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Lakland Owners Group #69

I love GZR pickups but I’m not feeling them in this bass for some reason. It looks amazing though and it is super easy to play so if the ear doesn’t bond soon, I may start the hunt for a replacement set of pickups.

View attachment 4479234
Thank you for this. It's a beautiful bass, but if you are not bonding with it and knowing myself, it probably wouldn't last very long. :)
 
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Can a brother get a number? :)

Just picked up the Skyline Version of the Geezer in Black. Incredible playability and fretwork on this neck!

Love the bass and will be keeping it. My only (sort of) con is that the EMG Geezers aren't as "Vintage" sounding as say my Player P Bass, but it definitely cuts through the mix.

The attached photo is from what Sweetwater sent me after the purchase.


Pm me!
Congrats
 
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I recently sent the majority of my basses "to a farm upstate" (LOL) when I found that having most any of them on my shoulder for 2-3 hours at a stretch was causing me some shoulder issues, especially my 5-ers. Sucks getting older.

So I went on the hunt for a 5-er that was light enough to not to kill my shoulder. I played a few different "light" 5-ers and found a Lakland 55-02 fit the bill nicely. In my opinion, it was neck-and-neck (pun intended) with the two Sadowsky Metrolines that I played against it side-by-side. It was a bit cheaper than the Sadowsky's and I found it to be much more versitile, tone-wise. And that "B" string. Whoa. Coming from 34-inch scale 5-er's, I'm not sure if it's the 35" scale length or a combination of other things, but the Lakland's B kicks the ass of the 5-er's have had in the past.

Anyway, it's a Pearl White 55-02 and I used it for its first gig a couple weeks ago a few days after buying it. Sounded great, felt great, FOH was *extremely* happy with it...and sounding good out front makes everybody happy!

Pics attached.
View attachment 4478693 View attachment 4478694

Congrats!

Awesome bass!

Yes.. The 35" helps alot!
 
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Hi all, I was curious how my Lakland Skyline DJ-4 would sound compared to my Fender 50s Precision with flatwounds. So, I made a video to satisfy my own curiosity. And I thought, that maybe some around here would find it interesting or maybe have a similar story so I decided to share it.

First, some background. Today I recorded a bass video for The Waterboys song "A Man Is In Love" which was originally played on an upright bass. So, I used my Fender 50s Precision with flatwounds to replicate the sound of an upright bass. After I was done, I was curious as to how the Lakland Skyline DJ-4 would sound. So I plugged it in, turned down the bridge pickup, so the neck pickup was soloed and made another video. All other settings were identical in recording the 2 basses.

I was actually very surprised at the result. To my ears, I can tell little difference. I was expecting the Lakland DJ-4 with its roundwound strings to sound too punchy, and the difference would be obvious. So here is the video if anyone is interested. It's not the whole song, just the musical break. And if anyone has a similar story, let me know.

 
Thank you @Thom Fioriglio for the comparison. I heard a difference (I'm no expert). The Fender punched through louder, although I'm not sure that was the intent. Biases aside, the second take, with the Lakland sounded mellower and better overall (for the song).
Good call. The Fender pickups are a bit louder than the Lakland. I assumed that was just true for most split coils vs single coils? The Jazz bass I used to own was also quieter.
 
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Hi all, I was curious how my Lakland Skyline DJ-4 would sound compared to my Fender 50s Precision with flatwounds. So, I made a video to satisfy my own curiosity. And I thought, that maybe some around here would find it interesting or maybe have a similar story so I decided to share it.

First, some background. Today I recorded a bass video for The Waterboys song "A Man Is In Love" which was originally played on an upright bass. So, I used my Fender 50s Precision with flatwounds to replicate the sound of an upright bass. After I was done, I was curious as to how the Lakland Skyline DJ-4 would sound. So I plugged it in, turned down the bridge pickup, so the neck pickup was soloed and made another video. All other settings were identical in recording the 2 basses.

I was actually very surprised at the result. To my ears, I can tell little difference. I was expecting the Lakland DJ-4 with its roundwound strings to sound too punchy, and the difference would be obvious. So here is the video if anyone is interested. It's not the whole song, just the musical break. And if anyone has a similar story, let me know.


Good video, thanks for doing this!

I think the differences between a P and a J are more clear when either is played aggressively (especially a P with rounds) or when the bridge pickup on the J is engaged. In those instances, both can cut through the mix, but in somewhat different ways. When playing a thumpy part with only neck pickups, particularly on the E and A strings, they tend to sound more alike IME.
 
Anyone had the shop or Carl make a 44-94 body with a PJ or PP configuration? I’ve seen JJ once in awhile, but very rare with a P. I’ve only seen one for Julie Slick. Any others?
AD4C1D13-6978-42A2-86EA-DF923880F5AE.jpeg
BDCE83F3-776C-4F85-BAD8-ACB20898D6CA.jpeg
 
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Anyone had the shop or Carl make a 44-94 body with a PJ or PP configuration?
I’m always happy to show off my PP!! :-D
81283604-1F3F-4F79-9678-1D44A520A3C3.jpeg
E0A0E181-8225-4305-A6FB-7E33EDA3BD8C.jpeg
As you can see, the bridge reversed P is in the 4-94 MM location and the neck P has the D and G poles very close to where the J pickup is located. The goal was true Stingray location for the bridge pup w/ the neck pup centered under the 24th fret harmonic. But, there’s not enough room for that on a 4-94 body with the 22 fret neck. So, the compromise left me with what Carl called “like a j bass only better”. I’m not a j bass fan and this PP with its vintage neck pickup and Neopunch bridge could easily be my number 1 for life, if I could actually settle for just 1 bass.... instead of 30 and growing.
 
