory installed for only a year or 2, & I think they are the other L-500Xl's, they are filled & have the thinner blade, ...anyway, they are NOT thin in the least in my guitar . I don't care for the Bill Lawrence drama crap, But it is highly debateable who even made the original. I think I have read that it was not even Bill L. Since Bill Lawrence is just a company name & no REAL Bill Lawrence to speak of. I would say just listen to them without the are they real or not crap, buy from both USA.com & Bill & Beck L & hear for yourself, sell the ones you don't like for what you paid easily. I can truley say head to head agaist some very good USA pickups I have, they do very , very well.

J & G

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I had one in a Washburn Nuno model. It`s been a few years, but I`ll try to describe it. It was very hot, output wise. Also it had a very cutting top end and upper mid-range voicing. I never had any trouble with it sounding thin. I think they are just so tight in the bass responce that people mistake them for sounding thin. Also they aren`t voiced like a lot of modern high output hummers. They don`t have the over bearing, woofy bass responce. Also I wouldn`t recommend them for an overly bright guitar. A too bright guitar may make the 500XL sound too bright.

 

If you`re playing music that requires clarity and tight pick responce then the 500XL would be a good choice.

 

Eric

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