Testimonials
2007
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Bill Lawrence's
First Commandment is--"Thy
Pickups Shall Not Hum."
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So.... when Neil McAvinia from Ireland sent in his order on the following
index card, we thought it was pretty cool!
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Testimonials - New 20
Hi Becky, Peter J. here. I LOVE my L200's! Regarding the new L90 and L45 - TELL ME MORE PLEASE! A direct comparo to a L280SN/L280SM/L500L combo would be great! Thanks, Peter ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Hi Becky and Bill Yesterday I received the 290TL
and the 280TN pickups. I have been hanging out for these in the hope it
will transform my Tele to a guitar that is as nice electrically as it
is when played dry. The Guitar is a bitser I built several years back
from a neck I bought off ebay and reshaped a bit, and an ash body I made
etc. When I put this together I was not really sure what to expect but
what I got was a guitar that played wonderfully and when played dry just
sang. The body is really light and the guitar is very resonant. However
my original choice of (other manufacturers) pickups did not work at all
for me, the bridge pickup was harsh (it could shred but not much else)
and the neck pickup was kind of thin and washed out. Combining the two
pickups was the best position overall but the sound was very one dimensional
perhaps uni-directional - all string and none of the natural warmth I
had hoped for. Today I fitted the pickups you sent and am
just blown away by the sound - it has all the bite you would expect from
a Tele, but so much more, it seems to replicate the wonderful acoustic
warmth of the Guitar in a way that makes me think it hears not only the
strings but listens to the wood talking. I did read that these pickups
would pickup the sound of the whole guitar in an omni-directional way,
but had no idea they would understand the timbre of the instrument or
respond to changes my playing technique with so much sublety. This wonderful
surprise was doubled when I experienced the tonal variations I can now
get with the Q-filter installed. This small effort from me and your many years
of experience has finally provided me with the electric sounds I always
felt my guitar had to give. The bridge and neck pickup are truly incredible,
the middle position just make sense and provides a perfect balance of
the two. I am amazed that I can get so many sounds from this one guitar,
from a clean bite to balsy crunch to just darned beautiful. A have attached
two smallish photos of the newly Lawrenced guitar. Normally I would post
these on my web site and send a link but that was hacked and is now full
of adverts for some unknown and unwanted drug, so it is currently off
line for repair. I hope these attachments do not cause a problem. You
may remember that I also got some L609s from you a while back with the
intention of putting these into a large body guitar I have. Not done yet
I am afraid, when I pulled this guitar apart to fit the pickups I got
busy with work and had no time to finish the job. I Guess I should find
it soon :-).. In the meantime I now have the Tele I always wanted and
she loves the blues. Thanks so much both of you. All the very best wishes for Christmas and the
coming year. ( Pic1 and Pic
2 ) Regards, Dael ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ good morning Becky , i would like to thank you
once again for all of your help . I recieved the 500 xl yesterday and
i couldnt be any happier . thank you very much and have a wonderful holiday
season. Alejandro ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Once again I have a set of Lawrence pickups
that has made one of my guitars come alive. I love them! Now my two favorite
guitars are both loaded with Bill's pickups. My tele ( L-280T set) sounds
sweet and can drive without loosing articulation. My strat ( L-280S set)
is incredible. Thanks Again, Charlie _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Dear Becky, Telecaster pickups were received
today. Appreciate your rapid correspondence. At once, I install them on
my guitar. Thank you & have a great New Year. Yours sincerely YASUSHI ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Becky, Got it last nite. LOVE IT! ( Wilde USA
Cable kit) Happy Holidays! Chris ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Hello Bill and Becky, Well, I finally got these
two humbuckers in ( L-500R and L-500XL). What can I say, I'm totally floored!
I have tried so many aftermarket pickups out there and the only ones I've
ever gotten this kind of tone from are EMG's. These pickups give me the
tight, focused tone I've been looking for all this time and still retain
clarity, dynamics and transparency! The XL is, by far, the best sounding
passive pickups I've ever tried, bar none. It gives me the thick single
note tones I need and still chugs like the almighty EMG 81. This thing
puts my EMG's to shame! The 500R is such a versatile pickup, as is the
XL. For those out there who think the XL is only for metal heads, think
again! The Ibanez I put these pickups in makes it
sound like a $5000 instrument! Also, this particular guitar had an off
wiring scheme which gave me the neck pickup in parallel as well as tapped,
single coil sounds. Every sound out of this guitar is incredible now!
I put the pickup selector on position two and pulled out "sweet home alabama"
spot on! I couldn't believe it. Then, I went in to full humbucker mode
on the XL and pulled out every Metallica and Pantera riff in my arsenal.
Again, spot on! These pickups have all the drive, dynamics and tone I'll
ever need! This guitar is truly incredible now and I am
so thankful I've found my tone at last! I can go from cool jazzer a'la
Eric Johnson right to screaming metal. There is a solid volume from these
pickups that outshines every other maker out there. This guitar now is
the only guitar to tame my "Wild Beast", which is my new Mesa/Boogie F50
combo. I still get clear harmonics, exceptional, clear tone, volume, transparency
even through all that gain. My neck pickup sounds clear and singing, not
like it has a sock over it! Thank you so much for being so helpful whenever
I emailed you from work and taking care of me! I will definitely be ordering
again! Please tell everyone there thank you for me. Your work is truly
outstanding. Please post this to you testimonials! I'll spread the word!
Sincerely, Conor M. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Becky, Thank You, Thank You, Thank You. That´s
just because the pickups are simply PERFECT, PERFECT, PERFECT! ( L-200S
set) I´m so pleased and thankful with this product, it´s better than what
expected after reading the reviews. Thank Bill, you and the whole team.
