The Real Bill Lawrence????

[cosmiccharlie9]

I bought one from the guy who helped develop the SCN's . I don't really care about thier dispute, I just wanted to know which had the better pickup. I"ve never posted a review before but I think I will for this one since it seems it could be useful to anybody who is confused. Maybe everyone will be so confused that they'll both go out of buisness. Shame really.

[one4rich]

I have 5 BL pickups...2 L-500XLs, 2 L-500Rs, and 1 L-450L. All of them are excellent, and do something most other pickups do not. The offer high output without losing the high end. Most pickups lose high end when they are wound hotter...Bill's pickups retain their clarity where others do not. Bill Lawrence is a designer of excellent pickups, the real deal. The site is www.billlawrence.com.

 

The other man using Bill's name to sell his fakes is not capable of anything other than selling copies of Bill's old designs. Ask him to design a pickup for you...he is incapable of it.

 

A good friend of mine has a custom pickup made by Bill Lawrence in his E.C. Strat.... He consulted Bill on the phone, told Bill what he was after, why stock pickups didn't do it for him, and Bill made him a special one. Wajcman can't do THAT!

[bacosta0009]

Originally posted by one4rich I have 5 BL pickups...2 L-500XLs, 2 L-500Rs, and 1 L-450L. All of them are excellent, and do something most other pickups do not. The offer high output without losing the high end. Most pickups lose high end when they are wound hotter...Bill's pickups retain their clarity where others do not. Bill Lawrence is a designer of excellent pickups, the real deal. The site is www.billlawrence.com. The other man using Bill's name to sell his fakes is not capable of anything other than selling copies of Bill's old designs. Ask him to design a pickup for you...he is incapable of it. A good friend of mine has a custom pickup made by Bill Lawrence in his E.C. Strat.... He consulted Bill on the phone, told Bill what he was after, why stock pickups didn't do it for him, and Bill made him a special one. Wajcman can't do THAT!

 

i agree with this, but why should he need to create more pickups. the ones they both sell now are the ones that they are known for. when i ordered from www.billlawrence.com i didn't see a whole lot of pickups either. but like i said, the pickups that the company makes are what it's known for.

[L6Sguy]

 

Originally posted by devastone ...The "real" Bill also helped Fender with the design of their new Samarium Cobalt noiseless pickups. He is a legit pickup designer and has been doing it for a long time, I used some of his pickups in the late 70s (DOH! There I go dating myself again). Roger

 

 

he's done a lot of things, this being one of my favs.

[one4rich]

Originally posted by bacosta0009 i agree with this, but why should he need to create more pickups. the ones they both sell now are the ones that they are known for. when i ordered from www.billlawrence.com i didn't see a whole lot of pickups either. but like i said, the pickups that the company makes are what it's known for.

 

What Bill is known for is high quality pickups at a low price. Notice I said "high quality" pickups. The other guy using his name for sales purposes cannot legitimately make the same claim.

 

The simple fact is that Bill continues to experiment with pickup designs, and doesn't merely rest on his laurels as a guy that made the pickup Guitarist X used, or the guy that worked for Gibson, etc.

 

The Samarium Cobalt Noiseless pickup he designed for Fender is a completely new design, using a magnet not normally used for guitar pickups.

 

Bill designs new pickup lines, and improves existing lines as well. Wajcman merely copies 30 year old designs, and uses Bill's name to sell them.

[bacosta0009]

 

Originally posted by one4rich What Bill is known for is high quality pickups at a low price. Notice I said "high quality" pickups. The other guy using his name for sales purposes cannot legitimately make the same claim. The simple fact is that Bill continues to experiment with pickup designs, and doesn't merely rest on his laurels as a guy that made the pickup Guitarist X used, or the guy that worked for Gibson, etc. The Samarium Cobalt Noiseless pickup he designed for Fender is a completely new design, using a magnet not normally used for guitar pickups. Bill designs new pickup lines, and improves existing lines as well. Wajcman merely copies 30 year old designs, and uses Bill's name to sell them.

