• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Lakland 01 Club Part 2

#601
JazznFunk said:
That's just how the LH-3 is, at least in my experience. The treble control is very subtle compared to other preamps. I actually like it... it seems to demand subtle adjustment for clarity vs. sizzle and clank.
Click to expand...

Interesting. I'm used to the treble control being something that can't be boosted all the way without going into a range of sounds that I would never actually use.

As a matter of fact, the mid control has greater subtlety than others I've experienced. I have it at the default frequency, and that could have something to do with it, but it doesn't seem to really add loudness. I like that too.

I am totally digging my three basses (55-01, 55-02 and Brute); sound, feel, and look. Each one brings a nice switch up. I'm psyched with what I've got.
 
#602
I'm with you there too regarding the mid control. At 600Hz it adds detail without too much overall boost... again, subtlety is the key. I am not one to use my preamp to any extreme on any bass, just a small boost or cut goes a long way for my needs. That approach also works well with the Bartolini MK-1 setups that are stock in the -01 basses. In fact, I usually run them completely flat for the most part.

drpepper said:
Interesting. I'm used to the treble control being something that can't be boosted all the way without going into a range of sounds that I would never actually use.

As a matter of fact, the mid control has greater subtlety than others I've experienced. I have it at the default frequency, and that could have something to do with it, but it doesn't seem to really add loudness. I like that too.

I am totally digging my three basses (55-01, 55-02 and Brute); sound, feel, and look. Each one brings a nice switch up. I'm psyched with what I've got.
Click to expand...
 
#603
I'll post pictures of my bass once I find my camera, but after getting rid of the silver 55-01 with the Fat Stacks and Nordy Pre, I have kicked myself on a regular basis, so I worked a trade for a 55-01 in sunburst/maple and dropped some Dual Coils and an OBP-3 in it and it is SMOKING! I also ordered a B/W/B pickguard from Jeannie's after seeing a few here with the same guard.

Now I just need to order the switches for the pickups for a bit more tonal variety and I'll be a happy camper!
 
#604
JoshB said:
I'll post pictures of my bass once I find my camera, but after getting rid of the silver 55-01 with the Fat Stacks and Nordy Pre, I have kicked myself on a regular basis, so I worked a trade for a 55-01 in sunburst/maple and dropped some Dual Coils and an OBP-3 in it and it is SMOKING! ....
Click to expand...

Regret seems to be a common feeling when selling modded 55-01's. I ended up being fortunate enough to be able to buy back my silver P/J after I stupidly sold it. It went from wearing flats to sporting some Circle K's and it frikkin' kills with those strings and those Nordstrands! It's just one of those basses I'll always have.

Congrats on getting back in!
 
#607
Good evening I'm new owner of a 55-01 and this bass is really excellent in terms of lutherie. I want to change the pickups and switch to passive. My question: In your opinion what is the right choice? The Bartolini mk5 could do the job properly ?

When I read "PBass on steroids", it makes me sweat! I want a big and organic sound and a very serious low B well defined.
 
#609
O'LIVE said:
Good evening I'm new owner of a 55-01 and this bass is really excellent in terms of lutherie. I want to change the pickups and switch to passive. My question: In your opinion what is the right choice? The Bartolini mk5 could do the job properly ?

When I read "PBass on steroids", it makes me sweat! I want a big and organic sound and a very serious low B well defined.
Click to expand...

Congrats on your new 5501!

MK5's are great pickups, but to my ear they don't sound "organic".

They sound very refined and finished. Big lows, smooth mids (not very grindy) and clear glassy highs.

If you're looking for "organic" sounding pickups you might be looking for Nordstrands.
Fat stacks, DC's, Big singles, or Big splits might be more to your liking...
 
#611
Supertanker said:
Congrats on your new 5501!

MK5's are great pickups, but to my ear they don't sound "organic".

They sound very refined and finished. Big lows, smooth mids (not very grindy) and clear glassy highs.