You have been so kind and helpful. Now I think I have to go with one new
set for replacing the stock pickups of my Custom 60´s Telecaster (http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Fender-60s-Custom-Tele-Guitar-with-Bigsby?sku=515123)
Can you please help me again, and give me a quote of what model do I need
to order from you, including shipping cost? Thank You. Carlos P.Tampico, México _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Use your pickups in my custom guitars exclusively
!!! When I get ready to order again, what will I need to ask for. I am
very partial to the L-280S pickups, and the L-500. I know your quality
will be the same. Just need to know what they are called now. Thanks, Norm _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Dear Becky and Bill - Just finished setting
up a new home-built Telecaster and wanted to tell you that the combination
of the 280TN and 290TL is just as you described - - warm, but not shrill,
and quiet, but not lacking in Telecaster character in any sense. Through
an overdriven amp, the 290's sizzle is even and very pleasing, with a
quick attack; played clean, the 280/290 combination in all its voices
is pure delight. I have never heard so many sweet and varied tones coming
out of a three-position switch. I am well pleased, to say the least. Best regards, Tim in Suffolk, Virginia Dear Becky, now i can tell you thè Bill Lawrence
L500 are the best humbuckers i ever tryed... thank you again!! aurelio _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Hello! I received my pickup in great shape.
I installed it the day I received it in my son’s telecaster (neck position
- L-200TN). The quality and difference is indescribable. What an incredible
product for an unmatched price. I will continue to use these pickups in
all of my guitars!! I have a question. Does Bill make any pickups that
would fit a Gretsch Electromatic guitar? Thanks for your service! Jay, Colorado _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Hi folks, I am customer from back in 2003 –
I bought some strat replacement p/u’s two -280’s and one – 290 and I love
‘em. I have played at least 150 gigs per year and loads of rehearsals
with these pickups and they have responded wonderfully and reliably every
step of the way. Thanks again looking forward to hearing from
you and also doing business again real soon. Al _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Becky, My Dutch friend received the pickups
I ordered for him. ( L-280SN/L-200SM/L-290SL) He installed them in his
guitar and was very happy with the sound and quality (the best he ever
had, he told me) He asked me to order 3 more pickups, which I did through
pay-pal. Please send them to The Netherlands as you did before. Thank you, happy holidays Cees R. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Dear Bill and Becky, The L-500XL pickup I recently
purchased is excellent! I installed it and took the guitar to rehearsal
and also recorded a few tracks. I was incredibly pleased. Having played
a 500XL for more than 20 years I am very familiar with its characteristics
and I must say the new one did not let me down. I have tried many pickups
over the years and Bill’s are still the best I can find. Thank you again. Sincerely, Curt _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Hi Becky, I got the J-45 set installed in my
bass and I'm blown away by the dynamics that these pickups have. I've
never played or heard pickups quite like these. They are fantastic! The
amount of tones I can get by just moving one of the volume controls left
me stunned, I just wanted to keep playing and tweaking to see what I could
get next. Please pass on my complements to Bill. Thanks heaps! Mardy _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ "I purchased my (2) J45's to upgrade my main
bass (Aria Pro II) after a fellow bass player told me the J45's are absolute
masterpieces. He wasn't kidding at all!.... Stunning Tone, Perfect Balance,
Outstanding Punch and Kicking Lows = Total Definition This is the bass
sound, I had always dreamed of...Thank You...every axe I own will eventually
be equipped with BLs" Rob- Canadian Musician / Producer - www.murphynorth.com/rob
& Hi Becky, Thanks again for your personal touch
today and all of your wonderful compliments. Jacques would also like to
express how impressed he was with speaking to you, your service, and looks
forward to the arrival of his P46s. As I mentioned you are more than welcome
to use Gone To America to promote your products in any way you wish, and
there will be more to follow very soon, there is lots of info on my site.
I will be mailing you a copy of The Keys To Christmas, as a gift for you,
Bill and the gang. Merry Christmas! Also in the Links section of my site
I have put a link to your site, if you would like anything added to the
info, I would be happy to do it. Check it out and let me know. Also, I
will add that the bass track on Gone To America has virtually no processing
what-so-ever, that there is the sound of my bass in it's natural form,
which I find simply outstanding. (no eq-ing was needed at all....Very
Impressive I must say!) I always look forward to the next time we speak,
Rob _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Hi Bill & Becky, Last night I put an L280TL
in the bridge position of my favorite tele. The tone improvement was incredible.
Better articulation with no loss of sustain, and church-mouse quiet. In
my old age I can finally afford expensive boutique guitars. But even those
guitars are improved with Bill Lawrence pickups. It doesn't matter if
the guitar costs $5000 or $500, the sonic quality goes way up with your
pickups. And, you don't charge much. How good is that! Live long and rock
hard! Cheers, Fred S. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Hi Becky! I just wanted to thank you for my
last order! Things were a bit confusing but in the end the L-298/L-610
combo worked beautifully. I know we've talked about the transparency of
your pickups before, but having played a set for a while now, what really
blows me away is the way they synergize! With most guitars I rarely use
two pickups at once. With B.L. pickups I'm amazed at the tones combinations
produce! The brown guitar has the 298/610 combo in it and the 2.5H winding
nailed that jangly tone right on the money! The orange guitar has a 609/500XL
and a 4P4T switch with some split/series/paralell/phasing tomfoolery that
produces five incredibly distinct sounds. Thanks again! I'm organizing
my winter builds and will be in touch soon! Until then, best of the season to you! Art - ARTAVOX guitars _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Just wanted to let you know that I received
my L500XL in good order and it works great! I want to thank your whole
team for making such a great product. Bill has contributed so much to
guitar and music. Thank you. Mark _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Hi again, After putting this 20' Bill Lawrence
cable through the test last night (guitar > amp) to make sure I was gonna
like this stuff good enough for the pedalboard, I am amazed. I have always
shy'd away from trying the George L stuff because of all the mixed reviews
and opinions that it is a bright cable. But let me tell you, this Bill
Lawrence Cable sounds amazing. I haven't tried any “high-end” cable but
this stuff sounds much better than my Canare and as good as, and I would
even say better than the Fulltone Gold cables I own. I am so impressed
with the output and balance of the Bill Lawrence cable. I’m equally as
impressed with design and size of your connectors. I need to order a bunch
of cable and connectors, do you have plenty in stock? I’m getting some
for my friends too. -Eric
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Hi Becky, I love my L-609s, my Trini Lopez has so many more sounds to
explore now. Thank you, and thank Bill for a wonderful pickup. BTW, if
you ever make a Jazzmaster pickup - I would be your first customer! My Best, Tom E. Thanks, Tommy O. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ I want to thank you all so much. I installed the L600 in my Godin "Exit 22", slid some plugs on some cleaned up wire ends, plugged in , and I was off to neverneverland. It's so clean now!!! I can't believe the difference. I was so exited about the cable; I loaned it to the >> working bassest upstairs to try. Well, last night i finally cut the 35' piece I'd been playing through down by another 15. I've given up on seeing that piece of cable for a while... No joke... I'm looking forward to next time - Thanks again, Rip P. And an update First of all I want to thank you both for making such a great product.
