Bill Lawrence L-490

Pickup features: Single coil in humbucker frame
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: telecaster
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: none- custom instrument
Other pickups on guitar: 2 lawrence single coils
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): blues, rock, vintage tones
Reason for pickup change:

Perceived output level: Between Gibson 490 and a typical strat single coil
Tone: bright and CLEAR, perfectly balanced
Sonic evaluation: Straight into a stock 68/69' Silver face Super Reverb, Alltone speakers from Reverend

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: All forms of blues, rock, and twang from Elvis forward, but not much heavy stuff or noise. The pickup is great for what I do, and gets a unique sweet tone like a tele on musical steriods. Very musical! I am ordering more to try them in my Gibsons, and I'll let you know how the work in the neck position.

Comments: I have been playing over 30 years, and these babies give the convincing tone for the what I do. I am buying these again, and were I to need them, I'd buy their strat pickups again. As Lawrence claims, they deliver a lot of tones and frequencies that other pickups miss. I have tried TV Jones tv trons, and they faithfully deliver a weak Gretsch humbucker sound, but stop short of great articulation these L 490s give. I also recently bought a Seymour Duncan Phat Cat, and while it compares well with the Lawrence, it is more pure p90, delivering clarity and bite, but with some noise and lacking the "sweetness" the L 490. The Lawrence L490 is supposedly voiced between a p90 and a Jazzmaster. While that seems like an odd combo of tones, the results are in that range with an exceptional clarity, exceptional inclusion of otherwise-lost frequencies, and great dynamic response. The only problem I have had with his stuff are the screw inserts in the pickup--very touchy. And the wait--but hey, it's worth it!

Pickup features: Passive Noiseless P-90 type
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Gibson SG Special
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: Stock Gibson 490 Humbuckers
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s):
Reason for pickup change: I realized there are a couple of confusing items in my post below that stem from the fact that I replaced Gibson 490's with Bill Lawrence L-490's. Sometimes I did not make the distinction and in one place, I said L-490 when I meant to say Gibson 490. Any dissatisfaction was with the Gibson 490 Humbuckers (to be fair, they are probably decent pickups, I just did not think they got along well with my Deluxe Reverb) and not the Bill Lawrence pickups.

Perceived output level:
Tone:
Sonic evaluation:
For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable:

Comments:

Pickup features: Passive Noiseless P-90
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Gibson SG Special
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: Stock Gibson 490 Humbuckers
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): Rock, Country, Blues
Reason for pickup change: G.A.S. and I wanted a p-90 sound and I wanted my guitar to look more like Pete Townsend's. Mostly I did not like howt the 490's sounded through my Deluxe Reverb, they were either muddy or overpowering, with not much in between.

Perceived output level: Output seems average.
Tone: Excellent. They are very articulate and sound great clean or with distortion. They are extremely versatile and quiet. I can get warm humbucker sounds from the neck pickup with the tone turned down as well as bright twangy sounds from the bridge pickup with the tone turned all the way up as well as everything else in between. It is very easy to dial in the sound you want.
Sonic evaluation: I play through an old Fender Deluxe Reverb that is at its best with medium to lower output pickups that work well in the mid to upper frequencies. The 490's work very well with this. I can get great country twang, gritty but still warm jazz tones, and standard rock sounds with these guys that I could not get with the L-490's. They especially shine when finger picking or with arpeggios. Individual notes stand out clearly. It is nearly impossible to make these sound muddy. They are sort of like a cross between a P-90 and maybe my Rickenbacker pickups (not the toasters), which I also like a lot. However, they are not quite like a P-90 - they are not as noisy or snarly. They are livelier than most humbuckers I have played and I think they come closer to a P-90 than Gibson's P-100.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: I play mostly indie-rock, alt-country, some classic garagey rock (the Who, Kinks), and 80's alternative (Pixies etc). I do not play any metal. These pickups are perfect for me. I doubt they have the output and low-end that metal players would want. The pickups are good for both positions - they make different ones for the lead and the neck. You must also choose color and Fender or Gibson pole spacing.

Comments: I have been playing for about 14 years. I would buy these again, although I would like to have advance notice that they were going to be lost or stolen so that I could order the new ones -- they are made to order so they take a while. I am very happy with these pickups and I really liked talking to Becky Lawrence at www.billlawrence.com. If I ever sold the SG I would probably take them out and put them in another guitar.

Pickup features: Humbucking
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: tommy's moderne
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced:
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s):
Reason for pickup change: Experimentation

Perceived output level: Average to slightly hot
Tone: Very clear and articulate
Sonic evaluation: Bill keeps getting better. These are my favorite of Bills. Totally quiet of course, a cross between a humbucker and a P-90. What I like most is that when you turn the pickup down you don't lose highs. Also when you turn the tone control all the way down in the overdrive mode you get this tone reminisent of Cream circa Disralei Gears.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable:

Comments: This is a great pickup and i'd love to hear it in a Les Paul. The neck is so clear. I played it thru a Vox ac-15, a Diezel and a Warbler Juke.