Harmonic Design pickups compared to Bill Lawrence?

[jasyr]

I figured this would have been a topic already over the years but nothing comes up!
Both are higher output, passive, ceramic, highly regarded pickup makers... and no shootouts?

Reason being i have 1970s era Lawrence L-90 and L-220 bridges and was looking to find something interesting to put in the neck position. Being me, i don't want to match brands. And HD is a maker i haven't tried yet. Seems like a fit on paper(I know its Wilde pickups now.) I'm looking at the Vintage Plus Neck for Tele with the 220 and Vintage Plus Open Double Black for the L-90.

... So can anyone tell me basic differences in tone between the two manufacturers? Compression? Overall loudness ? Anyone mix these brands on a guitar?

thanks!

[Fluoroscope 5000]

Wilde also has models with various types of AlNiCo depending on the design goal. AFAIK, guitar pickups don't really compress the signal, but the attack to sustain level does become stronger the closer the coil is to the string. It's more of an expansion effect. There's no particular differences in the sound between manufacturers. The models from each have different qualities. Wilde no longer makes a P90 type pickup. The HB types have Stainless Steel blades that don't roll off the high end as much as the "soft" Fe core of a PAF type. They also have better hum-cancellation and no internal semi-shorts or phase-cancellations. Wilde is mainly about delivering the most "accurate" sound with the most efficient designs. Some designs are of course more versatile than others. The lower inductance models tend to sound "louder" than the higher inductance ones when the amp is driven hard. That may be true of most pickups. All but the low-hum Microcoil designs are hum-canceling. Less expensive than HD pickups for one thing. The HD designs may all use Silicon Steel cores, which I assume means less high end loss, and they might use pretty thin wire for better fundamental note strength and a lower "Q" for a more open high end, but I don't see any inductance specs. Wilde also utilizes those features in many designs with inductance values available. TV Jones has great low inductance options for the Tele. The low-wind GFS 'Gold Foil' options should also work well for much less money. L90's are somewhat high output pickups for the inductance level with probably the strongest fundamentals of any HB type out there, and with the high end clarity afforded by the Stainless Steel blades. I'd wager that many pickups will work well in the neck with it.

[jasyr]

F5 thank you for this very interesting information!

From a lot of varied YouTube listening, the Lawrence Wilde seem purest and linear, with Harmonic Design being sweeter/ more complex & a 'bridge' to traditional 60s pickups... while still being quite their own thing.

One thing I've noticed is HD have an almost eerie quality that make any amp they are played thru sound like its been mic'ed extravagantly, have added vintage amp tubes, & eqed by a pro engineer. I'm not saying this flippantly, it's really cool, whatever is happening in the HD... Because with my personal experience I've needed NOS tubes, 2 mics, and massaging with Q to come towards that natural almost acoustic tone i hear in all those on-line clips.

BTW I do have a couple Strat-type GFS Gold Foil and they are interesting with OD, but when clean they are 2-dimentional with not much sparkle... still very useful when using my Empress paraEQ before the amp for blues slide (as everyone says). And different from any other of my many guitars pickups. Being a budget design back in the day, it makes sense to get a low price copy that fairly cops the original which i have owned in the past.

any other opinions?