Dimebucker... Is It Worth The Hype?

[Kramers Rule]

I in the middle of a build... it is a superstrat and I want some high gain pick-ups. I play distortion 95% of the time. The body is routed for 2 humbuckers.

I was looking at the Dimebucker or possibly some vintage Bill Lawrence pick-ups. Does any one have experaince with these? Does anyone have any other recommendations???

[gibsonsg26]

my friend has one in his hot pink kramer and its pretty cool. The pickups got some real power hes in the process of putting them in all his guitars. Im personally a dimarzio fan but the dimebucker is pretty cool.

[zeppelinchld]

personally i like the dimarzio super distortions which are ok clean but when u run a little gain or distortion through them they sound awesome

[zeppelinchld]

sorry double post

Edited August 20, 2007 by zeppelinchld

[Bobby]

Bareknuckle calibrated set of Warpigs or Nail Bombs for the win in the HH route.

[rhoads56]

Hype?? WHAT HYPE!!

Dimebuckers SUCK. They are one of the only pickups ive fitted for guys, who then turn around and replace them within a few weeks because they dont like them. The only pickup worse, is the Invader.

The Bill Lawrence pickup is totally different sounding, i like the L500XL.

[WezV]

i'm with perry, i cant stand the things.

also be aware that there are two companies using the bill lawrence name if you do decide to go that route.

Bill's little company making pretty decent pickups:

http://www.billlawrence.com/

and Bill lawrence USA that are not rated so high:

http://www.billlawrenceusa.com/

Both claim to make the original dimebag pickups but as far as we can tell dimebag was using the original bill's p-ups on his early guitar that probably came with the pickup on it straight from Dean.

personally i am not a fan of any rail pickups!

[Prostheta]

Is it worth mentioning X2Ns? I had a Dimebucker (and an Invader, Perry) and didn't like either of them either. Muddy and not very flexible. I prefer Tone Zones, EMG 81/60s, Super Distortions, SD 59s, Air Nortons....I feel that with huge output power, you seem to lose a degree of dynamic and the output appears more compressed if anything, both in the lack of volume and tone dynamic. If I want to hit the pre's tube stage hard, then a gain booster does the trick better, and I can use a pickup that sounds nice :-D

Having not tried an L500XL I can't give comparison, but if they sound anything like Dimebuckers or Invaders then Dime must really have had a very very huge liking for a poo pickup! I doubt this....

[RGman]

I didn't think dimebag actually really used the dimebucker? i thought he generally used the L500XL but got paid to have his signature on a similar looking pickup? (ie, dimebucker)

[Prostheta]

That's most probably the case RGman....I think the only useful thing about rail pickups compared to polepiece based pickups is for very very wide string bends, but that's a different can of worms!

[WezV]

rail pickups are usefull if you are building stuff with a different number of strings or strange string spacing -

[rhoads56]

i'm with perry, i cant stand the things.

also be aware that there are two companies using the bill lawrence name if you do decide to go that route.

Bill's little company making pretty decent pickups:

http://www.billlawrence.com/

and Bill lawrence USA that are not rated so high:

http://www.billlawrenceusa.com/

Both claim to make the original dimebag pickups but as far as we can tell dimebag was using the original bill's p-ups on his early guitar that probably came with the pickup on it straight from Dean.

personally i am not a fan of any rail pickups!

Except... at a seminar thing Dimebag did, he stated he buys all his L500XL's straight from Stewmac. Stew Mac sold the 'Bill Lawrence USA' pickups, which arent the "real" ones. BUT, both of the Bill Lawrence companies are run by two people who both developped the L500XL together (before going their seperate ways). Ive used both, and to be honest, although they were fitted to different (simular) guitars, couldnt find any noticable difference in tone.

[Prostheta]

Definitely, I can attest to that one for sure :-D

KramersRule: Are you able to borrow a Dimebucker to A/B a few pickups in your build? Opinions and the like are no substitute for actually sucking (heh) it and seeing whether the chocolate teapot fits - then wear it (sorry, UK humour). A lot of people won't touch the Dimebucker with a chocolate bargepole, but that's through trying it and having hands on experience. If you write it off as an idea without trying it....

Don't Seymour Duncan have some kind of returns/swapping policy on pickups?

[WezV]

Except... at a seminar thing Dimebag did, he stated he buys all his L500XL's straight from Stewmac. Stew Mac sold the 'Bill Lawrence USA' pickups, which arent the "real" ones. BUT, both of the Bill Lawrence companies are run by two people who both developped the L500XL together (before going their seperate ways). Ive used both, and to be honest, although they were fitted to different (simular) guitars, couldnt find any noticable difference in tone.

yeah, there is no real doubt that he has used both at some point

Sounds to me like the guitar he won from dean already had 'real' bill lawrence pickups, he probably wanted them for more guitars and found the ones at stew-mac so used those. As with most people he may have been unaware ther were two companies making the same thing with exactly the same name... thats just me speculating though!

