guitar101 Posted February 27, 2006 Report Share Posted February 27, 2006 I was looking to buy some pickups originally Fender SCN noiseless when I came across Bill Lawrance who apparently helped design them. I did a search and came across two Bill Lawence companies. One in California and one run by Bill and Becky Lawrence the ones I am interested in. Anyone here use them? The model number is L-280. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unclej Posted February 27, 2006 Report Share Posted February 27, 2006 I was looking to buy some pickups originally Fender SCN noiseless when I came across Bill Lawrance who apparently helped design them. I did a search and came across two Bill Lawence companies. One in California and one run by Bill and Becky Lawrence the ones I am interested in. Anyone here use them? The model number is L-280. i've built two guitars using bill's pickups. they're very well built, sound great and are very reasonably priced. the customer service is great and if you have questions bill will take the time to talk to you personally. highly recommended. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psw Posted February 27, 2006 Report Share Posted February 27, 2006 It's worth looking into the two Lawrence Pickup Companies...you got the right one... The real Bill Lawrence Website Bill has been a real innovator for a long time...he's about to turn 75 but here's a much younger pic... The guy has been a real innovator and his pickups are reputed to be very good. He does feel pretty bad about his name being used as a brand for very cheap import pickups... Bill's website is a mine of infomation about pickups and the way he approaches them. Yes, he did do the design work for the Fender SCN...heres a little something on them...SCN Article Here's the main site...Bill Lawrence Pickups...check out the pickupology for some lo-BS pickup info... This here for instance was influential to my consideration of magnets for the DIY Sustainer project and in considering novel pickup approachs... Ceramics vs Alnico When I read that ceramic magnets sound harsh and alnico magnets sound sweet, I ask myself, " Who the hell preaches such nonsense?" There are harsh-sounding pickups with alnico magnets and sweet-sounding pickups with ceramic magnets and vice-versa! A magnet by itself has no sound, and as a part of a pickup, the magnet is simply the source to provide the magnetic field for the strings. The important factor is the design of a magnetic circuit which establishes what magnet to use. Though ceramic magnets cost less than alnico magnets of equal size, a well-designed magnetic circuit using ceramic magnets costs much more than the six Alnico 5 magnets of a traditional single coil pickup! The fact is that the SCN's and Bill's own versions like the one you are considering use exotic rare earth magnets...but not because they have some "voodoo" tone, that's in the design...just that they can provide magnetic power in a small space to make such a design possible...refreashing honesty!!! Anyway, I have read many of his patents and enjoyed his approach...so I think the quality of the product is fairly secure... Anyone considering making their own pickups should read his open discussions debunking some of the weird and wonderful pickup myths... First hand experience...sorry, I've never seen them down here but if you like the SCN's I'd say they are on a par! pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stolysmaster Posted February 27, 2006 Report Share Posted February 27, 2006 Chech out Kinman Pickups before you buy! They are outrageously good sounding Strat pickups...and no hum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jester700 Posted February 27, 2006 Report Share Posted February 27, 2006 Duncan just came out with their new "stack plus", which is supposed to be among the best of this type (and much better than their old "stack" model). Might want to look there as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marksound Posted February 27, 2006 Report Share Posted February 27, 2006 ...he's about to turn 75 but here's a much younger pic... He couldn't be too much younger. That looks like an American Deluxe Strat which I'm pretty sure debuted in 2004. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crafty Posted February 28, 2006 Report Share Posted February 28, 2006 Chech out Kinman Pickups before you buy! They are outrageously good sounding Strat pickups...and no hum. ...and cost about 3 times as much as anything you'll buy from Bill and Becky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psw Posted February 28, 2006 Report Share Posted February 28, 2006 Chech out Kinman Pickups before you buy! They are outrageously good sounding Strat pickups...and no hum. ...and cost about 3 times as much as anything you'll buy from Bill and Becky. Not to Dis my countryman Mr.K or his pickups (they reallyare good), but 3x as much and 100x the hype. SCN's are not very different in principle to Kinmans and, although he has a patent on them, the design is really a stacked humbucker with a bit of shielding and such...heavily influenced by guys like Lawrence and Lace and the others before him. That is not to say they aren't great pickups...but, are they better, are they best, do they warrant the hype and are they better than what Bill and Becky make...hmmm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnA Posted February 28, 2006 Report Share Posted February 28, 2006 The California company is the real one, the person in Bethlehem making pickups under the Bill Lawrence name is a former partner of the company. The name Bill Lawrence does not refer to any person, it's just the name of the company. