Bill Lawrence dual rail humbucker- what's this good for?

[bottlenecker]

Someone gave me this bill lawrence pickup, and I'm trying to decide what to do with it. What is it, and what was it meant for? Does it do metalish sounds? I could put it on a 90s jackson I rarely touch, or save it for something better.

 

[eallen]

Looks like maybe one of the EB-50 bass humbuckers which is a knock off mass produced under the bill lawrence USA label rather than by Bill. Pic would help.

A pick of the back might give better clues but I don't recall Bill's pup blade sticking that high above & being curved on top but someone more knowledgeable about his older pups might chime in.

Bill's actual pickups are only available at www.wildepickups.com and unrivaled in quality & sound. His L90 as well as the L500 series are just unreal. They are made by his wife Becky & her daughter Shannon today since his passing.

Eric

 

[paulblackford]

Wow! Those rails are really high. Any markings on the back?

 

[paulblackford]

Looks like this might be a demo of your pickup. It's mounted below the P-bass pickup that you see for most of the video:

 

[brookdalebill]

They sound great!
They have medium-low output, are dead quiet, and remain hum-cancelling when split.

 

[bottlenecker]

Wow! Those rails are really high. Any markings on the back?

Bill Lawrence
USA

 

[paulblackford]

Like eallen said, it's a bass humbucker made by Bill Lawrence, USA which broke its association to Bill a long time ago. If it were a pickup manufactured by Wilde pickups (Bill's company prior to his death) the back would have been similar to the pic attached. I don't know if this bass pickup is actually one of Bill's designs, or if the "Bill Lawrence, USA" company designed these based on the L500 design.

 

[RnB]

Had a set Of OBL 450's (rail type) in a Strat that were made in W. Germany. 1st heard them in Coco Montoya's guitar & he made them sound damn good. As others have said, they are dead quiet, but in the end, thought they were a bit anemic for me compared to the many other pup offerings.
Gotta be be careful when when purchasing a set of the authentic BL pups, as it's confusing whose pups you're really buying. Since his death, I think his wife is running the show now?

 

[Volcanicash01]

Someone gave me this bill lawrence pickup, and I'm trying to decide what to do with it. What is it, and what was it meant for? Does it do metalish sounds? I could put it on a 90s jackson I rarely touch, or save it for something better.

View attachment 1033115

Looks real mean!

 

[Full-Tilt-Tele]

Well, it depends on the 'Resistance' rating... If it's 10.5K or higher, use it at the bridge position. If it's lower than 10K, you'd better use it in the middle or neck position. DON'T use it in any classic brand guitar, it will de-value your guitar. Save it for a future 'Partscaster' project and just let it 'Fly' it's own colors...

 

[Bemo]

I rarely weigh in on any thread but Bill's last company, wildepickups.com shows only P and J style pickups. This pickup must be by the other guy (info out there if you're interested). I have to say that that the J style offered by WildePickups are absolutely fantastic. They are clear and don't color the sound at all while being a stacked humbucker. Are they the highest output? No, but from what I can tell Bill thought the player should have the most balanced frequency range possible and could use the amp for output. And they're a bargain for what you get too.

 

[hopdybob]

Had a set Of OBL 450's (rail type) in a Strat that were made in W. Germany. 1st heard them in Coco Montoya's guitar & he made them sound damn good. As others have said, they are dead quiet, but in the end, thought they were a bit anemic for me compared to the many other pup offerings.
Gotta be be careful when when purchasing a set of the authentic BL pups, as it's confusing whose pups you're really buying. Since his death, I think his wife is running the show now?

View attachment 1033299 View attachment 1033300

Nils Lofgren use them to

 

[Jakedog]

Oh, it’ll metal.

 

[Ronkirn]

yeah, that pup is made by a former associate of Bills that seemed to embrace becoming a "POS" some years back... personally I wouldn't use it as a paperweight...

 

[madzub]

EB-50 bass pickup made by BLUSA. They've been made since the 70s or early 80s when Willi Lorenz Stich aka Bill Lawrence worked together with the BLUSA guy. Wilde did a run of EB50s some years ago. Basically it's an L500 with taller, wider blades. Can be used on guitar just as well. It'll do metal but a lot of other stuff, makes a good pedal steel sound with a volume pedal and reverb.