Bill Lawrence P-46 Pickup mini review (BEST P Pickup I've EVER tried)!

[Britbonic]

Originally Posted by kbuschmann

Can you elaborate a bit on the differences between the P-46 and the D. Allen. Allen is about to make a 5 string CS P, which makes it an option for me. And likely others.

I will. After getting a sweet deal on a 2011 AmStd PBass, I spent some timing experimenting with different pickups. My baseline and usual preference is the Fender 62 Original that I have had in 2 other basses.

I installed a P46 after all the great reviews. While a great pickup and I know lot's of people love the tone to me it was a little too polite. There's a lack of upper mid detail that is a big part of the PBass sound. The P46 is a very well balanced pickup across the tone spectrum - nice bottom, smooth mids and top end. Nothing wrong with that and obviously lot's people like that sound. The P46s are also hard to beat for the price.

I installed the David Allens after reading some reviews and watching the video on his website. The video does of great job of describing what makes these pickups great. The upper mids have a very 70s PBass sound - think Paul Jackson Headhunters and lot's of funk/r&b from that period. At the same time you can roll back tone and get a more vintage sound. They also sound nice and big and full across the tone spectrum without sounding like a higher output pickup.

I've got a couple of Jstyle basses and a Lakland 5501 in my collection but having been using the PBass with the David Allens almost exclusively since I installed the a couple months ago. There's just so much going on with these pickups and are a great deal at $100 compared to other boutique makers.

[kbuschmann]

Originally Posted by Britbonic

I will.

Thanks for that. I have a Kinal P 5 in the works and went with the P-46. If D Allen gets a P5 on the market I may give it a shot.

[kazuhank]

Originally Posted by etoncrow

Wylde (Bill Lawrence) P/J set is the P-46 with a J-45L Jazz

pickups
http://wildepickups.com/Bass_Pickups.html

wiring specs
http://wildepickups.com/Wiring___Tech_Info.html

+1 thanks for posting this info.

[Waterpilot]

Still loving my P-46s!

[topcat2069]

Whew... I'm back on track.... after moving to Texas and getting settled and joining a new Band.......
My Luthier has my Warmoth (alder) Deluxe 5 P-Bass body so he can route for the American Deluxe P-Bass 5 bridge pickup (that I got on E bay) at the bridge... The A.Dlx P brdg. pickup is a Bill Lawrence design (not 4 wire like the Roscoe Beck pickups, so no series/parallel switching) so I'm hoping it will match up with the P-46 I've had now for awhile. I was going to use a 2 band pre but I've decided to try passive, vol, blend and tone first. I'm hoping for a balanced, full tone for recording (and who knows... maybe even as my stage Bass) I should have the body back in a week or so and then (as per my luthiers suggestion) I will begin the Tru-Oil application.. (but that's a different thread.......) I'm Jazzed

[camthebassman]

Finally finished my build with the P46 pickups. Her name is Pauline and she likes the blues. I roll the tone back and thump away. Very pleased with the Bill Lawrence pickups!

[giacomini]

Originally Posted by camthebassman

Finally finished my build with the P46 pickups. Her name is Pauline and she likes the blues. I roll the tone back and thump away. Very pleased with the Bill Lawrence pickups!

sweet machine you've got there!

[camthebassman]

Thanks! Bad picture of a nice bass. The body is really antique white - Warmoth. BTW, the pickups fit in the cavities like a hand in a glove (not OJ's glove).

[soulman969]

I just installed a P46 in my Matt Freeman PBass and love the sound. Great clarity even in low register with flats and in a tuning dropped a half step. That's what I was looking for. Still plenty "old school" but with a but more character than our average PBass pickup.

I'm still playing around with height settings but so far the sound and output are great even set fairly low. Can't wait until I find that sweet spot. Anyone have a tip or two on how they arrived at it other than ears of course, LOL.

[soulman969]

Brief question for you guys playing this P46. What have you found works best as far as a height adjustment? Just a ballpark idea of what you used as a starting point and where you may have found a "sweet spot" on your bass. Thanks.

[BuffaloBass]

3-4mm is usually the target height on most.

About to install an Aero type II P bass. Has anyone tried these vs Lawrence? I like the uber low fundamentals of the AERO, which I dont experience with some other popular pups. Like the original Lawrence's they're hand made so can't be "mass priced".

Are the Lawrence's hand wound? THNX!

[jobo4]

I just installed a set of P46 pups in an American Standard. I thought I would share my wiring experience as I am fundamentally challenged by the process and other folks might like to learn how a novice worked it out.

First I taped the green and red together. Next I soldered the two blues and one black together and then soldered the three of them to the back of the volume pot. I made sure to take a picture of the wiring of the original pups I removed so that I could remember where the white/hot wire went. After checking with the pic I soldered the hot to the appropriate spot and voila. Easy. Works flawlessly.

