Will the REAL Bill Lawrence please stand up!

[UnklMickey]

Recently I stumbled upon the fact that there are TWO guy both laying claim to the Bill Lawrence name.

Apparently they both together owned the original company.

Neither was actually named Bill Lawrence.

searching previous threads, i found the following in Re: Bill Lawrence 500xl:
guitarnuts2.proboards45.com/index.cgi?board=pup&action=display&thread=1119410478

wolfengeist said:

As a side note to the above posting: Buyer Beware - Bill Lawrence did have some legal issues involving the reproduction of this pickup by another company and I have heard horror stories about Fake Bill Lawrence pickups that produce massive squealing feedback even at low volume levels.

erikh said:

"Real" Bill Lawrence pickups can be found here: www.billlawrence.com/

The fake ones are here: www.billlawrenceusa.com/

to confuse matters even more, it seems from documents in the billlawrenceusa website, that legally he has the exclusive rights to the Bill Lawrence name.

although it appears from a purely legal standpoint, that ErikH has it backwards as to which is real and which is fake, I for one am more interested in the GOODS.

are any of these "junk"? do they both look the same?

can anyone offer any more information on this matter?

if so, please indicate in your writing as to whether your info is 1st hand, 2nd hand, or anecdotal.

thanks in advance,

U.M.

[bam]

(anecdote, supposedly)
fortunately, I'm not using Bill Lawrences pups. :lol:

[erikh]

Actually, I have it right. Go to www.billlawrence.com and read this: www.billlawrence.com/Pages/Bill_Lawrence_Documentary.htm

That's a good summary of it all. Jzchak runs bill lawrence usa (doesn't deserve caps IMO). His pickups are inferior to what Bill himself makes and sells at billlawrence.com (you cannot get the real ones in any store). Compare a L-500XL from Bill and one from bill lawrence usa and you'll see the difference. The rails from blusa are smaller, not contructed as well, and the blusa models are microphonic.

Also, Bill designed the SCN pickups in the Fender Strat Deluxe's. Bill has been fighting to restore his name for years. Eventually, he'll win the battle.

Read this too: www.billlawrence.com/Pages/DON%27T_BE_DUPED.htm

I have had the pleasure of playing Bill's pickups. His single coils are second to none. Wonderful tone. His L500XL is freakin' incredible. One of the best humbuckers I played. I've also played an L500XL from BLUSA and it's no comparison. Like someone else said, the fake ones squeal. The BLUSA one did.

[UnklMickey]

EricH,

This is exactly the information I needed.
Bills site is fairly incomplete and doesn't have hardly information on the L-490 (which I was later able to get from other sources on the net). That other guy seems to be more organized and to the uninformed LOOKS to be more credible. just shows to go ya, looks can be deceiving! Knowing that you've actually played on pickups from both makers, convinces me that www.billlawrence.com/ is the real deal.

I'll contact them and see if I can get the L-490s in the right dress (gold).

guess that's all there is to say on the matter. -- no, wait, one more thing.


Thank you!, Thank you!, Thank you!

[erikh]

You're welcome. Be sure to call. They have both been very busy so email replies may be slow but they do answer the phone. It's just Becky and Bill with a few other folks doing some duties and that's it. It's very much a "mom & pop" type business with impecible quality.

[odgeuk]

This is a thread that has been discussed in great detail over at the Nuno Bettencourt Forum :

www.population-1.com/forums/viewforum.php?f=3&sid=1945a1b603822df75f5429775d504eb6

Nuno's signature Washburn N4's were released with 'Bill Lawrence USA' pickups in the bridge (An L-500 or an XL-500 on the very eary models). Apparently, this caused outrage as Nuno is thought to have used the Bill Lawrence pickups made by Becky and Bill.

The general consenus is that the Bill Lawrence USA pickups sound dreadful and many N4 owners swap their's out for an alternative, or for one of Bill and Beckys versions. Others say that the Bill Lawrence USA's are just fine.

I have an N4 which had a Bill Lawrence USA, and my personal experience is that it is a horrendous pickup. Trebley, overly-bright and unbalanced. I swapped it out for a Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates, and now I'm much happier. I've often wondered what a Bill and Becky L-500 would sound like.

You might want to search the forum I listed above for more info, but I beleive that the VERY FIRST Washburn N4's did have the Bill and Becky pickups in.

It's a long and confusing issue (there is also some pretty scathing comments about the whole thing over at the Harmony-Central review website).

Let you own ears decide I guess.