mazzerman Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 Hello All Does anyone have any experience of these pickups. i.e how do they compare with the classic 57's or Burstbuckers etc. I believe they have quite a high output but what pickups were they based on and what type of a sound do they have? I cannot find much info on them at all out there in google land. They were only made for a few years which makes me think they wern't a very good pickup. Any knowledge gratefully received Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsteele Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 http://www.wildepickups.com/ This link should help you out. There are a few different versions of the twin blade humbuckers. The XL500's are the hottest. Think Dimebag and the EMG sound without the batteries and sterility. They are awesome pickups, as are the rest of the 500 line. No, they are not based on any pickup, in fact, all the split blade you see now are based on them. Bill Lawrence invented them. The original are now called Wilde Pickups and you buy them directly from him and his family online. Another company has the rights to his name and is making a Bill Lawrence pickup. but they are not the originals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jc0r Posted January 18, 2011 Share Posted January 18, 2011 I own an actual Bill Lawrence XL500 not to be confused with Bill Lawrence USA, which are a mass produced pickup. I bought it a few years back directly from Rebecca (Bills daughter) when i was going through a bit of a Nuno Bettencourt stage. His original N4 i'm lead to believe had a XL500 in so thought i'd try one out. It's by far and away the hottest pickup i own, great sound with clarity. I'd highly recommend them :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texas58 Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 "Hello All Does anyone have any experience of these pickups. i.e how do they compare with the classic 57's or Burstbuckers etc. I believe they have quite a high output but what pickups were they based on and what type of a sound do they have? I cannot find much info on them at all out there in google land. They were only made for a few years which makes me think they wern't a very good pickup. Any knowledge gratefully received " Hello ... I play a 1988 Les Paul Gold Top with Bill Lawrence Original Gibson Pickups. I think they are really nothing short of phenomenal. When I first got my Les Paul the first thing checked out was the pickups when I went to replace the strings. I remember seeing the circuitboard on the back of the pickups and thinking "WTFS is this?". It wasnt until afterwards when I started comparing my other Les Pauls and PRS through the same amps (Fender Hot Rod Deville, Mesa MK III, Mesa Dual rectifier, Roland Cube 80XL) did I appreciate what awesome pickups these were. The Tone, Sustain and Volume are unparallelled. I did some research and found that my guitar was a Pre-Historic, the first of its kind and between the years of 1988 and 1991 Gibson used these pickups on most of their Les Pauls. Why they were discontinued I dont know. I guess alot of people didnt like them. Would I change them out? ... No Way. Their tone is totally Nuclear. Smokin, and I am always getting compliments on my sound and tone. My Goldtop tips the scales at just under 9.50 lbs which I am sure helps. Its tone is dead on for Allman Brothers, ZZTop, Thin Lizzy and Skynard where I need Vintage sound and Slide guitar. I think the pickups are the best for slide guitar where you need that sustain. I also play a 2007 GC Les Paul Double Cutaway that had Burstbucker Pros. I didnt like the burstbuckers because they were too hard to control and the tone seemed kind of "Artificial" to me. In my opinion I dont think they achieved the "Airness" vintage tone. They squealed too much whenever I cranked my volume. I replaced them with 57 Classics from a Gibson ES335 Hollow Body. I also replaced the Capacitor with a Bumblebee cap from an old stereo reciever from the 50's. Big difference. The Guitar sounds nice fat and Bluesy now ... it gives me a nice Frank Marino tone. I play alot of early ZZTop, Alvin Lee stuff on it too. It has a great neck thats been Pleked and its a thicker guitar than most other Double Cutaways with a fat mahogany back and it weighs in at 8.25 lbs. I really like the sound of the 57 Classics lots better than I did the Burstbuckers. If I compare my 1989 PRS CE24 to my Goldtop, The Goldtop will blow it out of the water. The PRS has the HFS and PAF pickups, but the Goldtop seems to have a warmer sweeter tone on the mid and upper high end and a overall fuller tone. It is also seem to be a more tighter defined distortion tone than the PRS. Still, I like the PRS because of its sound versatility and tremolo. It has an alder body and can almost sound like a strat. Ive been interested in the PRS 57/08 pickups. Comparing even those pickups to the Bill Lawrence pickups would be intereting but there again I dont think that would make any difference because I think my Les Paul is a more resonant guitar because of the thicker mahogany body. Anyways Hope that helps ... HR :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cú Chulainn Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 The original are now called Wilde Pickups and you buy them directly from him and his family online. Another company has the rights to his name and is making a Bill Lawrence pickup. but they are not the originals. This is common knowledge, but there are NO originals. Bill(his real name being Willi Stich) were making these TOGETHER with Jzchak Wajcman who now runs Bill Lawrence USA and is still making the pickus the same way with the same equipment used during the early days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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