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

[DistroHopper]

I think the contrast of the black pickups with a white pick guard looks good, but to each their own on this. Krylon makes good spray paint, so if you went with that option it should work.

I've been wondering how the Bill Lawrence p bass pickups sounded, looks like they get a lot of love!

 

[deepestend]

Sorry, but this looks great! You are totally overthinking it. I'd love to have this bass and wouldn't do a thing to change it. Now go play some music!

Missing from all the above is the "IMHO".

IMHO, I don't like the "contrast" between the black pickup cover and the aged white pearl pickguard. This is why I asked in the first place if the option was available. IMHO, a white pearl pickup cover on a white pearl pickguard would look good.

But that's for me to decide, and I promise not to afflict your eyeballs with such an objectionable vision when I find a color match in a paint that will hold up.

Thanks mark and marco for the paint suggestions!

 

[DrSpunkwater]

Missing from all the above is the "IMHO".

IMHO, I don't like the "contrast" between the black pickup cover and the aged white pearl pickguard. This is why I asked in the first place if the option was available. IMHO, a white pearl pickup cover on a white pearl pickguard would look good.

But that's for me to decide, and I promise not to afflict your eyeballs with such an objectionable vision when I find a color match in a paint that will hold up.

Thanks mark and marco for the paint suggestions!

It's not really IMHO so much as it is Art Class 101 talking, or the same reason that cream B&B doesn't look very nice on maple - that is, contrast. It's an important consideration if you play out a lot and you want your instrument to be seen clearly from the stage. You've got a dark pickup on top of a bright pickguard on top of a medium body. It all balances out perfectly. The bridge cover looks especially nice over the natural finish. But as you say, it's your bass to do with as you want, and maybe you're going for a different look/effect that doesn't factor in contrast. I'd just hate for you to spend a bunch of time and cash painting your P46 only to find out it was fine as is.

I gotta agree with deep though. I don't think you should change a thing.

 

[MarcusPHagen]

I'm really convinced that "personal taste" is just that... "personal". Having worked for a company whose purchasing agent turned out to be red-green colorblind (he found out when he went to the opthamologist, and the comment at work was "that explains some of the cloth patterns he's bought in years past"), I know that we don't all see the same thing when we use our eyes.

I can't stand pink shutters on a puke-green house, but there is one in my neighborhood, and I doubt that the owners painted it with the goal of making me want to throw up. Who can say why some people buy cars with colors that make other people turn their heads aside?

This may be another example of two people looking at the same picture and seeing different things.

Marcus

 

[Teacher]

Very well said, Marcus.

 

[deepestend]

Then again, this is the bass I'm putting together now (with Lawrence Jazz pickups), so what do I know?

 

[Rockbobmel]

Leeeevumm black

 

[DrSpunkwater]

Then again, this is the bass I'm putting together now (with Lawrence Jazz pickups), so what do I know?

That looks pretty slick, deep.

 

[deepestend]

Thanks. It's coming together. Had to shape the pickguard with a dremel last night, but it fits just right. Everything should be set in the next few days, though.

AND, the BL jazz pickups sound great! Quiet and punchy.

That looks pretty slick, deep.

 

[DrSpunkwater]

Yeah, I had to do the same thing with my Antigua fretless to get the pickguard to fit properly. Oddly, I didn't have to do it on an aftermarket green pearloid guard I got for my Joker PJ or my Jazz's tort guard. Probably because the latter two are MIA.

Glad you enjoy them! How do you think they sound compared to the P46?

 

[deepestend]

I don't have a set of p46s to compare them to, but they are great compared to other jazz pickups. They have all the modern amenities like noise-free operation but still have a solid thumpy tone that you miss with some of the higher end/modern pickups.

I also have a set of BL p90/jazzmaster pickups in my guitar that I love.

 

[jumbodbassman]

That looks pretty slick, deep.

what does the switch do?

 

[deepestend]

Series/parallel

 

[DrSpunkwater]

Did you follow Bill's diagram, or do you have something else going on under the hood?

 

[deepestend]

Nothing that special going on under the hood. Just used a diagram I found online. Basically, two volume and a tone, all 250K pots. When the series/parallel switch is engaged, only the front volume works as the pickups act as one big humbucker. Gives a much deeper, heavier sound. I recommend it. It's a relatively easy mod to do and gives you a whole new sound.

 

[jmorbita]

Oh boy, I got my fretless bass almost finished, I put a set of p-46 in it, sounds so so big! And so clear!!!
I'm now thinking wether I should add the J on the bridge position...

Hopefully I can produce some audio clips soon...

 

[DrSpunkwater]

Supposedly the PJ set balances the P and J pups against each other perfectly, so it's not quite the same as adding the J to your existing P. Something to consider.

 

[jmorbita]

Supposedly the PJ set balances the P and J pups against each other perfectly, so it's not quite the same as adding the J to your existing P. Something to consider.

yeah, I guess you're right.. so the p46 will actually sound different if wired on it's own vs wired as Bill suggests it should be wired in a P/J configuration, right?

Guess I'll have to build another fretless and compare!!!

 

[deepestend]

It's worth calling Becky to ask. I have a tele set that I wanted to add a middle pickup to and she steered me to a pickup that would match perfectly.

 

[DrSpunkwater]

That too.

What I'm getting at is that I've heard that the pickups are wound a bit differently if you order the PJ set, versus one of the pickups alone. Now whether or not it's true, I dunno.