I can't believe how great the L-600L 4.8 sounds in in the lead slot of
my Godin Exit 22 SSH Mahogany body guitar. Tonally it is so warm and bright
> and it never sounds muddy. It's such a pleasure to play through I am
finding it harder and harder to muddy the sound up by mixing in the other
pickups. That's why I'm writing. I had always thought I liked the way
the single coil pickups sounded and thought I would change the pickups
on my Tele next, but the Godin designed pickups are no longer compatible
with what I want to listen to. I don't know, maybe, it's because I'm playing
through your low capacitance cable and can finally hear things right.
Thanks again!! What pickups do you recommend for the single coil slots.
I have rewired the guitar to be two split coil humbuckers, a 5 way super
switch, push-pull pots and a three way rhythm/lead switch. I usually gravitate
to a series combination, but I like having the tonal options. I'm very
open for suggestion. 280's?, 290's, 200's? or a combination of two - Only
you know what will go best with the L600. I really can't get over how
good that pickup is... Also, I have a Mexican Tele w/ a push/pull passive
mid range shaper. There's something about a Fender. I'd like to upgrade
the pickups and perhaps get a more distinct sound out of the mid range
shaper. I was thinking... , but what do I know. Oh, I need a couple of
cable plugs, but that will wait for the order. Thank you so much, again,
Rip P. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Hi Becky, I received the L-500 PU's last Tuesday. Thank you for the excellent
service! The PU's came straight to my mailbox without any tolls (European
Union) or taxes (Finland), so I was very pleased. The guitar that will
have these PU's is still under construction and you can see some project
pictures at my friends web site, only in finnish sorry.. http://vr.suntuubi.com/?cat=11
I test played the PU's this weekend jam session in my vintage Gibson
SG standard. As you know the PU's are superb! I played through Laney GH
50 L and Marshall JCM800 model 2203 and Marshall 1960 4x12 cabinets. I
was the most amazed by the versatility and clean sounds of these PU's.
And now I'm back for more! I'm planning to change PU's for my "Sininen
saatana" It's currently equipped with EMG 81 and 85 and I'd like to use
the L-500's in this guitar. You can see pictures of this guitar also at
my friends web site. http://vr.suntuubi.com/?cat=8 I'd like to order L-500 R and L-500 XL PU's with chrome housing and black coils. Could you send me a quote? All the best -Antti- p.s. Could you also say thanks to Bill for me? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Thanks so much! _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Dear Bill and Becky, I just wanted to drop a line and say thanks for
the great pickup and customer service. After researching a large number
of products (and readind some great reviews of your stuff), I decided
that the L-280S would be the right addition to my already versatile guitar.
Boy, was I right! Your pickup is exactly what I was after – a noiseless,
authentic single coil sound that takes overdrive very well. By the way,
the pole spacing is PERFECT. I will be recommending you highly. Great
product, great price, great service. You rock! Regards, _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Thanks again! ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Hi Becky, The pickup ( L-500XL) arrived two days ago, I put it in straight
away, and it's incredible. I didn't expect it to be so good! Can't be
compared to the piece of tin I had in there. Great definition, very wide
dynamics, nice wood tone coming through, very silent and responsive. And
playing with the volume a lot of different sounds are possible. My $1000
guitar sussenly sounds like a $2000 instrument. And it looks just beautiful.
