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Post new topic Fessy 3+5 Bill Lawrence Pup Buzzzzzzzzzz! Help!!!!!!
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Author Topic:  Fessy 3+5 Bill Lawrence Pup Buzzzzzzzzzz! Help!!!!!!
Eric Haugen

 

From:
North Carolina, USA
Post  Posted 5 Dec 2013 8:43 am    
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Hi ya'll I recently picked up this gorgeous 2012 Fessy from Craigslist. I wasn't able to plug it in when I tried it out. When I took it home, I noticed it's got more buzz than my '66 Fender Mustang. I though,"that's weird, lemme take a look at what's going on underneath."
As you can see, the red and black wires are connected, but the others arent'. And, they're some frayed wiring around the big red wire that contains them all. Clearly, something isn't right. Any ideas how to fix this?
THANKS![/img]
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Raymond White

 

From:
Georgia, USA
Post  Posted 5 Dec 2013 9:51 am     wiring p/u
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that looks like a b l 705 to me.in all you actually have 5 wires ,the red wire goes to hot on the positive lug the black wire and the frayed wire tied together goes on the ground,the green and white are taped together,yhey actually don't.do any thing with this hook up,the are used for coil splits/coil taps.try this ,it should stop the noise,thanks,Ray White.....
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Lane Gray


From:
Topeka, KS
Post  Posted 5 Dec 2013 10:19 am    
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Raymond speaks the truth, but I prefer letting a switch tie the two together. Bill gives you all those wires so you can have a (pretty good, actually) single coil pickup when you prefer it and don't have hummy electricity, and a humbucker when you either have hum to buck or you prefer the 'bucker sound.
To tie 'em together is to take a convertible and either weld the roof latches shut or take the roof off.
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Eric Haugen

 

From:
North Carolina, USA
Post  Posted 5 Dec 2013 10:28 am     Re: wiring p/u
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Raymond White wrote:
that looks like a b l 705 to me.in all you actually have 5 wires ,the red wire goes to hot on the positive lug the black wire and the frayed wire tied together goes on the ground,the green and white are taped together,yhey actually don't.do any thing with this hook up,the are used for coil splits/coil taps.try this ,it should stop the noise,thanks,Ray White.....

AH HA! So all I have to do is connect the frayed wire to the ground lug?
Thanks for your help I'll let ya know how it turns out!
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Eric Haugen

 

From:
North Carolina, USA
Post  Posted 5 Dec 2013 10:33 am    
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Ok, how do I get the blue wire free?

Also, on Bill's website, it says to wire this way:
"All Pickups with White/Black/Red/Green/Blue Wires

White Wire -- Hot

Black/Blue Wires -- Ground

Red/Green Wires -- Twist together, insulate with shrink wrap or electrical tape for humbucking OR solder to either a push/pull or on/off switch for split coil."

According to this, my white and green are tied together. The red and black are attached, and the blue is frayed and disconnected.

Is this for a different pickup? Maybe the new models have different color coding.
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Lane Gray


From:
Topeka, KS
Post  Posted 5 Dec 2013 10:44 am    
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That's why it's buzzing. Someone made an unwise pairing and left the good ones to fend for themselves.
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Eric Haugen

 

From:
North Carolina, USA
Post  Posted 5 Dec 2013 10:55 am    
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Indeed.

Any advice on how to get the blue wire out? Seems like they cut it real close. I'm trying with my snippers to cut some of the main artery away, but to no avail.
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Eric Haugen

 

From:
North Carolina, USA
Post  Posted 5 Dec 2013 11:21 am    
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Ok, there is NO blue wire.

I removed some of the rubber insulation only to find more bare wire. I'm assuming this is some sort of shielding.

So now we have a four wire pickup?
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Eric Haugen

 

From:
North Carolina, USA
Post  Posted 5 Dec 2013 11:31 am    
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Just got off the phone with Jerry - nice guy BTW.

