How to to warm up Bill Lawrence pickups

[Guitarist]

I have a set of newer cream coloured BL pickups but I'm starting to realize they sound rather bright and mid-enemic. This is great for the bridge but the middle single coil and the neck are making me considering a swap out.
Neck is 6K, Bridge is 9K
Compared to my other excellent sound electric this thing is so hi-fi its almost, almost anti-tone. 'had them for about 5 years in a Godin Australian lacewood.

But, perhaps there is something one can do..?

1) 220pf to ground.
2) lower volume pot value
3) rotate neck pup 180ø
4) base plate
5) ?

[voodoochild]

Originally Posted by Guitarist

I have a set of newer cream coloured BL pickups but I'm starting to realize they sound rather bright and mid-enemic. This is great for the bridge but the middle single coil and the neck are making me considering a swap out.
Neck is 6K, Bridge is 9K
Compared to my other excellent sound electric this thing is so hi-fi its almost, almost anti-tone. 'had them for about 5 years in a Godin Australian lacewood.

But, perhaps there is something one can do..?

1) 220pf to ground.
2) lower volume pot value
3) rotate neck pup 180ø
4) base plate
5) ?

If you are using 500k pots then try 250k. If you already have 250k pots try using a 10k resistor between the pickup and ground.

[Guitarist]

Thanks for the info. I have a push-pull switch in there, dang, so can I run a 250K resistor to ground off the hot? I had thought about adding that resistor too, somehow, what would that do?

[voodoochild]

Originally Posted by Guitarist

Thanks for the info. I have a push-pull switch in there, dang, so can I run a 250K resistor to ground off the hot? I had thought about adding that resistor too, somehow, what would that do?

No don't do that. That won't work. Like I said try 250k potentiometers instead of 500k if thats what you have in there. Or if you already have 250k pots, then try the 10k resistor between the pickup ground wire and the back of the pot. Basically load the pickup to ground with a 10k resistor.

[David Schwab]

Originally Posted by voodoochild

No don't do that. That won't work.

Sure it will. It's exactly the same thing that the pot is doing. But don't wire it the wiper of the pot, wire it to the outside lug opposite the one that goes to ground.

He already has 500K to ground, so he will be putting the 250K in parallel with the 500K. So that would be like having a 166.67K pot.

To simulate a 250K pot he needs to use a 500K resistor.

But the correct value is the one that gets the tone that he wants.

[voodoochild]

Originally Posted by David Schwab

Sure it will. It's exactly the same thing that the pot is doing. But don't wire it the wiper of the pot, wire it to the outside lug opposite the one that goes to ground.

He already has 500K to ground, so he will be putting the 250K in parallel with the 500K. So that would be like having a 166.67K pot.

To simulate a 250K pot he needs to use a 500K resistor.

But the correct value is the one that gets the tone that he wants.

I've tried forcing the pot to be a different value with a resistor (it sorta worked) but in exchange I always ended up with a less than manageable taper. So then I found loading the pickup itself worked better IMO. 10K is just right to simulate a 250k load on the pickup. This is also a great trick when using humbuckers and single coils together with 500k pots. I found that using 250k pots with the single coils sounds perfect, but it makes the humbuckers sound bad with lots of low mids IMO. Then I find using 500k pots with single coils to be harsh and with humbuckers they sound great. Using the 10k resistor to ground on the single coils makes them sound much better with 500k pots and the humbucker gets to sound like it should with 500k pots.

[Guitarist]

I understand what you're both saying. It's a HSH configuration to makes matters even crazier. I'll add the 10K under the middle pickup.
But I have the P/P pot that makes the humbucker go single coil—this is when it sounds thin. I might add that resistor to the humbucker too but on the right coil
I find that low K neck pickups sounds much better.

thanks, G

[David Schwab]

OK, he said:

so can I run a 250K resistor to ground off the hot?

You said:

No don't do that. That won't work.

And now you are telling him to do the same thing!

then I found loading the pickup itself worked better IMO.

Granted my suggestion might alter the taper, but wiring it from the hot to the ground is the same as wiring it from the pickup to ground.