I've been playing for 10 years, but I managed to play the skin off of
my fingertips the last few days. Definitely ordering another one shortly,
and I'm stongly considering to put a L-500 Clean or Regular in the neck
position. Can you advise me a little bit on what the differences between
those are. Thank you very much! ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Hi Becky and Bill Got the package today - what a great service!! Thank
you so much - I'm looking forward to fitting them....In my lunch hour
tomorrow - also thanks for the wiring diagrams and the info about (what
we in the UK call Aluminium) is very interesting - I found some thick
Dur-al plate here at work and am going to fabricate some bridge saddles
and see how I go. If the teles sound as good as they look I'm going to
be very happy. Will be back very soon for some strat P/U's. Best regards And more.... Thanks Becky - I'm delighted with the pickups - particularly the neck
- It's perfect for the music I play. I've never been totally happy with
any tele neck pickup I've ever used but this is a winner ( L-280TN)....and
no noise!! Steve g ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Becky & Bill, You completed the final piece of my missing puzzle! I can't
thank you enough for getting my L-280'S into my 1979 strat project. They
are everything I hoped they would be and more!! The bell-like tonality
is stellar and I can get pure divine distortion without that dreadful
hum. I wish you and Bill all the success that you both deserve as I can't
put down this guitar!! These pickups are the answer to my prayers! If
Roger Ebert could play the guitar, he'd give these pickups two thumbs
wayyy upp! Thanks again, Douglas J. P.S. check out the picture!! ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Hi - I have your pickups in my strat and tele. For me, there is no better
clean tone than the tele neck pickup. Whenever I want great clean tone,
I always use my tele neck. But I also use a Les Paul for OD tones. And
I HATE humbucker necks. It's just a suggestion (and I don't know if it's
possible), but I think it would be great to have a humbucker neck that
sounds just like your tele neck - but looks like a regular humbucker If
possible, let me know. Thanks! Greg ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Dear Becky, That's the quickest turnaround ya'll have ever delivered
to me! Give me a few days to get them in and to play for a while, and
I'll drop you a line with my thoughts. Thanks for the great service! James
and Dear Becky, I just have to tell you how much I'm enjoying my new Strat
pups (L200N, L200M and L280L). I like them more every time I pick up that
guitar. They are so clean and chimey and noise-free! And that L280SL has
EXACTLY the bridge pup tone I've been looking for: it has all the bite
of a good Tele pup, without being over-powered. Thanks again for such
a quality product! Your fan forever, James Becky & Bill I received and installed them with your L-500Lead in bridge, very balanced in the way I want. The sound of the L-280S is really clean and sweet. By far, your L-280S is the best single coil among many other brands. Thanks you for your hard work and beautiful products ! Please ask Bill, if it is OK to have : L-200S Neck - L-280S Middle - L290S Bridge Will it be balanced out of all ? Is it OK to use them with 500K Volume and Tone ? I will order from you this set in a near future to install on my strat . Thanks. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Hi Dr. and Mrs. Lawrence, I purchased four pickups from you a few months
back, and I am quite pleased with the results. As time goes by, I discover
more about how >> each pickup's individual voicing interacts with any
given preamp. I have yet to find any other manufacturer that offers the
same attention to detail, or even in a similar price range. I am glad
I chose the L-200/L-280 combo for my Parker Nitefly, as they offer a good
variance in tonal spectrum without any "Muddiness". To report on the L-200/L-280
side by side at the bridge in parallel with the L-280 closest to the bridge,
They sound like what you would imagine they would together: Sweet, with
a little bite and a bit more bass "punch" than when used separately. I
couldn't imagine a better set up for this guitar. Thanks for replacing
the one I burnt out. What service! I have a few questions/comments. First,
do pickups have resonant peaks in the coil/circuit, or do they just cause
peaks in the preamp when plugged in, or am I completely off base? Are
the L-609's noiseless? Regarding the website. Can't wait for the new one.
What's the hold up? The old one is a bit tricky. Eventually, I figured
it out. It will be nice to send my friends to site that's easier to navigate
. You can do it! Finally, the latest quote seems a far cry from the Ronald
Reagan quote that was up when I first found the site. I referenced the
author and I totally dig his "philosophy". There is something very special
in the idea of remaining authentic. I struggle with it myself, a lot.
Anyway, Thanks for being you. -Sincerely, Greg (Here's the quote Greg referenced -- “One
of the truest tests of integrity is its blunt refusal to be compromised.”
Chinua Achebe) ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Yes, in fact, I got in in plenty of time for the gig Sat. nite!! (About
noon on Sat. received.) The XR16 is BY FAR the BEST pickup I have ever
had for steel guitar. Thanks, John L. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Hi Becky and Bill, Finally I finished my "Red Strat Special" based on Warmoth body and neck and equipped with L-280 in bridge and middle and L-200 in neck position. You can see the guitar and my description in the Warmoth customer gallery (Strat). The direct link is: http://www.warmoth.com/gallery/gallery.cfm?fuseaction=include_container&id=794 . I use a set of L-280 in a complete home-made guitar already since several years. For my new custom-strat I choose the L-200/L-280 combination and am very satisfied. I get an extraordinary wide range of great sounds - from vintage to modern - bluesy, funky, jazzy, classic rock etc.. I don´t know, how the L-280 would sound in the neck position - the L-200 is excellent (thanks to Becky for the recommendation). I used only selected high quality parts for this guitar and the L-280/L-200 combination perfectly picks it all up and transmits it to the amp. One special feature is a self-designed onboard-buffer, which uses a FET. This makes my sounds independent from cable length and capacity. Additionally the buffer gives me the freedom to include some switchable characteristics and unveils the potential of the pickups even more. For me it is THE PERFECT STRAT and your pickups make a good part of this perfection. There is only one point to improve your service: Shipment of the pickups to Germany was done via USPS. This meant, that I had to do customs clearing by myself, which took me more than 2 hours all in all. I recommend to switch to UPS for international shippings, because UPS handles customs clearing at the destination country. The Warmoth parts for instance came with UPS and they delivered directly to my door. Best regards, R. F. Gehrden/Germany _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Hi Becky and Bill: Well, I finally got to try out the new 280/290 pickups
in my strat last weekend. The place we played in was one of the two worst
places in town for hum when I was using my stock pickups. As advertised,
the new pickups had absolutely NO HUM. (our sound man really appreciated
this) I had to play around with the height adjustment to get the output
just right(so as not to overdrive the amp too easily). Now while the sound
of these pickups is very good, they do seem to lack some of the high-mid
bite that I had with the stock pickups. I don't see this as being a problem
as I think I can get the tone I want by playing around with the EQ when
I find the time. One problem that I did encounter when installing the
pickups was that they were slightly larger than the stock pickups, making
for a very tight fit. A bit of sanding of the pickguard solved this problem.
Overall, I am quite satisfied with the performance of these pickups. Thanks
for a great product! Sincerely Jim Mc.Regina, Sask. Canada _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Hi Becky, Just to let you know I installed the L-500L and the sound is just great. The L280 are just WOAW… no hum at all, beautiful clean/crunch sound… ideal for anything I’ll play in the next 10 years… ;) Now I am tempted to buy another set of single coils for another guitar. Could you tell me how the L280 and L290 compare to each other? (as I already have the L280) What would be close to the L280 and L290 from Seymour Duncan? (as there is no sample on your website it’s hard to get an idea.. so I’ll try to listen to a sample from SD) The guitar will be equipped with a Floyd Rose. A.L France _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Hello: I ordered some pickups from you guys last year and finally completed
my super-tele, and wanted to thank you for the wonderful sounding pickups.....if
I ever build any more guitars, I will be using Bill Lawrence pickups for
the sound and quality....I work at Moses Graphite in Oregon and all our
products are hand made in the USA and I know how hard American manufacturing
can be and I must say I am impressed beyond belief at the quality and
value of your product. Here's a few pictures: Once again, thank you becky, bill, and any one else involved in your
company Anthony _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Bill n’ Becky, Great web site! I have been playing guitar/ music for
over thirty years, and “Pickupology” was very informative and enlightening.
