Lakland Owners Group #69

[Jamvan]

I’ll just say the P sound of all of my 02, 14, 94’s is passable in a live setting but wouldn’t cut the mustard in a recording situation. It’s close but not quite there.

I will go on to say that my 55-94 with LH3 electronics sounds as good as any Jazz I’ve ever played when using the rear split pickup. The burpy growl with just enough presence to tickle my ear doesn’t happen on all the jazz basses I’ve played over the years but that 55-94 has it in spades.
It’s been a little more difficult to coax that same sound out of my Bart 55-94 but that one sounds so good on its own, I don’t need it to sound like something else.

 

[cv115505]

Having owned a 55-02 Lined Fretless with the LH3 Pickups and Preamp and now owning a 55-94 Lined Fretless with the Bartolini Pickups and Preamp their
are subtle differences between the electronics. If you put someone behind a screen and kept the amp settings identical, you could tell the differences between the two, with the basses by themselves. In short the LH 3’s are brighter and the Bartolini’s are warmer, so playing the bass your likely to hear and possibly feel the difference on stage as well . I’m not convinced that translates into a huge difference out in the house, playing with a band. The Lakland 55-02 emulates the sound’s of a Jazz and Stingray quite well. I prefer the 55-94 to the 1966 Jazz I once owned. It has more sonic flexibility. Just my take however.

I agree with you. The one thing I have noticed concerning the LH3 setup is that you have to crank the treble to get those Fender/Musicman sounds.

 

[Ric Vice]

Since I’m fortunate enough to actually own a 1959 Fender Precision Bass, there is a distinct difference between those ringing overtones and Bass you get from a
split coil pickups vs the dual coil music man pickup on the Lakland’s. So of the three different bass tones Lakland goes after, it’s gets closer to a Jazz or Musicman. I’ve often wondered what a dual coil pickup with a Precision split setting would add. I can get close enough for my taste by using the single coil and blending it with the dual coil with the blend control favoring the top pickup. Just my take. I doubt it would fool anyone in a studio recording session.

 

[Naigewron]

Future member checking in. Just bought a used Lakland fiver, should be here next week.

It's either a Joe Osborn or a 55-60 Vintage J, apparently with Fralin pickups. Been wanting a 35" J for a while, and this seems to come highly recommended.

Only thing I'm slightly worried about is the 19mm spacing, but I had those same fears when jumping from 16 to 18mm, and that turned out to be no issue at all, so I'm sure it will be fine.

 

[3bc]

Future member checking in. Just bought a used Lakland fiver, should be here next week.

It's either a Joe Osborn or a 55-60 Vintage J, apparently with Fralin pickups. Been wanting a 35" J for a while, and this seems to come highly recommended.

Only thing I'm slightly worried about is the 19mm spacing, but I had those same fears when jumping from 16 to 18mm, and that turned out to be no issue at all, so I'm sure it will be fine.

View attachment 4570696

very nice! I’ve got that ones cuz sitting next to me.

 

[cv115505]

I got all the kids out the other day.

 

[Ric Vice]

Future member checking in. Just bought a used Lakland fiver, should be here next week.

It's either a Joe Osborn or a 55-60 Vintage J, apparently with Fralin pickups. Been wanting a 35" J for a while, and this seems to come highly recommended.

Only thing I'm slightly worried about is the 19mm spacing, but I had those same fears when jumping from 16 to 18mm, and that turned out to be no issue at all, so I'm sure it will be fine.

Since I’ve only played Lakland 5 strings (55-94’s fretted and lined fretless) I can only speak to my experience but the 5 String spacing is fairly easy to get used to.
It took me about 3 months to move from a 4 String 1958 Precision.

 

[basspraiser]

Future member checking in. Just bought a used Lakland fiver, should be here next week.

It's either a Joe Osborn or a 55-60 Vintage J, apparently with Fralin pickups. Been wanting a 35" J for a while, and this seems to come highly recommended.

Only thing I'm slightly worried about is the 19mm spacing, but I had those same fears when jumping from 16 to 18mm, and that turned out to be no issue at all, so I'm sure it will be fine.

View attachment 4570696

Congrats!

Looks great

And I love the fralins!

You will get used to the spacing .... Easily... And you'll absolutely love the neck feel.

Garownteed!

Welcome to the LOG

 

[basspraiser]

I got all the kids out the other day. View attachment 4570820

Drool ..

Great picture the a Friday!!!

 

[basspraiser]

I got all the kids out the other day. View attachment 4570820

Didn't know you had 2 HoBos!

