Mr Dave, this will sound weird; but it’s just honesty. Your disposition is so much like my Pop’s was that it’s scary. He was a maintenance mechanic/electrician. When you start getting pissed off at “mechanical stupidity”. It’s like damn near like hearing him. I say to myself: “I’ve heard this guy before?” 😂 Thanks for all the great lessons and sharing your time.
This guitar was built by a company that Bill Lawrence had worked with for a while, and somehow that company got the rights to use Bill Lawrence's name on their guitars . Strangely. after that. Bill Lawrence himself could not use his own name in his pickup company. ......Bill's company is called Wilde Pickups USA. Bill has, sadly, passed away , but his wife and daughter carry on production of his SUPERB pickups.
Bill was partners with another man but didn't have an equal share of the company, his partner got the name copywritten and screwed Bill. Becky and Shannon (wife & daughter) are still making some of the finest pups ever made under Wilde. Bill Lawrence is the Godfather of replacement pups. He worked for Gibson and Fender and was responsible for the high powered HB and Fender noiseless pups for Strats.
@@FuriousMess I'm actually a lawyer by profession, but I don't do any IP work. It's seems wrong that a company can copyright a person's actual name without his permission. This is even stranger given that Bill had an actual share of the company.
@@FuriousMess When the company was formed, I suppose at that time he signed over his name to the company. Didn't get a lawyer of his own either, I imagine.
Apparently he had a line of guitars in the 80's. They were even made in the usa. Edit: A bit more digging and I found out it had nothing to do with Bill himself. It's a Bill Lawrence USA which is very different than a Bill Lawrence. I can't be bothered explaining that situation but if your into the real Bill's history look it up.
In the early 1980’s, Bill Lawrence had his own line of guitars built in Japan. I picked up a used ‘81 Telecaster in butterscotch yellow with a pair of his humbucking single coils in it that sounds a looks amazing! He was indeed an engineering genius!😊
Yep, bought a similar t style one in Tokyo in the early 90’s for a friend. The guitar played great, he was a bit puzzled he didn’t know the brand though.
The BL swampkaster gtrs were made 79-80-81. The parts were made in Japan and assembled in California. Bill L lost the company of his namesake to his former biz partner after that time and the gtrs and pickups were changed in quality, tho shared the same name, which creates alot of confusion regarding the history of these. The intermittent serial numbering of these in both eras didn't help either. I've owned 4 of them, there's great ones, and there's duds....so pretty much like any gtr... 👍
@@soulagent79 Just to add to your post. Bill continued to make pickups under the Wilde Pickups by Bill Lawrence. Still in business and making some of the finest value priced pickups on the planet. I have a set in my telecaster shaped object.
I have three of these swampkasters. A hidden gem. They were produced by Bill Lawrence USA not Willie Stich (Bill Lawrence). They were produced in Korea and assembled in California. I have seen these with serial numbers on the neck plate, in the neck pocket or none at all.
I have a Wilde Pickups L-500XL waiting for a guitar project, and I plan to buy three more Wilde pickups later this year for another project. RIP Willi Stich, I chatted with Shannon today!
I have two old ones both have Bill Lawrence blades factory stock and a traditional tele type bridge. I never saw those pickups and that type bridge on a Swampcaster.
At 0:30; So, I take my guitar apart but I lose two or three screws. "Guess I'll go digging around the garage, see what I can find !" ACE Hardware has every screw you could need for fifteen cents and there's an ace EVERYWHERE ! I heard it in your voice !
I've had a similar issue with stuck ball ends a few months ago, when a friend had asked me for help with putting on a set of new strings on her Samick Strat copy, and I had to use my smallest allen key to push three of the string ends out, from the top. Apparently the previous set had been on the guitar for 10 years! 😅
Dave, Deep Purple is ALWAYS a good choice! Shame some of my co-workers have completely shit taste in music that sounds like someone confused at reading a drive-thru menu. My personal favorites are Woman from Tokyo and Space Truckin’.
That’s a beautiful Tele. Too bad it’s not a lefty. Just my option I like the three saddles bridge on my Teles. Thanks again for the knowledge transfer, Canuck.
