Lakland Owners Group #69

[GregC]

The prices went up on those awhile back too didn't they? Limited color choices was to keep the cost down so now it just seems like there's a bunch of crossover with the standard line. They are only $300 cheaper although the only difference I can find is in the cheaper tuners.

Yep, prices did go up on the Classic series at some point. They also went up on the "standard" USA series, I think for the first time in a long while. The price difference on the fours ranges from $685 to $845. Here's what I got from the site.

44-64: Classic: $2750 USA Series: $3435
44-60: Classic: $2770 USA Series: $3615
44-94: Classic: $2930 USA Series: $3615
4 String Basses - Lakland Bass Guitars

Differences are the tuners, a lack of birdseye on the maple board, and two pickguard choices. I think that's all.

 

[JEDI BASS]

I asked this in the Decade club thread but this probably has more frequent views.

Does anyone know the reasoning for the varied front pickup positioning on US Decades with the Chisonics? It seems that on most of them the neck pickup very close to the heel of the neck that there isn't much space between the truss rod wheel and the edge of the pickup.

I've also seen a few instances where the bass has a traditional hex truss rod nut. On these the pickup is further from the neck most likely to allow access to the truss nut. I'm just wondering why Lakland would have two different configurations.

I ask because it appears that I have the 2nd style. I purchased a loaded US body in the classifieds on here and am having Lakland make me a new neck for it. The neck is still a couple of weeks out. I sent the body to Marty Bell to refinish it and happened to notice the pickup location when he sent me pictures of the re-painted body.

Anything can be custom ordered on a US bass. My US Decade, which was a very early one, had the truss wheel and standard pickup placement. Someone probably custom ordered one with the same truss access route as most Laklands have, and a hex truss rod nut. And, they had the pickup moved a quarter inch or so back.

If I were into Decades, I would definitely want the neck pickup moved back some, like yours. The neck pocket is very fragile on a standard Decade due to the pickup route leaving only a thin strip of wood between the end of the neck and front pickup. One good jam of the headstock into the wall or (like I often do) the ceiling and the neck pocket is trashed, requiring (at worst) a new body.

 

[JEDI BASS]

Yep, prices did go up on the Classic series at some point. They also went up on the "standard" USA series, I think for the first time in a long while. The price difference on the fours ranges from $685 to $845. Here's what I got from the site.

44-64: Classic: $2750 USA Series: $3435
44-60: Classic: $2770 USA Series: $3615
44-94: Classic: $2930 USA Series: $3615
4 String Basses - Lakland Bass Guitars

Differences are the tuners, a lack of birdseye on the maple board, and two pickguard choices. I think that's all.

27 - 29 hundred looks a lot more appealing than 3 - 4K. And some deluxe bass are over 5k. Smart move by Lakland to get new US basses available below $3K, IMO.

 

[jonnymac]

Anything can be custom ordered on a US bass. My US Decade, which was a very early one, had the truss wheel and standard pickup placement. Someone probably custom ordered one with the same truss access route as most Laklands have, and a hex truss rod nut. And, they had the pickup moved a quarter inch or so back.

If I were into Decades, I would definitely want the neck pickup moved back some, like yours. The neck pocket is very fragile on a standard Decade due to the pickup route leaving only a thin strip of wood between the end of the neck and front pickup. One good jam of the headstock into the wall or (like I often do) the ceiling and the neck pocket is trashed, requiring (at worst) a new body.

I figured it was something like that. It doesn't seem like its moved back a lot. I didn't analyze it when I got the body I just happened to notice it yesterday when I was looking at pictures of the before and after finish. I emailed Brian at Lakland about it and he said he recalled having the pickup slightly rearward sometimes but didn't remember why or by how much. Its not really important I just didn't realize it was different until then and had a bit of a panic moment since I paid for the deposit on the neck back in June and its 3/4 of the way done. I assumed there wouldn't be an issue but wanted to point it out to Lakland right away in case there was.

They're scheduled to get the body on Friday and then I get to wait for them to finish it all up.

Here's the before where you can see the neck pickup slightly back from the standard position:

And here she is with the new finish:

I'm getting a birdseye maple fretboard with the standard black dots and they're going to make me a black pickguard and install that as well.

 

[JEDI BASS]

And here she is with the new finish:

View attachment 3986344

I'm getting a birdseye maple fretboard with the standard black dots and they're going to make me a black pickguard and install that as well.

Congrats!! Marty does great work!! That's my kind of finish, right there!! I have 2 sparkly basses, w/ another in the planning phase.