My suggestion was so that the effect was more constant when you turn down the volume, but it's probably better to do it where the pickup enters the pot.

I would think 10K would cause too drastic an effect, since it's much smaller than the load a 250K pot cause (or with two pots, 125K, or with four pots, 62.5K), but that could be the effect you need.

I often use 100K resistors on 250K blend pots to even out the taper (from hot to wiper).

What ever gets the sound you want it valid.

[Mike Sulzer]

Originally Posted by David Schwab

OK, he said:

I would think 10K would cause too drastic an effect, since it's much smaller than the load a 250K pot....

I think the 10K resistor goes in series with the pickup; so it is like increasing the resistance of the pickup. This lowers the Q in a similar way to a much larger parallel resistor.

[David Schwab]

Originally Posted by Mike Sulzer

I think the 10K resistor goes in series with the pickup; so it is like increasing the resistance of the pickup. This lowers the Q in a similar way to a much larger parallel resistor.

Well he said:

Using the 10k resistor to ground on the single coils makes them sound much better with 500k pots

You would call that parallel, right?

But yeah, you can put it in series with the pickup. That would also attenuate the output somewhat, but of course parallel resistance does also.

[Guitarist]

Thanks again for the info. There is only one volume pot and also just one tone pot. I'll try and find a 250 K push/pull pot for the coil tap. (The pot is dying anyways and cutting out- even with DeOxit spray).

I'd sooner have mellowed humbuckers than vicious highs. Even the keyboardist complained of things being too bright. Maybe the Q —or a freq hump—is way elevated with the 500K.

I'm committed to the PP pot due to a superswitch config that took me a LONG time to wire in.

[Mike Sulzer]

Originally Posted by David Schwab

You would call that parallel, right?

But yeah, you can put it in series with the pickup. That would also attenuate the output somewhat, but of course parallel resistance does also.

I interpreted what he wrote to mean "lift the ground lead of the pickup off ground and put the 10 K resistor in series." That would damp the resonance a bit. Loading it with 10K in parallel would damp it out completely.

[voodoochild]

Originally Posted by Mike Sulzer

I interpreted what he wrote to mean "lift the ground lead of the pickup off ground and put the 10 K resistor in series." That would damp the resonance a bit. Loading it with 10K in parallel would damp it out completely.

That's exactly what I meant. And this won't screw up the taper on your pot at all.

[Mike Sulzer]

Originally Posted by voodoochild

.... And this won't screw up the taper on your pot at all.

That's right. But putting the resistor in parallel with he pickup coil won't screw up the taper much either.

[David Schwab]

Originally Posted by voodoochild

That's exactly what I meant. And this won't screw up the taper on your pot at all.

OK I see what you were saying. Putting a resistor between hot and ground will also warm up the tone, and that's the effect a smaller value pot has. Putting it on the hot side won't effect the taper either.

[Guitarist]

I just swapped in that 250K PP pot AND added a 6.8K resistor (just under the middle pickup). I have a Superswitch and thus 10 sounds, more of them with single coils in the mix.

It is much better and less harsh/annoying. Yes, the HB'ers are smoothed down but on the leads they have mucho tone. I'd post sound samples if I knew how.

Why Bill Lawrence makes pickups so hi-fi, brilliant and eye-wateringly bright is beyond me. The HB'ers flippin' WAIL for metal though!!

[David Schwab]

Originally Posted by Guitarist

Why Bill Lawrence makes pickups so hi-fi, brilliant and eye-wateringly bright is beyond me.

He's a jazz player and he likes that tone. You can also use his Q-Filter to mellow things out.

[Guitarist]

Yes, it may be like Les Paul playing with Chet. One is way brighter than the other (Chet I think) who's tone is rather normal.

I bought the Q-Filter when I got the pickups. It does little to the highs but thins out the mids a bit, making them 'cleaner" or acoustic like. I don't use it very much. But glad it's there-otherwise I'd wish I bought it, right?

[Sweetfinger]

Those pickups KILL in a Lap Steel - especially the discontinued mini-hum versions.