| I've only played 2 Laklands. One was a 2 pickup bass that sounded fairly good, had a nice playing neck and was way too heavy for me to play all night. But for guys who like that sound and don't mind the weight, it is a nice bass.
The other a Skyline Bob Glaub. This sounded close to a good P sound of course. I liked it but it also was a bit heavy for me.
I can't remember if either bass was strung through the body or top load.
I have a couple basses strung through the body and others top load. Through the body doesn't make all that much of a difference, unless, when strung top load, there is too little downward angle at the bridge. A sharper downward angle seems to make the bass a bit more solid sounding. On most top load basses you can play with the setup enough to get this effect without stringing through the body. You can try it both ways when you get the Lakland. I modified a top load Ernie Ball Stingray from 1990 to a string through by drilling through the bridge plate and the body. Using the same strings and setup it didn't make a bit of difference in sound to me. I changed the neck out to a Moses graphite. That did make a difference in sound that was noticeable. A bit more even in tone with a bit more top end bite. In a playing situation with a band, recorded or live, it wasn't enough to pay the extra money for. It did stay in tune and needed no seasonal truss rod adjustments though.
The Lakland is a well made bass and if you like them and are willing to pay the price you'll be happy.
I can't tell you about the best strings to use for a Lakland. All I use these days are Thomastic JF344s and for me, after over 40 years of playing, on just about every string available, they are the best. You'll have to make the choice for yourself. If I had to go back to roundwounds, I'd get the Thomastic rounds. The ones I've heard and played on were great and noticeably better than other brands. They're discussed at great length on the strings forum. You may find an opinion there that agrees with you. | 
