335ish 12 string Clone from closing down sale

[tonyw]

I have a Watkins Rapier 33 in my rack, if i showed it to you it would go something like, oh my what a load of junk, then if you played it you would melt with its feel and tone and perfect setup.

Its all about setting a guitar up correct and it will all come together.

[tonyw]

Looking at pickups today

1: i was going to roll my own but i have only enough bobbins for 1 HB
2: Order from Wilde Bills a pair of L500C's blade pickups
3: Take the pair out of my Telecaster Blacktop body
4: Some Gotoh HB's or the likes

Leaning toward the ones in my Tele

[tonyw]

Have decided to use these pickups out of my Tele blacktop body.

These are Alnico BHK brand made in China, Fender call then a "Hot Vintage Alnico Humbucking Pickup with Nickel Cover"

[tonyw]

The part i was deading was checking the neck levels, it didnt look right to me, but i got a pleasant surprise.

The worst part and its nothing really, the worst match up of tuner holes


Checking the frets and neck over, everything is good, i got 2 slightly proud frets when i did a rocker test, and it has a very very slight concave, which is good as well.

[tonyw]

Pickups have been selected and paid for

Bill Lawrence (Wilde Bill) L90, i picked the 4 henry inductance rating for the bridge and the 2.8H for the neck.

Independent review

"the L-90 is a humbucker that has a very clean, clear sound, almost like a single-coil. It's got a great, open, vintage sound, that you don't expect from a humbucker. It's great for blues, jazz, country, and rock. Most guys love it as a neck pickup because it's open and not muddy, but plenty use it as a bridge pickup too, Joe Perry and Buck Dharma love this pickup."

The 2.8H is around 6.5k, the 4.0H is around 7k its puts them in that Vintage PAF type of range but these things a very very clear.

These are a blade pickup so no problems about the 12 string alignment.

What the late Bill Lawrence himself had to say about them.

the L-90! The gleaming stainless steel blades guide a tightly focused magnetic window in a perfectly structured Alnico 5 circuit for unparalleled accuracy and with low magnetic attraction and complete immunity to noise. The pickup is responsive to the finest nuances in playing technique, smoothly balanced from crisp highs down to a detailed, powerful low end.

His lovely wife Becky makes the pickups these days

What you got with Bill was no industry BS, absolutely none at all (a bit like meself haha), its why over the years i have bought so many pickups of him, and now Becky. I have a lot of his pickups in my collection that i havent even put in a guitar yet. I used to many many years ago pry him for information about pickups as i wanted to wind my own and he soon rather abruptly at times dispelled alot of myths



A link to the blades, i nearly went the L500 but these are cleaner

http://wildepickups.com/Wilde_Bill_s_Twin_Blades.html

[zeromick]

hell f**k yeah!

[wazkelly]

Had some Bill Lawrence blade style PUPs dropped in a Japanese strat copy in 1980. The guitar tech wired them in a Mitey Mite Scratchplate that used 3 x 3 on-off-on mini switches so that they were humbucker in one position, off in the middle, and single coil in the last position. This allowed for multiple in and out of phase sounds, neck and bridge on together both in and out of phase too, plus all 3 on together whilst mucking around with phasing. Unbelievable the number of sound combinations you could get. Even 35 years ago they were very clean, had a warmth across each setting but the best part was no dropouts whilst bending notes as there were no staggered pole pieces to worry about. No doubt they have only got better with time.

[stan]

Those L90s sound like they are the biz, can't wait to hear them

[tonyw]

Those L90s sound like they are the biz, can't wait to hear them

Yeh Stan they should get the jingle jangle i am wanting out the 12 string.

$60 US a pop +$25 postage, you 100% know that your getting top quality every time.

[Swanny]

If they sound as good as they look, they'll be a winner! It's good you know his products, so you can be confident in how they'll work out.