Anyone Play a Bill Lawrence Strat or Tele?
- Thread starter Dave
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Re: Anyone Play a Bill Lawrence Strat or Tele?
I have a Swampkaster T. I'd say it's ahead of the MiM standards, about on par with the MiM Deluxe or Classics, and a few steps below the American Series models. The neck has a nice feel -- close to a soft V I think. The swamp ash body is very heavy but also very resonant and toneful. The Tele pickups are real nice in all 3 positions -- better than most MiM and even the American Series stock pups. All in all, a very nice sounding guitar.
Now the downside. The fretwork is mediocre (perhaps not as good as Fender MiM in some cases), the plastic nut was especially cheap (much worse than stock Fender -- I replaced it with a bone nut with better string spacing), the electronics are kinda cheap but serviceable, the string holes in back of body were misaligned (purely cosmetic) and there were a few other cosmetic flaws (finish run near neck heal, wide neck pocket gap on bass side).
All in all, a decent guitar for around $400 -- especially for the tone and general feel of the neck. BTW, the fretboard radius seems much flatter than the 7.5" spec listed on the web site.
I have a Swampkaster T. I'd say it's ahead of the MiM standards, about on par with the MiM Deluxe or Classics, and a few steps below the American Series models. The neck has a nice feel -- close to a soft V I think. The swamp ash body is very heavy but also very resonant and toneful. The Tele pickups are real nice in all 3 positions -- better than most MiM and even the American Series stock pups. All in all, a very nice sounding guitar.
Now the downside. The fretwork is mediocre (perhaps not as good as Fender MiM in some cases), the plastic nut was especially cheap (much worse than stock Fender -- I replaced it with a bone nut with better string spacing), the electronics are kinda cheap but serviceable, the string holes in back of body were misaligned (purely cosmetic) and there were a few other cosmetic flaws (finish run near neck heal, wide neck pocket gap on bass side).
All in all, a decent guitar for around $400 -- especially for the tone and general feel of the neck. BTW, the fretboard radius seems much flatter than the 7.5" spec listed on the web site.
presa_tito
New member
Re: Anyone Play a Bill Lawrence Strat or Tele?
I can't say anything about their quality, but they aren't produced by Bill himself. I'm pretty sure they are from stewmac and after hearing how crappy his pickups he puts out under the Bill Lawrence name, I wouldn't support anything from him.
I can't say anything about their quality, but they aren't produced by Bill himself. I'm pretty sure they are from stewmac and after hearing how crappy his pickups he puts out under the Bill Lawrence name, I wouldn't support anything from him.
Bluesman75
New member
Re: Anyone Play a Bill Lawrence Strat or Tele?
I don't own any guitars from this company but I've used their pickups for many, many years and they are very good quality, fantastic sounding pickups. I've seen some good reviews of the Bill Lawrence/Swampkaster guitars as well.
FYI - Stewart-MacDonald never made Bill Lawrence guitars or pickups, they were just a distributor. The pickups and guitars have always been made by the original Bill Lawrence company that has been around for decades (their website is www.billlawrenceusa.com). There has been a lot of confusion about this company over the last few years because one of the original partners, who goes by the name Bill Lawrence (not his birth name), has also been selling "Bill Lawrence" pickups as well - so there have been TWO companies using the same "Bill Lawrence" trademark.
The original company has finally contacted the US Patent and Trademark office to have this corrected. You can read all about this here:
http://ttabvue.uspto.gov/ttabvue/v?...ame=bill+lawrence&pop=&pn=&pop2=&pn2=&cop=&cn
presa_tito said:
I don't own any guitars from this company but I've used their pickups for many, many years and they are very good quality, fantastic sounding pickups. I've seen some good reviews of the Bill Lawrence/Swampkaster guitars as well.
FYI - Stewart-MacDonald never made Bill Lawrence guitars or pickups, they were just a distributor. The pickups and guitars have always been made by the original Bill Lawrence company that has been around for decades (their website is www.billlawrenceusa.com). There has been a lot of confusion about this company over the last few years because one of the original partners, who goes by the name Bill Lawrence (not his birth name), has also been selling "Bill Lawrence" pickups as well - so there have been TWO companies using the same "Bill Lawrence" trademark.
The original company has finally contacted the US Patent and Trademark office to have this corrected. You can read all about this here:
http://ttabvue.uspto.gov/ttabvue/v?...ame=bill+lawrence&pop=&pn=&pop2=&pn2=&cop=&cn
presa_tito
New member
Re: Anyone Play a Bill Lawrence Strat or Tele?
