I 'd like to replace my non-Bill and Becky L500XL and neck singlecoil to Wilde pickups: advice on neck pu please.

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jef	I 'd like to replace my non-Bill and Becky L500XL and neck singlecoil to Wilde pickups: advice on neck pu please.		Lead	[-]
Posts: 1 Tue, Jul 7, 2009 19:56:04	Tags : None Hi, I have a homemade guitar and for years it has a Bill Lawrence L500XL in the bridge and an L250 singlecoil in the neck position I bought at Steward McDonald. I 'd like to change to pickups made by Bill since I read so much reviews telling me his pickups have better dynamics and a broader frequency range... I really love the tone of the pickups I have now but the the output of the neckpickup is weak compared to the 500XL in the bridge. I know it would be easy to dime the volume of the 500XL to match the volume of the neck pickup, yet I love how this pickup pushes my amps... I 'm a bit affraid going to a 500L will feel awkward. A neck humbucker is also not what I 'm looking for since I love the sound of a singlecoil in the neckposition. Adjusting the amp is not an option since I have a pretty simple amp: an old ampeg R15R with only tone and volume. I play it wide open most of the time and back off my volume to create cleaner sounds. Any suggestions, especially for the neckpickup?
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gonzo		#1	[url]	[-]
Posts: 173 Tue, Jul 7, 2009 20:28:02 Bronze Member	go here: http://wildepickups.com/ read up on the different models, and come back to the forum here and do some homework on the descriptions and variations. then, call becky, and order!
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gatguy		#2	[url]	[-]
Posts: 445 Tue, Jul 7, 2009 22:35:40 Contributing Silver Member	My suggestion is to go with an L500R or L500L. You might like it more than the XL because, in my view, they allow more expression to come through in the playing. They can still smoke at times, but you have to drive them to that level with your technique. The result is that the lower output pups tend to make me a more dynamic (better) player.
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lgbclp		#3	[url]	[-]
Posts: 1294 Tue, Jul 7, 2009 23:52:15 Contributing Palladium Member	If you're totally set on a 500XL, I'd go for a 298SN. It's Bill's hottest single coil for the neck position. --Garrett--
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Vito		#4	[url]	[-]
Posts: 304 Wed, Jul 8, 2009 09:35:20 Bronze Member	Hi, why go for an "hot" single coil in neck pos.? I surely would recommend an L-45 in neck pos. with an L-500(X)L in bridge pos. In my opinion you should benefit from the low inductance high trebles in neck pos. I'm sure you will be surprised by the difference, when you dropped in the "real" ones! ;-) Also, you should call Becky for an advice on pickups - she's really smart in these things! :-) All the best, Vito
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bkief1		#5	[url]	[-]
Posts: 774 Wed, Jul 8, 2009 13:40:55 Contributing Palladium Member	I'd like to add that the L-500_ is not the only bridge HB option. Perhaps the 609/610 series may be of interest (I own/use each and can vouch for their excellence), or the L-90 _H is an option (8H is an idea), though have not heard the L-90 personally. I use the L-500R in the bridge of my LP w/ a Q-filter, and love it. I'm just the type that always like to explore options before I buy. And to echo what Vito said, Becky is VERY good at providing advice.
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fuzzy beard		#6	[url]	[-]
Posts: 1899 Wed, Jul 8, 2009 15:44:56 Contrib. Gold Charter Member Wilde Tech	Hi Bob! The L-90 4H is similar to the L-500R, but it's a little sweeter in upper mids and high end response. It's what a perfect PAF should be, without the inherent mud too often found in Gibsons finest. I also like L-610 a lot, especially the extra "dirt" in the response (due to it's "soft" core) which makes it a brilliant blues and rock pickup right out of the box.
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jef		#7	[url]	[-]
Posts: 3 Wed, Jul 8, 2009 15:47:02	Thanks for all the advice so far. I 'm pretty sure I 'm going for an L-500 since I really like how the one I have works in my setup. I 'll ask Becky which one works best with an L-45 in the neck, it has this singlecoil-vibe I like so much for a neckpickup.
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gonzo		#8	[url]	[-]
Posts: 174 Wed, Jul 8, 2009 21:58:52 Bronze Member	he said he wanted a single coil in the neck guys....