The pickup height adjustment guide using a nickel or two is the simplest
and best way I have seen. Fender’s use of a capo seems convoluted. Your
debunking of commercial pickup web site language was classically comical!
I also love your philosophy on business. If we could just get corporate
America to think that way, but then we’d lose our edge! I have now adjusted
all my guitars, humbuckers and single coils alike. What a difference.
Thanks, Roben P.… Rock on!? _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Dear Becky, I now play my Washburn Pilsen Opus with my new set of L-500R and L-500XL pickups and it sounds great ! One technical question though: when I installed the pickups, I turned them upside down, as I know Dimebag Darrell used to, and as many users advise (see Harmony Central's reviews). Should I turn both pickups upside down, or just one of them? If so, which one? I do not want to damage my pickups, having read Bill's note on the subject on your website. Thanks in advance for your advice. Best regards, Julien _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Dear Bill & Becky I would like to thank you very much for the pickups i recently received (L500R & XL). After replacing my old pickups i was amazed at the clarity and sound i got from my guitar. Since installing your pickups my tone has drastically improved. Thank you very much for making and sending me these great pickups! :) Yours sincerely Daniel T Cape Town, South Africa _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Dear Becky, I received my three L-500XL and they are fantastic. I would like to order two more. Would it be convenient for you if I pay by wire transfer? Could you provide me with the relevant info? My shipping info: ----Geneva Switzerland. Please confirm the terms and the price for two pickups plus shipping. Best regards, Bogdan. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Hello, I ordered 4 pickups about a week ago. I was just making sure you got the payment and when I could expect to recieve them. Thank you very much, James Tell Bill he makes GREAT stuff! These will give a total of 6 guitars with his pickups in them! _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Bill & Becky, Thank you both so much for taking the time to discuss my
project with me, and thank you Bill for sharing so much knowledge with
me in our phone conversation. I think I will build a better instrument
now than I would have before our conversation, and I also enjoyed discussing
musical preferences with you. Please let me know as soon as the L90 pickup
is available. I am going to go ahead and build with the dimensions from
the old L90's in my old telecaster, but it sounds as if you will have
the new ones by the time I need them. I could use the wiring diagrams
if they are available. My address ---TX 77632, and my email is ---Thanks
again, Bob. Becky, I've installed many of your pickups in my guitars and recently, very proudly, installed the L-280TN and L-290TL in my Squire Fender Telecaster w/ 5 way pos switch, 4=90 deg out phase, 5=low cut. I'm writing you because I paid $140 for this very low line fender Tele at a pawn shop and it now can out tone any stock Fender Tele at any pricepoint, and also out tone many other high end guitars regardless of manufacture or pricepoint. This guitar was intended to be a "kick around travel guitar" whose only criteria was: A very fast neck and a very low price - I never expected this to a formidable working guitar in my arsenal and I can't stress enough how pleased I've been with every product I've gotton from BL. Please tell Bill I followed his advice on the capacitor install and the tone speaks for itself. Thanks again for all you do!!!! Chris "Zogg" L. - Proud owner of your 7-string pickups. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Hello Becky & Bill, I'd like to say a big Thank You, for the pickups I received this week for my Les Paul. I've included a couple pictures of the p/u's in my L.P. All I can say is before I was having problems with microphonic feedback (w/a ---'59 in the bridge) and very soggy high endish tone, the guitar was useless. Now the guitar is much more quiet and I can have the gain turned up and there's is no squeeling at all with the L500xl & L500r! The tone is silky smooth as well, great clarity and balance + a nice midrange bump just at the right frequency, inspiring to play these. Everything is perfect with these, make sure to commend Bill for such great vision and craftsmanship. Thank you once again, Joe G. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Hello Becky. This is Rick, they guy you sent the black L500 pickup ring to. I greatly appreciate your help with my guitar project. The ring came in today and I installed the vintage L500 and it is incredible! You have a customer for life. Thanks again. Rick _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Hi Becky, pickups are installed and tested last night at a nice gig in
Germany with Tom Waits material. They're VERY GOOD. The L280sn pickup
is indeed very versatile, I love it, the bridge L298sl has a nice output
and way more twang ( in a good way )then my Fralin steel poled 43, the
middle L200 sm is also very nice as are the in between sounds ( wich I
don't use so much ) . I think they sound better then most real single
coils and they're even more quiet then my fullsize humbuckers on my PRS.
That's what I needed. I finally have a great sounding noiseless guitar.
I'm thinking of replacing the pickups on my Asat classic too. It has a
swampash semihollowbody with a very bright acoustic sound. The original
pickups are good but ofcourse they hum. The bridge pickup squeels at high
volumes ( with overdrive ) and the overall output is pretty high. Your
pickups have a more traditional output wich I like because you can crank
your pedals and amps instead of turning it down. Like Bill said: jimi
and Roy didn't use high output pickups. After almost 27 years of playing
I'm still learning. I'm thinking about a L280sn and a L290tl or a L290tle.
