Bill Lawrence (born Willi Lorenz Stich; March 24, 1931 – November 2, 2013) was a pickup and

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

designer He was born in Wahn,

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and began his musical career in the 1950s as a

jazz guitarist Jazz guitarists are guitarists who play jazz using an approach to chords, melodies, and improvised solo lines which is called jazz guitar playing. The guitar has fulfilled the roles of accompanist ( rhythm guitar) and soloist in small and large ...

, performing under the name Billy Lorento. He died in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. As a musician, Lawrence created pickups that he felt best suited his needs and performance style, and went on to work with

Framus Framus is a German string instrument manufacturing company, that existed from 1946 until going bankrupt in 1975. The Framus brand was revived in 1995 as part of Warwick GmbH & Co Music Equipment KG, in Markneukirchen, Germany. The company's cus ...

and became an endorser, including such models as the "Billy Lorento" 5/120. He was also an endorser for Fender in Europe. Moving to the United States, Lawrence designed pickups and assisted in electric guitar design for Fender,

Gibson Gibson may refer to: People * Gibson (surname) Businesses * Gibson Brands, Inc., an American manufacturer of guitars, other musical instruments, and audio equipment * Gibson Technology, and English automotive and motorsport company based * Gi ...

, Peavey and other companies. While at Gibson from 1968-1972, Lawrence helped design the "super-

humbucker A humbucking pickup, humbucker, or double coil, is a type of guitar pickup that uses two wire coils to cancel out the noisy interference picked up by coil pickups. In addition to electric guitar pickups, humbucking coils are sometimes used in d ...

" pickup and the L6-S. He helped redesign the electronics of the SG and contributed significantly to the S-1 and

Marauder Marauder, marauders, The Marauder, or The Marauders may refer to: * A person engaged in banditry or related activity ** Piracy ** Looting ** Outlaw ** Partisan (military) ** Robbery ** Theft Entertainment * ''Marauder'', the second novel in the ' ...

, as well as to some bass models, like the

Ripper Ripper or The Ripper may refer to: People * Ripper (surname) * Paul Burchill, ring name "The Ripper", a professional wrestler based on Jack the Ripper * Kirk Hammett, nicknamed "The Ripper", the lead guitarist in the heavy metal band Metallica ...

, Grabber and G3.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lawrence, Bill Guitar pickup manufacturers 2013 deaths 1931 births