Lakland - Lack of string height adjustment

[spector_boogie]

Never thankfully had this issue in either Lakland I've had. Sucks to hear! My 55-01 had a PLEK treatment (not sure if they all do or was done afterwards) but it's set up to E std. and the action is so low it's almost on the other side of the neck lol. Am stringing thru-body with medium length Kaliums. Plays like an absolute dream.
My 90s 55-94 was the same. Amazing neck and action. Prefer the thinner profile of my Lull M5 w/ 1.75" nut but that 55-94 was my workhorse for a very long time.

 

[Highs&Lows]

Not a fan of bottomed out saddles...of course you can shim but why not build it that the strings can pretty much bet set down to right on the frets in the first place? From there you can always raise the action plenty...had some neckthroughs with bottomed out saddles. No way to shim there. Depending on the bridge design you cant always file down the saddle either. A well designed and constructed bass (neck) should be able to take the set up and string gauge of your preference.

All that said I never had a Ken Smith in my hands with a bottomed out saddle. All could be set up whatever way you like. Perfect neck angle and overall design. Yes it can be done.

 

[Grinderman]

I've owned 6 or 7 Lakland 5 strings, all either 55-02's or 55-94. The last couple (a 55-94 and a 55-02) suffered from a lack of string height adjustment on the G string. With the saddle all the way down, I couldn't achieve better than 3.5 mm. I contacted Lakland about the 55-94, and their response was to shim the neck. For a USA-made bass costing several thousand dollars, I didn't think that was an acceptable solution. I found a used custom 55-94 on Guitar Center last week, and was hoping-praying-that it wouldn't suffer from the same issue. This one is the worst yet. Four of the five saddles have no adjustment downward left, and the middle string is nearly there. This bass was $3500 used, I'm sure a bit more brand new. It looks great, sounds great - but it's going back. Has anyone else experienced this issue with Laklands?

I was almost immediately inclined to say that the neck ought to be shimmed in the pocket. Then I read the part about calling Lakeland.

Now absolutely inclined to recommend you listen to what Lakeland told you about a bass they made.

It's no big deal; not worthy of shock or irritation, even if you had spent $25K on it.

 

[Blues Bass 2]

I had to shim my Milleniums when I had them . Someone on Talkbass way back when said they did it with a business card so I tried it too . Very easy and it fixed the bottomed out saddle problem . I was sceptical but just that tiny thickness of the card worked wonders .

 

[Bass Viking]

If you don’t want to shim you can install a set of taper core strings and your action will be lower. That’s a beautiful bass, would be a shame to return it!

 

[Relsom]

You should see the shim I put in my $5k Kubicki

Not doubting you, but sorry to hear that. That brand new Shell Pink one? I could see that on a Fender, Peavey, Lakland, or any other lesser brand(tongue in cheek), but a Kubicki?... Say it isn't so!

 

[MultiScaleMale]

Not doubting you, but sorry to hear that. That brand new Shell Pink one? I could see that on a Fender, Peavey, Lakland, or any other lesser brand(tongue in cheek), but a Kubicki?... Say it isn't so!

Yeah, action was crazy high when I picked it up, but thought it just needed to be tweaked a little. Nope.

 

[Relsom]

I had to shim my Milleniums when I had them . Someone on Talkbass way back when said they did it with a business card so I tried it too . Very easy and it fixed the bottomed out saddle problem . I was sceptical but just that tiny thickness of the card worked wonders .

View attachment 5187007

Yep, those Millenniums, more than any bass I've owned benefit from a shim. Almost always need one.

 

[dbsfgyd1]

I was just never really impressed with the brand, whether Skyline or full-blown USA. I think they're one of the most overrated brands around, next to Ernie Ball. My Kiesel and Schecter crush them both.

Wow.

 

[Smooth_bass88]

27789673[/URL], member: 60527"]I was just never really impressed with the brand, whether Skyline or full-blown USA. I think they're one of the most overrated brands around, next to Ernie Ball. My Kiesel and Schecter crush them both.

I’m the total polar opposite. I’m fully impressed with LAKLAND and find that they always exceed my expectations both live and in the studio. I’ve played many other basses over the years and to me Lakland crushes them all.

OP, I would recommend taking your Lakland to an experienced tech. I’ve have similar issues with my Fenders over the years and a really good setup helps. Having to shim the neck is not the end of the world. Heck, my Fender 62 reissue P bass needed a full re-fret. Sometimes previous owners of used basses don’t take proper care of them (leaving in hot car or cold basement) which can lead to problems.

