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Lakland 44-64 vs Sandberg VS4
- Thread starter ajmoce
- Start date
Crickets?
I just picked up the 44-64 off Sweetwater for $970 free shipping. It was open box, but the bass was delivered in new condition, with plastic still on pick guard. The price was lower than any used ones I found online.
Pros. Neck, neck, neck. Lakland factory pleks every instrument and it is unusual to open the box and have the bass be almost completely gig ready. The frets are well finished and I love the flatter neck radius. The inlays and binding are well done and add a high end look. Hipshot tuners are a plus. I've never had this happen, but I found the action was a little low and raised it a smidgen. I wanted to add a small amount of relief. Less than a 1/4 turn. This led me to my first complaint. The wrench included does not fit the slot. It's adjusted at the body, which i prefer, but the "L" angle of the allen wrench would not fit the opening. Luckily i have multiple wrenches and had one that was a perfect fit. The truss rod opening is not as well finished as my Sire V7, which is stellar BTW. The P pick up is loud as hell, but I wouldn't describe it as Vintage. I like my Geezer Butler EMG much better and may end up replacing. The J pickup however is very nice and one of the best I've heard. My last complaint is the well known bulky bridge. It also doesn't appear to line up very well with after market bridges.
I would love to have a Sadowsky, but obviously for the price I got, I could almost buy another quality bass.
I tried everything I could to try and buy an American Fender, but I had played every series of PJs from Mexican to American and did not like the necks. I find the Sire and the Lakland necks to be superior in every way, although i do not like the head stock shape of the Sire. I can't see myself every buying a Fender again, unless it's an incredible deal.
I just picked up the 44-64 off Sweetwater for $970 free shipping. It was open box, but the bass was delivered in new condition, with plastic still on pick guard. The price was lower than any used ones I found online.
Pros. Neck, neck, neck. Lakland factory pleks every instrument and it is unusual to open the box and have the bass be almost completely gig ready. The frets are well finished and I love the flatter neck radius. The inlays and binding are well done and add a high end look. Hipshot tuners are a plus. I've never had this happen, but I found the action was a little low and raised it a smidgen. I wanted to add a small amount of relief. Less than a 1/4 turn. This led me to my first complaint. The wrench included does not fit the slot. It's adjusted at the body, which i prefer, but the "L" angle of the allen wrench would not fit the opening. Luckily i have multiple wrenches and had one that was a perfect fit. The truss rod opening is not as well finished as my Sire V7, which is stellar BTW. The P pick up is loud as hell, but I wouldn't describe it as Vintage. I like my Geezer Butler EMG much better and may end up replacing. The J pickup however is very nice and one of the best I've heard. My last complaint is the well known bulky bridge. It also doesn't appear to line up very well with after market bridges.
I would love to have a Sadowsky, but obviously for the price I got, I could almost buy another quality bass.
I tried everything I could to try and buy an American Fender, but I had played every series of PJs from Mexican to American and did not like the necks. I find the Sire and the Lakland necks to be superior in every way, although i do not like the head stock shape of the Sire. I can't see myself every buying a Fender again, unless it's an incredible deal.
Fyi I've been researching Sandberg and it appears they are PLEKd as well.
I sold my Lakland 44-60 and ordered a custom Sandberg VS4. I can’t wait for it to arrive!
I have played both.
I assume you're talking about the Skyline 44-64 seeing has it's in the same price bracket has the California VS4.
I would take the VS4. As said earlier, a Jazz width neck on a P bass body is not that common. Fortunately, the neck is sublime. Extremely comfortable to play and the fretwork is amazing due to being PLEK'd. Built in Germany so pretty much faultless construction. The P pickup is powerful with a lot of tonal options from just the one pup.
Compare that with the Skyline which is built in Indonesia, not PLEK'd and not as well put together. The Skyline is definitely not a bad bass - it's just that the Sandberg, for the same money, blows it out the water.
All IMO of course!
Thanks for the input! I should’ve have been more clear. The 44-64 (USA) that I had my hands on was used, so it was around the same price range. I’m not hating on the good old Laklands, but you get more with your money with Sandberg, imo.
Skylines actually are PLEK'd. Also, the 44-64 Skyline PJs have jazz necks, while the standard Ps do not.
My bad about the Skyline and being PLEK'd. I thought it was only the US models.
44-64 is a PJ so J necks are pretty common for those style of basses. A J neck on a P bass is not common at all.
True. Lakland used to have the Skyline 44-64 Custom (formerly known as the Duck Dunn model), which was a P with a jazz neck. But that's no longer listed on their site. I wonder if that's an error, because they are still out there. Here's one at Sweetwater: Lakland Skyline 44-64 Custom - Candy Apple Red, Rosewood
The Glaub model traditionally had the 1.75" neck in the Skyline version, while the Duck model had a J neck, based on a modded candy apple red P bass that Duck played in his later years before the Lakland signature model. In the US version, you can get 1.75", 1.5", or even 1.625" if you ask.
I have a Sandberg Marlowedk and Lakland 44-60 USA Classic. Sandberg neck is 15 inch radius and Lakland is 10 inch. They are both superb basses. Better than the Fender USA Standard Jazz I used to own.
The Sandberg is un-modified. It has a punchy middy sound. Probably overwound pickups. I’ve changed the Lakland pickups to Aguilar 70s. They are more scooped and very single-coil-jazz-bass sounding but with nice highs and lows.
I wouldn’t sell either. And I wouldn’t buy a Fender again. The Sandberg is a similar price to the Fender and is hand built is Germany. Great build quality.
