I'd also say the resistive load theory is a bit of a misperception. All of Bill's pups are extremely sensitive to height adjustments, which means you must approach height adjustment quite differently to other pups, in that very small adjustments can make a big difference. In some guitars, I fear 280's can require a lot of tweaking. Also, I fear that 280's are too transparent for some guitars, and really highlight their weaknesses, and if you need to install 500K pots to bring 280's to life, I'd say it's the guitar you're actually breathing some life into.

That said; I believe Bill prefers 500K pots. And I also believe Bill has constantly tweaked the 280's, and I suspect the newer versions are harder to achieve the vintage tones that the earlier ones definitely achieved. With the advent of the 200's, I further expect the 280's to be tweaked into Bill's personal ideal single coil, without the need to offer something to the vintage crowd.

Furthermore, the rig is very important, and this can't be stressed enough. The rig needs to be tweaked for the pups. And I also think the rig (and speakers) plays a leading role in our differing perceptions, as to why some 280 owners swear their 280's sound vintage with plenty of quack, and others fail to hear it. Because 280's have a relatively flat frequency response, they are more sensitive to, and reliant on, EQ.

Aide toi et le ciel taidera (Aid thyself and heaven will aid thee)