Lakland 55-01 owners sound off!

so, did ya get it?
Bill

 

Congrats, Chef! You'll get 'er fixed up quick and be happy, I'll bet.

I have a ~2001 55-01. It is a DeLuxe with a quilt top. That model was
long ago discontinued. It's 3-tone sunburst with a rosewood
fingerboard, and the Korean Pre-amp and Barts.

I like it very much, and although the Nordy Fat Stacks and OBP-3 in
my Valenti Fretless make me kinda GAS for a factory pre upgrade, the
Lakland is flexible, and punchy. My only beef is that the old Korean
lakland pre is so so hot. Solution: turn down....

I might add that the bass boost on the pre can verge on the ridiculous,
but that is basically true of my Valenti and my Sadowsky, too!

When I recently contacted Kirk at Lakland, here is what he said:

"We can replace the preamp in your bass with our LH-3 preamp for
$200. We don't have an upgrade for the pickups in the -01 series.
We only make replacements for the MM and J style pickup shapes. I
am attaching a review of the our system from Bass Player magazine.
Personally, I like the -01 pickups. I wouldn't go to any trouble
replacing them. However, the stock preamp in the 01 is a little less
sophisticated than our LH-3. You've probably noticed this against the
Aguilar in your Valenti as well. If you decide to go with this upgrade,
let me know."

He is a cool guy.

When I bought it, I found the 55-01 sounded better that the 55-02's I
had a chance to play, especially for finger-style. I recorded with mine
a couple of times and liked the result. The B is great, needless to say.

Let us know how your 55-01 and 55-02 compare for you and the music you do.

 

Very cool, glad you're liking it.
Lakland was replacing those early MK-1 push/pull pots for free at one time. I don't know if they still are, I would contact Dan Lakin at his email.
I agree with you that the stock MK-1's are pretty good, I didn't want to lose that thick humbuck sound, I just want a few more options, that's the reason I picked nordy Dual Coils in instead of the Fat Stacks or Big Singles.
On the 55-02, my buddy had a 55-02 w/Barts that he loaned to me when I was trying to make the pickup replacement choice. I really loved the sound of that bass, but I didn't think it had the "edge" I was used to for rock stuff.
Bill

 

Love it and I bet it kicks it out