EBMM/SM-bridge pup replacement suggestions?

[yesandno]

Howdy,
Anyone (horror of horrors!) replace thier bridge pup on the SM with another
style other than the stock pup. If so, are you happy with it enough to recommend it? What does yours sound like?
Thanks
Jon

 

[tommyindelaware]

Howdy,
Anyone (horror of horrors!) replace thier bridge pup on the SM with another
style other than the stock pup. If so, are you happy with it enough to recommend it? What does yours sound like?
Thanks
Jon

the horror !!!!!

 

[Colin]

I couldn't imagine doing that to mine, why did you want to do that? Just curious.

Colin

 

[beej]

I really like the SM Bridge pickup. One of my faves. (I know ... not helping at all ...)

What sound are you looking for? What don't you like about it? Would help in selecting a replacement.

 

[yesandno]

Yeah, I realize I'm going to be put in the stockade and get stoned to death for this but to be honest, when I bought the guitar some 5 years ago I really really did not like the pups at all. What I did do was have them rewound and had the ceramics replaced with alnico. And I was real happy with how the new pups sounded, still do. Then, I wanted overall this to to be a quiet guitar, so I replaced the single coils with Joe Bardens. Over the past few years single coil noise really began driving me up the wall and I replaced all my Fenders with Bill Lawrences (pretty nice). So, just like everybody gets the itch to change SOMETHING everyonce in a while (like rearranging the furniture), I've been thinking about looking for a change in that particular bridge position just too find something leeeeeeeetttle bit more in tone.
The grass is always greener and all that rot. OK, so crucify me...I'm not a purist!

My Luke is stock and will stay that way, except I put foam under the pups so I can adjust the height.

 

[yesandno]

I really like the SM Bridge pickup. One of my faves. (I know ... not helping at all ...)

What sound are you looking for? What don't you like about it? Would help in selecting a replacement.

Classic rock/hard rock/ jazz/fusion /twang......the usual

You see, the rewound pups individually sound really great. Both together, is good too, except its not....quite.....what...I'd...REALLY like. So I am thinking about experimenting with a different bridge pup....something thats has great tone and balls by itself but might make a sound a little more tweaked to my liking when both neck and bridge pups are engaged. You know guitar players, always looking for that thang.

 

[beej]

Ah, gotcha.

If you like the Lawrence singles (280s I'm guessing), why not try a 500L in the bridge? It's an excellent all-around pickup for rock.

 

[baimun]

My EBMM Silhouette had it's stock HSH replaced with Dimarzio Vintage Noiseless (stacked singles) pickups by the original owner. I bought it and thought those sounded okay, but with the 24 frets the singles were gathered a bit too tight for them to really sound different enough from each other.

The only extra humbuckers I had were a pair of Seymour Duncan JB pickups (they're the Jeff Beck version of the 59. A bit hotter and brighter)... one with normal pole spacing and one is a trembucker. I put the trembucker in the bridge position with the closer spaced pickup in the neck. The JB is a bit hot for a neck pickup, so I lowered the pickup considerably from the strings.

I'm extremely happy with the harmonics and growl that these pickups have with the light resonant body that were missing with the Dimarzios. I'd highly recommend a Seymour Duncan JB or Pearly Gates for the bridge... and a 59 for the neck.

 

[Katana6506]

I hate to bring up this debate, but which Bill Lawrence pickups are the "real" Lawrences?

 

[SteveLINY]

I have a JB in the bridge of my 6 bolt morse, and a Suhr SSH+ in the bridge of my Floyd Rose Morse....
Actually i changed all my pups in my FR Morse to all Suhrs...
SSH+-Bridge
V60LP in the 2 middle
DSV- neck
Nothing sounds better and gives you ore variety IMHO.
Steve

 

[beej]

Supposedly this guy:

http://www.billlawrence.com/

Prices are very reasonable, but I hear the wait is quite long.

Gary

"Luke Blue" Luke II

Indeed those are the real ones. Excellent, excellent pickups.

The wait can vary depending on which batch they've just built- often you can get them in a week or two. Sometimes its a few months. My orders are usually in the 1-2 month range.

 

[Antoine]

My favorite pickup is the Di-Marzio Tone Zone, i've just ordered one to put in my Axis Super Sport !

 

[tommyindelaware]

I really like the SM Bridge pickup. One of my faves. (I know ... not helping at all ...)

What sound are you looking for? What don't you like about it? Would help in selecting a replacement.

+1 ........ TONS of power !!!!!
nice broad midrange ......doesn't sound like a wha pedal accidentally left on in a half up position like most overwound pickups.

another unknown big plus is the way it sounds tapped !!! very bridge tele like.

 

[beej]

another unknown big plus is the way it sounds tapped !!! very bridge tele like.

For sure! I don't normally like split sounds (plus they're noisy), but the SM bridge really does sound great split.

 

[mhorse]

Supposedly this guy:

http://www.billlawrence.com/

Prices are very reasonable, but I hear the wait is quite long.

