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Fender or lakland?

R

Reinholds

Jun 26, 2006
175
0
#1
Hello!
I'm now buying 5-string bass And I don't know what to chouse:
Fender american deluxe jazz bass V
Lakland 55-02 deluxe
Or some onather 35'' scaled bass...
What do you think what will be better?
Thx
 
#7
Seems like you're comparing apples and oranges. The Fender is a traditional passive Jazz bass, while the 55-02 is a more modern active bass with the SC/MM pickup config. Do you want an active bass or a passive jazz-style instrument? That is the first question you must answer.

If you want a jazz, you should be comparing the Fender against the Lakland Joe Osborn and Darryl Jones basses. In my opinion, the Lakand Skyline version of these basses is a far nicer bass than the Fender.
 
#8
guy and I shall never agree on anything. i think i've started looking forward to this kind of stuff. :)

do I have to go into my rant on the piece of crap p-bass deluxe i got screwed with and couldn't even sell for $500, when I paid over 1000? do I have to start a whole thing again about how fender really doesn't care much about anything other than selling as many freaking guitars and basses as they possibly can? do i have to start telling about the misleading garbage their own tech department told me, about their own bass. ok, i'll tell that one: fender tech guy: "The p-bass deluxes are built like the old fenders. You have to take the neck off if you want to adjust the truss rod." WRONG!!!!! you need a t-handled wrench. no neck removal. sorry, but that's unforgivable from a company's tech support.

there is not a chance in heaven or hell that I'd get a fender over a lakland.
 
#11
sb69coupe said:
Seems like you're comparing apples and oranges. The Fender is a traditional passive Jazz bass, while the 55-02 is a more modern active bass with the SC/MM pickup config. Do you want an active bass or a passive jazz-style instrument? That is the first question you must answer.

If you want a jazz, you should be comparing the Fender against the Lakland Joe Osborn and Darryl Jones basses. In my opinion, the Lakand Skyline version of these basses is a far nicer bass than the Fender.
Click to expand...

+1 to all of this. A better comparison would be the Lakland Skyline JO and the Fender. The 55-02 is a great bass, but with a very different tone profile than a Jazz bass. The Fender is active, while the JO can be ordered with an optional preamp (the J-retro) or you can put one in yourself (Audere) or get an outboard preamp like the Sadowsky, Sansamp, Aguilar, or Fodera.

Personally, I'm a huge fan of Laklands, and while I will soon be forced to sell my DJ5 to pay off the Sadowsky Jazz bass I just bought, I will probably own one again, most likely a Bob Glaub (the P-bass model) or possibly a 55-02.

The B string on the Lakland is fabulous. One of the best I've heard/played on a Jazz bass.
 
#12
Ahh... I went through the same thing, I wanted to get an Am Jazz Deluxe V, until I read about Lkaland, it just sotle my heart...

sb69coupe the fender is active...

You can get a lot more tones with the Laky... Its been called the "swiss knife" of basses...

Barts,35", 3 band eq, Coil swithing... You can get a p tone,mm,jazz, and everything in between...

I'm getting one soon... You can check out my topic of the same quesiton hehe...


btw, the B of the Laky veery clear, "paino like clarity" as some ppl call it. But how good the Fenders B is depends on luck, some are good, some are not...
 
#14
Joe Nerve said:
guy and I shall never agree on anything. i think i've started looking forward to this kind of stuff. :)

do I have to go into my rant on the piece of crap p-bass deluxe i got screwed with and couldn't even sell for $500, when I paid over 1000? do I have to start a whole thing again about how fender really doesn't care much about anything other than selling as many freaking guitars and basses as they possibly can? do i have to start telling about the misleading garbage their own tech department told me, about their own bass. ok, i'll tell that one: fender tech guy: "The p-bass deluxes are built like the old fenders. yo have to take the neck off if you want to adjust the truss rod." WRONG!!!!! you need a t-handled wrench. no neck removal. sorry, but that's unforgivable from a company's tech support.

there is not a chance in heaven or hell that I'd get a fender over a lakland.
Click to expand...


Sounded like a rant to me, Joe. I was, however, shocked to learn that Fender's corporate goal is to sell alot of guitars and basses. Shocked. This is quite rare in the world of instrument manufacturers, right? ;)

For every Fender-hater, there are ten more who love them. I am currently on my third American Fender and none have been anything other than high-quality. When I lost a set screw on one of my control knobs, Fender sent me a replacement KNOB (not just the screw) free of charge via Fed Ex. In 3 days. That's pretty good customer service for something that was, in no way, covered under warranty.

I have also owned a Lakland and have alot of respect for those products as well. I'd still have it if I hadn't switched to 5-string. I have, however, read a few horrible reviews of Lakland's QC and poor customer service, and I have seen more than one Skyline that had poor attention to detail (inlcuding misaglined fret markers.) I also had three seperate e-mails to Lakland go unanswered. Do I have to go into my rant, Joe? ;)

Point is, both of these manufacturers make fine instruments and the only way to pick between them is to play them for yourself and determine which one works best for you.
 
#15
Reinholds said:
Hello!
I'm now buying 5-string bass And I don't know what to chouse:
Fender american deluxe jazz bass V
Lakland 55-02 deluxe
Or some onather 35'' scaled bass...
What do you think what will be better?
Thx
Click to expand...

I recommend both. I have the 4-string USA JO from Lakland and I just ordered today, Fender Custom Classic Jazz V...over the American Deluxe V. I have read so many great things about the CC5 and not so great things about the Am Dlx. Keep reading.....
 
#16
guy n. cognito said:
Sounded like a rant to me, Joe. I was, however, shocked to learn that Fender's corporate goal is to sell alot of guitars and basses. Shocked. This is quite rare in the world of instrument manufacturers, right? ;)
Click to expand...

Hey, ya know, now that you mention that - I gotta put it out there for the people at Ernie Ball/Musicman. I honestly don't believe that that's their #1 priority. I've gotten to know the family a bit, and they are a lot more concerned with putting out instruments that completely kick butt and keeping their customers happy, than they are in getting rich. Yes, of course they want to sell basses and guitars, it's a business, but I get a complete sense that they put ethics first. And they take a lot of pride in everything they put out.
 
#17
sb69coupe said:
Seems like you're comparing apples and oranges. The Fender is a traditional passive Jazz bass, while the 55-02 is a more modern active bass with the SC/MM pickup config. Do you want an active bass or a passive jazz-style instrument? That is the first question you must answer.

If you want a jazz, you should be comparing the Fender against the Lakland Joe Osborn and Darryl Jones basses. In my opinion, the Lakand Skyline version of these basses is a far nicer bass than the Fender.
Click to expand...

This is incorrect. The American Fender Jazz Deluxe V is an active bass. 18V preamp with boost/cut for treble, bass and mids.
 

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