I do feel sorrry for Bill though, having somebody else own the rights to your name! Not just the lawrence bit but his whole name... I wonder if he ever watches scrubs!

I have had them direct from bill before and had cutomers bring me the 'Bill Lawrence USA' pickups to fit. tbh i really found them both quite unpleasant but thats more to do with personal taste. they were certainly similar in offending my ears

[Prostheta]

Sounds to me like the guitar he won from dean already had 'real' bill lawrence pickups, he probably wanted them for more guitars and found the ones at stew-mac so used those. As with most people he may have been unaware ther were two companies making the same thing with exactly the same name... thats just me speculating though!

I do feel sorrry for Bill though, having somebody else own the rights to your name! Not just the lawrence bit but his whole name... I wonder if he ever watches scrubs!

Not as annoyed as Colonel Sanders...

[Kramers Rule]

Thanks for the advice... I am going to pass on the Dimebuckers.

I'll post some pics when my guitar nears completion!

[radrobgray]

what i did to figure out which Pup he used is i looked at a big pic of hos Dean From Hell. the pup on that is epoxy potted so i just bought the pup that was epoxy potted, i.e. Bill Lawrence USA.

[crafty]

It's really kind of funny. People have come out of the woodwork like crazy over the last couple of years trying to sound like Dime. Both Dean Guitars and BL-USA have cashed in like crazy on that guy's dead rotting corpse.

It's really quite simple. Buy a crappy off-brand guitar, throw a crappy off-brand pickup in there, plug it all into a crappy off-brand solid-state amp, and you're good to go! Oh, other than the 12 hours of practice everyday and the sheer skills you'll need to even come close...

[GuitarGoat]

It's really quite simple. Buy a crappy off-brand guitar, throw a crappy off-brand pickup in there, plug it all into a crappy off-brand solid-state amp, and you're good to go! Oh, other than the 12 hours of practice everyday and the sheer skills you'll need to even come close...

That was possibly the most ignorant comment I've ever seen. I am 100% positive you couldn't get his tone ever.

Anyways, Dimebag used all three at different points. There are pictures with the billlawerence.com pickups in with the chrome shielding, he stated at a clinic he bought the pickups from Stew-Mac and the later guitars had Dimebuckers. He also supposedly used a "L-500XXL" which was more like a Dimebucker and then he started endorsing the Dimebucker.

[GregP]

I think you missed his point. Dime DID buy a crappy off-brand guitar. He DID buy an off-brand pickup (dunno about crappy, though...), and he DID plug it all into an amp that wasn't considered one of the archetypes of tone. But he was Dime, so he effing ruled. I think that was crafty's point. He was saying that NOT everybody can just be Dime.

[GuitarGoat]

Oh alright sorry about that.

I thought it was another person going on about someone who is regarded very highly really isn't that special.

PS Dean guitars were really "off-brand"?

[GregP]

Yes, or at least as far as I know-- particularly when Dime picked one up.

[rhoads56]

Dean was non existant when Pantera starting going places. They were brought back to life BECAUSE of Dime's association.

[crafty]

Oh alright sorry about that.

I thought it was another person going on about someone who is regarded very highly really isn't that special.

PS Dean guitars were really "off-brand"?

No offense taken. My point was that it takes a lot more than gear to sound like most of these guys--Dime included. I would agree that I'm 100% sure that I would never be able to reach his skill level or match his tone, but I really wouldn't want to anyway. While I'm not the ultimate Pantera/Damageplan fan, I respect who they were and what they did and Dime's overall musicianship over the course of his career.

Dean was effectively DEAD when Pantera hit it big. So was Bill Lawrence USA. That's why Dime signed with Washburn and later Seymour Duncan. Only in recent years and just before his death did Dean make their comeback and that's when he went back to them. Krank and Duncan haven't been as bad about it, but I just find Dean and Bill Lawrence USA's trodding on his corpse to be more than a little distasteful. But that's how it goes with endorsements, and if you wanna make money, some times you gotta be that way.

[radrobgray]

Oh alright sorry about that.

I thought it was another person going on about someone who is regarded very highly really isn't that special.

PS Dean guitars were really "off-brand"?

No offense taken. My point was that it takes a lot more than gear to sound like most of these guys--Dime included. I would agree that I'm 100% sure that I would never be able to reach his skill level or match his tone, but I really wouldn't want to anyway. While I'm not the ultimate Pantera/Damageplan fan, I respect who they were and what they did and Dime's overall musicianship over the course of his career.

Dean was effectively DEAD when Pantera hit it big. So was Bill Lawrence USA. That's why Dime signed with Washburn and later Seymour Duncan. Only in recent years and just before his death did Dean make their comeback and that's when he went back to them. Krank and Duncan haven't been as bad about it, but I just find Dean and Bill Lawrence USA's trodding on his corpse to be more than a little distasteful. But that's how it goes with endorsements, and if you wanna make money, some times you gotta be that way.

i feel that way too, they're basicaly riding his corpse like a surf board over a sea of money to the bank!