Hey Dave, I just recently did some work on my 5-String Acoustic/Electric Bass guitar, basically restoring it to fully playable condition, all it really needed was the nut glued back on, the original worn-out tuners replaced with some new chrome Gotohs, and a set of new Bronze/Carbon-Steel roundwound strings, which I bought on eBay last year, the guitar just needs the action tweaked a bit because it's a bit too high for my liking, I did notice that the neck has a slight backwards bow to it, and I think I may need to shave the plastic bridge saddle down a bit if I put some forward-bow into the neck, the action at the 12th fret is about 1/4 inch....(no, I'm not kidding), I'm thinking that maybe about .012 inch of neck relief should work great, but then the 12th fret action will be ridiculously high, I'll need to figure-out how much to shave-off the bottom of the bridge saddle to fix it, the 9V battery holder needs fixing too, a piece of plastic chipped off the preamp and the battery holder won't click into place like it's supposed to, maybe some thin black plastic and superglue will fix it, the piezo-electric pickup and preamp seems to work though, brand name is Memphis by Tagima.
I seem to remember the Bill Lawrence guitars were made by a former Bill Lawrence partner. I believe they had a lawsuit against each other for the rights to the name. I could be wrong though as old age tends to scramble the...you know...the thing.
14:39 Dave, UA-cam charged me about Au$19.00 or so for upgrading to UA-cam Premium, prior to that, I had to put-up with UA-cam blocking my ad blockers and forcing ads down my throat without my consent.
I also remember Bill bringing these to the music store I worked at and he would compare the sound to a stock Fender mostly pointing out how quiet and less microphonic but louder his pickups were. I couldn't see him letting out guitars with crappy sheilding inside though.
Great job Dave. this pig needed slopping and cleaning for sure. who ever messed with it before had no idea even how to use a screw driver. guitar wasnt well kept up either. but your know how and expertise fixed this up great. the owner will have a great guitar for a while until it becomes pig pen guitar again id think. what a mess transitioned to a pretty nice swamp guitar. some how though i dont think you have swamps in canada!!! thanks dave. learned alot again and i appreciate it even though i stay away from telecaster type guitars.
Believe it or not the shielding is original .....I have seen that on the other two of these I have opened up .....And that soldering is also original ...These are import parts that were assembled in California ...and Bill Lawrence or the guy who called himself that ........lost the name Bill Lawrence in court ........so here is my take ...Bill Lawrence USA makes good pickups ...no new designs and the guy that runs it can be hard to work with as we stock a lot of their pickups but their humbuckers are dead quiet ...seriously and sound good ......Shannon and Becky Lawrence also make great pickups here in my home state of GA ...and I plan on using more of their pickups in our Hotlanta Guitars !!
greetings Dave"s wondered if U have "Liquid Wrench" in your chemical weapons ? could b handy for Unclogging any Metal parts fyi : ) (if used would NOT apply to Wood or finishes)
I bought one of these new in Memphis around 2004 and I LOVE it. It doesn't have that typical twangy Fender tele sound, it sounds more like Steely Dan, if that makes sense. I like it a lot. Wish my playing sounded like Steely Dan tho, lol
I agree. They may have Bill's name on them, but he had nothing to do with them and they're obviously not up to his rigorous quality standards. Bill showed me one sent in by a customer of his -- that swamp ash was so desiccated that it crumbled away around the neck pocket, and the bridge pickup sounded like dragging a cheese grater over barbed wire.
Oh, Man. that head stock is HORRIBLE looks like clothing hanger for my suit...Man, that is an ugly headstock.. in my opinion someone please cut the hook part off! what am I supposed to do with that head stock, hang it up in my closet with my suit?
@@fredherfst8148 yeah,you got a point there as I absolutely abhore it when you're very ingrossed in a show or movie and a ad pops up all of a sudden. That ruins the moment and now you're spitting venom at UA-cam for doing that. With paying monthly to eliminate ads then its just the content creators advertising for products they have sent to them for advertisement in which case I can just skip over the ad
Have you been saving these videos in a safe somewhere? We are being rewarded with a plethora of videos! Love it.