If you're looking for "organic" sounding pickups you might be looking for Nordstrands.
Fat stacks, DC's, Big singles, or Big splits might be more to your liking...
Click to expand...

Well ... I'm so lost. The MK5 mounted in passive mode would, with a passive tone, unable to sound "roots" if I want to ? Personally I'd rather have a large range of possibilities rather than to sound "organic" and that's it.

Finally I realize that I misspoke in my previous post. :hmm:

I love the signature sound of Barto (in the low mids) and I would actually get better than what my mk1 and give me this without preamp yet. Passive electronic and big Bartolini PUs, switchs for parallele/serie/single modes... I'll give you news when it is installed.
 
#612
O'LIVE said:
Well ... I'm so lost. The MK5 mounted in passive mode would, with a passive tone, unable to sound "roots" if I want to ?
Click to expand...

Actually you are correct. I have MK5's with a LH3 preamp.
Run in passive you will get a "roots" type sound.
I run mine that way when I'm playing Motown for example.

When I think of organic I think of a "woody" tone similar to what you might get from a Warwick bass with EMG pickups.
MK5's don't have that tone naturally.

O'LIVE said:
Personally I'd rather have a large range of possibilities rather than to sound "organic" and that's it.

Finally I realize that I misspoke in my previous post. :hmm:
Click to expand...

That's okay...

Tone is perhaps the most difficult of things to put into words.
We do the best we can...

O'LIVE said:
I love the signature sound of Barto (in the low mids) and I would actually get better than what my mk1 and give me this without preamp yet. Passive electronic and big Bartolini PUs, switchs for parallele/serie/single modes... I'll give you news when it is installed.
Click to expand...

The preamp is certainly the weakest link in my opinion.
If you like MK1's you'll love MK5's...
 
#613
Supertanker said:
Tone is perhaps the most difficult of things to put into words.
We do the best we can...
Click to expand...

Yeah man, that's something that just leave me scratching my head sometimes when I read posts like this.

Some of the terms that are used by folks...I just don't understand what they're supposed to mean in a written communication because a lot of them don't have any inherent tonal/sonic meaning. Organic, woody, dark, chewy...these are things that have to be learned in terms of describing sound. What one person learns is described by 'organic' could be something else to another person.

Frustrating.
 
#614
All I can say is that if "organic" or "woody" mean to sound like a warwick ... I do not want it to sound like that! :hiding:

I want some fat in my sound, something that moves and gets along well in the mix and that makes me set my hair on the arms. For some it is "the sound of wood", not for me.

The basic sound of the MK1 is not bad, I touch little preamp because it breaks my ears in the treble and that lack of precision in the bass frequencies. If mk5 gives me that sound with more thickness, roundness in the bass and fine treble, all in passive electronics, I think I will enjoy! :hyper:
 
#615
I will have to confess that I have no clue what organic or woody mean in terms of describing sound...

I recently did MK5s and and LH-3 in my 55-01

Without even addressing the specifics of the sonic differences, an obvious capacity you get is a wider range of sounds. If you want to go all out with more than one switch, you can set up separately selectable parallel/series front coil/back coil. That's a lot of different sound.

Mine are wired series and I have a dual pole two position switch between dual coil and single coil (outer). That's enough for me. I don't do a lot of changing.

My personal and very humble opinion is that the greatest part of the tone comes from the bass itself. Set flat, active and dual coil, the difference I find between the MK1 and MK5 is most significant in the middle. I'm going to use the description "thinner in the middle" for the MK1. There's a slight grind in the sound of the MK1 that's replaced by a smoothness and punch in the MK5. It's not an in-your-face difference. Assuming that setting flat allows you to get a feel for it, the pre-amp change is what brings the in-your-face difference. Bass boost with the LH-3 and MK5s is thick and fat and round. Not that the MK1/MK1 is bad, it's just smoother and richer.

Or we could mean different things, and I'm talking out of the side of my neck :-\
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back