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Lakland Owners Group #69

#6,061
mark beem said:
Nice!! Congrats!! What are your plans for it?
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As you can see, it already has a Delano pickup in there... I may just play it the way it is and decide if anything really needs changed.

I have become accustomed to having a preamp on board so I am researching that, perhaps an East P-Retro. However, we all know that passive is the true P identity.

I was also already thinking about at different pickguard but I must say that the stock mint looks great with the rosewood board.

So, the real answer is...probably nothing!
 
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#6,062
Double E said:
I think that they got their plek machine around 2010. But don't let that keep you from buying a bass prior to that. Before the plek process was standard, Lakland did the fretwork on the Skylines impeccably by hand in Chicago.
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Actually, the Plek machine arrived in late 2008, basically coinciding with the move of Skyline production to Indonesia when Cort shut down its Korean factory. Before that, Lakland's crew did final touchups on Skyline fretwork. I don't know for sure, but I believe Dan's thinking was that with the move to the Indo factory, the Skylines' fretwork might need more fine tuning in Chicago, so it was best to make that process somewhat more automated.
 
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#6,063
GregC said:
Actually, the Plek machine arrived in late 2008, basically coinciding with the move of Skyline production to Indonesia when Cort shut down its Korean factory. Before that, Lakland's crew did final touchups on Skyline fretwork. I don't know for sure, but I believe Dan's thinking was that with the move to the Indo factory, the Skylines' fretwork might need more fine tuning in Chicago, so it was best to make that process somewhat more automated.
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Thanks for the clarification to my attempt to answer @ODDBALL's question.
 
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#6,064
GregC said:
Actually, the Plek machine arrived in late 2008, basically coinciding with the move of Skyline production to Indonesia when Cort shut down its Korean factory. Before that, Lakland's crew did final touchups on Skyline fretwork. I don't know for sure, but I believe Dan's thinking was that with the move to the Indo factory, the Skylines' fretwork might need more fine tuning in Chicago, so it was best to make that process somewhat more automated.
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I don't think the fretwork was any worse from the Indo factory and I don't think that Dan planned for it to be worse. The Skylines sell pretty well and doing all of that fretwork by hand was really taking a toll on the techs which is why I think that they moved to a PLEK.
 
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#6,072
Eublet said:
Hey guys. Quick question. I'm thinking of putting Chromes on my 55-64. I've never used Chromes on a 5 string bass of any sort, much less a 35" bass. I do love them on 34" four string basses, particular P variants. Anything I need to know before I order a set? I prefer the .45-.100 set on my fours, so there's a 5 string pack that adds the .132 for the low B. I've seen some Fender folks have had issues stringing the B through the bridge (bridge hole is too small for the windings on the string). I do not want to string through the body, so not concerned about that. I'm looking for some general responses on fit hopefully, as well as what I might expect in terms of a flatwound string for the low B. Thanks!
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I'm a long time fan of Chromes; I just love playing them and have for many years. I've tried 4 different brands of 5 string sets in the last year or so, all on 35" scale Lakland fivers. The B in the Chromes set is by far my favorite in terms of musically useful tension and comfortable feel to the hands. Like everyone says, they are bright. I have them on my 55-02 where they are a good sonic fit. I tried them on a 55-AJ and didn't like the sonic match--way too bright-- and switched to GHS Precision Flats (M3050x set: 126 B). I like the tone quite a bit though the B sounded almost lifeless compared to the rest of the set. So I took it off and put on a B from a set of Chromes; much better feeling and pretty good physical match for the set, though too bright so I semi-permanently stuffed muting material under the B to tame it. The AJ is my #1 gigging bass for now, though I cycle through my basses and rekindle the fondness with each one eventually. Also picked up a 55-01 recently (Candy Apple Red 2002 model; unbelievable build quality... Wow. Best action of any bass I've ever played, pickups are kind of meh, though I often use outboard stomps for many tone variations so the 01 will be fine, I think. But it's heavy at 10.5 lbs). Since the 01 is generally brighter and thinner (tone) than the -02, I put DR Legends on to add warmth and it seems to have paired well, though haven't gigged that bass yet.

Four 35" scale B strings I've tried this year:
Chromes. best B overall. Fully useful without caveats like all other B strings. Clear tone and no flab. Long lasting.
DR Legends. pretty good B, certainly usable. Nice warm sound.
GHS Precision. dull B. otherwise fine sounding strings.
Sadowsky; came on the AJ. Previous owner's favorite strings.
The B, which may have been very old, was the deadest string I've ever encountered; plus the outer wrap didn't cover the entire string length not even at the bridge.

And in case you haven't read it, here's the Bassmeister talking about flats including comments about the B in some reviews.
Flat World: A Roundup of Flatwound Strings

And though you didn't ask, I've lately come to believe the cheapest and easiest way to significantly change the tone of a bass short of replacing the pre or the pups is to use a different brand of strings.
 
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#6,077
Hello All,

I have the chance to pick this 55-01 Spalted Deluxe up for $730. It's practically mint. What do you think?

Thanks

Shaun

image.jpeg image.jpeg
 
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