Both classic Lakland colors
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- Apr 1, 2000
- 17,409
- 9,868
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist: Roscoe Guitars, DR Strings, Aguilar Amplification
Beautiful quilted top! 8.7 lbs? wow! Congratulations, that's a keeper!
Thank you, I appreciate the light weight a lot
I really like the blonde quilt. I’m considering a bass that has that finish. Based on two recent instruments Lakland Skyline 55-02’s
the a sample of the new ones are relatively lightweight.
the a sample of the new ones are relatively lightweight.
Question: I’ve had Lakland basses with the LH3 preamp before and haven’t had this issue. The internal trim pot has no stop point. It just turns and turns. I reached out directly to Lakland and they said this is normal. But I don’t think it was like that on the ones I had before. Additionally there doesn’t seem to be any difference in output volume as I adjust it. Anyone have any experience or insight on this?
My new 55-02 will be delivering today....I'll definitely check this out on mine. I'll have some time to go over it and then trial by fire....shows tonight and tomorrow night.
The coil tap is wired to the pickup, not through the preamp, fyi.
So the new bass made it home so I made the short drive on my lunch break to unbox....give it the quick lookover....do the worlds fastest "get me through tonights gig" setup and then played it through my old Boss recorder with some old headphones that I think roll off most of the low end beyond 200hz... 
.
The good so far....I really enjoyed the ergonomics, the weight (9lbs) and those Lakland necks are in my wheelhouse for sure. Overall a solidly built bass! I'm just a fan of the 35" scale too and that low B. Tuning keys are super smooth and I love a bridge that is easy to adjust. I couldn't get the total feel for the sound (I'll try again when I get home and find my nice headphones) but each setting with the rear pickup was distinct and offers 3 different versions of tone. Listening to demos online I really didn't think that bridge p/u could cop the MM tone....but when I played and heard it for myself I thought it was pretty dang close! I toured with a SR 5 for 3 years and know that sound. Pretty cool. The overall sound with both p/u's and minimal EQ adjustments sounded solid.
The bad.....none yet.
The interesting and to be done....Not sure about the rest of the Lakland gang, but my volume knob has an ok sweep to it but when I get in about the last 10% of the knob it really comes to life and gets loud. Not a big deal to me as I always run wide open but caught my attention. I know there is the trim pot but the gain between passive and active was pretty wide out of the box....will for sure have to adjust that. It will be interesting to play around with the mid frequency switches to see if I prefer one over the other. I will probably do a full set up tomorrow and will do a few things. One pet peeve of mine is when knobs all don't line up straight. The bass and treble are great but the mid knob and p/u blend knob are off center when in the middle. I'll get that corrected. Also the switch for the rear p/u is at a weird angle when moving through the different positions. I'll get that turned so it is visually correct. I'm sure this isn't a big deal to many but I'm just wired that way.
All that said as long as the 'bones' of the bass are fine I'll play it as is but am definitely not opposed to dropping in a different preamp down the road or p/u's either. Will for sure give it a fair shake in stock trim though.
. The good so far....I really enjoyed the ergonomics, the weight (9lbs) and those Lakland necks are in my wheelhouse for sure. Overall a solidly built bass! I'm just a fan of the 35" scale too and that low B. Tuning keys are super smooth and I love a bridge that is easy to adjust. I couldn't get the total feel for the sound (I'll try again when I get home and find my nice headphones) but each setting with the rear pickup was distinct and offers 3 different versions of tone. Listening to demos online I really didn't think that bridge p/u could cop the MM tone....but when I played and heard it for myself I thought it was pretty dang close! I toured with a SR 5 for 3 years and know that sound. Pretty cool. The overall sound with both p/u's and minimal EQ adjustments sounded solid.
The bad.....none yet.
The interesting and to be done....Not sure about the rest of the Lakland gang, but my volume knob has an ok sweep to it but when I get in about the last 10% of the knob it really comes to life and gets loud. Not a big deal to me as I always run wide open but caught my attention. I know there is the trim pot but the gain between passive and active was pretty wide out of the box....will for sure have to adjust that. It will be interesting to play around with the mid frequency switches to see if I prefer one over the other. I will probably do a full set up tomorrow and will do a few things. One pet peeve of mine is when knobs all don't line up straight. The bass and treble are great but the mid knob and p/u blend knob are off center when in the middle. I'll get that corrected. Also the switch for the rear p/u is at a weird angle when moving through the different positions. I'll get that turned so it is visually correct. I'm sure this isn't a big deal to many but I'm just wired that way.
All that said as long as the 'bones' of the bass are fine I'll play it as is but am definitely not opposed to dropping in a different preamp down the road or p/u's either. Will for sure give it a fair shake in stock trim though.
Congrats on the sweet bass, @jjk2007 !!
Play it in good health.
I notice that the neck pickup rout on my '15 Skyline 44-60 fretless is larger than the pickup.
Def. factory stock as it's very clean and black shielding painted...is/was this standard Cort practice?
Maybe they screw the pickup in place after the pickguard is installed and this allows for wiggle room across part variances?
Play it in good health.
I notice that the neck pickup rout on my '15 Skyline 44-60 fretless is larger than the pickup.
Def. factory stock as it's very clean and black shielding painted...is/was this standard Cort practice?
Maybe they screw the pickup in place after the pickguard is installed and this allows for wiggle room across part variances?
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Mine is like that too. It keeps going. But it does affect the gain.
My suggestion would be to live with it a while and take it out on some gigs. Both my 55-94’s have the older Bartolini Setup. The LH System has an additional EQ slider inside the preamp 4 vs 3. I’m a real fan of the original Bartolini Pickups and Preamp. When Lakland offered a “upgrade’ program to the LH 3 system I thought about it, but decided not to go that route and kept the Bartolini’s. I’m glad that I did. I’ve seen a couple of 25th Anniversary Laklands with the Bartolini Preamp and Pickups. So some version of that system is still avaliable.
Yeah....I will definitely get it set up and use it on all the upcoming gigs in stock form. I used to be a 'leave it alone and play it' kind of guy for years but after doing some preamp/pickup swaps and liking the outcome I'm on board with getting in there and making changes if I feel they're needed.
Yes! I also changed the pups to Barts!
Good move! I can’t put my finger on why I prefer the Bartolini’s. (I had a 55-02 Lined Fretless with the LH 3 Pickups and Preamp that I sold to purchase my 1999 55-94 Lined Fretless with Barts) I just know they have something that’s better defined. Please tell me about what this magical John East Preamp gives you. Color me interested, provided I can go with a similar control setup. I’m not wild about drilling holes in my 25 year old vintage Laklands.
Well damn. It's been more that 10 months since I was last able to play bass live and today broke that streak. It was just shortly before my regular bass gig went south that I bought this cabinet (had one, the last, job on it) and shortly after that I got the BG5 so that has been in anxious waiting to get out, and today was that day. A little rusty, and spent that last 6-8 weeks brushing up on almost 85 songs for the job, but, like the proverbial 'riding the bike' truism, it all came back nicely and quickly. And these two performed beautifully. The Delano loaded DJ5 was possibly my tonal favorite, But the B-Axis loaded BG5 is so clear and articulate, and wins the heart and mind so now clear winner just yet. I will take tke Glaub back out tomorrow for more testing... 
