L500 XL vs. low output/vintage HB's - who's more articulate and clear with high gain?

[Wheelbarrow]

I've got a Bill Lawrence(Bill&becky) L500XL, and a SD jazz. Which one will be the clearest and most articulate under high gain? I'm assuming pups like the jazz and a2pro, etc. will be better clean, but I'm wondering if that will be the case in an SLO type high gain situation. I've also got a BL L500C, which is like the XL, but with a much lower PAF output level. I'm guessing that might be the most precise and articulate of them all in a clean situation, but I haven't tested it so I'm not sure.

 

[Micah]

Re: L500 XL vs. low output/vintage HB's - who's more articulate and clear with high g

I've got a Bill Lawrence(Bill&becky) L500XL, and a SD jazz. Which one will be the clearest and most articulate under high gain? I'm assuming pups like the jazz and a2pro, etc. will be better clean, but I'm wondering if that will be the case in an SLO type high gain situation. I've also got a BL L500C, which is like the XL, but with a much lower PAF output level. I'm guessing that might be the most precise and articulate of them all in a clean situation, but I haven't tested it so I'm not sure.

Im sure the XL is made for High Gain--so its designed to handle more gain without mushing out. The Jazz was not made for Gain, but clean runs--it will probably sound pretty sloppy with gain--(although Ive never tried it). Dont really have expirience with the Bill Lawrence line of pickups. I would suggest that the Vinatge one would have more of a mid-range dip and bass over the mids. This is usually grounds for sloppiness with gain. You want more mids for higher gain typically. It gives a scratchy sound when clean and that is smoothed out as you add gain to it. The gain also adds a bit of a "false" bottom end to the EQ to bring out what your missing by the radical spike in the mids. On the Duncan side of things I recommend the Duncan Distortion for your needs. Its EQ from B-M-T is 5-8-9. The slightly higher top-end retains the clarity in this higher gain scenario, and it also provides easy harmonic pull-offs' in relation to the mids. Just my opinion though! This would go great with a 59 neck or a Jazz neck (if you have one already that would work out great!):banana:

 

[Reckless Abandon]

Re: L500 XL vs. low output/vintage HB's - who's more articulate and clear with high g

I have found low output to be clearer in most situations. Depends more on the eq and mag, I have found. For example before I tried lower output pups I had a super distortion and played a dsl with the gain pretty high. I put in a '59 and everythign was clearer so it handled high gain quite well.

 

[Micah]

Re: L500 XL vs. low output/vintage HB's - who's more articulate and clear with high g

I have found low output to be clearer in most situations. Depends more on the eq and mag, I have found. For example before I tried lower output pups I had a super distortion and played a dsl with the gain pretty high. I put in a '59 and everythign was clearer so it handled high gain quite well.

Definatly! I should qualify my statement a little I guess...It really depends on what your looking for! The 59 or the Custom 5 will definatly give you flat response to the strings. Very level sounding chords. What I didnt like was the lack of mids and my difficulty getting tight and chunky. I know you dont really want too radical of a drop in bottom end or dip in the mids. Really this is a game of balance I think--but tone is really something thats' indescribable-
Big means different things to different people, clear means different things, etc...

 

[tone4days]

Re: L500 XL vs. low output/vintage HB's - who's more articulate and clear with high g

i have a pair of 500XLs from the mid 80's that have aged quite wonderfully

they are very articulate at high gain ... very clear and uncompressed and balanced ... perhaps a little bit scooped, but not erribly ... they really are quite balanced ... and very quiet!

hope this helps

t4d