They are indeed the ones.
Here's the whole situation with Bill Lawrence pickups in a nutshell: two friends started making pickups in Germany. One knew how to make pickups, one - how to run business.
Then they guy who made pickups moved to the US and started a business here. He realized he needed the business guy around, and invited him to come and join the company.
Then the business guy sold his share to some big corporation behind pickup guy's back, and that was the end of friendship and the original US company. Pickups guy, known as Bill Lawrence, went working for music industry.
Business guy eventually bought out the Bill Lawrence trademark back from the big corporation, and started making pickups (supposedly ****ty ones, although I've never had a chance to play them).
After a while Bill Lawrence started making pickups again, and ever since two ex-partners are in law suits against each other.
The above story is coherent with both side's interpretations.

As far as pickups from www.billlawrence.com, they are pretty damn good!

 

[yesandno]

Hey thanks guys,
If you all don't mind I'd like to reply to everyone in this one post.

Beej, yes, I have the 280's (280L's I believe in the bridge). I bought them direct from Bill Lawrence. I like them alot, they still have the quack plus you can add the 'air' that single coils naturally have by brightening up the amp a bit.... and best of all, they're quiet! Excellent, tone for the money....can't be beat. By comparison, the Joe Bardens I have in the SM, while pretty good in their own right, I don't think that they are $150 a piece that good. Dead quiet though. I'll check out the 500L.
In my own anal way, I felt that the middle slant pup needs to be pumping out as much output as the other three, but I can't have the pup jacked up to close otherwise it gets in the way of picking. So, lowering really lowers the output how it pushes the amp compared to the others. However, I talked to THE MAN at a clinic he and Dave Larue did a few years ago, and while I wanted to ask him a 'deep' question on composing, I choked and asked him about that middle pup. He told me to use the drop in volume as an advantage so even while your amp is set to high gain you switch to that pup to clean it up for rhythm. He's right, of course!
I guess ultimately is why he got rid of it altogether in the Y2D.

Baimun, yes, the JB is one I'm seriously looking into and considering.
Antoine says he like the Tone Zone. I also was looking at that, plus the Air Zone, PAF Pro, Evolution, Fred, George Lynch Screamin', to name a few.
I had the notion originally go with Fralins, which had blades instead of polepieces along with the Bardens which also has blades, would've looked kinda cool. But I choked at having to spend $600 altogether.
I had the pups rewound by Wolfetone. I believe what I got are a bit hotter PAF's.
As I said, the pups individually are great, especially the neck pup...very warm and jazzy clean and liquid sustain cranked. Together they give a sound similar to, what an LP should sound like, with both pups on that slight out of phase 'sproingy' tone. Think Jimmy Page LP both pup on tone. But I think because this is a darker sounding wood, is a bit muffled. I'd like to be able to use both pups and be really happy with the tone.
The high output ones like the Evolution, I'm afraid might not work clean...these seem to be more styled for the liquid sustain legato technique favored by Vai.
The JB's might give that extra brightness needed to make the 2 pup option work, but I want to be careful not to get something in 'ice pick' territory.

Hey Steve, I'm on LI too! I'll also look into the Suhr models. Thanks. Did you happen to go to that clinic at Royal Music a number of years back?

Concerning the fake Bill Lawrences, I think there is/was a dealer in electronic/guitar/parts accessories that was selling bootlegs made in china or somewhere... intentionally or in some confused fashion unintentionally, I don't know. However, if you want the real deal, just call them up, Becky or Bill, and order 'em as pointed out. As Beej says, my order took something like 6 weeks...
but you probably are aware how fast time flies. Its a cakewalk.

Thanks everyone for replying and the suggestions, enjoy the thanksgiving holidays.

 

[yesandno]

While I was doing my longwinded post some more posted.

I'm sure Mhorse has the right story about Bill Lawrence.

You see, some of you guys say the SM pups are powerful. This is what happened to me when I got the guitar. The short version is that when I plugged the guitar into the amps I own...at gain/high gain settings, the stock SM basically sounded as if I was just overdriving the amp mildly. No balls, no sustain, no liquididty.
I'd compare....plug my stock fenders (pre-bill lawrence) with the same settings...and ballsy screaming high gain city! Smooth, too as compared to the SM pups which was more choppy and grainy. I don't know why, I can't expalin it, it just is(was). So I replaced them, and I got what I thought the guitar SHOULD have sounded like out of the box, so to speak. Nobody was more perplexed than me because this guitar was made to shred and it just made my amps fart.

 

[Colin]

another unknown big plus is the way it sounds tapped !!! very bridge tele like.

So you'd recommend this Tommy? How did you do it? Push pull pot?

Colin

 

[beej]

So you'd recommend this Tommy? How did you do it? Push pull pot?

Can't speak for Tommy, but that's what I did.

When I bought my Morse (which, incidentally, was once owned by Tommy) it had the "add bridge PU" toggle switch wired up for the split. Much more useable, but I like the push/pull pot as I don't do it mid-song a lot.

 

[Spudmurphy]

Over the past few years single coil noise really began driving me up the wall and I replaced all my Fenders with Bill Lawrences (pretty nice).

I've had a Lawrence on my guitar for almost 20 years - Man what a SWEET pickup-
a stacked single coil.