I actually have a "real" Bill L500XL pickup that sounds fantastic and I never said the real ones didn't. There is no defending the BL stewmac ones though, they aren't worth the material it cost to make them. Bill may have produced some guitars that I don't know about, but FYI the swampkaster is stew mac. Maybe they are ok, but I wouldn't support them just because the pu's are such crap. http://p082.ezboard.com/fguitarsbyfenderfrm8.showMessage?topicID=1486.topicBluesman75 said:
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Bluesman75
New member
Re: Anyone Play a Bill Lawrence Strat or Tele?
All the pickups I have are from the original Bill Lawrence company (www.billlawrenceusa.com - the one's you mistakenly refer to as "stew mac") and they all sound fantastic. In all the years I've been using them, no one who's heard them has ever said they sound like "crap" - instead they've praised their tone and asked me where to buy them. The L-500XL I own is amazing - clear, responsive, loud and musical. The best sounding bridge humbucker I've ever played.
And FYI, there's no such thing as a "stew mac" Swampkaster - as I said, Stewart-MacDonald is a distributor, not a manufacturer. The Swampkasters are made by the original Bill Lawrence company, www.billlawrenceusa.com. I realize this is confusing - that's why the original Bill Lawrence company has contacted the Patent and Trademark office, to stop "Bill" from using their trademark and confusing people (here's the Patent and Trademark link again:http://ttabvue.uspto.gov/ttabvue/v?...me=bill+lawrence&pop=&pn=&pop2=&pn2=&cop=&cn=).
presa_tito said:
All the pickups I have are from the original Bill Lawrence company (www.billlawrenceusa.com - the one's you mistakenly refer to as "stew mac") and they all sound fantastic. In all the years I've been using them, no one who's heard them has ever said they sound like "crap" - instead they've praised their tone and asked me where to buy them. The L-500XL I own is amazing - clear, responsive, loud and musical. The best sounding bridge humbucker I've ever played.
And FYI, there's no such thing as a "stew mac" Swampkaster - as I said, Stewart-MacDonald is a distributor, not a manufacturer. The Swampkasters are made by the original Bill Lawrence company, www.billlawrenceusa.com. I realize this is confusing - that's why the original Bill Lawrence company has contacted the Patent and Trademark office, to stop "Bill" from using their trademark and confusing people (here's the Patent and Trademark link again:http://ttabvue.uspto.gov/ttabvue/v?...me=bill+lawrence&pop=&pn=&pop2=&pn2=&cop=&cn=).
presa_tito
New member
Re: Anyone Play a Bill Lawrence Strat or Tele?
Did you not read the link I posted? It's from the moderator of Bill's forum who I think knows him personally-"the Swampkaster is not made by Bill Lawrence, the man, and neither it nor its hardware have anything to do with him. The Swampkaster is wholly under the umbrella of Bill's former business partner." You obviously know nothing because the original Bill who makes the better pickups is at www.billlawrence.com and not www.billlawrenceusa.com I can't say anything bad about other models of stewmac's than the L500XL, but when I canged mine to a "real" XL it was 10x better sounding. Anyone on the forum will vouch for this.
Did you not read the link I posted? It's from the moderator of Bill's forum who I think knows him personally-"the Swampkaster is not made by Bill Lawrence, the man, and neither it nor its hardware have anything to do with him. The Swampkaster is wholly under the umbrella of Bill's former business partner." You obviously know nothing because the original Bill who makes the better pickups is at www.billlawrence.com and not www.billlawrenceusa.com I can't say anything bad about other models of stewmac's than the L500XL, but when I canged mine to a "real" XL it was 10x better sounding. Anyone on the forum will vouch for this.
Bluesman75
New member
Re: Anyone Play a Bill Lawrence Strat or Tele?
Yes I read the link - I actually read the post when it was first posted on Bill's forum. I am very aware of both companies and which products they produce. As I stated above, I know that the Swampkaster line is produced by the folks at www.billlawrenceusa.com, which is the original Bill Lawrence company and which owns the "Bill Lawrence" trademark. Bill (of www.billlawrence.com) used to sell "Wilde" guitars, but has never sold "Bill Lawrence" or "Swampkaster" guitars.
I appreciate your positive review of the L-500XL that you bought from Bill - he makes some great pickups. But the L-500XL that I have from the folks at www.billlawrenceusa.com (the company that supplied Stewart-MacDonald with "Lawrence" pickups) sounds great as well.
