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

[Mystic Michael]

Nice even tone across all strings. Fat sounding pickup, but with NO loss of clarity and punch. Incredible!!! NOT one of those thin sounding, whimpy, clanky P pickups that I've tried. Massive and defined low end.

For you Bill Lawrence fans who may have heard both the P-46 and the J-45 in action:

1) How much do you agree with Quadzilla's review of the P-46?

AND

2) In your opinion, how close to the tone of the P-46 is the J-45?

MM

 

[Mystic Michael]

Bump!

MM

 

[EddieG]

I've been trying to contact Bill & Becky for about three weeks now, to buy some pickups from them. Got a reply to my initial email, then nothing to the two further emails I sent asking for a Paypal invoice. I even called and left an answerphone message, but nothing. Anybody know if they're still in the pickup business?

 

[Mystic Michael]

I've been trying to contact Bill & Becky for about three weeks now, to buy some pickups from them. Got a reply to my initial email, then nothing to the two further emails I sent asking for a Paypal invoice. I even called and left an answerphone message, but nothing. Anybody know if they're still in the pickup business?

I'm sure they are. But apparently they're notoriously difficult to reach. They're a mom and pop operation - it comes with the territory.

BTW, my two recent emails to them have also gone unanswered - although I did manage to reach Becky on the phone a couple times. Don't give up...

MM

 

[greenboy]

They used to be very easy to reach, back when I bought the J-45 I really dug. In fact, after I bought it I talked to Bill on the phone a couple times about pickup designing, Becky initiated those conversations.

 

[Rickett Customs]

For Gibson he designed the Ripper (L9-S) bass, pickups and electronics, the L6-S guitar, pickups and electronics, the Grabber, the S-1, the Marauder, the Super Humbucker, Thunderbird pickups, etc.

He did the Roscoe Beck and SCN pickups for Fender.

He designed instruments for Framus, and I'm pretty sure he did the pickups on the Ampeg Dan Armstrong basses and guitars.

Bill's the man!

He also did the "Vintage Noiseless", too. He also had some to do with Don Lace, on the "Fender lace sensors".

 

[koobie]

I'll be danged if I could find a link to their bass pickups. What's the model number/price of their P/J set? Thanks.

 

[62bass]

I'll be danged if I could find a link to their bass pickups. What's the model number/price of their P/J set? Thanks.

I managed to find them once about a month ago. But I can't recall what roundabout route I took to find it. I believe the J type pickup costs about $58. It's called the J 45 and comes in two lengths. The P pickups is $56 I believe and is called the P 46. One size only which fits a standard P route. I don't think they have any special model number to buy the two together.

You really have to talk to them by phone and sort out what you want. Nice people, but they live in a different world as do the people on the Wildegate forum. The couple times that I talked to Becky Lawrence on the phone she was coherent, friendly and quite helpful.

The Bill Lawrence J 45 bass pickups I've tried sounded excellent. I plan to get the P 46 soon if I start a P project I'm thinking of.

Good luck trying to get ahold of them.

 

[greenboy]

Yeah, their website used to have the marks of ameteurish web design with goals none too clear. But even then it wasn't too hard to find the Pickups section. But sometime in the past year or so a lot more content not directly related to current products got put up. The navigation became so convoluted you just had to click every link on every page hoping to get through to the old Pickups page.

The devotion to Bill Lawrence's posterity as a world-class inventor/designer is admirable, but it should be a sidebar section and not an overgrowth that totally obscures the original intent of the site.

 

[koobie]

Thanks 62bass,
I gave them a ring, Becky answered right away, was very informative and friendly. Their number is 951-371-1494.

The P46 is $54 plus shipping.
Each J45 is $60 plus shipping.

I briefly played a King fretless bass fitted with a Bill Lawrence P/J setup and it sounded great. Until I played it, I'd been of the mind that a single P is plenty, but there was no denying the tone was more interesting/complex with the J added in.

 

[Jim C]

Were you actualy able to order a pup?
I have been emailing and calling for over 5 weeks.
Left a number of voice mail messages and did get this 1 email reply:

Hi Jim and thanks for your e-mail and reminder! You'd like the J-45 set
for both neck and bridge position as long as it's traditional style size
- the neck position is smaller than the bridge. I can send you a Paypal
notice when ready!

