bill lawrence l-500

[dgk2448]

anybody now which model dimebag used in his Dean? they have 4 on the site, the l-500 clean, l-500 regular, l-500 lead and the l-500 xtra lead

 

[juka]

Re: bill lawrence l-500

As far as I know:

L-500L in his early days, but then switched to L-500XL (which is considered as his trademark/signature pickup).

By the way, does anybody know, how close L-500XL and Dimebucker SH-13 are soundwise?

And please, I don't want to start another "who builds the original L-500"-discussion.

@dgk2448:
https://forum.seymourduncan.com/showthread.php?t=40165

 

[ErikH]

Re: bill lawrence l-500

From what I've learned, the DimeBucker came to be from some prototypes that BL sent to Washburn. Not sure how close the XL and SH-13 are soundwise. Haven't played a DimeBucker to know.

 

[theodie]

Re: bill lawrence l-500

The XL500 and the Dimebucker are not even in the same ballpark!!!!! The XL500 is fairly balanced with alot of mojo, has great clarity and great singing leads, cleans up very well, is the most versatile pickup IMO. The Dime has a huge treble spike, makes your setup sound like a buzzsaw, sounds realy fizzy, I dont think it had great clarity, a true one trick pony IMO!!!!!!

 

[Mr 9finger]

Re: bill lawrence l-500

The Dimebucker was supposedly modeled after a prototype call the L500L+. It was supposed to be a tweener between the L and the XL pickup. There's uh, to be polite, A huge difference in the Duncan pickup and Lawrences.

There's just one thing to remember. Lawrences are about as transparent and Hi Fi as it gets. So they don't color your tone as much and will really let your rig and playing ability shine through.

That being said, Dime played had an L500L in for CFH, VDOP, then switched to the L500XL FBD and Trendkill. He started using the Dimebucker during RTS, but I've yet to really hear a song that album that even sounds remotely close to a Dimebucker tone. The Damageplan CD however is pure Dimebucker.....and I shall not go there.

 

[jmh151]

Re: bill lawrence l-500

I read Dime started with the L-500, after the Cowboys from Hell he started using the XL-500. Bill Lawrence maintains that he was designing an XXL-500 for Dimebag that were sent to Washburn. Soon after that Dime went to Seymour Duncan.

 

[ErikH]

Re: bill lawrence l-500

I read Dime started with the L-500, after the Cowboys from Hell he started using the XL-500. Bill Lawrence maintains that he was designing an XXL-500 for Dimebag that were sent to Washburn. Soon after that Dime went to Seymour Duncan.

Bill has confirmed that the original pickup in the CBFH Dean was a L-500L, later changed to a L-500XL. It's on his site somewhere, possibly in the forum. Can't remember. Feeling under the weather today and I just looked at that stuff yesterday.

 

[jmh151]

Re: bill lawrence l-500

Bill has confirmed that the original pickup in the CBFH Dean was a L-500L, later changed to a L-500XL. It's on his site somewhere, possibly in the forum. Can't remember. Feeling under the weather today and I just looked at that stuff yesterday.

I think Bill put it on the Dean Forum web site

 

[ErikH]

Re: bill lawrence l-500

I think Bill put it on the Dean Forum web site

Found it, with pic of the guitar. Scroll down to the first post by 'nocaster'. Linky

 

[Fusion1]

Re: bill lawrence l-500

I read Dime started with the L-500, after the Cowboys from Hell he started using the XL-500. Bill Lawrence maintains that he was designing an XXL-500 for Dimebag that were sent to Washburn. Soon after that Dime went to Seymour Duncan.

I seem to recall this exact story. Dime had a custom and even hotter version of a 500XL called the 500XXL from Bill Lawrence. This was the pickup Seymour analyzed to create the Dimebucker.

 

[juka]

Re: bill lawrence l-500

The XL500 and the Dimebucker are not even in the same ballpark!!!!! The XL500 is fairly balanced with alot of mojo, has great clarity and great singing leads, cleans up very well, is the most versatile pickup IMO. The Dime has a huge treble spike, makes your setup sound like a buzzsaw, sounds realy fizzy, I dont think it had great clarity, a true one trick pony IMO!!!!!!

I've been afraid you would say something like this. Now I have to throw out my dimebucker and buy a 500XL
As far as I know Bill changed from ceramic to alnico recently, can somebody comment on the sound of those new 500s.

 

[theodie]

Re: bill lawrence l-500

I've been afraid you would say something like this. Now I have to throw out my dimebucker and buy a 500XL
As far as I know Bill changed from ceramic to alnico recently, can somebody comment on the sound of those new 500s.

Thats a good choice for something to do with the Dimebucker!!!! LOL!!!

BTW, Bill did change to A5 magnets here recently. He used them back in the day actually!!! If I remember correctly, the XL's and the L's Dime used had the A5 magnets????????

 

[Evan Skopp]

Re: bill lawrence l-500

I guess it's time for the annual Debunk the Dimebucker post.

Dime gave me two XXLs as a starting point. He had been struggling to get the tone in his head with the right kind of distortion and he wasn't getting it. The XXL was as close as he could come before he gave up and he -- along with Washburn -- came to us to take up the cause.

Our engineers started with the XXL. But then we changed the magnet. Then we changed the wire type and gauge. Then the number of turns. Then the pitch, traverse and other factors, and eventually came up with a totally new pickup: one Dime actually used and the public could buy. This was important to him as his previous pickups were custom jobs.

So there's a reason the Dimebucker should sound different from Dime's previous pickups. They're totally different pickups.

Remember: I'm the guy who talked to Dime, his tech Grady, and Larry English from Washburn. We, along with the engineers at Seymour Duncan, were the team that developed the Dimebucker.

 

[dgk2448]

Re: bill lawrence l-500

cool, thanks for the info!

 

[ErikH]

Re: bill lawrence l-500

Thanks for chiming in, Evan, and sharing that bit of info. It's always cool to me to know how some things came to be.