It seems that you have fallen victim to the confusion that Bill has been generating about the original Bill Lawrence company, www.billlawrenceusa.com. Hopefully there won't be so much confusion after the Patent and Trademark office straightens out the "Bill Lawrence" trademark situation. Be sure to visit the link I provided to the Patent and Trademark site, and read the petition filed by the folks at www.billlawrenceusa.com (the petition is the document listed under "Prosecution History" titled "Filed and Fee" and dated 6/28/04).
presa_tito said:
Yes I read the link - I actually read the post when it was first posted on Bill's forum. I am very aware of both companies and which products they produce. As I stated above, I know that the Swampkaster line is produced by the folks at www.billlawrenceusa.com, which is the original Bill Lawrence company and which owns the "Bill Lawrence" trademark. Bill (of www.billlawrence.com) used to sell "Wilde" guitars, but has never sold "Bill Lawrence" or "Swampkaster" guitars.
I appreciate your positive review of the L-500XL that you bought from Bill - he makes some great pickups. But the L-500XL that I have from the folks at www.billlawrenceusa.com (the company that supplied Stewart-MacDonald with "Lawrence" pickups) sounds great as well.
It seems that you have fallen victim to the confusion that Bill has been generating about the original Bill Lawrence company, www.billlawrenceusa.com. Hopefully there won't be so much confusion after the Patent and Trademark office straightens out the "Bill Lawrence" trademark situation. Be sure to visit the link I provided to the Patent and Trademark site, and read the petition filed by the folks at www.billlawrenceusa.com (the petition is the document listed under "Prosecution History" titled "Filed and Fee" and dated 6/28/04).
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presa_tito
New member
Re: Anyone Play a Bill Lawrence Strat or Tele?
Why are you repeating what I've stated and saying I'm confused. Everything I've said is true. I don't care if BL USA owns the original Bill Lawrence name or not. The real Bill Lawrence, the man, has nothing to do with the company anymore who ripped off his design and personal name. I'm not confused at all.
BL L500xl=greatness
BL USA= attempt to copy a great pickup and making it cheap and sounding like ass.
Why are you repeating what I've stated and saying I'm confused. Everything I've said is true. I don't care if BL USA owns the original Bill Lawrence name or not. The real Bill Lawrence, the man, has nothing to do with the company anymore who ripped off his design and personal name. I'm not confused at all.
BL L500xl=greatness
BL USA= attempt to copy a great pickup and making it cheap and sounding like ass.
Bluesman75
New member
Re: Anyone Play a Bill Lawrence Strat or Tele?
FYI - Mr. Wajcman, the current owner of Bill Lawrence Products (www.billlawrenceusa.com), did not rip off Bill’s name and designs. He was a co-founder of the original Bill Lawrence pickup company and he also co-owns the patent for the very first Bill Lawrence pickup.
Before Bill left the company:
*Mr. Wajcman and Bill were co-owners
*They produced L-500, L-500XL, L-250 and other pickups
*The pickups were sold in stores with the “Bill Lawrence” trademark on the packages.
Since Bill left the company (20 years ago - to start OBL, Keystone, WildeUSA, etc):
*It's still owned by Mr. Wajcman
*They still produce L-500, L-500XL, L-250 and other pickups
*The pickups are still sold in stores with the “Bill Lawrence” trademark on the packages.
Bill Lawrence Products is the original company and they still make the original pickups - they're not copies.
(Oh, and as of a couple weeks ago, after they officially found out about the petition to cancel Bill's trademark registration, Bill and Becky dropped the "Fake Alert" from their website.)
presa_tito said:
FYI - Mr. Wajcman, the current owner of Bill Lawrence Products (www.billlawrenceusa.com), did not rip off Bill’s name and designs. He was a co-founder of the original Bill Lawrence pickup company and he also co-owns the patent for the very first Bill Lawrence pickup.
Before Bill left the company:
*Mr. Wajcman and Bill were co-owners
*They produced L-500, L-500XL, L-250 and other pickups
*The pickups were sold in stores with the “Bill Lawrence” trademark on the packages.
Since Bill left the company (20 years ago - to start OBL, Keystone, WildeUSA, etc):
*It's still owned by Mr. Wajcman
*They still produce L-500, L-500XL, L-250 and other pickups
*The pickups are still sold in stores with the “Bill Lawrence” trademark on the packages.
Bill Lawrence Products is the original company and they still make the original pickups - they're not copies.
(Oh, and as of a couple weeks ago, after they officially found out about the petition to cancel Bill's trademark registration, Bill and Becky dropped the "Fake Alert" from their website.)
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