[Highpost]

Originally Posted by jobo4

I just installed a set of P46 pups in an American Standard. I thought I would share my wiring experience as I am fundamentally challenged by the process and other folks might like to learn how a novice worked it out.

First I taped the green and red together. Next I soldered the two blues and one black together and then soldered the three of them to the back of the volume pot. I made sure to take a picture of the wiring of the original pups I removed so that I could remember where the white/hot wire went. After checking with the pic I soldered the hot to the appropriate spot and voila. Easy. Works flawlessly.

I was up to 5 in the morn sweating this out. LoL I should have taken pics like you though. That's brilliant .you should post pics for posterity.

[topcat2069]

From here:

NBD Warmoth build complete !

I've played the Bass through a couple of amps/cabs (not my GK 1001RB II with 2 1X15 NEO cabs stage rig yet) and the P-46 sounds GREAT !! the Bass is only about 7 lbs and the bridge is brass so there are LOTS of harmonic overtones. The pickup nails that "old P Bass" tone but is a bit brighter (not "all modern" but clearer, maybe a mid-range thing) I have the Bill Lawrence design pickup at the bridge which adds punch, a perfect blend of that P Bass "fat growl" and tight attack from the JJ bridge pickup.

When I played through my studio monitors or my Sony MDR-V6 headphones, the odd harmonic content was at the same level as the even harmonic content .. that will change after the strings lose their "New String Zing" all in all I am stoked with the sound. I would recommend the P-46 to anyone that wants that "old school" P Bass sound but likes a little clarity with their gumbo......

My luthier (who did a great job !) set the pickup height as per conventional wisdom (and the Wylde site) so I had to lower them quite a bit.... I have a "whisper to a scream" right hand picking style... so when I was hitting "them there" strings hard it would overdrive the input of my practice amp... I pulled them (both pickups) back quite a bit so I have more head room ... I've played her through my Acoustic B20, an Ampeg 200 watt combo and an old Peavey MK IV bass head (!) with a 2X10 cab..... the sound is consistent enough through the various amps that I could tell it was the same Bass.

I have to say I'm kinda Jazzed at the sound.....

[giacomini]

Got Bill's P/J set in a custom j-style fretless. Liked so much the pups that I'm getting built a new fretted neck to make this my main bass.

Oh, and the fretless neck will be getting a new body, too!

[soulman969]

Originally Posted by topcat2069

From here:

NBD Warmoth build complete !

I've played the Bass through a couple of amps/cabs (not my GK 1001RB II with 2 1X15 NEO cabs stage rig yet) and the P-46 sounds GREAT !! the Bass is only about 7 lbs and the bridge is brass so there are LOTS of harmonic overtones. The pickup nails that "old P Bass" tone but is a bit brighter (not "all modern" but clearer, maybe a mid-range thing) I have the Bill Lawrence design pickup at the bridge which adds punch, a perfect blend of that P Bass "fat growl" and tight attack from the JJ bridge pickup.

When I played through my studio monitors or my Sony MDR-V6 headphones, the odd harmonic content was at the same level as the even harmonic content .. that will change after the strings lose their "New String Zing" all in all I am stoked with the sound. I would recommend the P-46 to anyone that wants that "old school" P Bass sound but likes a little clarity with their gumbo......

My luthier (who did a great job !) set the pickup height as per conventional wisdom (and the Wylde site) so I had to lower them quite a bit.... I have a "whisper to a scream" right hand picking style... so when I was hitting "them there" strings hard it would overdrive the input of my practice amp... I pulled them (both pickups) back quite a bit so I have more head room ... I've played her through my Acoustic B20, an Ampeg 200 watt combo and an old Peavey MK IV bass head (!) with a 2X10 cab..... the sound is consistent enough through the various amps that I could tell it was the same Bass.

I have to say I'm kinda Jazzed at the sound.....

I'm finding much the same. I intentionally installed it quite low figuring I'd bring it up to hit the "sweet spot" and yet I'm amazed at how well it sounds sitting right where it is. I may bring them up just a bit but they sure as heck don't need to be almost grazing the underside of the pickup to produce.

It's why I asked the question I did about what others have found as they've explored pickup height settings for this particular pickup. Bill's designs are usually pretty sensitive to that.

Other than that I think you nailed the sonic description really well. They're very articulate and punchy but still have that vintage tonality to them. Great sounding pickup and bargain price which is pretty much like all of Bill's stuff.

[cv115505]

just ordered one... may be putting my 60s custom shop pickup for sale if i like it better

[RockBobby]

Alright, Alright, Alright..... I just ordered mine.

[jobo4]

Originally Posted by cv115505

just ordered one... may be putting my 60s custom shop pickup for sale if i like it better

Just did this ^^^^. Installed BL and sold the CS's.

[topcat2069]

This is it.....

http://soundcloud.com/bassmann2000/nadine