"Official" Lakland Owners Club (part 8)

[Essential]

Originally Posted by E-Mac

nevermind. Silly me, I didn't realize that XS means extended scale. It's a 35" scale 4 string (from the looks of it). I wonder how it sounds.

Originally Posted by Essential

And tuned B-E-A-D I think.

Originally Posted by JAUQO III-X

You are correct.

Hey Jauqo, were many of these produced or was it prototype only? Do you know?

I could be very tempted by one if they were available.

[Eilif]

This is an interesting trio of developments. Jaquo has informed us that the new round of Skylines is going to be better than ever. But with a change of origin and a price raise, there seems to be quite a hurdle coming up.

Indonesia as a manufacturing location is looked on somewhat more favorably as a result of the new round of squires, but I think that in the minds of buyers, there's a big difference beteween purchasing a 300 dollar Indo (INDI, MII, CII ??) bass and a 1000-1500 bass.

I love my 55-01, and I hope that Lakland comes out ahead, but I worry that Indonesian origin may negatively affect the buyers perception of the next round of Skylines.

What got me thinking about this was hearing (and noticing in stores) that Fender is working to improve their quality with the new "American Standard" basses. If the Skyline price change and location change happens, Lakland will be selling a Made in Indonesia p-bass for the same price as a MIA Fender. Even with the absolutely superb Skyline quality, that might prove to be a pretty hard sell.

What do you all think the average buyer will think about these developments? Will they fail to notice the changes in quality, price and origin, or will those factors dramatically affect their buying decision?

[E-Mac]

I guess it depends on the reaction after playing the new basses. I'm confident in the quality that will come from them. My understanding is that Lakland selects the wood that is used for the skylines and does the set-up/finetuning in their shop. As long as this stays constant, I don't think there will be a drop in quality. With the Pleking and Lakland's quality Customer Service, I think they'll continue with their increasing sales. That's just me though.

[JAUQO III-X]

Originally Posted by Essential

Hey Jauqo, were many of these produced or was it prototype only? Do you know?

I could be very tempted by one if they were available.

Les than a hand full were made.

And Eilif, regarding the Lakland made in Indonesia.

I don't think Lakland will have any problems with sells once the word get out about the overall quality of the new Indonesia made Skylines. The quality is closer to that of the Japan made Shoreline series than the Korean made series were.

[MarkusBass]

[grayta]

I wonder if the move will bump up the resale value of used Korean Skylines?

Increased prices and move to a cheaper factory... definitely makes a used US Lakland more attractive. I'm sure that the new 'Lines will be a fine product, but I chafed a little bit paying near 1K for used Korean stuff. 1K for used Indo gear? Not happening. That may be a bit xenophobic but at that point I'll make the jump to Lakland US gear.

[GregC]

Originally Posted by grayta

I wonder if the move will bump up the resale value of used Korean Skylines?

Increased prices and move to a cheaper factory... definitely makes a used US Lakland more attractive. I'm sure that the new 'Lines will be a fine product, but I chafed a little bit paying near 1K for used Korean stuff. 1K for used Indo gear? Not happening. That may be a bit xenophobic but at that point I'll make the jump to Lakland US gear.

I don't know that anything is necessarily going to be cheaper, though. A lot of things are staying the same--parts, tooling, the company running the factory, the quality checks in Chicago. And the costs of raw materials are rising across the globe, so moving from one country to a nearby one shouldn't amount to much of a cost difference, if any. Plus, they're all going to be PLEK'd now, which is an additional expense (a lot of shops charge $150+ for that).

I do think the current weakness in the economy favors buyers in the used market, though.

[Eilif]

Originally Posted by E-Mac

I guess it depends on the reaction after playing the new basses. I'm confident in the quality that will come from them. ....I think they'll continue with their increasing sales.

Originally Posted by JAUQO III-X

I don't think Lakland will have any problems with sells once the word get out about the overall quality of the new Indonesia made Skylines. The quality is closer to that of the Japan made Shoreline series than the Korean made series were.