 

[cv115505]

Didn't know you had 2 HoBos!

Yeah... one of them has a pickup issue that I am trying to figure out. The other one is my main recording bass. I don't know if I have ever had a bass record as well as that one.

 

[Jari Kurri]

Thanks for all the responses. It sounds like a 55-02 would be a great fit. At last night's rehearsal we had a couple songs in Eb and I was wishing for the five string already, and I found myself unconsciously moving my right hand towards the neck more often than not to warm up the sound of the Stingray.

I'm officially on the hunt for a fretless 55-02 - if anyone is looking to sell, HMU.

 

[GregC]

Future member checking in. Just bought a used Lakland fiver, should be here next week.

It's either a Joe Osborn or a 55-60 Vintage J, apparently with Fralin pickups. Been wanting a 35" J for a while, and this seems to come highly recommended.

Only thing I'm slightly worried about is the 19mm spacing, but I had those same fears when jumping from 16 to 18mm, and that turned out to be no issue at all, so I'm sure it will be fine.

View attachment 4570696

I was just reading the Sandberg thread and saw your post about being dissatisfied with the B string. Everything I've ever heard about Lakland B strings (I play fours) suggests you're upgrading big time in that department.

 

[Holdsg]

I could definitely see using the foam wedge with a Scheff (my preference, not everyone's)

 

[Ric Vice]

Thanks for all the responses. It sounds like a 55-02 would be a great fit. At last night's rehearsal we had a couple songs in Eb and I was wishing for the five string already, and I found myself unconsciously moving my right hand towards the neck more often than not to warm up the sound of the Stingray.

I'm officially on the hunt for a fretless 55-02 - if anyone is looking to sell, HMU.

It took me a long while to find one on the used market in 2017, I finally got one of Reverb, the seller got his from the Atlanta Bass Gallery. There are also Lakland Shorlines built by ESP to Lakland specs in Japan. From all that I can gather
they are nice instruments. Just understand that in the U.S. and Indonesia they probably only build one or two lined fretless basses out of every 10 basses they sell. So, the markets much smaller, especially for used ones. Just my take of course.

 

[Jari Kurri]

It took me a long while to find one on the used market in 2017, I finally got one of Reverb, the seller got his from the Atlanta Bass Gallery. There are also Lakland Shorlines built by ESP to Lakland specs in Japan. From all that I can gather
they are nice instruments. Just understand that in the U.S. and Indonesia they probably only build one or two lined fretless basses out of every 10 basses they sell. So, the markets much smaller, especially for used ones. Just my take of course.

I figure, and I like my Ray34 so I can be patient. I was at GC this afternoon and played a Stingray 5, which only confirmed that I'd rather have something that was wider at the nut and more versatile sounding.

 

[soundsupport1]

It took me a long while to find one on the used market in 2017, I finally got one of Reverb, the seller got his from the Atlanta Bass Gallery. There are also Lakland Shorlines built by ESP to Lakland specs in Japan. From all that I can gather
they are nice instruments. Just understand that in the U.S. and Indonesia they probably only build one or two lined fretless basses out of every 10 basses they sell. So, the markets much smaller, especially for used ones. Just my take of course.

I think the number of fretless skylines is considerably lower than that.
Because the distributor messed up my order, and I had to go to Lakland direct, I know for a fact that the body on my 55-02 is from the first quarter of 2019.
The serial number on the neck lists it as March 2018, however. Which means Lakland used a fretless neck available in the shop. That means that between March 2018 and January 2019 there were at least two production runs with potentially no fretless 5 strings ordered at all.

Good luck finding a fretless Skyline used! They are out there, but since they tend to be a special order, people don't tend to flip them so much.

Peace,
SoundSupport

 

[basspraiser]

Thanks for all the responses. It sounds like a 55-02 would be a great fit. At last night's rehearsal we had a couple songs in Eb and I was wishing for the five string already, and I found myself unconsciously moving my right hand towards the neck more often than not to warm up the sound of the Stingray.

I'm officially on the hunt for a fretless 55-02 - if anyone is looking to sell, HMU.

The " flat " key songs are the main reason I went to fivers ..

 

[basspraiser]

I figure, and I like my Ray34 so I can be patient. I was at GC this afternoon and played a Stingray 5, which only confirmed that I'd rather have something that was wider at the nut and more versatile sounding.

Your can buy any 55-02 and then have Lakland put on a fretless neck.... But it might be less expensive to just order one new....

Email [email protected]

He can assist!!!

 

[flashgod]

Standard neck of a 44-64 Skyline CAR