Does that mean when the pup is ready?
I emailed back 1 hour later to say I'd like to order but never got a response and that was 3 weeks ago.

These things better sound great as the amount of trouble to buy them is getting unreasonable. The guitar pickups are in stock everywhere but no bass pup's in stock.

Always thought the guy made great stuff and thought it would be cool to support a pioneer.

 

[62bass]

Thanks 62bass,
I gave them a ring, Becky answered right away, was very informative and friendly. Their number is 951-371-1494.

The P46 is $54 plus shipping.
Each J45 is $60 plus shipping.

I briefly played a King fretless bass fitted with a Bill Lawrence P/J setup and it sounded great. Until I played it, I'd been of the mind that a single P is plenty, but there was no denying the tone was more interesting/complex with the J added in.

Great. Did you order the pickups? How long a wait for them? Were they in stock or do they have to make an order up from scratch?

I'll be very interested in your impressions after you get them.

 

[EddieG]

I'm sure they are. But apparently they're notoriously difficult to reach. They're a mom and pop operation - it comes with the territory.

BTW, my two recent emails to them have also gone unanswered - although I did manage to reach Becky on the phone a couple times. Don't give up...

MM

I'm gonna try and call them again tonight, but it's a bit of a pain in the arse for me because I'm in the UK, and I'm not mad keen on making international calls just to get an answering machine. I think Bill & Becky need to sort out their customer service a little...

 

[mr.hughes]

Hey EddieG,

This may shed some light on your plight. I had the same predicament waiting on my second set of J-45's. Plenty of emails and no replies. Finally called (same aversion as yourself - I'm over in Ireland) and Becky explained that they only make the bass pickups in small batches and they wait until the have enough orders in to make them - so unless there's a few other bass pickups to be made it seems they concentrate on making guitar pickups. Frustrating, but understandable from their point as a small company.

 

[etoncrow]

I ordered the Bill Lawrence P-46 on April 16th, 2009 via the internet. Becky responded with a PalPay invoice within 48 hours. I received notification of shipment this morning. This process was more than twice as fast as my experience with Bayou Cables. I guess patience is no longer a virtue in this world of instant gratification. Please remember this is quite literally a cottage industry. One nice thing about working a cottage industry for yourself is that if you don't feel like working you do not have to. Hasn't Bill earned that right?

 

[greenboy]

Uneven response to customer queries and orders is a very bad business practice. That's the real problem. It's not customer patience or the lack of it. If one guy gets his quickly while others don't get an answer after repeated tries, it's screwed up. Period.

 

[Quadzilla]

Uneven response to customer queries and orders is a very bad business practice. That's the real problem. It's not customer patience or the lack of it. If one guy gets his quickly while others don't get an answer after repeated tries, it's screwed up. Period.

Strange as I've never had an issue with the two or three orders I've place. As recall, the first two orders I spoke with Becky. On the last order, I just followed the instructions on the website and place the order there and my pickup showed up a week or so later (I never tried contacting anyone on the last order).

 

[greenboy]

I never had trouble with my order either... I'm a huge fan of both Bill Lawrence, and the pickups. But I can see from several threads that the process hasn't been working well for awhile now, for a number of prospective customers.

 

[fcappi]

Just called and Got an answer in 4 rings!
Talked to Becky she called back and an hour later I got the paypal invoice!

Can't wait! Now to decide if I want to put in a phase toggle....

Has anyone done that on a P bass pickup and what is the sound difference?

Bill Lawrence Guitar Design Company
125 Business Center Drive Unit F
Corona, CA 92880
951-371-1494 Tel / 951-371-9191 Fax
877-647-2651 - Tollfree
[email protected]

 

[Quadzilla]

Just called and Got an answer in 4 rings!
Talked to Becky she called back and an hour later I got the paypal invoice!

Can't wait! Now to decide if I want to put in a phase toggle....

Has anyone done that on a P bass pickup and what is the sound difference?

Bill Lawrence Guitar Design Company
125 Business Center Drive Unit F
Corona, CA 92880
951-371-1494 Tel / 951-371-9191 Fax
877-647-2651 - Tollfree
[email protected]

Let us know when you get the pup and tell us what you think!