1943

The second world war is starting to wind to it’s inevitable conclusion.  While FDR, Stalin, and Churchill meet for the tenth major conference of WWII, Hitler decides that the key to victory is Nazi superiority in the air.  As a result Hitler orders the increased production of jet powered aircraft in particular fighter bombers.  Many great jet propelled vehicles were fashioned that year in Germany, including the Me 262, the Blohm & Voss BV 222 Wiking “Flying Boat”, and rocket powered bicycles.

Wait.  What!?

If we made a list of the great German inventors that came from the “rocket boom” of 1943, the list would have to include names like Hellmuth Walter, Dr. Hans von Ohain, and a twelve-year-old boy named Willi Lorenz Stich.  As near as I can tell Willi didn’t give a rip or even know about what Hitler was asking.  He only knew two things: one, rockets were awesome, and two, he didn’t really like to play the violin his mother made him play.

So on that day in 1943 when he finally hooked up his home made rockets to his bicycle and did his first test run I am willing to bet that he had dreams of grandeur running through his head.  Perhaps, those dreams distracted him – and that’s what caused him to crash and break his left hand in seven places. 
I am also willing to bet that when the initial shock wore off his first thought was “YES!  No more violin!”

Willi had limited movement in his hand after it healed so the violin was too difficult to play.  Willi, however, came from a musical family and so his parents insisted that he must play an instrument.  So, after a short stint with the trumpet he discovered that what was limited movement on the violin was perfectly workable for the guitar.  So Willi became a guitarist.  As he grew and post-war Germany started to find time for entertainment Willi started to become a well-known guitarist in jazz clubs.  He made such a name for himself he got an endorsement from a local guitar luthier and changed his name to Bill Lorenzo.  He was continually reshaping his sound by creating new pickups and new ways to make his guitar be heard over the horns in the bands he played in.

One night he went to the Castel bar to see a friend who was playing there and he struck up a conversation with the owner; a man by the name of EZ Wajcman.  They began talking about pickups and the things that Bill née WIlli, had done to get closer to that elusive Charlie Christian sound that all guitarists were trying to emulate back then.

Turns out EZ was a tinkerer as well.  They decided to build a pickup together and the spent the weekend working on it and by Monday they had what they considered a very fine pickup.

Now.

From here the story takes a turn.  Bill and EZ had a falling out at some point in the following years.  As a result each of their stories are very different and focus largely on discrediting the other.  The facts as far as I can tell are that EZ Wajman owns the name “Bill Lawrence” and the man who has now legally changed his name to Bill Lawrence has nothing to do with the Bill Lawrence company.

HOWEVER!

Bill Lawrence (formerly Willi the rocket boy) has made a career of improving the guitar.  He has worked for Gibson and many many other companies and has literally changed the face of technology for the guitar.  He is probably second only to Les Paul in that regard.  He does have his own business still and he makes pickups that are custom to a player’s needs and they are by all accounts amazing.

EZ Wajcman has been no slouch either.  He has taken the original designs and made pickup history with the Dimebag Darrel L-500 that Dimebag himself used in his "Cowboy From Hell" Dean custom guitar as well as other guitar luminaries like Nuno Bettencourt and Kim Thayil.

There is much dispute about who is the real genius but there seems to be a large amount of agreement that the pickups you get from either gentlemen are nearly identical except that Bill and his wife Becky will customize the pickups to suit you perfectly.

And with a history like THAT how could I not use these pickups!