I'd like to hear from any Bill Lawrence 280 or Microcoil owners

[Tyrannocaster]

i want to replace the pickups on my 24 year old Warmoth; right now it has '73 Strat pickups which I had rewound as Texas Specials by the best pickups guy around here over 20 years ago. I want to go with noise cancelling units, otherwise AFAIC there'd be no need to change. The old pickups sound great, but I am confronted with noise constantly and I'm just tired of it.

I've known about Bill since the late 60s; I even have a letter he wrote me in 1972 when I asked him for advice about the crappy bridge pup in my '69 Tele. Very helpful guy, and I want to like his pickups but the only personal experience with them I have had is the set of Strat Keystones I got; I have tried them in two guitars and taken them out. I guess one person's "neutral" and "clean" is another person's "dull"; the latter would be me. I just don't like them.

That said, I have sure heard a lot of praise for the L280s and the Microcoils over the years, without ever hearing one in person. The Microcoils are less interesting to me because I've read they aren't actually hum cancelling, just lower hum. (One review I saw said it was about 10dB, which really isn't enough for me if it's correct, but hey, it's just something I read on the internet.)

I've used Dimarzio Fast Tracks in my Warmoth Tele (my other 24 year old Warmoth) and I like them for what they are, but they are certainly not standard Tele pickups. I mention this as a frame of reference.

Is there someone here with experience with the BL 280s or the Microcoils who could jump in with infor?

Thanks. It's impossible to form an opinion based on the few mostly crappy Youtube demos I've been able to find.

 

[Rick]

I absolutely love the L-280TN and an L-290TL.  They sound like the way a tele sound, should sound.  I know what you mean about the DiMarzio's, they are great sounding but they don't sound like a classic tele, while the L's do.

My nephew played the guitar and fell in love with it, so I no longer have it. 

As to the noise reduction, I'm going by memory now since it's been two years since I had the guitar, but I'd say there's absolutely less hum then a normal tele, total elimination, I can't say that, it all depends on your set up.

They are so cheap compared to other manufactures, I'd say go for it and if you don't like them, you'll be able to recoup half your money.  But at least you'll know for sure.

 

[Tyrannocaster]

Thank you. It's virtually impossible to evaluate these things online. Everybody's opinion is different, and as far as videos go...there aren't very many ofn Bill's pickups and most of them are guys plugging a Strat/Tele into a pedalboard and then just honking away. There are a couple that sound pretty good, but always the same thing: the player is really good. That can also be deceptive. Am I responding to a good player or nice sounding setup here?

I would expect the 280s to be very quiet. I have had some really crappy "noiseless" pickups though (names not mentioned). In the past, I have had good luck with Dimarzio (I really liked the Virtual Tele bridge, but they discontinued it; I still have one in a Tele.), not so good with SD, but I've never tried his stacked pups. I had a set of Tom Andersons that really did sound good but electrically they were truly weird, with strange grounding issues that nobody could figure out and I sold them. I have a Kinman HB which I like, but I only have it because I got an incredible deal on it; his prices are astronomical for somebody like me, especially when you have to buy three for a Strat.

According to Lawrence's site (which is still a really disorganized mess), the L200 is the most "Stratty" sounding of the bunch, but what does that even mean?

Thank you for chiming in (pun intended).

 

[Rick]

When they say stratty, and talking about pups they're comparing the sound to humbuckers, which will be warmer and thicker.
For the neck, my current favorite tele neck pup is a dimarzio mini humbucker vintage neck. 

 

[zebra]

...I have had is the set of Strat Keystones I got; I have tried them in two guitars and taken them out. I guess one person's "neutral" and "clean" is another person's "dull"; the latter would be me. I just don't like them.

That said, I have sure heard a lot of praise for the L280s and the Microcoils over the years, without ever hearing one in person. The Microcoils are less interesting to me because I've read they aren't actually hum cancelling, just lower hum. (One review I saw said it was about 10dB, which really isn't enough for me if it's correct, but hey, it's just something I read on the internet.)

I think I've got the L280TN in the neck and L290TL in the bridge, but I'd need to take off the strings to confirm (and I'm not going to do that today).  It seems like their numbering system has changed over the years amyway.  When I got them, I ordered the ones with the most "traditional" Tele sound.  I never had a Tele before that one so I can't compare it to other Tele pickups by playing experience, but by listening experience (because we all know what a Tele sounds like) - they're pretty spot on. 

The bridge has tons of treble and bite, and makes for that clanking, brittle rhythm sound, and the neck is boring (sorry Strat neck pickup bias coming through).  So yes, "traditional" tele.  I've been meaning to put a strat pickup in the neck, but haven't gotten around to it, because I'm almost in the middle position (bridge and neck in series) all the time anyway.  I just find that the Tele's pickups are both too extreme for me on their own, but in series they make for the perfect balance of brightness and body.

Looking at their website, the descriptions aren't very consistent, and the characteristics of the numbering system seems to differ between the Strat and Tele models.  I think you'll be ok if you just select the one described as having the "traditional" sound.  Usually their noiseless line includes at least one version of describes as "traditional" or "vintage" as opposed to other offerings that have either a more linear response or more bass and slightly hotter, more P-90 sort of output. 

I can't comment on their noise-cancelling abilities, because I always manage to mess up the grounding...even my humbuckers buzz!  How do I do that! :icon_scratch:

Regarding Microcoils, I can't speak from personal experience, but at least one other forum member ("Cagey") cites it as his favorite BL pickup.  No, not noiseless, but they manage to preserve as much of the "vintage" tone as possible while reducing the noise considerably.  So probably worth exploring further. 

I hope that helps a little bit - BL has never been good at properly describing and differentiating their pickups.  Someone needs to help them with that!

 

[Tyrannocaster]

BL has never been good at properly describing and differentiating their pickups.  Someone needs to help them with that!

Amen to this, but at this stage I doubt there will ever be any improvement. Even when Bill was still around, it was always hard to communicate with them and given the lack of decent demos of the product I felt like the website material was woefully inadequate. I still feel that way. It's bad enough that I'm looking seriously at the Dimarzio noiseless, which I have at least some positive hands-on experience with.

No idea what I'll end up with!