And now everyone knows the importance of those ferrules on the back. Don’t be that guy that loses one and rips the rest out to make it match.✌️
Mr Dave, this will sound weird; but it’s just honesty. Your disposition is so much like my Pop’s was that it’s scary. He was a maintenance mechanic/electrician. When you start getting pissed off at “mechanical stupidity”. It’s like damn near like hearing him. I say to myself: “I’ve heard this guy before?” 😂 Thanks for all the great lessons and sharing your time.
Dave,
I appreciate the fact that you stretch “beat” those strings like they owe you money. 🤘
This guitar was built by a company that Bill Lawrence had worked with for a while, and somehow that company
got the rights to use Bill Lawrence's name on their guitars . Strangely. after that. Bill Lawrence himself could
not use his own name in his pickup company. ......Bill's company is called Wilde Pickups USA.
Bill has, sadly, passed away , but his wife and daughter carry on production of his SUPERB pickups.
He must have sold the rights to his name.
Bill was partners with another man but didn't have an equal share of the company, his partner got the name copywritten and screwed Bill. Becky and Shannon (wife & daughter) are still making some of the finest pups ever made under Wilde. Bill Lawrence is the Godfather of replacement pups. He worked for Gibson and Fender and was responsible for the high powered HB and Fender noiseless pups for Strats.
@@FuriousMess I'm actually a lawyer by profession, but I don't do any IP work. It's seems wrong that a company can copyright a person's actual name without his permission. This is even stranger given that Bill had an actual share of the company.
it was a long time ago, Bill was an immigrant and not very schooled in business, but very schooled in physics
@@FuriousMess When the company was formed, I suppose at that time he signed over his name to the company. Didn't get a lawyer of his own either, I imagine.
These uploads are a highlight of my day, keep rocking Dave
Good old Uncle Dave! The Man! x
The Penny Black CD is very good. I recommend it highly.
but can you recommend it high?
@@palidiciovermingagurainia1760 Hmmmm……. I will listen again tomorrow night and let you know. 🤪🙃
Glad to see that you are starting the year busy that's a good thing Dave.✌🏻
Glad you’re busy Mr. Dave it gives us more great videos 👍
Apparently he had a line of guitars in the 80's. They were even made in the usa.
Edit: A bit more digging and I found out it had nothing to do with Bill himself. It's a Bill Lawrence USA which is very different than a Bill Lawrence. I can't be bothered explaining that situation but if your into the real Bill's history look it up.
Cool looking Telecaster.
If it ain't broke don't break it
In the early 1980’s, Bill Lawrence had his own line of guitars built in Japan. I picked up a used ‘81 Telecaster in butterscotch yellow with a pair of his humbucking single coils in it that sounds a looks amazing! He was indeed an engineering genius!😊
Yep, bought a similar t style one in Tokyo in the early 90’s for a friend. The guitar played great, he was a bit puzzled he didn’t know the brand though.
The BL swampkaster gtrs were made 79-80-81. The parts were made in Japan and assembled in California. Bill L lost the company of his namesake to his former biz partner after that time and the gtrs and pickups were changed in quality, tho shared the same name, which creates alot of confusion regarding the history of these. The intermittent serial numbering of these in both eras didn't help either. I've owned 4 of them, there's great ones, and there's duds....so pretty much like any gtr... 👍
Looks like the parts were made by Chushin Gakki.
@@soulagent79 Just to add to your post. Bill continued to make pickups under the Wilde Pickups by Bill Lawrence. Still in business and making some of the finest value priced pickups on the planet. I have a set in my telecaster shaped object.
"If it ain't broke, don't break it"
😝 Nice T-shirt. Creative strap location on this one.
I've never seen a guitar with a whole roll of Reynolds wrap in the pickup cavity.
Sharp tele. Thanks for sharing, Dave!
Glad you like it!
As a Visual Effects Guy for over 20 years here in Toronto - I hear u about the Special Effect Awards but... at least u guys have a Union ! lol
I have three of these swampkasters. A hidden gem. They were produced by Bill Lawrence USA not Willie Stich (Bill Lawrence). They were produced in Korea and assembled in California. I have seen these with serial numbers on the neck plate, in the neck pocket or none at all.
Hi Dave and Happy New Year! - at 17:30 the finish on that BODY looks fantastic ! 🤩
Happy new year!
