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Thread: Bill Lawrence Pickups for ESB-4 bass builder (EB-50 pickups)

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    Overlord of Music fender3x's Avatar
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    Bill Lawrence Pickups for ESB-4 bass builder (EB-50 pickups)

    I just saw that there are some Bill Lawrence EB-50 pickups for sale on eBay:

    https://www.ebay.com/itm/26495019341...8AAOSwTcdfvE2u

    https://www.ebay.com/itm/23379418823...8AAOSwcbhfvE3O

    These are a drop-in fit for ES4-B basses, and they are awesome pickups. I have a set and really love how they sound:

    Click image for larger version. 

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    Although the two listings appear to be from different sellers, the pics are identical in the two listings and both are from National City, California. I don't think that either of the companies that make Bill Lawrence branded stuff is making them anymore, so I am guessing they are NOS that somebody found on the back of a shelf.* In spite of the pic on the box, you can tell that these are the genuine bass pickups because the blades go all the way to the edge of the coils. The blades are shorter on BL guitar pickups.

    In whatever case, these are fairly rare. I snapped up the only two I could find when I was doing my build three years ago, and I haven't seen any more since then. There are not many BASS pickups that fit a standard Humbucker route. The alternatives I could find were at least twice the price of these. While I could not find anyone selling these new, I did find the specs from an article by Bill Lawrence, and mine had the right resistance and inductance--which is different than his specs for similar guitar pups, so these seem right.

    At the time I got mine the only two I could find had cream bobbins. These are the more popular black ones. Would have completely changed my color scheme ;-)

    * [edit Feb 23, 2023] The "two" companies that sell these pickups occasionally, are Musicstorelive.com and PitbullAudio.com (no relation, I am pretty sure). The address for both put them in the same warehouse betweem the Mexican Boarder and San Diego California. That is also where Bill Lawrence USA pickups were located (not the Wilde pickups, which is based in Macon, Georgia). Over a few years I have seen a few of these for sale from one or the other seller. So, either they have a huge stash of NOS pickups or BL USA still makes them in very small runs. In any case, every few months I'll see a few for sale on eBay, Reverb or one of the two web-stores. Still priced at about $55 US and say made in California on the box. May be of interest, at least to US builders. They sound great, are a drop in fit the ESB-4, and are a bargain.
    Last edited by fender3x; 24-02-2023 at 03:33 AM.

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