Profile of BillLawrenceReview.com and the author
About this sites Author
Hello, my name is Scott (http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=711762428) and I have been playing guitar since '87(off and on). I have been tearing guitars apart and finding out how they work since my first guitar (that poor old Profile Strat, r.i.p., sorry... Ah, you were only plywood anyway...).
Also, since those humble beginnings, I've been interested in old guitars, mostly Gibsons. One of my first guitars was a 1969 Les Paul Deluxe (the first of several Gibson guitars, no longer in my possesion :( yes, that is a teer in my beer).
Since the internet has become widely available, I have finally been able to successfully hot wire my guitars, schematics and materials now being a mouse click away.
In or around October 2006, I purchased a "Bill Lawrence" pickup on ebay after doing only a little investigation into the "Dimebag Darrell Sound". I remembered from back in the day that he had used a dual blade humbucker called a "Bill Lawrence", and separately, that Bill Lawrence had designed guitars for Gibson- All I needed to know :)
Some investigation on the pickup included watching and reading interviews with Dime, and digging through the billlawrenceusa.com web site. The L-500XL pickup I purchased and installed in my RG-570 is stamped "Bill Lawrence U.S.A." on the top.
But I didn't stop researching there, some things didn't seem to fit...
My pickup is apparently made by Jzchak 'EZ' Wajcman, who is this?
Some web sites state that there is no one named "Bill Lawrence"??? Wasn't Bill Lawrence the same guy who worked at Gibson in the 70's, designing and making pickups for the Marauder and L6-S guitars?
Well this is where the confusion starts, and unfortunately includes allot of vague information, misinformation, omissions, contradictions, defensive and aggressive responses to inquiries, and throw in a half dozen business names... I am still amazed with some of the information I come across.
So here it is. Hopefully this site can answer some questions for you without bothering everyone I've had to, lol! thanks for all the help!!! :)
For the record
- I've yet to meet a "Bill Lawrence" guitar pickup that I didn't like, your experience may differ.
My collection of "Bill Lawrence" guitar pickups has grown to include (as of March 2007) an L-500-XL by billlawrenceusa.com (Bill Lawrence Products (EZ)). a 1983 LSR L-500L (Bill Lawrence Pickups (Classic)), a 1986 OBL L-500R and two OBL 450Rs (both by Bill Lawrence (WS)). - I am confident that guitarists use and are happy with pickups from any vendor mentioned here. I'd just like people to be able to make an informed decision when purchasing one, or identify one they already own.
- I think both the web sites billlawrenceusa.com and billlawrence.com do little to clear up this confusion, hence what I see as a need for this site. (in defense of both sites, there is currently a legal battle going on over the mark "Bill Lawrence" and I'm sure a lot of information is omitted on either's site due to this sensitive situation)
Oh, and as for Dimes gear, I would now bet that Dime used Bill Lawrence pickups identified by terms used on this site as Bill Lawrence Pickups (Classic), by Bill Lawrence(WS), and Bill Lawrence Products (EZ). Please dig into the Glossary page for explanation of these terms. Have fun!!!
About BillLawrenceReview.com
I recommend the Firefox browser, however, this site should function properly in Internet Explorer version 5 or better.
UPDATE: Seems to work very well in most browsers, and degrades rather well in Netscape 4, Internet Explorer 4, and Opera 5 (although the "rollover" images are sometimes lost in Opera versions 6 and earlier, and the Timeline page may crash Netscape 4).
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