Where was this video when i was restringing my tele last weekend 🤣
I have a Wilde Pickups L-500XL waiting for a guitar project, and I plan to buy three more Wilde pickups later this year for another project. RIP Willi Stich, I chatted with Shannon today!
I have two old ones both have Bill Lawrence blades factory stock and a traditional tele type bridge. I never saw those pickups and that type bridge on a Swampcaster.
At 0:30; So, I take my guitar apart but I lose two or three screws. "Guess I'll go digging around the garage, see what I can find !" ACE Hardware has every screw you could need for fifteen cents and there's an ace EVERYWHERE ! I heard it in your voice !
Looking on the web seems they made different types of strats too.
I save string ends as well. They make handy pipe cleaners!
I've had a similar issue with stuck ball ends a few months ago, when a friend had asked me for help with putting on a set of new strings on her Samick Strat copy, and I had to use my smallest allen key to push three of the string ends out, from the top. Apparently the previous set had been on the guitar for 10 years! 😅
Good save Dave
Just dont change Dave. I do like the binding on that guitar and if his pick ups are any indication... i bet it's a quality axe.
I have that pickup lean over issue on a few of my Strats and Teles.....don't know why.
Never bothered to figure it out....they sound great, so......
Dave, Deep Purple is ALWAYS a good choice!
Shame some of my co-workers have completely shit taste in music that sounds like someone confused at reading a drive-thru menu.
My personal favorites are Woman from Tokyo and Space Truckin’.
Great job Dave! Telecasters are the best overall electric guitars, period.
hey Dave. I've had a question for you for years now.. lol and I've been a Patron for 4 years now, guess I should go over thee and ask :)
I love unique guitars. A Fender or Squire tele? Everyone has that. But how many people own a Bill Lawrence tele?
Nice looking piece of wood. Don`t know whether that affects the sound.
Have BL pickups in my 3 Washburn nunos. Love Bill Lawrence pups.
Do you have "Bill Lawrence USA" pickups or the real thing?
@@Robstafarianboth
@@EYECOMEINPEACE I would replace the "USA" clone with the real thing just so the money goes to the right place.
'Barnyard Engineers' - great band name
That’s a beautiful Tele. Too bad it’s not a lefty. Just my option I like the three saddles bridge on my Teles. Thanks again for the knowledge transfer, Canuck.
I have a brass vintage style bridge on mine as well
Hey Dave, I just recently did some work on my 5-String Acoustic/Electric Bass guitar, basically restoring it to fully playable condition, all it really needed was the nut glued back on, the original worn-out tuners replaced with some new chrome Gotohs, and a set of new Bronze/Carbon-Steel roundwound strings, which I bought on eBay last year, the guitar just needs the action tweaked a bit because it's a bit too high for my liking, I did notice that the neck has a slight backwards bow to it, and I think I may need to shave the plastic bridge saddle down a bit if I put some forward-bow into the neck, the action at the 12th fret is about 1/4 inch....(no, I'm not kidding), I'm thinking that maybe about .012 inch of neck relief should work great, but then the 12th fret action will be ridiculously high, I'll need to figure-out how much to shave-off the bottom of the bridge saddle to fix it, the 9V battery holder needs fixing too, a piece of plastic chipped off the preamp and the battery holder won't click into place like it's supposed to, maybe some thin black plastic and superglue will fix it, the piezo-electric pickup and preamp seems to work though, brand name is Memphis by Tagima.
I can't find old people like me to get the band back together either.
Nice intro! I love Vice Grip Garage
open source audio..not theirs sorry
@@DavesWorldofFunStuff lol oh! Don't be sorry ya Canuck!
that's where I heard it!!
I seem to remember the Bill Lawrence guitars were made by a former Bill Lawrence partner. I believe they had a lawsuit against each other for the rights to the name. I could be wrong though as old age tends to scramble the...you know...the thing.
Great video!!
