Would a Bill Lawrence 500XL be too bright in ash?

[Inazone]

I picked up an ash-body Super Dinky a month ago, and like it a lot except for the stock pickups. The bridge Jackson humbucker doesn't have any punch to it. I was all set to order an Invader or Full Shred, but a friend of mine has a Bill Lawrence 500XL that he never got around to installing. I don't have any experience with rail-style pickups other than trying out a Dean Razorback that had a Dimebucker in it, and that's not a useful reference point since the Super Dinky is a completely different creature.

Anyone tried a 500XL in an ash guitar? Bright? TOO bright? I play death metal in standard tuning, so I'm looking for something balanced. The price is right, assuming it'll work well in this guitar.

[DonP]

Never had an ash guitar. Have had XL's in some axes, and have OEM Bill Lawrence USA's in an RR1.

One thing I learned, is that until you try it you'll never know. Some people will say it's great, some won't. Sometimes it looks good on paper, and sometimes it looks like it would never work.

But until you try, you'll never know.

I'd say the rail pickups are well balanced, and never muddy. I like playing Maiden on the RR1, if that helps.

[john.w.lawson]

+1. had one,liked! its a very well balanced pickup! With pretty good output!

[sean1197]

the xl would sound pretty good in that guitar as long as you have a decent amp backing it up i have a xl in my kelly but im running it through a line 6 xt pro

[straycat]

I have an older 500XL in a lightweight alder body and it sounds great.
Very well balanced pickup IMO.
If its too bright go with a 300k vol pot.
Really depends on which ash body you have swamp should sound great with the 500.

[Inazone]

Guess I'll give it a shot. My first impression of the stock pickups is that they were actually pretty good, but compared to what I usually play, would require too much EQ tweaking to work in a band environment. Ash can be kind of tricky, so I just want to avoid too much high end.

[straycat]

Try a PAFish type pickup.If you have a rather weak pickup that might work too.IMO a J-95 ould kill in an ash body lots of mids.

[Inazone]

Not that a Screamin' Demon is necessarily PAFish, but I had one (stock) in my ash USA DR2, and it sounded awful, mostly due to flabby low end and shrill highs. The mids were fine, but just ended up sounding harsh. I moved the Screamin' Demon to a basswood Dinky where it sounded great, and put a Full Shred in the DR2.

I've had good experiences with the Invader, Full Shred, and "Hex" pickups from GuitarFetish.com that I think are actually made by Artec. If the 500XL doesn't work out, I'll probably try a Hex again.

[straycat]

I never recommend a screamin demon unless you have a heavy maple body.For some reason it works.They are pretty shrill.
I like the Hex pickup too.

[j2379]

try a 500L not as bright as the XL still med high output, much fuller sounding imo.

[Inazone]

Got the guitar back from the shop on Saturday, fresh from the pickup install, proper trem block and a setup. Having heard a Dimebucker in both Dean and Washburn Dimebag signature guitars, the Lawrence in an ash Jackson actually sounds much closer to the Pantera guitar tone than either signature model. Although there is no shortage of treble, it's not fizzy or harsh. Great, tight low end too.

[Sunbane]

Cool. How are the mids with that pickup, as opposed to others? Is it sort of scooped, or does it have a mid-bump?

[Dreamland_Rebel]

you really should try a Dimarzio Super Distortion in an Ash body. total kick ass!

[Inazone]

Cool. How are the mids with that pickup, as opposed to others? Is it sort of scooped, or does it have a mid-bump?

In ash, it does sound scooped, but because ash tends to have tight low end and pronounced high end, a lot of pickups seem a bit scooped. Somewhat similar to a Full Shred to my ears, but hotter. More balls, I guess I'd say.