I currently own 2 Fender Roscoe Beck 5's and I really love these basses, but I'm thinking about selling one of them. I am interested in the Mike Lull Basses. How do they sound and how's the quaility of the Lull's. I'm a fingerstyle player and I play thru an Aguilar db 359 with 2 112 Aguilar cabs. Thanks for the response.
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Mike Lull MV5
- Thread starter Jeff Haley
- Start date
I currently own a Mike Lull MV5 (natural ash/maple board). It has the Seymour Duncan pickups, and the Bart preamp.
To me, it sounds like a bigger, badder 70's Jazz bass. Can go form subdued to very bright, depending on how you EQ the preamp.
The build quality of the Lull's is excellent, on par with Ken Smith (I've has a few of his basses, too!)
I have also owned the RBV, which IMO, I did not care for. YMMV.
Btw, I'm selling my Lull MV5, so if you're interested, please send me an email. Thanks!
To me, it sounds like a bigger, badder 70's Jazz bass. Can go form subdued to very bright, depending on how you EQ the preamp.
The build quality of the Lull's is excellent, on par with Ken Smith (I've has a few of his basses, too!)
I have also owned the RBV, which IMO, I did not care for. YMMV.
Btw, I'm selling my Lull MV5, so if you're interested, please send me an email. Thanks!
i own a Lull MV5 as well, with the Seymour Duncan single coils and a Bartolini preamp. the body is alder and the fingerboard is rosewood. all i can say is that its a truly awesome bass, with a really useable old school fingerstyle tone, in passive that is. with the preamp kicked in you can get a variety of good tones. i will also say that the lull's construction is top notch. the neck joint on my bass is the tightest on any bass i've ever seen - i mean any type of gap is virtually nonexistent. i own a nice smith as well as the above poster compared his lull to, but they are too different animals IMO. the smith's construction is flawless as well, but it doesn't have that vintage vibe thing going on like the lull.
Mike Lull + DB359 + two 1x12's = 
all kidding aside, a Lull is a great step up from a factory Fender Roscoe and you couldnt be happier. its also like steven said, a great value.
all kidding aside, a Lull is a great step up from a factory Fender Roscoe and you couldnt be happier. its also like steven said, a great value.
My MV5 has an alder body, maple neck and fretboard, shoreline gold finish with vintage green guard, Seymour Duncan pick-ups and Bartolini electronics and of course, an aluminium Hipshot bridge. The construction is excellent, it's also very playable and lightweight. I think the electronics SUCK! I like the Sadowsky kind of lows; the Bartolini lows are way toooo low. The mid pot is very usefull. The highs sound "active". The SD pick-ups are quite hot. They are voiced a bit too bright (together with the maple board) to my taste and lack some low freq (bridge pup).
What do you all think of the alu bridge? I am not sure but I think the lightweight bridge has certainly something to do with the overall sound. It produces a strange kind of buzz, especially when you dig in. I like the fact that you can pull the front pot to go passive. Too bad there ain't no passive tone control. That's why I am planning on having a Sadowsky preamp installed with passive tone control. This way it will be totally KILLER! I also like to install a vintage style bridge, a Badass 5 or whatever bridge it might be, as long as it ain't aluminium! It would be a total bummer if, after installing the bridge, that "buzzy" sound won't be gone!!
On the other hand, I am also seriously gassing for a Fender Roscoe Beck in CAR, so if I can work something out with a friend of mine ( he's interested in the Lull), I might go for the RB5. I like that vintage feel and sound.
Please give me your comments!
Best regards, Werner, Netherlands.
What do you all think of the alu bridge? I am not sure but I think the lightweight bridge has certainly something to do with the overall sound. It produces a strange kind of buzz, especially when you dig in. I like the fact that you can pull the front pot to go passive. Too bad there ain't no passive tone control. That's why I am planning on having a Sadowsky preamp installed with passive tone control. This way it will be totally KILLER! I also like to install a vintage style bridge, a Badass 5 or whatever bridge it might be, as long as it ain't aluminium! It would be a total bummer if, after installing the bridge, that "buzzy" sound won't be gone!!
On the other hand, I am also seriously gassing for a Fender Roscoe Beck in CAR, so if I can work something out with a friend of mine ( he's interested in the Lull), I might go for the RB5. I like that vintage feel and sound.
Please give me your comments!
Best regards, Werner, Netherlands.
i owned a modern 5 (swamp ash+maple)with the same electronics and thought the tone was aweful. ive owned some great jazzes(62,66,78,sadowsky standard,mid 80's koa shecter) and the lull sound just didnt rank. it had this nasally midrange thing going and didnt have the snap on the high end that the 78 and the sad had or the bottom of any of the jazzes ive owned had. needless to say i sold it.
Why?
I haven't found anything on my RB5 even remotely disappointing other than low output. The neck is superb, so are the tuners and bridge. The pickups are Bill Lawrence passive types with superior engineering and switching, and they the vintage J tone.
Here you go! I just played some notes and let my dad listen (he knows NOTHING about basses). He also said the tone was suffering from the alu bridge. It colors the sound in a bad way. My dad put his hand on the bridge and ........TATATATA that annoying "ring" disappeared a bit. I guess installing a brass bridge will improve my tone........... but I also want a RB5 AAAAAAAGGGH.
So if you're interested let me know.
So if you're interested let me know.
hmm. i have the alluminum bridge also i don't experience what you do with the ring. you must dig in with some serious gusto! 
woah!
sweet looking bass. too bad you're trying to let it go. maybe you should just swap out the bridge for a brass bridge for more stability.
sweet looking bass. too bad you're trying to let it go. maybe you should just swap out the bridge for a brass bridge for more stability.
Today I ordered a ready-to-install onboard Sadowsky preamp (with passive tone control option) AND a brass version of the Hipshot "A" style bridge. Those Hipshot bridges are pretty EXPENsive I must say. On the other hand, my brothers, my Lull wil surely KILL when it's done! I'll keep you posted.
why not order a set of sadowsky pickups while your at it. lull has duncan wind those things so that sound kind of odd to me.
I have a Modern 5 with the same electronics as your MV5. My bass also has the aluminum bridge. I love the tone of my Modern 5 but do have the treble control set at minimum or close to minimum most of the time because the bass is so bright. Mine has an ash body and a pau ferro fingerboard. It is a killer bass. Sounds like a 5 string 1970's jazz to me.
Chuck
Chuck
I could also order a pair of Sadowsky pups but I don't know if they will fit. As far as I can tell both the neck and the bridge pup have the same measures, don't know about the Sadowsky ones. Chuck, believe me, the alu bridge has something to do with the bight sound, check out the FAQ section at www.hipshotproducts.com.
Werner.
Werner.
Just looked at some 5 string Sadowksy pics. Judging from the pics it looks like both neck and bridge pups have equal measures. Maybe Nino Brown can give me the exact measures so I can order the Sadowsky pups. Nino?
