New Bill lawrence pickup

[David Schwab]

This is interesting. Apparently he uses very thin wire to make a very compact single coil, which then has less noise.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELQt9A6UdYQ

[Electricdaveyboy]

Hello Dave,
saw that clip a while ago but the design sounds a bit thin to my ears.
Use a flat coil wound with verry thin wire and a strong magnet makes it sound the way it does.Too bright to my ears.
cheers
david

[chevalij]

yeah, definately thin sounding. I don't like it, but the Q filter might have a lot to do with it. It's not too horrible when he rolls the filter right out.

[David Schwab]

It is very bright. On a forum the guy in the video said that was a prototype and Bill did a new one that sounds better. I thought it was interesting anyway.

[dai h.]

I was wondering if it was my ears since they sounded overly bright to me also. I also found a video of BL himself playing which doesn't sound overly bright (to my ear) :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHIZMuNhF5s

(I guess the new pickups need some sort of compensation since they are different?)

[David Schwab]

I haven't found too much info, but some are the mini coils, and some are the micro coils. I think the one Bill is playing is the newer version. They don't sound as shrill. Also in the first clip, the guy is playing through a Line 6 Pod.

Bill's a real fine player too!

[Possum]

...

Nice playing BILL!!!! Yeah those pickups sound like Lace Alumitones, way too bright, maybe Bill's ears have lost some treble response, kinda like Leo Fender and his screechy ASAT pickups.....I wonder if there is a patent for those pickups, can't quite tell whats going on down on the bottom, some kind of keeper but can't tell how the magnet is configured...

[pupoholic]

Bill Calls me a few times a week usually,
Hes really happy with the Mini Coil - its designed to let the Q filter - or some other tone selector do the EQ.

So the clip may be the guy liked it set to bright? Dunno..

I'll ask Bill for more dope on the Mini soon..
Don

[StarryNight]

geez, I wonder what guage wire that is?

[David Schwab]

It's got to be at least 50-55 AWG. Probably thinner. The guy in the video says it's very loud, so it must have a good amount of turns on there.

I just thought it was cool to see something new. Bill's still plugging away at 75!

[pupoholic]

wire 47 was the thinest we dared use at Lac-e Senso-rs
and it was a BEAR to have to work with - it was Rare if ever that we did -
46 was as low as the machines seemed to handle -

50-55 would be VeRy CrAzY...

[Possum]

....

I wonder if he patented it, or applied for one, the info would be there if so...

[Electricdaveyboy]

Why a patend?
It is just a coil with a magnet.We do that every day or am I wrong.
db

[David Schwab]

Why a patend?
It is just a coil with a magnet. We do that every day or am I wrong.
db

If you do something considered novel enough, you can get a patent. A lot of people just copy previous designs, so they aren't doing anything new, but remember that the humbucker was once something different and was patented.

Bill already has about 10 patents on his designs. DiMarzio has 11.

It is a coil and a magnet, but you can do a lot of things with a coil and a magnet. Here he's clearly done something I haven't seen before. He gets very specific in his patents about why he does certain things.

You can even get a patent on a construction method or cosmetic design.

I have a folder full of PDF's of pickup patents by various people.

[Possum]

...

Why a patent? Well, knowing Bill he probably used Mu metal or something, anyway it would be interesting to read it and see what his goal was....