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crafty Posted February 28, 2006 Report Share Posted February 28, 2006 The California company is the real one, the person in Bethlehem making pickups under the Bill Lawrence name is a former partner of the company. The name Bill Lawrence does not refer to any person, it's just the name of the company. Nobody's making pickups in Bethlehem anymore, chief. Bill and Becky moved to Cali when he scored the contract with Fender to design the SCN series. I think it's okay to call him Bill Lawrence, too, just like we call Tom Cruise his professional name instead of "Thomas Mapother" or John Denver instead of "Henry Deutschendorf". Rolls off a bit better than Willi Stich. Bill Lawrence can use his professional English name and that service mark any way he wants to--as long as Bill Lawrence USA keeps making crap he'll have all the business he needs because people know where to get the real deal. And it ain't from Wajcman or Torres. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnA Posted March 1, 2006 Report Share Posted March 1, 2006 well I guess I got outdated info, then. Thanks for the update. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitar101 Posted March 3, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 3, 2006 Chech out Kinman Pickups before you buy! They are outrageously good sounding Strat pickups...and no hum. I am on a budget besides reading up on the history of this guy intregues me. Thanks for the suggestion though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stolysmaster Posted March 3, 2006 Report Share Posted March 3, 2006 (edited) Yeah, after checking out his website and listening to the other guys talk about him, I'm impressed too! If his pickups sound as good as Kinmans at one third the price, I might have to check out a set. Does anyone know if his personal strat pickups are the exact same ones that Fender markets as SCN? I have a hand built strat made in 1984 made by my friend Scott Baxendale. The guitar has not had pickups in it for quite a few years. He used to make Mossman acoustics after he bought the company in the early 80's, and now builds mostly acoustics under his own name in Denver (Colfax Guitar Shop). I don't play strats anymore and thought I might sell this one. I would have to put in a set of good sounding pickups before I sell it though. Maybe the Bill Lawrence would be a great choice at a good price. It's pretty unique; cherryburst one piece ash with a solid piece of rosewood for the neck. The fingerboard is scalloped, and Yngwie played it once in 1985 (whatever that's worth). It has an original Schecter Trem on it, that I think sounds better than any strat style trem I have ever heard! Anyway, I'm rambling. Edited March 3, 2006 by Stolysmaster Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redwhiteandthemaple Posted March 3, 2006 Report Share Posted March 3, 2006 (edited) Just a suggestion, you could build your own pickups from those kits they sell at StewMac StratPickupKit CoilWire Tape Personally, I think it's a very useful skill to be able to customize pickups, and it shouldn't take too much time once you get the hang of it. I, myself, haven't tried it. (Mainly because my 'rents won't let me use their creditcard.. ) Just something to consider imo. -IR EDIT: Oh.. did I mention how cheap it is? Check it out for yourself! Edited March 3, 2006 by redwhiteandthemaple Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marksound Posted March 3, 2006 Report Share Posted March 3, 2006 Anybody mention Curtis Novak? I've never used his stuff but he has a bunch of devotees at the Reranch forum, and he seems to know what he's talking about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crafty Posted March 4, 2006 Report Share Posted March 4, 2006 Does anyone know if his personal strat pickups are the exact same ones that Fender markets as SCN? No, rumor has it that part of his contract with Fender is that they can only offer the pickups installed on new guitars, and he cannot sell copies of the pickups himself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stolysmaster Posted March 4, 2006 Report Share Posted March 4, 2006 Does anyone know if his personal strat pickups are the exact same ones that Fender markets as SCN? No, rumor has it that part of his contract with Fender is that they can only offer the pickups installed on new guitars, and he cannot sell copies of the pickups himself. Then, how do his pickups differ in tone from the Fender SCN pups that he designed, and why do I see NIB SCN pups for sale on ebay independently from guitars? