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Got my 55-14 back from a Pat Wilkins refinish. Flawless as expected. My luthier put it back together and it plays like butter and sounds glorious. The alder body with the DR Hi-Beams has a sweet grind and growl especially with the rear coil tapped. This is a lifer bass for me. I didn’t want the gig to end last night. Notes just jumped off the fretboard.
@CElton - beauty - Pat does such great work. I confess that when I was looking at your photo I was confused as to whether I was in the Lakland or the Bergantino thread - noyce!
I have a 55-94 from 1999 - silly question, but where do I find the serial number?
I got it from Elderly about 15 years ago and they had the SN. It was like new, and it still is since I never play it. Now I'm thinking of letting it go and the SN would be good to locate.
An impression into the wood along the edge of the headstock, directly above the B string tuner post.
Anytime! Congrats on having a pre-darkBart 55-94! I'm a big fan! I've had several, and several 55-02s with the darker sounding Bart guts.
ptidwell
Commercial User
So, I joined the Lakland family in 2020 during the Covid shutdown. I picked up a new 55-02 and fell in love with it. I dropped a John East UniPre in it and could not put it down. Unfortunately, it weighed 10pounds 14 oz. Too much for my 3x surgically repaired back, so I moved it along and went on a quest for a 55-94 with Barts. Let me go on record to say I am a big Bartolini fan. I found a 2016 55-94 weighing 8.2 but it had the Hanson electronics. Also found a 55-02 @ 8.8 pounds with the LH3 (backup). I dropped a Bartolini J pickup (59CBJD-S1) and a Bartolini MM pickup (DL5CBC) in the 55-94 along with another John East UniPre I love sweepable mids and an active/passive tone control, I am very happy with this setup. But here is my question, you mentioned "pre-dark Barts", how many iterations of pickup/preamp did Lakland use over the years leading up to the change to LH3 Hansen electronics. Finally, speaking with the folks at Bartolini the "original" pickups were discontinued for the ones I bought. However, your comment suggests that they changed Bartolini pickups at some point during the production years. I thought it would be good to know in the event that I run across an earlier model.
I have the original Barts in my 1998 44-94. They are very articulate but are not very hot output, almost have the same volume as some of my passive basses. That's all I can say to this lol
Not-sure about the pre-dark though.
Not-sure about the pre-dark though.
ptidwell
Commercial User
Thanks, that answers my iteration question. However, that needs to be updated. They list the DL52CBJD3 and 59CBJD-LN3. After extensive conversations with Bartolini and a request for those specific part numbers, Bartolini said the current part numbers are DL5CBC and 59CBJD-S1
This confuses me. The Bartolini site says the older Barts were used until June of ‘97. I’ve not owned a 55-94 from ‘97 or earlier. All of mine were ‘98-2000. And, they weren’t what I would call dark, and sounded better than the 55-02s that were known to have the 2nd type “dark” Barts. Years ago, all us Lākland addicts all assumed the change to the 2nd Bart set was around the year 2000 or later.