That's what I'm expecting. I think Lakland is taking a risk here, let's hope it pays off.

Anyone have any real details of the factory they will be using? Are they setting up their own facility or are they ( as has been suggested) using the Squire VM series facililty or some other arrangement?

[ghoulbug]

I think I'm finally ready to purchase a Skyline!

Would it be stupid to not wait for the new Indonesian batch, though? The general consensus here seems to be that the Indonesian will beat the Korean versions in quality....

[E-Mac]

i think that there will be an increase in quality. Buying new is good right now because your instrument will be Plek'ed. Make sure you check with the dealer before you buy to make sure it is a plekked bass.

[JAUQO III-X]

Originally Posted by E-Mac

i think that there will be an increase in quality. Buying new is good right now because your instrument will be Plek'ed. Make sure you check with the dealer before you buy to make sure it is a plekked bass.

All Skylines will be Pleked for sure and a card stipulating that it has been Pleked will go on each bass.

[Marcus]

I was unaware of the change in production location for the Skylines. I am really disappointed to hear about that along with a price increase. Even though Lakland basses will now be PLEK'd, it is still disheartening. Granted, I have played Indonesian-made instruments, but none were over $300.00. For $300.00 they were good for the money, but ...

I am a big fan of Lakland basses, too, having owned a Skyline 55-02 and DJ at one point.

Hum..

[fergbassplayer]

Yay!

Originally Posted by MarkusBass

[MarkusBass]

amp is warming up! He he he...Just kidding.

[JAUQO III-X]

Originally Posted by Marcus

I was unaware of the change in production location for the Skylines. I am really disappointed to hear about that along with a price increase. Even though Lakland basses will now be PLEK'd, it is still disheartening. Granted, I have played Indonesian-made instruments, but none were over $300.00. For $300.00 they were good for the money, but ...

Don't be dissaponited. Just play one when you get a chance and see how you feel from there.

[Marcus]

Originally Posted by JAUQO III-X

Don't be dissaponited. Just play one when you get a chance and see how you feel from there.

Most definitely. I am looking forward to trying a Skyline Decade as soon as I know where they are available in NY.

[johnatlakland]

Hello All,

Just thought I'd let you all know what's going on with regards to Indonesia. This all happened very suddenly. Cortek has 3 facilities, Korea, Indonesia, and China. They are all virtually identical factories, same machines, same programming, same processes.

About 3 months ago, we were informed that the Korean factory is closing, and that all electric guitars will now be made in the Indonesian plant. We could either go with the port, or find a new Korean manufacturing plant to make our Skylines, meaning time, expense, problems to work out, yikes! Problem is, there are no more Korean plants! Almost all have closed. We were naturally concerned about this for all the same reasons stated here, so we requested samples from Cort to see what we were dealing with. Within 2 weeks, we received sample instruments and Skyline Necks. Wow! They were really great! Virtually indistinguishable from the Korean factory, and in some ways nicer (better fret jobs, lighter weight, better wood splices). We wholeheartedly pulled the trigger on moving to the Indonesian plant.

The first batch has now arrived, no surprises. Tolerances are exactly on spec with the old, wood looks great (nice tight neck wood grain, good splices) Light weight instruments. And now we are Pleking each one and they are the nicest Skylines we have produced to date.

Lastly: Prices are NOT increasing on Skylines! The change helped to keep our costs on these FLAT, so really nothing has changed other than a decal.

I hope this clears up any misconceptions, but the best way to judge is to play one, The new ones will have "Plek'd in Chicago" hang tags. I think you'll agree that they are still great.

John Pirruccello
Lakland Musical Instruments
jp@lakincorp.com

[E-Mac]

most definitely.

[GregC]

Great post, John, thank you! I appreciate you going into detail on this.

[MarkusBass]

Originally Posted by GregC

Great post, John, thank you! I appreciate you going into detail on this.

+1! Thanks John!