 

[jonnymac]

Congrats!! Marty does great work!! That's my kind of finish, right there!! I have 2 sparkly basses, w/ another in the planning phase.

Initially I was thinking about doing lake placid blue but the flake finish wasn't much more cost wise so I went for it.

 

[blondmix3]

I figured it was something like that. It doesn't seem like its moved back a lot. I didn't analyze it when I got the body I just happened to notice it yesterday when I was looking at pictures of the before and after finish. I emailed Brian at Lakland about it and he said he recalled having the pickup slightly rearward sometimes but didn't remember why or by how much. Its not really important I just didn't realize it was different until then and had a bit of a panic moment since I paid for the deposit on the neck back in June and its 3/4 of the way done. I assumed there wouldn't be an issue but wanted to point it out to Lakland right away in case there was.

They're scheduled to get the body on Friday and then I get to wait for them to finish it all up.

Here's the before where you can see the neck pickup slightly back from the standard position:

View attachment 3986342

And here she is with the new finish:

View attachment 3986344

I'm getting a birdseye maple fretboard with the standard black dots and they're going to make me a black pickguard and install that as well.

Love it! I've had a few Marty paint jobs, he's the best!

 

[Johnny Alien]

Its not hard to find a USA 44-64 for around 3k which is where I came up with the $300 difference. Seems like a no brainer if you want a rosewood board to save money. I think they started closer to 2k. To me once you get over 2500 you are in the boutique field and you are only competing with yourself (classic vs USA). Keep the colors limited and maybe use the korean hardware for the entire thing and see if you can get below that 2500 mark and you can start to get some looks from the USA Fender and G&L people. A Fender USA 60's is close to 2k so that would only be marginally more. But I have zero idea about the financials of their situation so I am talking out of the proverbial behind.

 

[MaxSpinrun]

Some folks really dig the J bass shape. Look at how many builders ONLY seem to use it... Nino Valenti comes to mind. I bet Sadowsky sales are over 90% J basses. That said, I too prefer the original 44/55 body shape. Out of my almost 30 basses, I only have 1 with the J bass shape.

I'm sure John and Steve will hear that they should stick this better preamp in the 44/55-01s. Maybe they'll act on it.

I hear you both, love the original body shape, but I do have one J bass shape instrument. For me, the original body shape would be my preference if I was doing a custom build.

 

[GregC]

Yep, prices did go up on the Classic series at some point. They also went up on the "standard" USA series, I think for the first time in a long while. The price difference on the fours ranges from $685 to $845. Here's what I got from the site.

44-64: Classic: $2750 USA Series: $3435
44-60: Classic: $2770 USA Series: $3615
44-94: Classic: $2930 USA Series: $3615
4 String Basses - Lakland Bass Guitars

Differences are the tuners, a lack of birdseye on the maple board, and two pickguard choices. I think that's all.

Its not hard to find a USA 44-64 for around 3k which is where I came up with the $300 difference. Seems like a no brainer if you want a rosewood board to save money. I think they started closer to 2k. To me once you get over 2500 you are in the boutique field and you are only competing with yourself (classic vs USA). Keep the colors limited and maybe use the korean hardware for the entire thing and see if you can get below that 2500 mark and you can start to get some looks from the USA Fender and G&L people. A Fender USA 60's is close to 2k so that would only be marginally more. But I have zero idea about the financials of their situation so I am talking out of the proverbial behind.

I've never looked into buying a Classic series, but I would imagine that a dealer could offer a discount on those, too. I may be wrong.

 

[metron]

The neck pocket is very fragile on a standard Decade due to the pickup route leaving only a thin strip of wood between the end of the neck and front pickup. One good jam of the headstock into the wall or (like I often do) the ceiling and the neck pocket is trashed, requiring (at worst) a new body.

I thought about this for a minute since I have one sitting here. It seemed plausible when you described it so I was like wait it's fragile?!? but looking at the construction closer, I don't believe that's a realistic scenario. If you have a straight up head on collision at the end of the headstock enough to drive the neck screws into the body wood beyond the holes drilled for them, then I suppose you could then conjure enough force to collapse the 1/2" of wood between the neck and pickup route. If the neck didn't break at the nut first I guess.

What is actually fragile on at least the one I have is the poly finish. Look at it crooked and it gets chippy.

