Merriest Christmas wishes to all my Lakland compatriots! One of the greatest groups on the interwebs.
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
When swapping pickups on a skyline 55-60, anyone encountered size or string spacing issues or will any standard size replacements drop in?
They are Fender sized. Bridge is slightly wider than neck.
At the bridge, yes. But the pickup manufacturers don't care about the exact string spacing on those. Not even Lakland, you'll see that the strings are not exactly aligned with the middle of the each double poles.
Not a 55-60 but I recently had the pickups in my 44-60 Skyline replaced with a set of Dimarzio Model Js and they fit perfectly, direct drop in.
Agree with this. I have an Audere on my DJ4 and the battery lasts a while. The battery LED is helpful in determining if you need to change out. Granted my DJ4 had a battery compartment installed in the back so battery changes are very easy/quick. But a great sounding and flexible preamp for what it's worth. Mine is a 4-band with a passive tone control.
Enjoying the holidays with my four favs, a set that of course includes the two Laklands. HB27 is the finest bass I've ever played, no doubt. Happy bye-bye 2024 to all!
Well, we got it home, very quick inspection and quicker relief and string height adjustments to see where I am starting and things look good. Frets show some but minimal wear, so I will do some play testing and some closer inspection then get on with some serious cleaning and lubing, and some light restoration and polishing. I was able to get a full, apparently never installed, set of genuine USA Lakland/Hanson PJ pickups that are exactly what I was looking for. A fantastic find for this one.
I am just holding it for you for a while. I'll get it into great shape and you'll at least know now where it is.Congrats!
I have to say I'm a bit jealous!
I appreciate it
My dream bass right there!
55-64. Congratulations on this one, you don't see them very often.
As I go through this one, cleaning, tweaking in my attempt to return it to as nice a condition as possible I thought it would be fun to share that process here because we all love pics and stuff. If at any point you get like "oh geez, not this guy with this thing again..." just say the word and I will cut back on everything except the things that vex me. But, this one has me excited and I am enjoying the ride. And remember, it's all your faults for lighting this fuse so you'll now have to endure my endless babbling about it. 
With that, I have started the testing and disassembly portion of the process. Most importantly the truss rod works as it should and it too all adjustments beautifully. And the playability is very good so that tells me the neck should have no issues. Two big hurdles cleared for me as I have had surprises in the past.
It looks like the EMG's that were in there were indeed a 4 string set, at least the P side of things. And, whoever installed them and did the setup should really pack up their tools and move to a new hobby. If they're calling themselves a tech and charging folks that is a crime. Wiring was a mess, and the setup was just so wrong. Thankfully I have corrected the set up and the electronics have been gutted so that is all in the rearview.
I do enjoy the questions that older guitars present but too often without satisfactory answers. In this case it had one of the most sticky and unexplainable schmutz under the pickguard. What was it and how did that much sticky liquid get into that tiny gap and then distribute itself nearly 100% across the pickguard area, you not pool into the P pickup rout? It was borderline disgusting and about had the PG glued to the body. Thinking that the event that caused that mess must have been interesting. PG and body cleaned up nicely though.
I also decided to remove the neck inlay stickers. Had they been real I would have loved them, but stickers, not so much. My greatest concern was if there would be any fretboard ghosting or discoloration where the blocks were vs. the surrounding areas because of the time they had been on there, the way that body paint will fade or yellow with time while remaining the original color underneath the PG, like my current white DJ5 has done. But happy to report that, with some careful effort and cleanup, they were removed without incident with no signs of any fretboard variations. And that appeared to uncover some very nice birdseye maple position markers (that's my guess anyway). I think now that it would have been a shame to have left those hidden.