Which bridge pickup would be comparable to the L298sl on my Legacy? I
love to hear from you. All the best, Pieter V. The Netherlands Hi Becky, Jay F. from Dallas Texas here. I absolutely love the 280L, 290TL, and 298TL pickups you recommended for me! I get lots of compliments on my tone, and I don't think I've ever sounded so good! Thank you! I would like to ask your advice. 1st, What are your options/recommendations for a Gibson 335 semi-hollow body? I like Jazz and Blues, ranging from sweet single coil clean (ala the 280), to Fusion Shred, with a well defined midrange, strong bass without being muddy, and a good high end harmonics without sounding fizzy or screechy... In other words, I want a humbucker that does everything! ;-) I find traditional PAF's aren't quite hot enough for my tastes, and they sound a bit two-dimensional to my ears. I like the tone of Seymour Duncan Customs, i.e., warm and woody sounding, with just a hint of drive if played full out. So far, I haven't played any distortion pickups that I liked... I have two 335's that will be getting new pickups, one will get both Neck and Bridge pickups, the other just the Bridge pickup. I am interested in your new L609's, but if you have anything else that you recommend, I'm open to suggestions. 2nd, Did you and Bill make the mini-humbucker L550 and L560? I have attached pics at the end of this email. I have a couple P90 guitars that I'm thinking of retrofitting with humbuckers, and I've been very happy with your products, so I am considering these. If you recommend against them, I will pass on them. 3rd, I really like the "Bill and Becky" brand name! Run with it! Please know that what you and Bill do is greatly appreciated. More than just making musicians happy, by bringing unparalleled tone quality to your musician customers, you are helping bring happiness to literally millions of music fans the world over. Thank you, and keep up the great work! Kind regards, J. ------- ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Hi Becky & Bill, Just wanted to say that having worked in the music business for years and having played many great guitars in that time, the BL pickups I have just installed in my strat are the greatest pickups I have had the pleasure of playing with. They reproduce that classic fender tone even better than I had expected. Very happy customer, Ben AUSTRALIA ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Hi Becky and Bill, First off, I must say your pickups are the best! I have a set of L-280's in the neck and middle position of my 1992 Peavey Generation Series 3 electric and they sound beautiful. But the reason I'm writing is to ask you a somewhat "historical" question. Way back in 1983, I purchased a very early 1978 Hamer Sunburst that had a pair of creme L-350 humbuckers installed. I recently had the Hamer restored back to its original configuration, with Dimarzio's, and noticed that the 500K pots the L-350's were connected to were made by Noble. I was expecting to see CTS pots and was not aware of Noble pots until I searched the web and discovered that they are an Asian company that makes potentiometers. I guess my question is - Did Bill design his L-350's with specific pots in mind? Has he ever heard of his L-350's being used with Noble pots? I'm assuming that the previous owner of the Hamer removed the original Dimarzio's and installed the L-350's but I can't figure out why he wouldn't have used the existing Hamer/Dimarzio pots, instead of using Noble pots....... Thanks for any insight you can give me as I attempt to research the history of my old Hamer guitar. Keep up the great work! _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Good morning Becky. Barbara received the cable Saturday. She will be delivering it to me this week. Thank you so much for all your effort and looking forward to putting this little cord to work in god's house. Larry _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Hey Becky. I love the L-500XL that you sent me. It sounds really great. You can send the L-500R to the same address as last time. Jeff _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Hi Becky, Mike B. here. I just sent you a PayPal payment for two more
Q filters. I really liked them! It gives my guitar a lot more tonal flexibility.
I hooked the RC up to a push-pull switch so I can use the inductor by
itself as well. So now I need to get them in my other guitars as well!
Thanks for a great product. Mike Hi Bill & Becky Lawrence, I recently got a L280TN & L290TL set from you. I put those into a 2006 MIM Tele that I was modding with an improved bridge and electronics. While I kinda like the ceramic magnet pickups they are putting into these mexican teles these days, your pickups made this guitar come to life. I also appreciated the alternate wiring diagrams you included with the pups. I wired everything up with the 5-way switch mod and wow, talk about versatility. I play cross-genre styles and this guitar can play them all clean or dirty. Great tone, fast shipping, and nice folks. Thanks, Doug G. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Thank you Becky for your timely reply! I also received your phone message
this evening. You answered all my questions very well the other day when
we spoke on the phone. I will be purchasing more of your pickups again
soon. Your personal attention is greatly appreciated. It reflects your
stated philosophy perfectly. No wonder that you and Bill should enjoy
continued success. Peace and best wishes! ...Geo Dear Becky and Bill, Thank for getting the pickups to me as fast as you
did. Im still testing the water too say with these pickups tried them
in my SG first now in a les Paul style guitar think i favor the L500 over
the XL as a bridge pickup for my taste in music. Thanks again sincerely
Steve F. I just wanted to say how incredable the L 500XL pickup is!! I've tried
many different pickups over the years, Seymour Duncan, DiMarzio, Gibson,
EMG, etc. and I just couldn't get the sound that was in my head to come
out through any of them. I had finally settled on Seymour Duncan because
they came closest to the sound I wanted. A friend of mine had a Dean ML
guitar that had a Bill Lawrence L 500XL in the bridge position. I borrowed
his Dean for a gig I was doing, and I couldn't believe the sound that
it had!! I ended up buying his Dean off of him and making it my main guitar.
That pickup is the clearsest, most amazing sounding thing that I've ever
used!! I can't get a bad sound out of it! It can get dirty as all hell
and it can clean up well to. I play black metal/thrash and I have to reccomend
this pickup to anyone who's looking for that "hevier than thou" metal
sound!! The L 500XL blows away every thing that I've ever played!! Yes,
even the famed EMG 81 can not stand up to the balls of the mighty L 500XL!!
