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Lakland Owners Group #69

#22,881
This bass, man... I keep looking for alternatives that are a bit easier to play for me (lighter weight, smaller body, slimmer neck and 17-18mm spacing), but it's just impossible to find anything that sounds as good and has so many versatile tones. It's just a tone machine!

There's also something to be said for an instrument that you have to fight a little. I never seem to bond with the speed machines at all.

 
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#22,882
Ric Vice said:
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.
Click to expand...
The JE UniPre 5 knob is what I put in my 44-02. It is a VERY tight fit. No modifications needed to get in to the bass. I used the Bart pups recommend by Bartolini on their website for this Lakland.
The Unipre is extremely versatile. You can choose the EQ points for the bass and treble. Sweepable mids really work for me as well. There are also preset jumpers for bass and treble, level trims as well, so that there almost no difference between passive and EQ flat active mode. Master tone push/pull for active/ passive works in either mode very useful. Sounds very good in passive mode.
Treble also has a pull bright function. Overall, has much better low end that is very good without being muddy. Have so many tonal options from bridge pup with coil tap. In active mode, I get a VERY good Jazz bass tone, aka, Marcus Miller, again mid control helps dial it in.
The John East club has a very good thread about this pre, settings etc. it is very detailed. I know this is long, but I hope this helps.
 
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#22,883
Here’s a pic of the install.
IMG_0954.jpeg
 
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#22,885
The new bass sounded great at the show last night. I ran the EQ flat and had the blend in the middle most of the time and would occasionally favor the neck pickup. I ran the rear p/u in the MM configuration. I was able to do a final setup when I got home before heading out. This thing is playing nicely! I just finished a couple of more little tweaks. I'd say the trim knob was set to about 50% on so it was quite a bit louder in active vs passive. I adjusted it so now it is just slightly louder in active than passive. I also changed the mid frequency settings....it is now set to 500hz vs the 600hz default setting. It may not even be noticeable but I do some slappin and poppin in my other band and that seems to be the frequency that always works best to cut and since it is an option with this pre I took it. Looking forward to getting it out again tonight.

IMG_8546.jpeg
 
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#22,887
winston said:
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?

View attachment 7330541

View attachment 7330542
Click to expand...
My Skyline 55-60 was like that too. It was black so it the oversize rout blended in a little better but I still kept the pickguard on.
 
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#22,888
Ric Vice said:
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.
Click to expand...
I had a East Unipre in one of my 55-94s for awhile (stock Bartolini setup). Agreed with MaxSpinrun about the tight squuze...I only found one way for everything to fit. I eventually wound up having a separate battery compartment routed to give everything a little breathing room.

I found that while all the options available were well designed and usable, I eventually went back to the full Bartolini setup. There's something about the Bartolini sound on that 5594 that just works for me. I'm hanging on to the Unipre tho for a future build.
 
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#22,889
winston said:
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?

View attachment 7330541

View attachment 7330542
Click to expand...
My 2008 JO 44-60 is like that too - not sure why - something you don't notice until you remove the pick guard (in my case)
 
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#22,890
JB Player said:
My 2008 JO 44-60 is like that too - not sure why - something you don't notice until you remove the pick guard (in my case)
Click to expand...
The neck route on my ‘22(maybe?) US JO is so tight I’m not sure I could fit another pickup in there aside from the Lākland one. I did have Lākland shield it for me. They used foil tape. I’ve since removed the tape and shielded it with paint. I’d like to try to fit another set of pickups in it just to see what will fit. The only one I could get to fit with the tape was a SD Quarter Pound. I tried other SDs, Fralins, Fenders, and just a couple of different aftermarket covers to see if they’d fit. Nothing worked. Luckily, I’m happy with the sound from the stock pickups.
 
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#22,891
So after the 2nd gig on the 55-02 I think I need to adjust the trim pot up just a pinch. When listening through headphones at home there seemed to be the very slightest volume gain in active vs passive. On the gig I tested it and even with the bass knob having a slight boost they almost sounded equal. The only reason I would play this bass in passive is if the battery died so I'll open it up and give it one last adjustment. Other than that the bass played wonderfully again and sounded great too. I think I've got a keeper....

49FC4AFA-34B5-40F2-91DB-05506728BDDF.jpeg
 
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#22,892
The 2003 4-94 came in yesterday! after inspection and a set up, feels great and sounds nice - US Barts, impressive! A couple of small scratches and bumps here and there, nothing major, not bad for 22 years old :) Serial Number: 629! did order a lighter case though - older G&G case, well made but has some wear and age, and heavy!

IMG_1523.jpeg

IMG_1524.jpeg
 
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