Thanks for the visit
14:39 Dave, UA-cam charged me about Au$19.00 or so for upgrading to UA-cam Premium, prior to that, I had to put-up with UA-cam blocking my ad blockers and forcing ads down my throat without my consent.
yep, those were a real Bill Lawrence product. I think they were made in the late 70s early 80s
I also remember Bill bringing these to the music store I worked at and he would compare the sound to a stock Fender mostly pointing out how quiet and less microphonic but louder his pickups were. I couldn't see him letting out guitars with crappy sheilding inside though.
Great job Dave. this pig needed slopping and cleaning for sure. who ever messed with it before had no idea even how to use a screw driver. guitar wasnt well kept up either. but your know how and expertise fixed this up great. the owner will have a great guitar for a while until it becomes pig pen guitar again id think. what a mess transitioned to a pretty nice swamp guitar. some how though i dont think you have swamps in canada!!! thanks dave. learned alot again and i appreciate it even though i stay away from telecaster type guitars.
Thoughts on running to 432hz
Legit guitars. Worked at a store that sold them in the late 90's - mid 00s. Great Teles with impressive parts.
Very cool!
👍👍👍
i knew bill made pickups dident know he made guitars too
I don't get the ads using the Brave browser. Not a paid promotion. Just saying.
Believe it or not the shielding is original .....I have seen that on the other two of these I have opened up .....And that soldering is also original ...These are import parts that were assembled in
California ...and Bill Lawrence or the guy who called himself that ........lost the name Bill Lawrence in court ........so here is my take ...Bill Lawrence USA makes good pickups ...no new designs and the guy that runs it can be hard to work with as we stock a lot of their pickups but their humbuckers are dead quiet ...seriously and sound good ......Shannon and Becky Lawrence also make great pickups here in my home state of GA ...and I plan on using more of their pickups in our Hotlanta Guitars !!
Incredible! The only area that wasn't altered on that poor guitar by owner/s was the tuners
Is that a cliplock strap screwed into the output jack?
Yep. That's a new one.😂
It's a wonder there were reported "output jack problems". 🤣4 bucks and the guy could replace his strap button.
Hi Dave
Just curious what brand is your guitar parts bath. Thank you.
You could BBQ a potato with the shielding foil used.
greetings Dave"s wondered if U have "Liquid Wrench" in your chemical weapons ? could b handy for Unclogging any Metal parts fyi : ) (if used would NOT apply to Wood or finishes)
not a good thing near guitars..ok for cars
I bought one of these new in Memphis around 2004 and I LOVE it. It doesn't have that typical twangy Fender tele sound, it sounds more like Steely Dan, if that makes sense. I like it a lot. Wish my playing sounded like Steely Dan tho, lol
I pay less than $10 a month for no ads L believe. It's worth it.
WTF????? No ferrules?
Wow....
Why does a neck pickup tilt forward and how do you fix that?
bend the ears inside on the pickup
Bill Lawrence Goochcaster LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLO . . . . Dave
Don't use My Woman from Tokyo though, or your fretwork will be uneven 😁
Interesting way the owner has the rear strap button positioned. I wonder why he did that ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Strange place for a strap button.
what a FU Geetar
That telecaster didn't sound very good
I agree. They may have Bill's name on them, but he had nothing to do with them and they're obviously not up to his rigorous quality standards. Bill showed me one sent in by a customer of his -- that swamp ash was so desiccated that it crumbled away around the neck pocket, and the bridge pickup sounded like dragging a cheese grater over barbed wire.
Willi hated these guitars and disavowed any connection to them.
that string shit sucks- nightmare sometimes
I've never heard anyone whine so much about working on a guitar.
Oh, Man. that head stock is HORRIBLE looks like clothing hanger for my suit...Man, that is an ugly headstock.. in my opinion someone please cut the hook part off! what am I supposed to do with that head stock, hang it up in my closet with my suit?
overall it's a nice looking guitar sounds good.. aside from the hook stock
like yer face?
UA-cam charges around $13@mo. Ransom to remove ads
Worth every Penny when you no longer watch tv
@@fredherfst8148 yeah,you got a point there as I absolutely abhore it when you're very ingrossed in a show or movie and a ad pops up all of a sudden. That ruins the moment and now you're spitting venom at UA-cam for doing that. With paying monthly to eliminate ads then its just the content creators advertising for products they have sent to them for advertisement in which case I can just skip over the ad
Freetube is your friend.