Thank you for making such a fantastic product!! I will be buying Bill
Lawrence for my other guitars as well!! Paul Hi Becky, Bill and all the other stuff! I'm pleased to say I received
the L-500XL and installed it in my guitar! What can I say? It overshadowed
all my other pickups (Duncans, DiMarzios and EMGs). It just has all the
things I wanted for my sound (and I MEAN it). Penetrating tightness, tone
complexity, high output, clarity, harmonics, unreal balance. It is REALLY
EXCEPTIONAL. It's even better than my DiMarzio Evo and EMG 81 in clarity
and all the rest. The construction quality is definitely better that the
mass produced models of the big companies and equal to the one of EMGs
(I think EMGs are really really good constructed). I don't need something
else for my metal tone and I'm seriously considering to order from you
again in the future! Thanks again for the excetional work! Becky, You may remember me... I am the customer that kept calling to
see if you guys would make pickups to fit my Gibson Nighthawk. After sending
in measurements that were taken ever so carefully, I was obviously quite
disappointed to find out that this would not be possible. But, instead
of informing me that this was the case and sending me on my way, Bill
and I had a very in depth discussion of my situation. He took the time
to inform me of the history and design of the guitar. We spoke at length
about several other aftermarket pickup options available to me. Bill informed
me of which options would be worth pursuing and which options would be
a waste of money. Most impressive was when he took a few minutes to explain
that it wasn't so much the pickups themselves that were the problem, but
rather that the wiring scheme was designed to suit a particular person's
ear (which to a large extent never suited anyone else's). Bill took the
time to explain how to rewire the guitar to maximize the potential of
the instrument. This weekend I was able to combine Bill's excellent explanation
and my rudimentary soldering ability to completely transform the character
of my instrument! I now have a guitar that sounds VERY good in 5 positions
instead of a guitar that sounds uninspiring in 10 positions. I really
couldn't believe that such a simple modification performed with spare
parts lying around my house could have such a major and positive impact!
What is most wonderful about this situation is that both you and Bill
understand that despite the fact that you weren't able to make any money
off me from the sale of a pickup... you will be rewarded ten fold for
the time and effort you spent on me. What goes around truly does come
around. It is very refreshing to see someone who is in business not to
make a buck, but to serve customers. I'd like to take a moment to personally
thank you for helping me to transform my guitar. Sonny R Hi Becky and Bill, First of all thanks Becky for answering all my questions
on the phone the other day and Bill for including the in/out of phase
wiring schematic with the order. I finished installing the neck pickup
in the ole Esquire today and I can't imagine it sounding any better! I
opted for a 4 way switch, last position in series, wow! You were right
Becky the 280 is a great match, tone wise, with the old bridge pup and
after a little height adjustment they're in almost perfect balance. I
love the smooth warm tone of this pickup with no loss to the highs,it
has a sort of gliding feel to the sound when you're making a run. After
much debate on whether to even add a neck pickup to this guitar I couldn't
be happier with the results. What a great product! Cheers, Tony Becky, I was on Bill's web site and came across this B&W photo of from
left to right Buddy Emmons,Bill(working on a steel guitar and an unnamed
gentleman. The man on the right is Jerry Robitaille from the Province
of Quebec, Canada. He played pedal steel and guitar and was quite famous
in the Eastern Township's area (Sherbrooke)of Quebec, as half of the Jerry
& Jo'Anne Show. He has since past from this earth and was a close friend
of mine. I just wanted you to know if you werent sure,who he was, I was
happy and surprised to see him in the photo . Also while I am writing,
I own an early 70's model BMI pedal steel and was wondering if the pick-ups
would fit in the pick-up hole in the aluminum? A fellow musician, Dale
B. Hey Becky, First, wishing you and Bill a happy and healthy 2007! Just
received the L298SN and installed in the neck position of my Tele. Simply
amazing - the ice pick tone is gone and sounds much closer to that sound
in my head (ie Firebird/Strat/Tele) with no hum. Many thanks for your
excellent suggestion. All the best John P.S. will have to do something
about my Strat! Don't know how people can play in bars with no grounding
- hum is unbearable. Dear Becky, the pickup has arrived and I am having it built into my guitar
next week. Thank you for the fast and reliable service, kind regards,
Tim Hi Becky, Thanks!!! As discussed, that pickup sounds great...it seems
to sound better, the more I play it (now where have I heard that before)!
In fact, I had gig last weekend with my Jazz trio, and after one of the
sets, a guy said to me, "hey, I never head a 335 copy sound so sweet".
I told him it was not a, "335 copy", but a Bill Lawrence Original! Peace
and love in 2007..... Charlie T _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Received my pickup yesterday!!! thank you very very much. Cant believe
how quick it managed to get here - only eight days from the second i placed
my order, Thats really impressive considering it's the christmas period
and it was being delivered to the UK. Look forward to doing business with
you guys again!! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!. Kenny V ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Hello Bill and Becky- Before I ask my question, I want to compliment
you on not only the quality of your products, but also your reputation
among the guitar community. I'm a frequent visitor to the TDPRI boards,
and you are both spoken of with near-reverence. My wife and I run a small
law office, and I can only hope that our clients see us as the team the
two of you are. Ok, on to my question. I am installing an L-280TN and
an L-290TL in a chambered (walnut) telecaster, with a single tone control
and a 4-way switch (4th pos. neck+bridge in series). In order to get as
much versatility as possible, I want to use the Q-Filter as an auxiliary
tone circuit, so I'm using a push-pull pot for my tone control. Do you
have a wiring diagram you could send me? I'm new to guitar electronics,
so if you could keep it as simple as possible, I'd appreciate it. Thanks,
B.P. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Thanks Becky, I think your website will get some traffic from ours now
that we have a link to you. The link back to www.thefret.net is surely
appreciated! Happy Holidays, Robert ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ I received it yesterday (wednesday) afternoon, thank you so much. I
am so happy to see this thing in my hands. It's so nice. It looks like
currency. the chrome surround looks so classy and sharp, i love it. taking
it to the luthier to put it in, and he's familiar with BL pups, his jaw
dropped when i brought one in a few years back, he said he hasn't seen
one in years. but thank you for the offer of help. i am so happy. i love
you guys. Becky and Bill, I received the L 500R yesterday. I used it at a rehearsal
last night. The combination of the L 500R and the L500L in my Les Paul
Studio is just great. This is the guitar I use for slide work. These pickups
are a wonderful choice for slide guitar. They add a clarity of sound that
was missing with regular humbuckers. They have better tone, better sustain,
and no mud. I couldn't ask for more. Thanks so much for recommending these
pickups. I'm really sorry I couldn't make it to the open house. My gig
that evening started pretty early and it was a long drive to get there.