 

[GreyBeard]

You have owned 6 or 7 Lakelands and they all share the same problem? You must really like something about them or you wouldn't keep buying them. If shimming the neck will make things right, by all means shim the neck and get to playing music and having fun.

 

[JazznFunk]

I was just never really impressed with the brand, whether Skyline or full-blown USA. I think they're one of the most overrated brands around, next to Ernie Ball. My Kiesel and Schecter crush them both.

Based on what factors? How many have you actually played? A bold statement like that deserves bold justification.

 

[JazznFunk]

None of my Laklands - 4 or 5 string - have ever needed shimming, and I run the action pretty low compared with some folks. The saddles are not bottomed out by any means, and if they were, the strings would be almost unplayable. For 6 or 7 basses from the same manufacturer to have the same issue tells me that it's not a bass issue.... it's a setup issue.

 

[Danny C]

The idea of shaving down the bottom of the saddle is interesting. It was mentioned earlier in the thread. I have a Sandberg that has this problem. The neck is set up perfect but I would like to get the strings a bit lower and don't think it will cause a fret buzz issue. Thanks p12bassnut! Cool idea. I like this better than shimming the neck.

 

[micguy]

This is thought of as "normal" within the community, and yes, pretty much everyone has gotten used to the fact that Fenderish bolt ons sometimes need shims.

Somehow, though, I've build a couple dozen basses with Warmoth necks and bodies (made to Fender specs), and so far, not a shim needed on any one of them.

 

[Geri O]

This is thought of as "normal" within the community, and yes, pretty much everyone has gotten used to the fact that Fenderish bolt ons sometimes need shims.

Somehow, though, I've build a couple dozen basses with Warmoth necks and bodies (made to Fender specs), and so far, not a shim needed on any one of them.

I've had to add shims to all of my Fenders, even though I'm not going for a really low action.

But I've never needed to add neck pocket shims any of my Mike Lulls. I've owned six Lulls, including the two I have now. The only two I ever had the necks removed from was when Lull went to a hex key truss rod bolt and sold them to Lull users with earlier basses. There were no neck shims in the pocket.

I've never had to add shims to a Music Man Stingray SR5, either. But I did have the occasion to remove the neck from the last SR5 I had (I can't remember why now) before I bought my current Stingray Special 5H. Lo and behold, there was a shim in the back pocket. So apparently, they added one when they built it, for whatever reason.

 

[Kubicki Fan]

In my experience, this happens frequently. What i usually do is pull the G string saddle and file down the bottom several thousands of an inch that way it won't bottom out on the plate when you drop the saddle height.

I had to file the bottom of the barrel on a Gotoh 201(~) bridge that went onto a new Warmoth build. I was not happy.

I had a Babitz bridge hanging around waiting for a home. Experimentally, I swapped the Gotoh in favour of the Babitz, and the Babitz worked without mods to the bass or bridge. Lucky I guess.

I know that a shim is no big deal. I just don't think I should be having to put wood back where there was plenty before. IMO, for 3.5K, it either works, or goes back.

 

[Relsom]

I was just never really impressed with the brand, whether Skyline or full-blown USA. I think they're one of the most overrated brands around, next to Ernie Ball. My Kiesel and Schecter crush them both.

I bought a Skyline 44-02 Deluxe when they first came out. Everything on that bass was top notch and nothing to complain about. I just didn't bond with it as much as I was expecting. It was quite a departure from my USA Spectors at the time and felt just too Fenderish for my tastes. Didn't really work in a gig setting for me. I don't recall a problem with the action on that one, and I like them fairly low.

 

[Kubicki Fan]

This is thought of as "normal" within the community, and yes, pretty much everyone has gotten used to the fact that Fenderish bolt ons sometimes need shims.

Somehow, though, I've build a couple dozen basses with Warmoth necks and bodies (made to Fender specs), and so far, not a shim needed on any one of them.

I always felt that shimming is basically fixing an error where too much wood was removed.

I don't accept that I should need to shim a high end bass because the manufacturer has processes (economical and efficient as they may be) that allow an instrument to pass through QC an still need a shim.

On a hand made or custom shop instrument to need to shim is pathetic.

 

[micguy]

I had to file the bottom of the barrel on a Gotoh 201(~) bridge that went onto a new Warmoth build. I was not happy.

The Gotoh 201 doesn't go low enough to work a lot of the time. Their 203 (which looks more "bent-plate-ish", but has a brass bottom plate, and grooves for the saddle screws to run in), is (in my opinion) a better bridge, even though it costs less. The 201 is cast zinc, which, if you get sweaty, can corrode over time, and (as stated above) it doesn't go low enough.