Bill Lawrence RIP

[Mark Hammer]

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End of an era.

[Jim Darr]

Sad news.

[WolfeMacleod]

Indeed sad news. I'll never forge the first time I spoke with him. He called me early one day while I was in the shower, in 2001. I wound up speaking to him for at least an hour, with my hair full of drying shampoo. We've spoke regularly since then

He was a great guy, indeed.

[copperheadroads]

Very Sad .
The Iconic Innovator will be missed .

[David Schwab]

Very sad news. sorry I never had a chance to meet him.

[Possum]

What a shock! I used Bill's pickups back in the 90's after seeing Coco Montoya playing a set at a festival in Ashland, the weekend when 911 happened. We talked to him afterwards and he told he was using Bill's pickups, so I got a set. They were great but in the end, noiseless strat pickups always are missing something so I moved on. Bill Lawrence was a true out of the box thinker and great designer, there are so few who even fit that description these days. When I bought his pickups there was a 9 month wait before I got mine, but I was patient and only called them once before they arrived. His wife is a real sweet lady. I hope they will keep the business going into the future and not disappear like Velvet Hammer did when Red Rhodes passed. Thank you Bill for being an inspiration and a personal model and teacher, I read everything he ever wrote....

[Mark Hammer]

While we often associate the after-market/boutique pickup thing with a lot of other folks, many of them valued contributors here, Bill was pretty much the original, or at least one of. Pickups of his design (and maybe of his winding) just keep showing up in all these esteemed places (and some perhaps less revered, but still noteworthy, like the Gibson Marauder).

If he isn't in the Vintage Guitar HoF yet, I hope he gets nominated for it next year. I look forward to whatever cover story VG does on him. I'm sure they will unearth tidbits that none of us knew.

[ScottA]

One of the originals, and certainly the standard bearer for applying rational principles to pickup design and interpretation of pickup physics and tone.

I was looking forward to perhaps talking with him after I publish my model. Unfortunately, now I will never have that opportunity.

RIP, Bill Lawrence.

[jason lollar]

I got to meet him several times and he called me many times on the phone with enjoyable lengthy conversations about all sorts of stuff. I could tell over the last couple years he wasnt feeling as good as he did a while back. Bill was always welcoming any time I saw him, Becky too. He is someone I wish I had made more time for

[Mark Hammer]

That's a recurring story you hear from all sorts of people.

Would that we could all live such full and lengthy lives with such a legacy of memory.

[Kindly Killer]

Knew of him but I didn't know him. What I knew of his life story I thought was really neat (e.g. rocket-powered bicycle accident LOL - now there's a guy who's not afraid to try ideas). It took me years of winding to make anything that made it even remotely worthwhile to take my Wilde L-90's out of my les paul. The L-90's are one of the only pickups I ever kept after I took them out of a guitar. I still use an actual Q-Filter I got from him. Good good stuff.

BTW I'm sure everyone here knows this, but JIK: if you read all the published interviews/histories of the big name pickup makers, some of the big ones learned directly from Bill Lawrence. He taught this craft to a lot of people and really planted a lot of seeds for the whole aftermarket pickup thing that we enjoy so much.

http://billlawrence.com/Pages/BillLa.../Biography.htm

[Possum]

I read everything Bill wrote about pickups back in the beginning. But, I have to be honest, his designs are an acquired taste. I used his Strat pickups for some time and eventually went back to noisy single coils because noiseless designs, no matter how well engineered or fancy, just don't have the richness of the stupid simple design. I collected Marauders back in the 90's and eventually got rid of them because of the very weak Lawrence pickups, the Marauder and S1 were sales failures because of that. They only really worked for me when I used "talent boxes" to get any kind of push out of them, but don't use them anymore. Noiseless coils with super fine wire and tricky magnetic shielding etc. just lose something in the cancellation and lack of transparency that fine wire has. I did alot of work for EMG back when no one knew who they were and they outfitted my Strat with their work. You think the stuff sounds good for awhile, bang on your pedals, then one day you pick up an ordindary noisy strat and realize you gave up something really juicy by being afraid of "noise." The thing I loved about Bill more than anything, was his ornery stubborn opinions on how pickups should be, he stuck to his guns, you knew exactly what he liked, what he thought of hand winders, and wasn't afraid to be opinionated. I always liked that. His out of the box thinking was inspiring and I learned some things from his patents that I use in certain products. A very inventive man, good engineering in a practical way for those who like that kind of thing.
Bill pioneered the double blade singles that were copied by all the other companies, how they got away with that I don't understand, because Bill patented his designs which were almost literally copied by other big companies.
He really could play too, an important part of the craft....

[Mark Hammer]

I kind of thought that he had originated dual-blade units, but when they were showing up in so many other places, it made it hard to imagine he was the originator.

Maybe not the sort of musical or invention career that was as expansive as Les Paul's, but every bit as much an original and true to his craft.

[minime]

Condolences to Becky. Bill will remain in our hearts.

[01redcobra]

So sorry to hear this. I met Bill and spent a Saturday afternoon with him when he had his shop in Bethlehem, PA. He totally overwhelmed me with his knowledge. And he still had his guitar chops too. He will be missed.