There was too much to do and not enough time to do it in. I hope everything
went well. Sincerely, Joe N Bill and Becky Thank you for a wonderful day. When one finally meets
a hero it is usually a disappointment to see their feet made of clay.
Bill is everything I had hoped. He is of a generation of scientific thinkers
that are now all but gone. It was something special for my son to see.
Men like this only exist for him in books, and even then they are just
one dimensional creations of an author and not real people. Your offer
to help me with the L-6s project is truly kind and I will be looking forward
to bringing it by as soon as I have it back from the inlay artist. Thanks
again Rodger Hi Becky! Just a quick note. Just installed the L500-L pickup in my Les
Paul and was BLOWN AWAY! Exceeded my expectations, it is just what I wanted!
This is the only humbucking pickup I have had that doesn't sound like
a blanket is covering the amp when played clean. It is as crisp as my
Strat, but still acts like a full size humbucker. So far I have purchased
a set of L280s for my Strat and was so happy with them that I bought from
you a set of your noiseless P-90 style pickups, and then a 280-290 set
for my Tele. All of them have been better than I expected. But this L500
did what I thought was impossible. I couldn't be happier! Amazing. I now
need to order the neck pickup to match it! Thanks again, Mike N. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ i Becky, Sorry we didn't get a chance to meet yesterday. Bill, I want
to thank you so much for giving so much of your time to Andrew yesterday.
He's still talking about it and you've inspired him to shoot higher. As
a parent, I know you know how important it is to have your children have
"special" people in their lives and I'm thankful for the thoughts and
priorities you've shared with him. Thanks again and I hope that your health
improves and all goes good for you. Best regards, Gary _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Testimonial: I would like to say how your pickups speak for themselves
literally. I obtained my set straight out of a Stratocaster about 2 years
ago. I knew when I played on that mediocore guitar I had to have those
pickups. The owner had just had them installed and still had some hand
drawn wiring schematics that I don't know came with them from you or not.
After researching the pickups I discovered they were truly handmade and
on back order. So I finally settled on a price with the owner and bought
the whole guitar. It was set up with from neck to bridge with L-280N,
L-280N, L-290SL in black. Like I said the guitar wasn't much but the pickups
made it something special. After playing with them for a few years I have
since removed the pickups to give them a more fitting home and sold the
old Stratocaster. I will never let go of these, not even to Bill to change
the covers to cream. I would not sell them even for twice the price of
a new set. They have a home for life! Steve C., Tennessee I have two of simple questions. Did those Xeroxed wiring diagrams come
with the pickups originally? I have the above pickups now mounted in custom
Strat. I know Fender has a factory preset or recommended distance from
the strings to the pickups for all 3 positions and it varies from the
big E to the little E on each (tilted). I did not see this on your web
site so I am asking for your recommendations or opinions before experimenting.
I have the guitar setup and this is the last thing on the list. Thanks
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Hi Bill and Becky I just received the package, today Tuesday 03 of october;
I have no words to express my gratitude, you are beautiful people; you
sent me another courtesy solderless cable?!!!, wow, what can I say....well
the pick ups are just unbelievable, I’m so happy; this is a great day,
I can’t wait to install them in my new telestyle guitar with Bill’s 5
way for tele wiring...ok, I read about Bill’s commandment as pick up designer,
and my humble commandment is: Bill Lawrence -- the best pick ups on the
planet Thank you very much, and I wish you all the best Best regards Daniel
B. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Hello Becky... I received the parts for the Charlie Christian pickup
I'm winding. Thank you very much, Please let me know how much to send
you for the parts; I greatly appreciate Bill taking the time to help me
with this, nobody except Bill offered any help, please let him know that,
I';d like to call him and say hello and thanks if that's okay. Thanks
very much, Robert S. Hi Becky, Package received yesterday- all is well and NO brokerage fees!
(Thank you USPS over the border!) I can't wait until work dies down a
bit so I can install them. Pleasure dealing with you and your merry gang,
as always. Cheers! Steve G ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Hi Becky, Thanks again. Those L500 pickups sound so good that it makes
me little embarrased to play the thing now. I really play lousey. Oh well!
:) I guess it's time for some lessons. Thanks, Tony Hi Becky, Just wanted to drop a note of "thanks" and I have a pickup
order question. First of all, I got a pair of Tele pups from a good friend
to try out in a guitar I had built for me from Michael Rowan (www.rowanguitars.com).
I have attached a couple of pics for you to see: Hi Becky and Bill! We got the pick-ups (L-609's) installed in my Gibson
347 and I played a job with it last night. The pickups are incredible!
Every guy in the band was asking about them. You were sure right Bill
about the out of phase thing. I found that sweet spot you were talking
about. I'm sure they are going to make me a better player because I can
hear everything now. (and any klinkers are very clear too):) Thanks so
much! Would you guys be around sometime in November? We have some friends
in Palm Springs and we thought we may be able to come see you and then
head over to alm Springs for a day or two. Jim W.Vancouver, Washington I just got the cable package. let's just say I'm very happy, especially
with how much cleaner my signal is. I usually get alot of extra noise
in my apartment (downtown chicago by the 'el' tracks and alot of flourescent
lights) but even with the full 50 feet of your cable and my amp turned
up all the way, it's almost silent. Thanks! Dan Becky Last Week my L500XL arrived I quick installed in my guitar (washburn
N4 1993) BTW I like the fact you send the pickup pre wired!! I readjust
my amp and IT WAS AN AWESOME SOUND!! AMAZING !!! very dynamic and balanced
sound (in both clean and dirty settings) I am very very happy!!! I will
post a review in Harmony Central Soon!! Becky and Bill Thanks and best
regards Ruben D. Hi Becky, I received some BL cable and plugs last month, the clearness
and improvement in tone was apparent immediately. I would like to order
some more plugs and spare cable for my pedal board. Could you give me
a quote for: 24 Short Plugs and 10' of Cable. To be sent to the UK. Kind
regards, Dean. Copyright © 1996-2007 Bill Lawrence®.
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