Members Cougher Posted January 2, 2010 Members Share Posted January 2, 2010 I have an old RG750. Stock pickups as we all know suck. Bought a Bill Lawrence 500XL from gearhounds.com (never heard of them either but they are the only people selling this pickup.... fishy....) I then proceeded to find out more info about this company "Bill Lawrence". Even fishier stuff. This company is beyond fishy. Who makes them? Some guy named Jzchak Wajcman. But there are two websites, billlawrence.com and billlawrenceUSA.com, both make pickups and both 2 different people. Did I get a knock off??? I had the pickup installed, playing out of my Peavey 5150. It sounds TERRIBLE. The noisiest thing in the world. No amount of EQ'ing could make this thing sound good. It has LESS gain than the stock neck pickup, and sounds like a constant wah pedal. I bought this pickup to be brutal and now my metal guitar, at high gain, sounds like SRV with lots of noise. What gives???????????????????????? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tiltsta Posted January 2, 2010 Members Share Posted January 2, 2010 One is made by Bill Lawrence, the other is made by Wajcman, who owns to rights to the name Bill Lawrence pickups. There have been a series of lawsuits and such, and I never really followed the story closely. Google bill lawrence lawsuit and spend a day or two reading the massive amount of arguments about these pickups. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tlbonehead Posted January 2, 2010 Members Share Posted January 2, 2010 I have an old RG750. Stock pickups as we all know suck. Bought a Bill Lawrence 500XL from gearhounds.com (never heard of them either but they are the only people selling this pickup.... fishy....) I then proceeded to find out more info about this company "Bill Lawrence". Even fishier stuff. This company is beyond fishy. Who makes them? Some guy named Jzchak Wajcman. But there are two websites, billlawrence.com and billlawrenceUSA.com, both make pickups and both 2 different people. Did I get a knock off??? I had the pickup installed, playing out of my Peavey 5150. It sounds TERRIBLE. The noisiest thing in the world. No amount of EQ'ing could make this thing sound good. It has LESS gain than the stock neck pickup, and sounds like a constant wah pedal. I bought this pickup to be brutal and now my metal guitar, at high gain, sounds like SRV with lots of noise. What gives???????????????????????? I thought everybody knew the Bill Lawrence stories and the mess. Anyway, if it sounds like a SC maybe you have it wired wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members inkblot Posted January 2, 2010 Members Share Posted January 2, 2010 You got a Bill Lawrence USA pickup, which aren't actually made by Bill Lawrence (some people do like the BLUSA ones though). the L500 series is known to be some of the brightest humbuckers around. Dimebag from Pantera was famous for using them. It shouldn't be noisy though, sounds like you have a defective or improperly installed pickup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bert-O-325 Posted January 2, 2010 Members Share Posted January 2, 2010 Personally - I prefer the "Bill & Becky" Lawrence made pickups (rather than the BL-USA guy). I consider him to be the "real deal" (others will argue that). But now that He's hooked up with the Lace Sensor people, it may be a while till manufacturing is up again. As I understand it, the L500's are kinda bright and may need different Vol and Tone pot values to tame them. Also, be sure that they're wired correctly (did you get a wiring diagram with the pickup? if not, see if you can write to the BL-USA guy for help) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Shask Posted January 2, 2010 Members Share Posted January 2, 2010 Personally Ive had both versions, and cant really stand either of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Saturn Posted January 2, 2010 Members Share Posted January 2, 2010 Sounds like a wiring problem. I had a Bill Lawrence in my Washburn N4 and really liked it. As stated it's a kind of bright pickup. I think it sounded pretty cool overdriven. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dimmypage Posted January 2, 2010 Members Share Posted January 2, 2010 If you want a warm & fuzzy type of guitar why not just buy that type of guitar? RG pickups are sterile,but for a reason:cop: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members PunkKitty Posted January 2, 2010 Members Share Posted January 2, 2010 I've tried a few Bill Lawrence pickups (the real one not the assh**** that stole his name). The set of Wilde Tele pickups that I had were too powerful for me. They sounded good, just not my style. Someone from the forum bought them from me and got a good deal. My Keystone Strat pickups are nothing short of great. You can still order them from billlawrence.com. A great deal for $75 a set. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members flummox Posted January 2, 2010 Members Share Posted January 2, 2010 I used the old 70s 500Ls pretty much exclusively for a long time. I hated the later other guy's version. The originals are bright, very hot and extremely quiet. One of a very few humbuckers I've used that don't muddy the wound strings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members treedroppings Posted January 2, 2010 Members Share Posted January 2, 2010 they are at www.wildepickups.com I remember seeing his literature in the late 70s. He is partnering with Lace pickups, nowadays and I've heard good things about the Lace Alumitones for metal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Furtive Posted January 2, 2010 Members Share Posted January 2, 2010 I have an L-500 stock in my early 90s Washburn N2. These are the "Lawrence USA" kind, not the Bill & Becky Lawrence. Sounds great to me, and also sounds like yours is defective. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members alfsboy Posted January 2, 2010 Members Share Posted January 2, 2010 I have a set of Keystone Strats and a set of Teles from billnbecky and they are very good pickups indeed.They cover most tones that I want .The Tele set are a good quality tele set and give twang to blues and most combos inbetween .They are very good on 4 way switching .They are very hight sensitive .The Strats do it all as well .No Keystone humbuckers .I use Tonerider s for p90 and buckers .Sweet and rock like crazy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MatteusNova Posted January 3, 2010 Members Share Posted January 3, 2010 rHIZMuNhF5s Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Angry Tele Posted January 3, 2010 Members Share Posted January 3, 2010 the "real" Bill Lawrence is a legend. Hes work for Dan Armstrong, Framus, Gibson, Fender...He helped design Gibson's Super Humbucker and designed the Fender CS Danny Gatton pickups, of which he said after making them he can't believe anyone would like those pickups. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members linthat22 Posted January 3, 2010 Members Share Posted January 3, 2010 I have a Bill Lawrence l-500-xl pickup and I like it. I bought it for the sound, not the drama. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Norcal_GIT_r Posted January 3, 2010 Members Share Posted January 3, 2010 the "real" Bill Lawrence is a legend. Seeing he IS a legend you might as well know his name which is Bill Stitch. He is the original Bill Lawrence owner/designer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Angry Tele Posted January 3, 2010 Members Share Posted January 3, 2010 Seeing he IS a legend you might as well know his name which is Bill Stitch. He is the original Bill Lawrence owner/designer. wow I did not know that...dudes an enigma, wrapped up in a riddle. You guys should go to TDPRI and look up Ron Kirn's posts, he talks to BIll all the time and then posts synapsis of what was talked about. Its at the same time funny, informative, controversial, and crazy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bzja Posted January 3, 2010 Members Share Posted January 3, 2010 and Willi Stich's health is declining so the business is now with Lace. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BusterBuster Posted January 3, 2010 Members Share Posted January 3, 2010 Only the real Bill "Keystones" for my Teles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members archtop2 Posted January 9, 2010 Members Share Posted January 9, 2010 If the pickup sounds wha and noisy, it's a wiring problem An humbucker with four wires must have the bobins in series, basic diagram for a l-500XL from Gearhound is RED Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Burningleaves Posted January 9, 2010 Members Share Posted January 9, 2010 I like the old DiMarzio made Ibanez pups they put in RG's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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