blade pick ups

[braintheory]

what's the difference in sound betwenen a blade ceramic and normal ceramic pick up?  I don't care about the technical differences.  Before I had bareknckles I used to love the Bill Lawrence 500XL, which was a blade pick up, that came stock in my Dean CFH.  It's the brightest and most piercing humbucker I played and also had a lot of grind, aggression, and clarity, but not as much clarity as bareknuckles.  I wish Bare Knuckles or some other boutique companies like WCR or Motor City made a pick up like the Bill Lawrence. 

[darkbluemurder]

The description of the L-500XL is pretty accurate - very loud and very bright, even though some of the brightness is due to an also pronounced high midrange. This makes the L-500XL and many other Lawrence pickups problematic for some guitars.

[ericsabbath]

The description of the L-500XL is pretty accurate - very loud and very bright, even though some of the brightness is due to an also pronounced high midrange. This makes the L-500XL and many other Lawrence pickups problematic for some guitars.

high midrange?
that thing is so scooped that I could feel it pulling the strings into some sort of black hole  :lol:

my friend had miracle man, a holy diver, a painkiller and a lawrence 500XL in my ex-custom made les paul (which was the biggest sounding guitar I've ever played)
the guitar was very mid heavy, even with the miracle man, and the bill lawrence turned that guitar into a goddamn stratocaster
it sucked all the low end and the entire midrange
my friend though it was broken or something, but that's exactly how my other ex-guitar sounded with that pickup

the cold sweat is what a lawrence should sound like
loud, bright, clear, crunchy, somewhat scooped in the lower mids, but not spikey and fizzy, not scooped in the upper mids and doesn't make a les paul sound a strat

[Pale Rider]

The L500XL is actually a full spectrum pickup and you can shape it however you want with an EQ or even the amp. It can be from tiny to fat and from empty to heavy. I know it first hand. I had it in an ESP LTD MH400 with Floyd Rose and I could make it sound like Angus Young from hell.

However, having said that, it is no match to BKPs. They're just something else....  ;)

[Madsakre]

i bought a second hand jackson with a a5 warpig installed. i swapped it out for a l500xl. it certaintly gave life back to that guitar.

My impression of the l500xl is that it lies very much over in painkiller land tonally. especially in that guitar

[braintheory]

i bought a second hand jackson with a a5 warpig installed. i swapped it out for a l500xl. it certaintly gave life back to that guitar.

My impression of the l500xl is that it lies very much over in painkiller land tonally. especially in that guitar

So for that guitar you prefered the Bill Lawrence?  I never compared my Bill Lawrence side by side to any BK, maybe I should. 
To me the Painkiller sounded very different from the Bill Lawrence in the same guitar.  The Bill Lawrence was much brighter, more biting, piercing, raw, and aggressive, While the Painkiller was more refined, more bottom end, MUCH MUCH more mids, and smoother overall.  I actually preferred the voicing of the Bill Lawrence, but the Painkiller had more clarity and tightness.  I wish Bare Knuckle made a similar type of pick up to the Bill Lawrence.                                                                                                                                                                                     

[Madsakre]

i preferred the lawrence in that peticular guitar. the guitar had a floyd and was very muffling. so i wanted much more top and bite. I got the lawrence for free from a friend

[ericsabbath]

i bought a second hand jackson with a a5 warpig installed. i swapped it out for a l500xl. it certaintly gave life back to that guitar.

My impression of the l500xl is that it lies very much over in painkiller land tonally. especially in that guitar

So for that guitar you prefered the Bill Lawrence?  I never compared my Bill Lawrence side by side to any BK, maybe I should. 
To me the Painkiller sounded very different from the Bill Lawrence in the same guitar.  The Bill Lawrence was much brighter, more biting, piercing, raw, and aggressive, While the Painkiller was more refined, more bottom end, MUCH MUCH more mids, and smoother overall.  I actually preferred the voicing of the Bill Lawrence, but the Painkiller had more clarity and tightness.  I wish Bare Knuckle made a similar type of pick up to the Bill Lawrence.                                                                                                                                                                                     

have you tried the cold sweat?

[darkbluemurder]

high midrange?
that thing is so scooped that I could feel it pulling the strings into some sort of black hole  :lol:

the guitar was very mid heavy, even with the miracle man, and the bill lawrence turned that guitar into a goddamn stratocaster
it sucked all the low end and the entire midrange
my friend though it was broken or something, but that's exactly how my other ex-guitar sounded with that pickup

That sounds as if it was a Bill Lawrence USA model made by a former Bill Lawrence partner. I was speaking of the Wilde by Bill Lawrence model made by Bill Lawrence. They are not the same pickup. The BLUSA models are indeed known for the tone you described.

[braintheory]

Eric, I have not tried the cold sweat, but from what I heard about it it sounds like it would be smoother and less aggressive than the Painkiller and still have that refined sound.  How would you compare it to the Painkiller and Miracle Man?  Also they say the C-Bomb is basically a hotter Cold Sweat.  What can the Cold Sweat do that the C-Bomb can't?

[ericsabbath]

That sounds as if it was a Bill Lawrence USA model made by a former Bill Lawrence partner. I was speaking of the Wilde by Bill Lawrence model made by Bill Lawrence. They are not the same pickup. The BLUSA models are indeed known for the tone you described.

yes, it was a BLUSA
but I could never tell the difference tonewise

Eric, I have not tried the cold sweat, but from what I heard about it it sounds like it would be smoother and less aggressive than the Painkiller and still have that refined sound.  How would you compare it to the Painkiller and Miracle Man?  Also they say the C-Bomb is basically a hotter Cold Sweat.  What can the Cold Sweat do that the C-Bomb can't?

the sweat is closer to the bright lawrence voicing
not really smoother than the painkiller, just brighter and a lot less middy
not as punchy as the miracle man, but it has a lot more upper mids, instead of low mids and a nice and clear crunch
a lot more Darrell than Wylde sounding, on both rhythm and lead, and also pinch harmonic tones (I've made a straight swap from miracle man to cold sweat)
the c-bomb is darker and fatter, somewhere between an alnico nailbomb and a miracle man