Time for a neck shim.
I've had to add them to a few of my Lakland's. It won't take much. Probably around 0.020 or so.
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I've had to add them to a few of my Lakland's. It won't take much. Probably around 0.020 or so.
Good to know - first time I've encountered this on a Lakland.
I ended up with 0.017 shims in the ones that needed it.
Cheap or expensive basses - if ya need it- ya need it.
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Almost all of my basses have a neck shim, including my US Series 44-60. If it needs it, it needs it. Everybody plays with a different setup.
Thanks for the insight - you guys know what its like to be raring to go on a new instrument!
I do… just got a new bass this week… it isn't a Lākland so I'm not posting it here, but I already had to take the files to the compensated nut (if that tells you the brand) to dial it in.
To be honest, I'd be leery of pulling the neck on my Lākland. The neck pockets are super tight. My fear would be damaging the finish. I know it's not an option for you but I had Lākland shim mine for me to avoid damaging the finish (living close to Chicago has some perks).
I'll add my .02 on this issue. Without knowing what your lowest string height current is vs. what you're trying to attain, and relative to the neighboring D string, makes offering a solution difficult. However, as soon as you said you were out of adjustment range on one string that immediately resonated with me because on almost every Lakland I have owned (and there have been many) this has been my exact experience with the B string. To the point that I have considered on several occasions simply taking some material off the bottom of that saddle because the rest of the strings were perfect.
I have always attributed this as not necessarily a Lakland problem because if I was good with the indicated Lakland set-up spec of "Standard setup includes medium-low action of approximately 6/64" (B/E string) to 4/64" (G string) at the 12th fret, with a neck relief of around \(0.012''\) (\(0.3\text{mm}\))" there there is no 'problem'. However, because I prefer a 5/64" low side height I have additional challenges. Some will just get there and some just wouldn't and I accept that. I know it's the standard practice and reflexive go to, and I have tried small standard front of pocket shims but never had results that I like, they always seem to introduce issues somewhere else if trying to attain a lower playability. So ultimately I end up with some happy compromise around the minimums I can attain. Where I have had shim success is with a same thickness full pocket shim with a couple fretless necks that raises the entire neck up, not just changing the neck angle, and allows the needed saddle adjustment range to lower the strings where I prefer them.
All that said, I would not likely be disassembling and shimming a brand new, and not inexpensive, bass before I have some additional discussions with the Lakland team about the issue and what I was trying to accomplish to see if the expectations are reasonable vs. how Lakland designs them or if it's an actual issue. The high G string is a new one for me.
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Hi all, how is modern Lakland Skyline neck stability? I have noticed on the photos that all the necks appear to be flatsawn maple. I am worried such neck could be sensitive to humidity and have a chance of poor truss rod adjustability.
I really want to buy a 55-02, but I want to make sure the price tag is justified. And it won't "surprise" me in the long run.
I really want to buy a 55-02, but I want to make sure the price tag is justified. And it won't "surprise" me in the long run.
You shouldn't have any issues.... The 5502 has a carbon rod rod reinforcement.
The necks are very stable.
Just to clarify... The skylines and classic series have flat sawn necks.
The USA series have quarter sawn necks.
Both have the graphite
Edit.... All five string variants have the graphite support.
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Here is my take on recent Lakland's I've had in my hands over the last year or so. The bass is justified for the price. It's a solid bass, and worth the money.
But some things to watch out for... Of course these may just be in the lot that I've tried. So your experience will differ.
I've noticed the necks with lots of dramatic figuring - cathedral wood grain - seem to be more prone to stability issues.
In general, the carbon rods and truss rod work really well to mitigate that.
The several (5!) 55-02s deluxe black sparkles I've gone through recently, have had less than stable necks. Especially from the 15th fret on up. Lots of cathedral wood grain near the neck pocket that caused uneven fretboards and poor fret leveling. All but one was used. I can see why they were traded in. The one new one showed up with shipping damage.
The purple 55-02 Deluxe I have here was unstable at first, and I was not able to get the neck straight enough even at maximum truss rod tightness, but eventually settled in. As the weather changed, I had to add in extra relief. It has been stable after that. Probably will need a seasonal adjustment.
But the recent blonde 55-02 I got as a B stock from Lakland was perfect. But I asked them to show me the necks available when I ordered it so I could pick the one I wanted. They were gracious in accommodating me.
The one thing I have been seeing on some 55-02's is the bridge being in the wrong place. Too far off to one side or the other. My purple 55-02 being an example. It's at Lakland right now being fixed.
I had run across a translucent black one with the same issue, but in the opposite direction.
I've also seen some 44-64's with the bridge issue too... I passed on them when I saw it.
Again not to say that the basses are bad-they are not. All manufacturers have production issues. I'm just sad at this price point these things slipped by QC. Strange since things are CNC these days.
The one common denominator among almost all of these bass I had issues with were (except the 44-64), is that they were all Sweetwater "exclusive" basses... Hmmm....
Would I buy another Lakland import or domestic- absolutely.
The feel and sound are amazing.
That people at the factory are great to work with.
Whadda I know...
Of course YMMV.
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I saw that video. Probably just an anomaly. It happens at some point or other to all manufacturers.
But who knows how the bass was stored and cared for before it got to Dave.
None of the Laklands I mentioned in my other post were that bad. A lot of the things I have encountered could've well been fixed somehow. But since they were new to me, it was better for me to return them & get something else.
After going through the gauntlet of basses (again) over the last two years, I'd still buy a Lakland. They work for what I need them to do.
The neck on my Skyline 44-60 custom is really solid and it's a flatsawn neck with no graphite rods. It stays in tune really well and may experience very slight movement during the extreme weather changes (as expected). Nothing a slight tweak of the truss rod won't fix. So as far as stability goes, I wouldn't be too concerned. Now regarding other things, my bass has a couple nasty dead spots and for something that was supposedly Plek'd, I've had to get some work down to resolve fret sprout and a couple of high fret spots. I generally don't get too worked up over sprout as it can happen on any wood necked bass but just so you're aware.
I just changed the pickups in my 2013 DJ4. Being an Indonesian one mine came with Hanson pickups. When handling the Hansons I noticed that on both pickups the wire was loose on the outside… Anyway out with the Hansons in with the Lollars 70s wind pickups. While I was at it I also swapped the loose Hipshot tuners for other Hipshots I had laying around. Added a fresh set of strings and I'm in love with it again. The Lollars are awesome in this bass, a meaty low end that doesn't require me to add bass from the DJ-Retro preamp. While it doesn't hit that 70s tone bang-on it's kind of a hybrid of 60s and 70s tone, I like it! Overall a great and worthwhile upgrade.
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Great overview. Thanks!
I am surprised about the misaligned bridges. I will certainly be mindful of that.
If you buy it new, Lakland will fix any issues with it... No questions asked. So that should not be an issue.
Even if you are purchasing something used, they are usually very good at working with you.
