Lakland 55-01 Pickup upgrade choices?

**sleevey55** · #1 12-28-2012, 09:50 PM

Hey all, I have a couple 55-01's and I want to know if I am better off changing the pickups OR the preamp? Where do you all think I will notice the most difference.....bang for buck that is? I dont really have the scratch to do both right now....maybe soon. What kinds of pickups are good in these? Your opinions are most appreciated. Thanks and Happy New Year to you all!!!

Bobster · #2 12-28-2012, 10:05 PM

Hi Sleevey,

What is it about the stock system you don't like?

If changing one or the other, I'd go with the preamp. The stock pickups don't sound too bad when bypassing the preamp.

Of course, next question is which preamp??? I put a Bart NTMB 5.2 A/P in mine. It was very nice and I liked the mid-frequency adjustment. But that was several years ago and there are more choices now.

All the best,

Bob

mmbongo · #3 12-28-2012, 10:13 PM

I'll vote for the pickups. I put Nordy Big Splits in mine, then replaced those with Bartolini MK5's. The Nordy's are stellar pickups, like a HUGE Jazz bass, but it was a bit much for me. Plus, the MK5's give me lots of switching options. I normally run them with the inside single coils.

Either one of these will give you much more clarity and punch than the stock pickups (which have nothing in common with real Barts) even with the stock preamp, which you can always just bypass like Bobster said.

You can always do the pickup now, and do the preamp later. EMG makes great preamps that can be had for around $75 if you can't go all out with an Aguilar or Audere preamp.

Gecko 5 · #4 12-28-2012, 11:22 PM

You can get Chisonic Soapbars from Lakland.
Not alot of people know these are available.
They are Laklands Chisonic pickups in a soapbar housing. Made to be a direct replacement for the Bart MK-1's

email bo@hansonpickups.com

**sleevey55** · #5 12-28-2012, 11:28 PM

How do the Chisonics sound compared to the MK5 and Nordys??

1954bassman · #6 12-28-2012, 11:41 PM

I replaced the pickups with DiMarzio Ultra-Jazz and replaced the pre with an Audere. Loved it.

rojo412 · #7 12-29-2012, 12:13 AM

I had a 55-01 and did both... Nordy Big Splits and an Aguilar OBP3. I will say that the pickups sounded phenomenal, even in the bypassed mode.

If I had to make the call, I'd opt for pickups first. MK1s are a bit blah, IMHO. I bet the pre sounded okay, but I didn't give it a chance.
Although, it's also designed poorly. The battery dies, the bass dies, even in passive mode. But hey, if you own an active bass and don't check or carry extra batteries with you... Well, now I'm on a tangent!

Pickups!

audiomitch · #8 12-29-2012, 10:19 AM

I kind of like the stock setup. It's bland enough to be pretty flexible with EQ and effects. But if I had a couple of them like you, I would definitely consider modding one of them.

Here's a recent tune that I'm working on featuring my all stock Lakland 55-01. I thought the tone fitted the piece, the bass is going through the IK Multimedia SVX plugin in Pro Tools. You have to wait for the little player to pop up - Try Again Song

**sleevey55** · #9 12-30-2012, 12:49 PM

That sounds great Mitch!! Great tone..and great bass lines! Im thinking Im gonna go the Nordstrand Big Splits first and see where I end up. Thanks all!!

mikecd1 · #10 01-01-2013, 06:22 PM

Since you said you have multiple 5501's why not get a set of pickups and preamp then you can try different combos? All that said, I replaced the preamp first on my 5501 and liked the sound of the MK1's a lot although I changed them out after a couple of months and think my sound really opened up for me when I got the MK5's. I think I remember seeing one of MMbongo's posts about the switching with the barts. I installed the coil selector switch and love being able to select inner or outer coils on them. Lots of great choices which is one of the great things about the 5501's. Single coils, dual coils, split coils, stacks etc. Let us know what you decide and good luck!