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Fun Wilde Pickup story

skruch

skruch

Jul 16, 2010
307
66
San Jose, CA
#1
Last September I ordered an L45 twin blade Strat pup from Bill Lawrence for my Musicmaster Bass. It sounded "OK" but was weak in output. I wrote Bill a note saying what I observed and politely suggested they not recommend this particular pup for bass. I figured that was the end of it. To my surprise, I got a phone call from Bill a few days later. He told me "you do not put a guitar pickup in a bass." He said the magnetic field requirements were different. He asked me to return the L45 and said he would take care of this issue for me. Fast forward 3 months. I got a neat Strat sized bass pup in the mail from Bill! It is single coil and is like a Keystone in that it is very low noise and goes to 11! My Musicmaster Bass is now very clear, punchy and piano string like. What great folks there at Wilde. :D

BL_Pickup_02_201001.jpg
 
#3
They are indeed fantastic to do business with. I ordered a P-J set (P-46 & J-45) and received it within 5 days. After installing I noticed the J's curvature (radius???) was too pronounced and I emailed them asking if they had J-45's that were flat. Not only did they inform me that they were in the midst of making a batch, they sent money to my paypal acct. to pay for the return shipping.
Great folks !!!
 
#10
They make great pups and are very friendly; I talked to Becky about mutual friends we didn't know we had for an hour one day.
In the past, communication and meeting delivery times was not a strong point; I knew this going in so no problems and I would order from them again.
 
#17
skruch said:
They are screws, actually. Sorry, I am not equiped to do sound samples. I am happy that I can do pictures.
Click to expand...

Sounds like you've got Bill's new microcoil design. He demonstrated it in several guitars at NAMM a while back but hasn't released them on the market. It seems like you are the first person to have one reworked for a bass :smug: I had a chance to hear Bill use them in guitar when he was developing them, so I can guess how impressive the performance of your pickup is!
 
#19
colcifer said:
That's not the CV around here. Could someone explain a bit about this?
Click to expand...

I don't know about that and I respect Bill's work, but many people have successfully used guitar pickups in basses.

Bill is the same person that says that "batteries belong in flashlights".

I'm not saying he's right or wrong, but I believe those are his thoughts about pickups, and he's been making 'em for a loooong time! He might be right, but if the other way suits your needs it is perfectly fine.

.02
 

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