Lakland Owners Group #69

[Black Bart]

Okay, I'm officially confused, as if any of you thought otherwise

Which one is the 'real' Tetsuya?

Edwards (Made by ESP)

Lakland

 

[darrenmt]

2nd one is the real McCoy.

 

[Black Bart]

I did a little more digging. The Edwards above is from the GrassRoots line (budget). From what I can gather Invalid Link Removed there is the Lakland Japan version, Lakland Japan Shoreline Series version and the ESP Edwards GrassRoots version of this bass.

 

[birdman14]

I did a little more digging. The Edwards above is from the GrassRoots line (budget). From what I can gather Invalid Link Removed there is the Lakland Japan version, Lakland Japan Shoreline Series version and the ESP Edwards GrassRoots version of this bass.

There is even more than that! On his artist page Invalid Link Removed , there is both an ESP and an Edwards bass. so 4 different models?

 

[lomo]

So the brown truck brought me a huge smile (= sh*t-eating grin) today. All I can say is that although it may have eluded Mick and Keith, I have found satisfaction. She is very light at just under 8 lbs but does not dive on a strap, and on the knee it's a no-brainer to keep her in position with my right forearm. The finish is far nicer in person. It's matte, per request, and the shiny aluminum knobs and chrome/aluminum pups and other hardware really contrast beautifully. Forget the pickguard for sure. At the moment I have only my crappy Acoustic 20 watt 112 combo to play her through, but the body is nicely resonant unplugged. Through this amp, with limited eq, the alumitones sound deep and need some goosing of mids. I am eager to play it through a real rig in a band setting before deciding whether to leave it passive or add a pre. Regardless, Crush is here to stay! The experiment was such a satisfying success that if I can find another light Skyline 55 or DJ5 I just might try another variant (or deviant, as the case may be). Justin (TBer ModulusAcacia of Justin Kennedy Guitars in Ohio) did a spankin' job of routing for the new pups (and taking as much extra wood as possible in the process) and assembling/setting up the final product and was a pleasure to deal with. I highly recommend him.
Happy thumpin' to all in Lakland and on TB.....sorry about the dizzy pics-can they be rotated after uploading?

 

[honeyiscool]

Okay, I'm officially confused, as if any of you thought otherwise

Which one is the 'real' Tetsuya?

It depends on what you mean by "real." He's played Edwards/ESP most of his career, switching models every few years, but the one constant has been that he always played Zon and even today, he'll always rock a Zon Legacy Elite for part of every set. His Lakland is a signature model that basically looks identical to the Edwards and has only been around for maybe a couple of years. And it also has ESP electronics, doesn't it?

But I think they're all "real" Tetsuya basses because he helped design and put his name on all of them. One could argue (and be right) that the Lakland US model is the most evolved version of his signature bass, but clearly the others are similar to it. But if you want the whole shebang and the most flamboyant Tetsu bass possible, you've got to get the Lakland US version with the illuminated dots.

Part of me questions that there's an ulterior motive for the move from ESP to Lakland, though. Ken, the guitarist in the band, made a similar move from playing Fernandes guitars all throughout his career to switching to Fender a couple of years ago. And like Tetsu, Ken's Fender is almost identical to his signature Fernandes, with pretty much the identical (and very distinctive) color scheme, except the headstock says Fender. And this is right around when they engaged on a truly world tour w/ sold out show in Madison Square Garden and releasing two of their singles in English, which is something they never really did all that often as a band. I think they might have switched to American instruments to get them more visibility in America and elsewhere.

Nothing wrong with that, of course, but I doubt that you're sacrificing any quality by getting an Edwards Tetsuya model. They were good enough for him four years ago when they were one of the biggest bands in Japan. They're probably good enough for you now.

 

[Black Bart]

Thanks, I wasn't familiar with the history, so this clears things up. I just saw two basses that looked similar and was wondering what the story was.

 

[diglo]

The 5502 was crazy nice tonight!

