jive1
Commercial User
Alrighty folks, I have played a 55-94 at NAMM equipped with the new Lakland electronics.
The pickups weren't as dark as the Bartolinis that are usually on the 55-94. The MM pickups had more of the Stingray tone in that it was a brighter than the Barts and had a helluva lot more zing to it without losing the beefiness of an MM style pickup. It still had the coil splitting feature that the Barts did.
The J pickup was not as smooth as the Barts, but it had a little more presence in the mids. It had more of a vintage vibe to my ears.
I liked the preamp alot. The low boost didn't sound as boomy as the bart preamp, and when it boosted it seemed to tighten up the bass without things getting floppy. This was a welcome change to me. The treble boost didn't seem to do much to my ears. Maybe it was because NAMM is anything but a studio environment, but it didn't seem to add as much sizzle or top end when cranked. It made a difference, but not as drastic as the Bart when it was dimed. On the other hand, it wasn't a hissy preamp. The mids were a nice boost/cut, but I would have liked to have played around with the frequency centers to get it to where I liked it.
Overall, I really liked the new pickups and preamp. Especially the MM pickup. It's more like an MM and that alone adds to the versatility of a bass that's already very versatile. I liked the preamp, in that it wasn't boomy. I only wish that I could have played with it somewhere quieter so I can really get an idea of what it can do, as well as noise levels.
Lakland did good on this venture.
The pickups weren't as dark as the Bartolinis that are usually on the 55-94. The MM pickups had more of the Stingray tone in that it was a brighter than the Barts and had a helluva lot more zing to it without losing the beefiness of an MM style pickup. It still had the coil splitting feature that the Barts did.
The J pickup was not as smooth as the Barts, but it had a little more presence in the mids. It had more of a vintage vibe to my ears.
I liked the preamp alot. The low boost didn't sound as boomy as the bart preamp, and when it boosted it seemed to tighten up the bass without things getting floppy. This was a welcome change to me. The treble boost didn't seem to do much to my ears. Maybe it was because NAMM is anything but a studio environment, but it didn't seem to add as much sizzle or top end when cranked. It made a difference, but not as drastic as the Bart when it was dimed. On the other hand, it wasn't a hissy preamp. The mids were a nice boost/cut, but I would have liked to have played around with the frequency centers to get it to where I liked it.
Overall, I really liked the new pickups and preamp. Especially the MM pickup. It's more like an MM and that alone adds to the versatility of a bass that's already very versatile. I liked the preamp, in that it wasn't boomy. I only wish that I could have played with it somewhere quieter so I can really get an idea of what it can do, as well as noise levels.
Lakland did good on this venture.
