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Lakland Owners Group #69

#7,621
jnslprd said:
Hello all
Sorry if this has been asked already.
I went to Guitar center yesterday to try a Fender PJ that was on sale and wasn't crazy about how thick the neck was. After trying every bass in the room I switched to the used rack and came across a 44-94 and fell in love. The bass is Natural quilted maple but in terrible condition with a really big chunk out at the bottom where it was definitely dropped. The bass was $1550 I am not sure of the year.
The price seems good for a USA Lakland but the damage really bothers me.
Here is my question: Are the Skyline neck profiles the same as the USA models?
Are the necks anywhere as good on the skylines as the USA models?
Are the necks thin on the Lakland jazz models?

Thank you everyone
Click to expand...


The US necks are amazing. The skylines have a sleeker feel where the US ones are satin finished. The 4460 necks are thin. The 4464 are nice and chunky and the 4494 are right in between. If you like the 4494 neck shape I do believe they are the same dimensions as the skyline just finished differently
 
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#7,624
If it is this one, that would not bother me.

lakland.png
 
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#7,625
Damage would bother me too, especially at that price... but... that's a good price to get into a US lakland... a competent luthier may be able to repair it, and give it some character to boot!

as for the necks... I used to be in the camp that the necks are the only difference and even then it's a slight difference... I'm not so adamant about that anymore... On paper, they're exactly the same. in person, they're close. Playing a US back to back with a skyline and you can feel (and I think hear) a difference. That said... I'll take a skyline neck over any comparably priced bass any day (Fender, Ernie Ball, G&L, any Shecter/Ibby/Reverand/etc...

Skyline 44-60 "Jazz" necks are thin, not the pencil thin necks like a peavy foundation or a Geddy Lee, but pretty close to that. The neck on the 44-94 you played is between their 44-60 and 44-64 "P-Bass" necks, and in my humble opinion... perfect.

If you search for "the treatment" or "Carl Peidigo Treatment" in this thread you'll find what many people (including myself) have done: Strip the poly finish off their skyline necks and re-treat with oil or wax to get closer to the feel of the US necks...
 
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#7,633
All this posting about my Carlo got me thinking that it had gotten almost no live time since I started playing in my current duo/trio. It's all country music and my more classic passive instruments fit really well.

So, I took the Carlo last night to the pay-for-tips American Legion gig that serves as our only rehearsal time. It was AMAZING. It was probably the most mellow sound anyone's ever gotten with a 4-94 style instument but it sounded great and of course the playability was impecable. I usually play 2 basses per gig for fun and I never even picked up my P-bass.

It'll be a gig-by-gig thing, depending on how "country" I want to look for a given event but I'll defintely be bringing it to future shows.

mikecd1 said:
Absolutely LOVE your Carlo with that 3 piece neck, birdseye headstock, original Lakland knobs (how'd they do that?) and inlays! I've always liked both Barts and Hanson, this one just happened to have the Barts and I immediately noticed less output even with the preamp turned all the way up. I fell in love with that beautiful quilt top and this bass was actually described as having the Lakland / LH3 config, but I saw the Barts in the photos which helped date it a little, but was really surprised when I received that it was an 02 with little wear and very pleasantly surprised at the 8.25 lb weight. Very balanced and pretty easy on the shoulder. My 04 was 7.7 lbs and a little thin on tone compared with this one and the Cherryburst QMT on this one is sooo purdy. Best impulse buy I ever had!
Click to expand...
That's a nice weight. I swear my 55-01 was well north of 10 or more.

As for the parts, I assume Carl just used stuff he had sitting around his shop or had easy access to via lakland. I didn't think to ask the age, though so I'm not sure if it was built at the new place, old place or at Carl's place before his return to Lakland. My guess is that it was built at the current factory as at least the basic wood shapes look exactly like what comes off their CNC machine.
 
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#7,634
jnslprd said:
Hello all
Sorry if this has been asked already.
I went to Guitar center yesterday to try a Fender PJ that was on sale and wasn't crazy about how thick the neck was. After trying every bass in the room I switched to the used rack and came across a 44-94 and fell in love. The bass is Natural quilted maple but in terrible condition with a really big chunk out at the bottom where it was definitely dropped. The bass was $1550 I am not sure of the year.
The price seems good for a USA Lakland but the damage really bothers me.
Here is my question: Are the Skyline neck profiles the same as the USA models?
Are the necks anywhere as good on the skylines as the USA models?
Are the necks thin on the Lakland jazz models?

Thank you everyone
Click to expand...

If you can live with the damage or have it at least somewhat repaired enough to be ok with it, I'd snap it up. Is it a chunk of wood or a chunk of paint? Either way unless it has other issues it's an amazing deal.

I think you'd find the Lakland jazz models slightly slimmer than the 44-94, but not much. Skyline neck profiles are very close to USA, but the USA Lakland neck is king and one of the things people like most about them.
 
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#7,636
Turock said:
If it is this one, that would not bother me.
View attachment 2829053
Click to expand...

Have we confirmed that this is the actual bass?
I seem to remember commenting on this exact bass some time ago. A ding like that is really no big deal to a competent luthier, especially since it's a natural finish. With some steaming, sanding and finish fill, that could be repaired to the point where it would be functinally invisible to anyone more than a few feet away.

The prices of used 44-94's are all over the map, but -assming that the ding is the only problem- in this case, the damage will save the buyer $800-$1000 off the price of a similar used bass.

I couldn't impulse buy a $1500 instrument, but if I was in the market for a bass like this I'd take this over a Skyline for darn sure.
 
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#7,638
Eilif said:
Have we confirmed that this is the actual bass?
I seem to remember commenting on this exact bass some time ago. A ding like that is really no big deal to a competent luthier, especially since it's a natural finish. With some steaming, sanding and finish fill, that could be repaired to the point where it would be functinally invisible to anyone more than a few feet away.

The prices of used 44-94's are all over the map, but -assming that the ding is the only problem- in this case, the damage will save the buyer $800-$1000 off the price of a similar used bass.

I couldn't impulse buy a $1500 instrument, but if I was in the market for a bass like this I'd take this over a Skyline for darn sure.
Click to expand...

This is the bass.
The chunk missing is not just the finish it is a piece of wood gone with multiple chips in the finish around it. It looks like it fell directly down on the bottom.
Can't decide what to do $1600 is a lot of money for me to spend as this instrument will not leave my room as I am just a tinkerer with good taste. I am healing up from carpal tunnel surgery on my left hand and this bass was the best thing on GCs wall for my sore hand.

Thanks
 
#7,639
jnslprd said:
This is the bass.
The chunk missing is not just the finish it is a piece of wood gone with multiple chips in the finish around it. It looks like it fell directly down on the bottom.
Can't decide what to do $1600 is a lot of money for me to spend as this instrument will not leave my room as I am just a tinkerer with good taste. I am healing up from carpal tunnel surgery on my left hand and this bass was the best thing on GCs wall for my sore hand.

Thanks
Click to expand...

I wouldn’t think you’re crazy for not doing it as I know some people take extremely good care of the things they own and these minor imperfections are bothersome when they themselves are so meticulous.

But personally I would buy that instrument in a heartbeat. As long as the neck and electronics are fine then there’s nothing to worry about. I prefer buying gear like this to be honest. Get to save a ton for something that has 0 impact on playability or tone.
 
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