A little builders note left in the P pocket:
Frets are interesting. They show very little signs of wear which would be unusual for a 15 year old bass, especially when most other things would indicate some age appropriate, but well cared for use. So my first though was that it likely had a level and crown at some point that would explain their current state. But after taking some measurements and doing some quick research that may not be the case. I don't know what size fret wire is, or would have been used, on these USA models. One old post I found showed an option of '.041 x .085' frets. And I know these are smallish compared to a lot of basses, but these actually consistently measure at .0455 x .0845 so if the first info is correct then these would be hardly worn at all. And I don't see any obvious signs of a refret so that's more positive news.
Next up will be body and PG buffing polishing. The body will require far less that I expected,
The PG is a consumable I know and can be replaced. But since it's original I will take a crack at restoring it as much as possible and I think it will be just fine. The only nitpicky area that get in my head are these seeming delaminations around a few screw holes. Probably from overtightening. Not sure what I can do about that. I may try wicking a bit of thin CA glue into those spaces to see if I can make them visualy disappear I have seen that done with a similar condition around finish lifting around fret ends.
And, that's all for my Day 1 adventures.
With that, I have started the testing and disassembly portion of the process. Most importantly the truss rod works as it should and it too all adjustments beautifully. And the playability is very good so that tells me the neck should have no issues. Two big hurdles cleared for me as I have had surprises in the past.
It looks like the EMG's that were in there were indeed a 4 string set, at least the P side of things. And, whoever installed them and did the setup should really pack up their tools and move to a new hobby. If they're calling themselves a tech and charging folks that is a crime. Wiring was a mess, and the setup was just so wrong. Thankfully I have corrected the set up and the electronics have been gutted so that is all in the rearview.
I do enjoy the questions that older guitars present but too often without satisfactory answers. In this case it had one of the most sticky and unexplainable schmutz under the pickguard. What was it and how did that much sticky liquid get into that tiny gap and then distribute itself nearly 100% across the pickguard area, you not pool into the P pickup rout? It was borderline disgusting and about had the PG glued to the body. Thinking that the event that caused that mess must have been interesting. PG and body cleaned up nicely though.
I also decided to remove the neck inlay stickers. Had they been real I would have loved them, but stickers, not so much. My greatest concern was if there would be any fretboard ghosting or discoloration where the blocks were vs. the surrounding areas because of the time they had been on there, the way that body paint will fade or yellow with time while remaining the original color underneath the PG, like my current white DJ5 has done. But happy to report that, with some careful effort and cleanup, they were removed without incident with no signs of any fretboard variations. And that appeared to uncover some very nice birdseye maple position markers (that's my guess anyway). I think now that it would have been a shame to have left those hidden.
A little builders note left in the P pocket:
Frets are interesting. They show very little signs of wear which would be unusual for a 15 year old bass, especially when most other things would indicate some age appropriate, but well cared for use. So my first though was that it likely had a level and crown at some point that would explain their current state. But after taking some measurements and doing some quick research that may not be the case. I don't know what size fret wire is, or would have been used, on these USA models. One old post I found showed an option of '.041 x .085' frets. And I know these are smallish compared to a lot of basses, but these actually consistently measure at .0455 x .0845 so if the first info is correct then these would be hardly worn at all. And I don't see any obvious signs of a refret so that's more positive news.
Next up will be body and PG buffing polishing. The body will require far less that I expected,
The PG is a consumable I know and can be replaced. But since it's original I will take a crack at restoring it as much as possible and I think it will be just fine. The only nitpicky area that get in my head are these seeming delaminations around a few screw holes. Probably from overtightening. Not sure what I can do about that. I may try wicking a bit of thin CA glue into those spaces to see if I can make them visualy disappear I have seen that done with a similar condition around finish lifting around fret ends.
And, that's all for my Day 1 adventures.
Nice work and Thank you for sharing the journey. I'm definitely subscribed.
That fretboard is absolutely gorgeous
That fretboard is absolutely gorgeous
Thank you and agreed, that is some fine looking rosewood! I was almost hoping that it did need a refret to have the opportunity to do a nice light full length sanding on the board itself to bring that up even more. But it'll have to do...
