Lakland has their own set of pickups to replace the MK-1s:
LH3 Pickup Upgrade for Lakland 44-01 and 55-01 Basses - Lakland Bass Guitars
I actually have a pair but never got the chance to install them.
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Lakland has their own set of pickups to replace the MK-1s:
LH3 Pickup Upgrade for Lakland 44-01 and 55-01 Basses - Lakland Bass Guitars
I actually have a pair but never got the chance to install them.
I did pre and pup swap on my 44-01. Pups, Big Singles. Very lively and responsive to touch, dynamic. Pre was custom Audere. Very different than Bartolini pre. Super versatile and uncolored. 4 band EQ, and the Z mode switch made the difference for me.
That’s a great setup! I run an Audere 4 band in my Old Glory” 55-60 and that Z switch comes in quite handy! I’m just using the stock pickups although the neck pickup has been rewound to bring in more mids and better match the bridge.
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Found a cool run-through of Lakland history with John P. posted recently on Zzounds. There's plenty in here that many folks might not know, I learned a few things myself. (The Google Maps picture really is of the shop entrance, by the way, it's that unassuming.) Also, Part 1 of the Carl Pedigo setup guide video--filmed and posted by the old Lakland Owners Group 
--is linked in the middle. And it sounds like we can expect a short scale PJ in the near future!
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--is linked in the middle. And it sounds like we can expect a short scale PJ in the near future!Invalid Link Removed
What’s a Z mode switch? Can you talk me through those controls. I see the stacked EQ knobs and I’m guessing standard volume and blend but what is the smaller knob?
Z mode switch is the secret sauce so to speak. Mine is 6 position Z mode switch. It loads the pups. Low impedance, mid and high impedance. Giving different sounds with a turn of the switch without touching EQ! Volume, blend, stacked bass/treble, stacked low and high mids. Small switch is active passive. JJ did a gig with this bass and I think was surprised with its abilities. My Z mode switch allows for combinations of Z modes as well. Again giving many tonal options on the fly. Hope this helps. This bass is most definitely a keeper.
Yeah the Z mode switch made Max’s 44-01 absolutely perfect for players like me! I don’t tweak EQ knobs on the fly much. But, playing covers from every decade of the last 60 years and almost every genre... I need to be able to go from thumpy P sound to bright Stingray sound quickly, and that Z switch did the job perfectly!
Found a cool run-through of Lakland history with John P. posted recently on Zzounds. There's plenty in here that many folks might not know, I learned a few things myself. (The Google Maps picture really is of the shop entrance, by the way, it's that unassuming.) Also, Part 1 of the Carl Pedigo setup guide video--filmed and posted by the old Lakland Owners Group
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The Lakland Shop reminds me of my favorite music stores as a kid. They were all smaller, full of gear, with great people running the shop.
It was an adventure every time you went through the front door, because there was always something new to look at and great conversations to be had.
Found a cool run-through of Lakland history with John P. posted recently on Zzounds. There's plenty in here that many folks might not know, I learned a few things myself. (The Google Maps picture really is of the shop entrance, by the way, it's that unassuming.) Also, Part 1 of the Carl Pedigo setup guide video--filmed and posted by the old Lakland Owners Group
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Oh my!! A short scale Lakland??!!
Count me in
Just have in mind that, unless there were any recent changes, the stock 01s came with import Bartolini preamps which are never in true passive mode. If you turn off the EQ, it still requires a battery to run.
Yes. Mine is 2017 (Rosewood before they switched to Laurel) so is a Bart pre. The whole”not true passive” thing confuses me. What does that mean other than the active circuit has been taken out so there is no tonal control available. Obviously the pickups require a battery to run them with the active circuit but I keep hearing that they are not active pickups, so why do they need power? They definitely don’t work without a battery!
You are correct. Pickups are passive.
But there is no passive mode in this particular pre. When you pull the switch it just disengages the EQ, the circuit is still active.
Of course Lakland already makes the HB30 short scale which has been one of my main players for several years now.
I settled on 250. That seemed to warm up the mid range “hardness” of the “new barts”. At least this is what I perceived. I also have 5594s with the “old barts” as well as one with the LH3. It’s interesting to compare pickups and settings. The LH3 sounds amazing set to 500hz which is the stock bart setting. I prefer this to the 600 hz LH3 default.
The topic of Lakland’s pickup changes in the 5594/4494 is very interesting to me.