 

[sandwich5027]

Ok guys, interesting but good ending to my Lakland USA purchase/experience. I order a 44-51 Sea foam back on Feb 1st and Leo calls me to say it's almost ready. Then, he calls again to say the paint job has a chip on the back and it's my choice to have it redone or accept a nice deduction of my second payment. I said to myself, that sucks, but hey Lakland gave me 2 good options and I didn't want to wait another 3 months for refin. I then get another call from Leo saying John the owner won't release the bass because the paint job and body just isn't cutting it in his eyes. So now I'm like, ok, weird but I get it.....Leo says hey man, I'm sorry about all this crap, but The body/paint wasn't good enough for release, so I can either have it redone or see if you want another style. So now I'm bummed at this point. I call Leo and say I would like to just change order to a 44-64 if they have one and I don't care what color it is...I just want a Lakland P!!!!! So, I pick out a shoreline Gold 44-64 and Leo says he would hook me up with little extras for all the pain in the ass stuff I dealt with.......Guess what! Leo calls and says man, you're never going to believe this but the guy who installed the bridge chipped the paint and made little indentations under the bridge......NOW I'M LIKE *** MAN....So Leo apologizes like 100 times and I'm cool.....I said maybe it aint meant to be then.....My lakland experience I mean....Leo tells me John, I'll give you an excellent refund on the bass ( I had just paid it off Thursday) or he'll throw in a Skyline bass of my choice(Holy poopie) or a refin....Well I was mad, sad and confused but I realized Lakland was doing everything they could to keep me happy....I told Leo, listen man I can't take another free bass just because my order has been a screw up....But I will take the refund...sure why not....I paid a lot of money for a mint P bass it should be mint...But a Skyline was just too nice of a gesture. Anyway, Lakland, Leo and Brian have been so nice and cool with this whole process and wanted to say thanks, even though things got hairy, they came through and did the right thing! Bass will be here Wednesday!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[boristhespider9]

Stuff happens (in your case multiple times), but they were clearly bending over backwards for you despite the series of problems. Sometimes, all you can do is laugh.

It's good that they are keeping their standards high -- it's just too bad it happened to you. I can tell you that they are very careful about chipping the paint on USA Laklands and are rightfully hesitant about letting anyone touch completed basses at the shop in the rack ready for shipment for that reason.

 

[overbybr]

Sheesh...that blows!

I would expect nothing but the best treatment from Lakland, though. So you got a healthy refund AND a skyline?

 

[sandwich5027]

No I had a choice of a refin, Skyline or portioned refund. I took the refund since I accepted the bass as is. I couldn't take the free bass regardless. I was like wow, they really want to make this right.

 

[boristhespider9]

You'd probably ding the paint yourself anyway, so think of it as having preexisting character. If it was a Fender, they'd call it a "relic" and charge you extra!

 

[sandwich5027]

Haha! That's exactly what I told Leo......Fenders silly pre damage...so odd.

 

[sandwich5027]

I wanted to send an email to John, saying thanks for helping me and I understand they are busy and I'm just one guy, but they made me feel special.....I can't find his info on Lakland site. Actually i'll write a letter...

 

[Holdsg]

Whoa, major Dude wave on the LOG, He's back.

 

[diglo]

Thinking about a skyline JO5 & BG5. The ones that own either, do you have an issue with the 35" scale compared to 34" J or P bass?

 

[Holdsg]

To me, the stretch differences are manageable and become second nature after about 4 hours of play/practice.

Then again, I am still getting used to a 41" scale upright, so the difference between 34 and 35 pales in comparison.

 

[basspraiser]

Mods are complete (Wilkins refin in Cleveland Browns orange, Lace alumitones/passive) and "Clementine" should be on her way to me tomorrow from TBer ModulusAcacia's shop in Ohio. I also ordered a tort 'guard I can install later...but at 1st glance I'm liking it without. I am eager to find out her weight. She was under 9 before removing the pre and subbing the much lighter alumitones for the stock Barts.......awaiting the brown truck.....View attachment 461493

That is way too cool sir! What are the pickups? No guard!

 

[basspraiser]

View attachment 454069

Someone is trying to buy this from me D: ...it might happen.

Really? That is a cool bass Lee....what would you replace it with?

PS....could use another coffee shipment....may have to "convo " you [emoji6]