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Bass cleaned up fairly well, got rid of all the gunk. Plays great with a string change and minor setup. There is definitely still some wear in a variety of places, but can’t tell if it’s wear from use or water damage. If I end up keeping it I want to make sure that frets won’t start to sprout.
This bass has been put through the ringer that’s for sure.
This bass has been put through the ringer that’s for sure.
Thought you guys might get a kick out of this. The short version of a long story is that I've owned several of these Lakland HB's - but foolishly sold my candy apple red Skyline to a friend. Love the ones with Bartolini pick-ups and had a USA one - and candidly the Korean built ones are so close - I chose to move that along. I've never loved three-tone sunburst (bring on the spears) so when I found an older Skyline in 3 tone SB with the Barts, I bought it and then Kevin Brubaker of Brubaker Guitars (www.brubakerguitars.com/) did an amazing refinish on it. When they took off the sunburst finish we realized that the mahogany back had amazingly beautiful grain - so went two-tone. Metallic cobalt blue on the top and natural on the "sides" and back. Justin at JAT Custom Guitar parts (www.facebook.com/JATCUSTOMGUITARPARTS/) did the super cool swirl knobs, back-plate, and truss rod cover.
Oddly, the DR Legends have yellow wraps on them - so that may have to change
Oddly, the DR Legends have yellow wraps on them - so that may have to change
Exceptional!Thought you guys might get a kick out of this. The short version of a long story is that I've owned several of these Lakland HB's - but foolishly sold my candy apple red Skyline to a friend. Love the ones with Bartolini pick-ups and had a USA one - and candidly the Korean built ones are so close - I chose to move that along. I've never loved three-tone sunburst (bring on the spears) so when I found an older Skyline in 3 tone SB with the Barts, I bought it and then Kevin Brubaker of Brubaker Guitars (www.brubakerguitars.com/) did an amazing refinish on it. When they took off the sunburst finish we realized that the mahogany back had amazingly beautiful grain - so went two-tone. Metallic cobalt blue on the top and natural on the "sides" and back. Justin at JAT Custom Guitar parts (www.facebook.com/JATCUSTOMGUITARPARTS/) did the super cool swirl knobs, back-plate, and truss rod cover.
Oddly, the DR Legends have yellow wraps on them - so that may have to change
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Wow, that’s gorgeous! I’ve been looking for a Lakland Hollowbody for a while.Thought you guys might get a kick out of this. The short version of a long story is that I've owned several of these Lakland HB's - but foolishly sold my candy apple red Skyline to a friend. Love the ones with Bartolini pick-ups and had a USA one - and candidly the Korean built ones are so close - I chose to move that along. I've never loved three-tone sunburst (bring on the spears) so when I found an older Skyline in 3 tone SB with the Barts, I bought it and then Kevin Brubaker of Brubaker Guitars (www.brubakerguitars.com/) did an amazing refinish on it. When they took off the sunburst finish we realized that the mahogany back had amazingly beautiful grain - so went two-tone. Metallic cobalt blue on the top and natural on the "sides" and back. Justin at JAT Custom Guitar parts (www.facebook.com/JATCUSTOMGUITARPARTS/) did the super cool swirl knobs, back-plate, and truss rod cover.
Oddly, the DR Legends have yellow wraps on them - so that may have to change
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Hey, for all you Lakland Hollowbody owners, I’ve read mixed reviews of the HB with the Chi-Sonic pickups. I would think the Barts would be the way the way to go. How do they differ? Are the Barts active? I know the Chi-Sonic’s are single coil and have some hum. Thanks for any info.
For me personally, I've had both the Barts and Chi-sonics. The Barts are passive - but way more usable for me than the Chi-sonics. With the Chi-sonic version I had terrible issues with stages that had crappy lighting - the hum was so loud that I had to switch to a shielded / humbucking style bass.
I've had both USA and Korean HB's - and frankly there's very little difference in my experience other than the USA ones having nicer fretwork. The USA ones generally had fancy tops - which is cool - but they're also commanding very big money by comparison. I got the one that I did the rebuild on for just @ $1000 with a case - about 1/3 of what USA ones have gone for in my experience.
I would keep your eye on Reverb and TB classifieds. They pop up every now and then. You could also post a WTB ad on Talkbass - that worked for me once on one of the other ones I bought. This one is my keeper for sure!
Also forgot to mention that if you search "Lakland Hollowbody" on Youtube - there's a cool video of Michael Tobias (who designed it with Dan Lakin @ Lakland back in the day) and he talks about the design thinking, etc. He basically admits in the video that the Skyline's are super close to the USA built ones. They used the exact same CNC carving software, etc.
And the Barts have a coil tap switch - so there's quite a bit of tonal variety available on that model vs. Chi-sonics.
I have a HB with chi's, while I love to play it and really like the tone, I rarely play it because of the hum. They are extremely rare in Australia so happy to invest some money into it to get rid of the hum. I have seen some put different pre amps in, but I know the real issue is the pickups.
Does anyone have any suggestions as I really want to keep it?
Thought you guys might get a kick out of this. The short version of a long story is that I've owned several of these Lakland HB's - but foolishly sold my candy apple red Skyline to a friend. Love the ones with Bartolini pick-ups and had a USA one - and candidly the Korean built ones are so close - I chose to move that along. I've never loved three-tone sunburst (bring on the spears) so when I found an older Skyline in 3 tone SB with the Barts, I bought it and then Kevin Brubaker of Brubaker Guitars (www.brubakerguitars.com/) did an amazing refinish on it. When they took off the sunburst finish we realized that the mahogany back had amazingly beautiful grain - so went two-tone. Metallic cobalt blue on the top and natural on the "sides" and back. Justin at JAT Custom Guitar parts (www.facebook.com/JATCUSTOMGUITARPARTS/) did the super cool swirl knobs, back-plate, and truss rod cover.
Oddly, the DR Legends have yellow wraps on them - so that may have to change
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Very nice
Very cool
Beautiful
That's no bueno if it's water damage. Authentic wear I can live with, but water damage is just begging for issues in a few years.
Yes, agreed. I’m pretty “risk averse”, but if there’s even a chance that it’s water damage, I’d return it, unless you’re really smitten with it…
It might be worth reaching out to someone like the guy @ Serek basses, as I believe he used to work at Lakland - and has lots of different pick-ups in his basses - some of which he builds himself - others like the Curtis Novak, etc. I don't know that a preamp would do any good if the interference is picked up (no pun intended) through the pick-ups. Bartolini still makes pick-ups that look pretty similar - although the ones in the older HB were a 3 wire config and I only saw 4-wire configs on their site when I was looking recently.
The other place I would try is with someone like Carey Nordstrand - as he does a ton of custom stuff.
Thanks jefframm some great ideas there, I will look into it. I have dealt with Curtis Novak before, so a good starting point.
I had a "transparent" red chi-sonic equipped Lakland HB - and man that thing was just gorgeous. It was so frustrating dealing with the pick-up issues - as it was such a killer looking / playing bass. Hope you find a great solution. They're a special design....
Go this listed in the classifieds if anyone is looking for a stunner custom line 55-02.
https://www.talkbass.com/threads/2021-lakland-55-02-custom-w-zero-gravity-case-free-ship.1650315/
Nice set of knobs you got there. I upgraded mine to Sadowsky style, yours look the same but in silver.
Yep I agree
Very curious - what gig bag is that? That's my next quest - as I have the hardshell case for the HB - but I don't really like toting around hardshell cases anymore. I had seen an Eastwood gig bag for their hollow body bass - but am unsure it's tall enough.
Would love to know what brand / model you've got there! And what a beautiful bass you have! Thanks
