Sadly, my wife and I have fallen on hard financial times, and it means cutting lose one of my all-time favorite basses, both for its sound, its playability, and the story behind it (more on that in a minute). Anyway, it's in great shape, the sound is incredible, and as we all know, a 34" scale Lakland 5-string is about as rare a bass as there is... even the color is a unique design!
So last year, for some stupid reason, I decided to email Dan Lakin and ask him why he wouldn't build a 34" scale 5'er (this is before he sold the company). Everyone knew he wouldn't do it; I guess I just wanted to hear it for myself. I was surprised when he came back and, rather than giving me a flat 'No', he suggested I contact Carl Pedigo, former master luthier at Lakland who started doing his own custom builds. When I contacted Carl, he told me that he was authorized by Lakland to build custom Laklands under the full factory warranty... basically, he was (and as far as I know, still is) a functional Lakland custom shop! Anyway, he was psyched to build a 34" 55-94, which is technically called a 54-94 due to the adjusted scale length. We used Lakland LH-3 pickups and passive electronics, and Carl even talked me into doing a three-volume approach: one for the neck pickup, one for the forward (neck) coil on the MM pickup, and one for the rear (bridge) coil on the MM pickup (and also a passive tone control). The result is the most tonally flexible passive Lakland ever! It's amazing to hear the variety of tones you can get by tweaking the exact ratios of each coil. The finish was an idea I had that came out perfectly; it's a deep blue that transitions into a vibrant amber, and the transition leaves a gorgeous teal ring between the two.
The specs:
ash body, maple neck, quilted maple top
light birdseye maple fingerboard
three-tone "Jamaica Burst" (Carl's term) finish
34" scale, 19mm string spacing
stock Lakland LH-3 pickups
passive vol-vol-vol-passive tone electronics
string-thru bridge or body
extremely light, between 8-8.5lbs
Dunlop Dual-Design Straplocks
The bass is in great shape; I can't find any dings or flaws anywhere. If not for my dire financial straits, this bass would be a lifelong keeper. I'm looking for
$2400 shipped CONUS. I can't take any trades, so please don't ask. The bass will ship in a very nice Lakland gig bag. I will ship internationally, but only via Fedex or UPS, and the buyer will pay the resultant exorbitant shipping fees.
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