Bill Lawrence J-45 - Alternate Wiring and FYI

DOOMonkee

DOOMonkee

Jul 9, 2020
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#1
Howdy, I wanted to formally post info on the Bill Lawrence J-45 pickups. It's a little difficult to receive an abundance of info on these so I figured I'd add my own to help give someone with questions an idea.

The standard wiring diagram on their website calls for the usage of a blend knob for the pot volumes, and the grounding of two wires (black and blue). The blue is the shielding ground which can be confirmed by using a digital multimeter (DMM) to measure the resistance, which will be in the megaohms (measured from white to blue). The black wire is the return, so if you want a series configuration or an out of phase config, just treat those two leads for those purposes since blue will always go to ground. I made a three push-pull config for different options, and I have that wiring diagram posted below: both in series, out of phase, and kill switch option.

The sound is going to be difficult to capture since my equipment and skill is going to limit the consistency and rigor necessary for a very good test. For this, I have made a very basic YouTube video with four audio clips. The output is very low for some unfortunately, however this was necessary to illustrate the difference in output in the various conditions without clipping the audio on my mic. If any demo is unclear or if an additional demo would be helpful for those who are interested in these pickups, I would be happy to provide assistance since there are limited demos on these pickups. Please let me know if you would like this repeated with other scenarios such as a dirtier amp like the OB1-500 with and without gain, or any other suggestions.



Wilde-j45

Wilde-j45

Three push-pull pots: neck is series, bridge is phase, and tone is kill switch.
 
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#2
DOOMonkee said:
Howdy, I wanted to formally post info on the Bill Lawrence J-45 pickups. It's a little difficult to receive an abundance of info on these so I figured I'd add my own to help give someone with questions an idea.

The standard wiring diagram on their website calls for the usage of a blend knob for the pot volumes, and the grounding of two wires (black and blue). The blue is the shielding ground which can be confirmed by using a digital multimeter (DMM) to measure the resistance, which will be in the megaohms (measured from white to blue). The black wire is the return, so if you want a series configuration or an out of phase config, just treat those two leads for those purposes since blue will always go to ground. I made a three push-pull config for different options, and I have that wiring diagram posted below: both in series, out of phase, and kill switch option.

The sound is going to be difficult to capture since my equipment and skill is going to limit the consistency and rigor necessary for a very good test. For this, I have made a very basic YouTube video with four audio clips. The output is very low for some unfortunately, however this was necessary to illustrate the difference in output in the various conditions without clipping the audio on my mic. If any demo is unclear or if an additional demo would be helpful for those who are interested in these pickups, I would be happy to provide assistance since there are limited demos on these pickups. Please let me know if you would like this repeated with other scenarios such as a dirtier amp like the OB1-500 with and without gain, or any other suggestions.



Wilde-j45

Wilde-j45

Three push-pull pots: neck is series, bridge is phase, and tone is kill switch.
Click to expand...


thanks for sharing! You’re right, there aren’t many demos of these... Would you mind demoing the parallel setting (typical jazz wiring) some more, including solo neck and bridge pickups?
 
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#3
Sure thing! I'll also record it better so the audio isn't as low this time. What I'll do is prioritize the usual configuration of parallel volumes in the beginning: full volume, 50% alternate, solo'd. Is there an interest in tone variation by percentage? If so, is that more helpful to place in the same video at the end with time stamps, or in between (like full volume, 100% tone, 50% tone, 0% tone)?

Is there any interest in demoing these settings with the out-of-phase option as well? Or series/phase-series option with tone variation?

Any and all suggestions are welcome, I would just like to eliminate any unknowns people may have.
 
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#4
Thanks! To me, the most helpful clips are those with tone control wide open, but with the different volume/pickup mix settings. That said, there’s no harm in showing also how they sound with the tone closed (50% and 0% should do). Perhaps having those at the would be best, but it doesn’t really matter...

more important than tone control settings is to show different playing techniques - fingerstyle, pick, slap. And playing a riff/line that includes all strings.
 
#5
Sure thing, and that's a good suggestion for switching play styles. I thought about this after the fact to specifically call out the demo was played finger-style, but adding a pick should definitely be in the next demo. Unfortunately, I can't play slap so that demo will be left out until I feel my skill level is competent enough to produce a good sound.

Was the previous riff acceptable? It includes all four strings, but it is very simple. If an increase in repeated notes is of interest, or a slightly more complicated riff is of interest I can do that as well. The first thing I will do is fix the audio levels since these are very low.
 
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#6
DOOMonkee said:
Was the previous riff acceptable? It includes all four strings, but it is very simple. If an increase in repeated notes is of interest, or a slightly more complicated riff is of interest I can do that as well. The first thing I will do is fix the audio levels since these are very low.
Click to expand...

it was fine, but perhaps slightly faster and more complicated would be helpful + some more dynamics (some louder and quieter notes/passages).

As a reference, I always liked Ed Friedland’s videos, such as this one:
 
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