 

 

i agree, but there is nothing wrong with the bl-usa pickups, they are the same as when "willi" worked there. i like and have owned both of them and the dimebucker, i prefer the bl-usa one. that said though, i may get another l500xl from willi. and for resting on laurels i have two words for you, gibson and fender. if you get it right the first time you really don't need to improve. i'm not knocking or defending anyone or anything, just my opinion, also, he does what other companies should do, high quality at a low cost.

[one4rich]

 

Originally posted by bacosta0009 i agree, but there is nothing wrong with the bl-usa pickups, they are the same as when "willi" worked there. i like and have owned both of them and the dimebucker, i prefer the bl-usa one. that said though, i may get another l500xl from willi. and for resting on laurels i have two words for you, gibson and fender. if you get it right the first time you really don't need to improve. i'm not knocking or defending anyone or anything, just my opinion, also, he does what other companies should do, high quality at a low cost.

 

 

 

My resting on laurels comment was actually a jab at Gibson and Fender. They don't actually improve their products very often, and when they do, they usually mess it up. There are the occasional success stories, like the SCN pickups, etc. but for the most part they stick with those 50 year old ideas. It's not a matter of getting it right the first time, as much as it is resting on laurels.

 

A big part of that problem is that guitarists tend to be more traditional and don't usually embrace something new or different. The Steinberger and Parker guitars met with resistance, but they persevered. Gibson and Fender just throw things at the wall seeing what sticks. They don't really believe in anything other than the dollar. Innovation isn't what they're about any more.

[tommyld]

I don't give a crap about the dispute.

 

But here's what I know:

 

www.billlawrence.com makes the pickups that pretty much consistently get good reviews.

 

www.billlawrenceusa.com makes the pickups that pretty much consistently get bad reviews.

 

That's all I need to know to make my decision.

[bacosta0009]

 

Originally posted by one4rich My resting on laurels comment was actually a jab at Gibson and Fender. They don't actually improve their products very often, and when they do, they usually mess it up. There are the occasional success stories, like the SCN pickups, etc. but for the most part they stick with those 50 year old ideas. It's not a matter of getting it right the first time, as much as it is resting on laurels. A big part of that problem is that guitarists tend to be more traditional and don't usually embrace something new or different. The Steinberger and Parker guitars met with resistance, but they persevered. Gibson and Fender just throw things at the wall seeing what sticks. They don't really believe in anything other than the dollar. Innovation isn't what they're about any more.

 

 

 

agreed on that, usually when they try something new they want too much money for it or no one likes it. when they have something different that looks like the consumer likes they discontinue them also. i know that the gibson gothics had to do pretty good, as well as the voodoo's and they got rid of them. gibson should also give up on there "budget" models. the price of those (faded series etc.) are worth it, especially quality wise.

[presa_tito]

Originally posted by tommyld I don't give a crap about the dispute. But here's what I know: www.billlawrence.com makes the pickups that pretty much consistently get good reviews. www.billlawrenceusa.com makes the pickups that pretty much consistently get bad reviews. That's all I need to know to make my decision.

This is what it comes down to and I've had both. If you want the quality, you go with the "real" one. {censored} the dispute. Who cares about who claims what. The fact is that "Bill" is the designer and brains behind the pickups. The other company is just living off old copied designs.

[walkinblues]

Originally posted by cosmiccharlie9 There are 2 Bill Lawrence Pickup sites on the web. One says the other guy isn't really Bill Lawrence. If I wanna try a BL pup in my Tele which is the real pickup? (By that I mean the one that people like Roy Buchanan used). Does anybody know the truth about this? Or at least can anybody recommend a non shielded neck pup for my Tele that doesn't involve an identity crisis?

 

afaik, Roy used the singlecoil "Black Label" Tele pickups that these folks still make: www.billlawrenceusa.com. they're the pickups in the guitar he's playing on the cover of "When a Guitar Plays the Blues".