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gatguy		#9	[url]	[-]
Posts: 446 Wed, Jul 8, 2009 22:15:43 Contributing Silver Member	That's right - we seem to have forgotten the neck side of things. If you really dig the sound of the L500XL in your bridge, I go for the L45S/L500R combo! Or stick with the L500XL in the bridge and cope with the volume imbalance. I'd rather have a height-optimised L500R than an L500XL lowered substantially from its ideal height. But YMMV Another thing to consider if you are going to go with pickups with vastly different inductances: they are designed to use pots of different resistance (e.g. L500XL may work best with 500K pots, L45 may work best with 250K pots). Even though it's a humbucker, the L500R should have plenty of brightness to allow you to use 250K pots (actually, I'd say 250K pots would be ideal for the L500R). I hope that helps. The other guys have made really good suggestions too.
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fuzzy beard		#10	[url]	[-]
Posts: 1901 Wed, Jul 8, 2009 23:27:44 Contrib. Gold Charter Member Wilde Tech	bkief1 actually suggested the 609/610 as bridge pickup options, so my comment was actually meant to support his motion In neck position, the L-45 is the obvious BL choice. The L-45 works (surprisingly) well with 500k pots, but gatguys comments about pot values are spot on.
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gatguy		#11	[url]	[-]
Posts: 447 Thu, Jul 9, 2009 01:20:33 Contributing Silver Member	One further thought about between-pickup output imbalance: If you mostly play with your amp maxed out, then there should be enough natural compression that the output differences between pickups won't be as obvious. If you tend to enjoy headroom in your amp, then the output difference will be more obvious. That's my impression anyway...
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jef		#12	[url]	[-]
Posts: 4 Thu, Jul 9, 2009 10:15:36	Well, my Ampeg is only 12W and has an inefficient speaker so i love to turn it wideopen. It doesnt overdrive like a Tweed Deluxe and if I plug straight into it, the difference in volume between my neckpickup and bridgepickup is clearly hearable... In some rehearsalsituations with no PA it 's the difference between clearly hearing myself and drowning in the other instruments. I also have a Sovtek Mig 100 I play with both very dirty and clean tones, depending on the situation. The last few weeks I really like to use it with the master maxed out and the input dimed. Needless to say in this situation the differences in output are obvious. The reason I asked for a singlecoil in the neck is a response and soundthing I find hard to describe... if I can get the same from a humbucker type of pickup, that 's ok by me, but so far I prefer singlecoils in the neck for clean and slightly dirty riffing...
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jef		#13	[url]	[-]
Posts: 5 Thu, Jul 9, 2009 18:32:41	OK... I just called and ordered the L-45S and the L-90 6 Henry.
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gatguy		#14	[url]	[-]
Posts: 448 Thu, Jul 9, 2009 22:14:30 Contributing Silver Member	I really like the S/H configuration, too. But I find that it's not easy getting the balance right. I'll be interested to hear how the L45/L90H6 combo work in this regard. Please report back when you've tried them out. I've got a vintage L90H6 and it is a really nice pickup for 70s blues/rock/metal.
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jef		#15	[url]	[-]
Posts: 6 Fri, Jul 10, 2009 13:18:06	I 'll post a soundclip.
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fuzzy beard		#16	[url]	[-]
Posts: 1906 Sat, Jul 11, 2009 11:16:00 Contrib. Gold Charter Member Wilde Tech
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jef		#17	[url]	[-]
Posts: 7 Tue, Aug 11, 2009 18:30:30	Just installed them this sunday... I love these pickups! The L-45S was instant love: exactly the tone I wanted from a neckpickup: the bell like tone only a singlecoil can give and the true sound of my guitar as I know it by playing it unplugged. The L90H6 on the other hand was far from love at first hearing: I played it for the first time through a Line6 guitarport (it was allready pretty late when my guitar was wired up) and the pickup didn 't work with the settings on the ampmodels I normally use. Yesterday at rehearsal I plugged my guitar in my amp, swithed on the L90H and fell in love. The other guitarist in our band didn 't know I changed my pickups and noticed there was more clarity and detail in my sound. Later that night I recorded a rough version of a new song we were working on through my guitarport and it was pretty easy to dial in a tone I liked... no idea what was wrong sundaynight.
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handsplayingbutterfly		#18	[url]	[-]
Posts: 320 Thu, Aug 13, 2009 19:40:12 Bronze Member	Thanks for the review! The L-45 and the L-90 are my favorite pickups on the market. It's always important to adjust the pickup heights and the amp settings till you find exactly what you want. Too many people neglect this and become disenchanted when they try something new. Glad to hear they worked out well for you!
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