He says it is indeed an L 705 and it is hooked up correctly. Then we both scratched our heads for a while.
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Storm Rosson

 

From:
Silver City, NM. USA
Post  Posted 5 Dec 2013 1:17 pm    
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Smile In any case the pic u show has shielding around all the conductors so u must ground the bare shielding.The other wires can be discreet. The grn and white are wiring the 2 coils together in series so all u need to do IMO is solder the grnd braid to the back of the pot, if it still hums then also short the black wire terminal to the pot with the shield wire.Generally u want all the metal on the guitar to be common grounded also (on 6 strings u always find a ground wire from the common ground in the wiring to the bridge so when u touch it u r grounded. (I'm pretty sure) Winking
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Kurt Kowalski

 

From:
Kendall, NY USA
Post  Posted 5 Dec 2013 3:10 pm    
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I hate to be the bearer of this news, but....
It appears go me that the pick up in question has a black casing around it.
If that is the case, then this is not the "real" Bill Lawrence l-705 pickup,

It is a knockoff made by a man Izchak Wagcman an imposter

http://www.billlawrence.com/Pages/Izchak_Toshio.htm

If it has a chromed cover surrounding it, then it is not a counterfit.

I fear that this one is.

This one is real deal and is legit (the chrome one)




This one is an imposter




You can believe this or not, but this is the truth

Also take it from someone that knows this for fact... I worked with Bill.

It does not surprise me that the imposter does not sound good.

Have a great day
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Eric Haugen

 

From:
North Carolina, USA
Post  Posted 6 Dec 2013 5:44 am    
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Ooooh the plot thickens!

I suppose I'll just deal with the noise on this knockoff until I get something else.
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Storm Rosson

 

From:
Silver City, NM. USA
Post  Posted 6 Dec 2013 6:13 am    
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Smile Dude just ground the shielding to the pot case like I outlined and you'll prolly have it fixed, whether it's a knockoff or not...Stormy Winking
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Eric Haugen

 

From:
North Carolina, USA
Post  Posted 6 Dec 2013 6:35 am    
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Where is the pot case?
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Mike Wheeler


From:
Delaware, Ohio, USA
Post  Posted 6 Dec 2013 10:08 am    
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Just connect the shield to the same lug that your black wire is connected to....that's the ground point.
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Storm Rosson

 

From:
Silver City, NM. USA
Post  Posted 6 Dec 2013 5:58 pm    
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The pot case is the sheet metal housing that encloses the resistor element and wiper.Sometimes u have to combine the black wire terminal with a bridge to the pot housing so u have a continuous grnd circuit thru the end plates/ bridge/strings etc. Smile
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Danny Sneed

 

From:
Morristown,Az.U.S.A.
Post  Posted 10 Dec 2013 7:51 pm    
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Hello Eric,
Sorry you're having trouble. Wish you were closer; I'd try to help you. I have 2 Fessies, one is about 4 years old and a new one. I have no problem of any kind and the tone is wonderful. I have 705 PUs. It sounds like the guys on the Forum are trying to help you. I hope everything works out.
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Jason Lynch


From:
Essex, United Kingdom
Post  Posted 11 Dec 2013 7:14 am    
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Hi
I have the same pickup as you, and it's wired the same as well!
As stated, the frayed silver earth wire needs to be tied to the black one to stop noise. If you're not sure, get a short length of wire and carefully touch it between the black wire conection and the frayed wire. Noise should lessen, or stop.
You may need to use that wire to lengthen the frayed earth wire as its too short to reach the black wire's lug on the jack.
Hope you sort it out.
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b0b


From:
Cloverdale, CA, USA
Post  Posted 12 Dec 2013 6:45 pm    
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I agree with Jason. If you connect the shield to the black wire's lug on the jack, it should reduce or eliminate the hum.

Connecting the green and white wires together is correct for the humbucking configuration. I'd wrap some electrical tape around that connection so that it doesn't accidentally touch metal under the guitar.
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