 

[JEDI BASS]

I thought about this for a minute since I have one sitting here. It seemed plausible when you described it so I was like wait it's fragile?!? but looking at the construction closer, I don't believe that's a realistic scenario. If you have a straight up head on collision at the end of the headstock enough to drive the neck screws into the body wood beyond the holes drilled for them, then I suppose you could then conjure enough force to collapse the 1/2" of wood between the neck and pickup route. If the neck didn't break at the nut first I guess.

What is actually fragile on at least the one I have is the poly finish. Look at it crooked and it gets chippy.

I was just relaying what Carl Pedigo told me. I believe he/they have seen it at Lakland before.

 

[jonnymac]

I was just relaying what Carl Pedigo told me. I believe he/they have seen it at Lakland before.

If that's the case then that should mean that everything going forward was made the "new" way without the truss wheel and the neck pickup roughly .25" rearward (providing it was a sturdier construction).

I found an older for sale thread for this where the neck was still on the body and the neck serial number was D99. Does anyone have a Decade with a serial number later than D99 with the truss wheel?

 

[JEDI BASS]

If that's the case then that should mean that everything going forward was made the "new" way without the truss wheel and the neck pickup roughly .25" rearward (providing it was a sturdier construction).

I found an older for sale thread for this where the neck was still on the body and the neck serial number was D99. Does anyone have a Decade with a serial number later than D99 with the truss wheel?

They may have changed the pickup location on later ones. But, I’d bet yours is just a custom order.

 

[metron]

I was just relaying what Carl Pedigo told me. I believe he/they have seen it at Lakland before.

Aw man that's crazy! Thanks for sharing it's an interesting discussion. I certainly believe it if it came from the source.

 

[Tom P]

I was just relaying what Carl Pedigo told me. I believe he/they have seen it at Lakland before.

 

[MattLplaysBass]

Anything can be custom ordered on a US bass. My US Decade, which was a very early one, had the truss wheel and standard pickup placement. Someone probably custom ordered one with the same truss access route as most Laklands have, and a hex truss rod nut. And, they had the pickup moved a quarter inch or so back.

If I were into Decades, I would definitely want the neck pickup moved back some, like yours. The neck pocket is very fragile on a standard Decade due to the pickup route leaving only a thin strip of wood between the end of the neck and front pickup. One good jam of the headstock into the wall or (like I often do) the ceiling and the neck pocket is trashed, requiring (at worst) a new body.

I thought about this for a minute since I have one sitting here. It seemed plausible when you described it so I was like wait it's fragile?!? but looking at the construction closer, I don't believe that's a realistic scenario. If you have a straight up head on collision at the end of the headstock enough to drive the neck screws into the body wood beyond the holes drilled for them, then I suppose you could then conjure enough force to collapse the 1/2" of wood between the neck and pickup route. If the neck didn't break at the nut first I guess.

What is actually fragile on at least the one I have is the poly finish. Look at it crooked and it gets chippy.

Not a Lakland, but I have seen several older Modulus Quantum basses where this has happened. Around 1997 they switched to a deeper neck pocket which actually ends at the neck pickup, but prior to that, there was a bit of wood in between the end of the neck and the neck pickup and i’ve seen several of them with cracks in them, so apparently it is a thing.

 

[metron]

View attachment 3987845

Lol that's perfect!

 

[metron]

Not a Lakland, but I have seen several older Modulus Quantum basses where this has happened. Around 1997 they switched to a deeper neck pocket which actually ends at the neck pickup, but prior to that, there was a bit of wood in between the end of the neck and the neck pickup and i’ve seen several of them with cracks in them, so apparently it is a thing.

Interesting thanks for sharing Fred. Flexing and cracking makes sense. I think I was blowing it out of proportion in my head thinking about caved in neck pockets or something...

 

[TedH]

I asked this in the Decade club thread but this probably has more frequent views.

Does anyone know the reasoning for the varied front pickup positioning on US Decades with the Chisonics? It seems that on most of them the neck pickup very close to the heel of the neck that there isn't much space between the truss rod wheel and the edge of the pickup.

I've also seen a few instances where the bass has a traditional hex truss rod nut. On these the pickup is further from the neck most likely to allow access to the truss nut. I'm just wondering why Lakland would have two different configurations.

I ask because it appears that I have the 2nd style. I purchased a loaded US body in the classifieds on here and am having Lakland make me a new neck for it. The neck is still a couple of weeks out. I sent the body to Marty Bell to refinish it and happened to notice the pickup location when he sent me pictures of the re-painted body.

Like for the Nova logo! (C&F '91)