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crafty Posted March 4, 2006 Report Share Posted March 4, 2006 Does anyone know if his personal strat pickups are the exact same ones that Fender markets as SCN? No, rumor has it that part of his contract with Fender is that they can only offer the pickups installed on new guitars, and he cannot sell copies of the pickups himself. Then, how do his pickups differ in tone from the Fender SCN pups that he designed, and why do I see NIB SCN pups for sale on ebay independently from guitars? As far as tone goes, that's something you'll have to get from Bill himself. I think I saw a memo on his site that explains what the SCNs are all about. Also, I didn't notice any "new-in-box" SCN pickups on the 'Bay, only ones that have been pulled out of complete guitars. Fender doesn't even list them on the accessory list, either. They're priced pretty cheap on eBay, though. $45 for a full set ain't bad at all. I personally wasn't impressed with the SCNs in the Strat I played them on last spring, but I think a set of 250k pots might warm 'em up a bit. I just like good, old fashioned Alnico myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Tube Doctor Posted March 8, 2006 Report Share Posted March 8, 2006 I've had the good fortune to have used most of the pickups currently on the market. This includes smaller manufacturers (Fralin, Lollar, Kent Armstrong, Bareknuckle, Kinman etc) and the big names (Dimarzio, Duncan & the list goes on). For my money, you cannot beat Bill Lawrence pickups. Bill and Becky are wonderful folks to deal with, but you must remember that they are a real "Mom & Pop" company. If you've got to wait for your order to be filled, be paitent, it will be worth the wait. There are not many pickups made that are complete disasters, but there are few that I would recommend as unhesitatingly as Bill's. I've never had poor results, dissatisfied customers or been put on perpetual HOLD by an anonymous service department when dealing with these fine folks. It doesn't matter if you choose a single-coil sized pickup or one of their humbuckers. You'll get tone that is at least the equal of anything currently on the market. But you should be forewarned that after using Bill's pickups, your other guitars will sound like there's something wrong with them. Five stars, two thumbs up or however you wish to define superlative performance; that's what you can expect. And no, I'm not related, nor am I being paid or threatened to say all these nice things. THANK YOU BILL & BECKY!!!!!!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
masterpuppets Posted March 9, 2006 Report Share Posted March 9, 2006 Wow....this site is VERY informative!!! I like the "mom & pop" thing they have going on.The prices are CRAZY cheap! I am using SD's right now.I used to have 2 LX-500's in my old Jackson Dinky...man those pickups did sound great! And they were only $50 apiece.I might go back to them man.....I remember those having the warmest tone,even though they were extremely high-gain.Dimebag used those in his bridge for almost his whole career too. They really sound great. Plus the blade poles make string bending sound a lot better.I notice a little loss of sustain when bending with my SD Distortion,well,if I hold a bend obviously.Interesting.I thought they were just cheap becuase they were some crap imported stuff.But when I open the box and put them in,they were just as good as any of the other pickups....better actually.What is the deal with these "other" Lawrence ones? I don't know anything about it.Got mine in '99 at a really small music store.I am pretty sure they were not copies,becuase they sounded too good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psw Posted March 9, 2006 Report Share Posted March 9, 2006 Well the rant has been removed now from a few years back over at the Wilde Bill Lawrence Website that I had linked...it's perhaps been sorted... Basically someone was making cheap import pickups with a blade design that looked a bit like his pickups, there may have been a former business connection I'm not sure, but they were being made in india as I recall. Clearly they were branded Bill Lawrence and were even being sold through StewMac (though also not anymore). There were long standing legal things going on as if you look at the operation on the "factory tour" you can see these things are in fact "hand made". Bill was/is a real innovator in design and has a refreashingly open no BS approach to it. But it must have been very difficult to compete with the alternate "bill Lawrence" and difficult to get the word out that not all Bill Lawrence branded pickups were in fact Bill Lawrence pickups...lol Since all mention of it has been erased and I can't even find the bad ones now, perhaps the whole thing has been settled which is great. Maybe the whole thing came about because Bill's name is not, as it happens, Bill Lawrence but... Bill Lawrence - legally known as Willi Lorenz Stich, professionally know as Billy Lorento, and once almost known as Bela Lorentowsky - runs Bill Lawrence Products which manufactures pickups and strings He has had a long association with the music business, a little in the Leo Fender ilk...here's an article about his work at Gibson during the '80's and a little background on what was happening and where he thinks the guitar is headed... Bill's time a Gibson It's good to see that htis guy is still recognised for his contibution...good on'ya Bill... pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vance23 Posted March 9, 2006 Report Share Posted March 9, 2006 In this interview Bill Lawerence talks about his new pickups. Aren't these the HBL, and HBR pickups? How highly thought of are they today? Did Lawrence develop the 'unbuckers' too, at Gibson???? He has had a long association with the music business, a little in the Leo Fender ilk...here's an article about his work at Gibson during the '80's and a little background on what was happening and where he thinks the guitar is headed... Bill's time a Gibson It's good to see that htis guy is still recognised for his contibution...good on'ya Bill... pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.