Good video, thanks for doing this!

I think the differences between a P and a J are more clear when either is played aggressively (especially a P with rounds) or when the bridge pickup on the J is engaged. In those instances, both can cut through the mix, but in somewhat different ways. When playing a thumpy part with only neck pickups, particularly on the E and A strings, they tend to sound more alike IME.
Thanks for the feedback. If anything, for me, it shows how versatile the DJ-4 could be in tone. I always considered my P with flats and the DJ-4 two very different basses. But now I know, if I want to replicate the P sound on the DJ-4, I a can come pretty close.
 
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I’m always happy to show off my PP!! :-D
View attachment 4480511 View attachment 4480512 As you can see, the bridge reversed P is in the 4-94 MM location and the neck P has the D and G poles very close to where the J pickup is located. The goal was true Stingray location for the bridge pup w/ the neck pup centered under the 24th fret harmonic. But, there’s not enough room for that on a 4-94 body with the 22 fret neck. So, the compromise left me with what Carl called “like a j bass only better”. I’m not a j bass fan and this PP with its vintage neck pickup and Neopunch bridge could easily be my number 1 for life, if I could actually settle for just 1 bass.... instead of 30 and growing.
Is have played that bass. Unique and plays like butta!
 
I love GZR pickups but I’m not feeling them in this bass for some reason. It looks amazing though and it is super easy to play so if the ear doesn’t bond soon, I may start the hunt for a replacement set of pickups.

View attachment 4479234

Have you started looking at replacement pickups? This bass plays sooo good, but I'm feeling the same about the Geezer pickups. I did listen to a review on another EMG Set and actually the Fender Yosemite sound pretty good too.
 
Hey fellow lakland owners got a setup question.
I straightened out the neck on my 44-94 to 0.012" relief at the 6th fret I get buzz everywhere from frets 2-7 but it's worst on the A string. I've raised the saddles up and it will eliminate the buzz on all strings but A.

My question: it has a neck shim. Should i remove that so the neck angle is more flat or do i have a high fret on the A?

I can do a basic setup, i have the basics down. This A always buzzing on the 6th fret unless i give 0.016" drives me nuts.
 
Hey fellow lakland owners got a setup question.
I straightened out the neck on my 44-94 to 0.012" relief at the 6th fret I get buzz everywhere from frets 2-7 but it's worst on the A string. I've raised the saddles up and it will eliminate the buzz on all strings but A.

My question: it has a neck shim. Should i remove that so the neck angle is more flat or do i have a high fret on the A?

I can do a basic setup, i have the basics down. This A always buzzing on the 6th fret unless i give 0.016" drives me nuts.
First thing that stands out to me is that 4/1000 of an inch bothers you. I don't get it, but I'm here to help not judge. Also, I want to point out that a lot of buzz, that we hear unplugged, will not be apparent when amplified, especially if you don't have horns in your cabs or you don't crank the treble up. Also, buzz can be part of your sound. Many of the top bassists have lots of buzz!! But, it sounds like you don't want any, so...

I would guess you have a high spot on a fret above the 6th along the A string, and do not need to fuss with the shim. A shim is used to give you more adjustment at the bridge when the saddles are either bottomed out or standing too far away from the body. Shim placement in the neck pocket determines the neck tilt and will fix either situation.

In your case, you should buy/use a fret rocker along that string and see if you can find a high spot. Also, deeper wear in the lower frets will cause buzzing since the A string will be sitting in those valleys and buzzing on the un-grooved upper frets.

Whenever one string buzzes (more than I want) when the others do not, the first thing I do is decide if I want to do a lot of work to resolve it, or not. If not, I would raise the saddle a smidge. If I want perfection, I'd do a complete level and crown to get rid of all wear and high frets or spots. You could also buy the Stewmac fret rocker/sander tool that allows you to level a fret that is higher than it's 2 neighbors.

Good luck.
 
Can i use a stewmac string action tool that measures string height as a rocker? The square one.

I was also thinking of buying some fret erasers, would this work to level a high fret?

It's really just this silly A string sounds choked and doesn't have that good buzz which you are describing which is why I'm fretting over this :cool:.
 
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Can i use a stewmac string action tool that measures string height as a rocker? The square one.

I was also thinking of buying some fret erasers, would this work to level a high fret?

It's really just this silly A string sounds choked and doesn't have that good buzz which you are describing which is why I'm fretting over this :cool:.
Unfortunately, if you’re going to try to locate a high fret (if that is what is actually plaguing you in this instance) you need specific tools. Here’s the rocker:
Fret Rocker - StewMac

I bought a cheaper fret rocker on eBay. But honestly, certain Stewmac tools are worth the inflated price, and I’ll probably buy there’s while it’s on sale.

Here’s the high fret sanding tool called the fret kisser:
StewMac Fret Kisser - StewMac

It’s worth the money if you plan to use it enough. But, most will not be doing repairs and fretwork for folks, like I do.