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Lakland vs Sadowsky
- Thread starter wujuu
- Start date
Fretless5verfan said:Uhh...you care to elaborate on how they're better?lol.
Start with the nut end of the fingerboard. On the skylines you'll see a margainally cut piece of plastic surrounded by sanding marks and unfinshed wood on the headstock side, with an uneven end on the headstock finish. On the EBMM you'll see the proprietary compensated nut seated and cut nicely with expert finishing on both sides. Its a nit, but thats what we're talking about, right? All of these basses are good.
The fretwork on the EBMM is better ... after having to have a second hand skyline refretted I'd never buy another used one (you can maybe get one fret job on those flattened little frets before there isn't any material left to work with) ... the finish looks better, and on the basses I had the EBMMs had better acoustic tone ... the neck is stiffer and more solid feeling on the EBMM ... the fingerboard is a beautifully thick piece of dark rosewood.
You just won't be able to find faults in the EBMM craftsmanship, where you'll find a few on the lakland. I LIKE skylines, I reallly do, but the EBMM is a more polished product.
pickles said:
IMO, you need to add an IME on the end of that.
My old skyline's neck, finish, and fretwork were every bit as good and solid as any EBMM i've ever played. Same goes for the three other skylines i've had a chance to play. And i never had a reason to examine the nut that closely to notice what you're talking about. Why do you look at nuts so much?
wujuu said:
Lakland Jazz-style basses are great if you like passive, single coil. I liked the Sad MV/RV enough to consider one, but ended up getting a Daryl Jones instead. The Sad build quality is a little better (IMO), but in order to get a passive VVT setup and single coils, the add'l expense put it well out of my price range.
Fretless5verfan said:IMO, you need to add an IME on the end of that.
My old skyline's neck, finish, and fretwork were every bit as good and solid as any EBMM i've ever played. Same goes for the three other skylines i've had a chance to play. And i never had a reason to examine the nut that closely to notice what you're talking about. Why do you look at nuts so much?
OK. IME/IMHO/YMMV on everything. Thats assumed when it comes to the internet IME. Its based on one bass, but thats the way I judge things. If they let one out like that ... then thats the benchmark for the brand. I've never played a bad EBMM, some have dead spots, but the same is true for ANY of these brands.
I really liked that bass (a DJ5 I had), but the build quality was not on par with EBMM.
A good player could make a career on ANY of these, but if somebody's going to slag EBMM I'll be right there to stick up for the best production bass made.
As for the nuts ... for $1300 it had better be nice!
But really I just see that as an indication of a lower attention to detail.
Its funny, but if you preface a sentence with "IMHO" you can get away with anything, like:"IMHO, Kia makes a better sportscar than BMW."
or
"IMHO, waffle house makes a better steak than Ruth's Criss"
I was with a very rhythmic drummer one night at waffle house after a gig, and he actually ordered the steak. The waitress came over to ask how the food was and he told her the steak was ashy, so she offered to bring over some lotion. True story.
I was never really impressed by EBMM's when I played them in guitar shops(guitar center). They were always poorly setup, out of tune, and had dead strings with bad knobs. Now, I knew they felt bad because they were in bad condition, but still never really understood why there was so much hoo-hah about them. Then, on a trip to Tennessee, my friends and I visited a proper music store. They had a large selection of Stingrays that were set-up and taken care of. Wow. I was extremely impressed. A properly set-up Stingray is an extremely high quality bass, and at about $1000, like somebody said: "I really do think that for what they are EBMM basses are 10 out of 10 ... it could not be done better."
wujuu said:Anybody wanna take up the alder/ash body in the mix question? And, why don't we throw Mike Lull Basses into this discussion?They are pretty similar to Sad/Lak.
Also the 34/35 inch scale, maple vs. rosewood fretboards (what about ebony?), laquer versus poly finishes, etc
To me the 34 v 35 inch scale doesn't really make much of a difference. Yea it takes some getting used to, but no big deal. With regard to the low-B, if it sounds good it sounds good. There are plenty of GREAT low-B's on a 34 inch scale.
Rosewood vs Maple vs Ebony - there are some differences in tone and feel, but...I really don't think its enough to really be a big issue. For me its mostly cosmetic. As for body woods, that I'm not too sure about. That's why I asked about it
Rosewood vs Maple vs Ebony - there are some differences in tone and feel, but...I really don't think its enough to really be a big issue. For me its mostly cosmetic. As for body woods, that I'm not too sure about. That's why I asked about it
I have both a Lakland DJ5 and an EBMM Bongo.
Both great basses, both very well constructed, both terrific value at their price points. If I had to give one an edge in terms of quality, though, it would be the Lakland. It just has a more resonant acoustic tone and better feel on the fretboard and neck. The Bongo doesn't have as nice a feel on the B string, either, though it is thunderous. IMHO.
Either one is a terrific bass, and I'm keeping them.
Both great basses, both very well constructed, both terrific value at their price points. If I had to give one an edge in terms of quality, though, it would be the Lakland. It just has a more resonant acoustic tone and better feel on the fretboard and neck. The Bongo doesn't have as nice a feel on the B string, either, though it is thunderous. IMHO.
Either one is a terrific bass, and I'm keeping them.
wujuu said:
If you replace the words "EBMM" and "Stingray" with "Fender" and "Jazz bass" you get the same story of how I came to like Fender's.. It's all in the display's condition! I've said it before, and I'll say it again!
I've played mainly alder bodied Fenders and Warmoth basses. I love the sound of alder. My first ash-bodied bass was an EB/MM Sterling, and IMO the Sterling sounds great, as does the EB/MM SR-5.wujuu said:
I had heard many times that alder has more of a "mid-hump" whereas ash has more of a "dip" in the mids, but IME I can't say I've found this to be so much of an issue. Perhaps the EB/MM's pickup and preamp compensate for this, I really don't know. All I can say is that IME/IMO there's more involved in a bass' overall tone than just it's body wood(s).
wujuu said:And, why don't we throw Mike Lull Basses into this discussion?
Lull
, now I can contribute to this thread . I haven't played a Sadowsky yet, but I've played a Lakland 55-94 that was one of the (IMO/IME) best basses I've played. Killer B-string, tone, fretwork, fit and finish, etc, etc. I've also played a US-made 4-94 that was as equally impressive. IMHO my Lull M5V compares favorably to the US-made Lakland's in materials, fretwork, fit, finish, etc, etc. Although their sounds are very different. IMO the 55-94 and 4-94 have a sound that's all their own, and it's a fantastic sound at that.
IMO my Lull is a Hot Rodded Fender-inspired bass. To me, it sounds very similar to the best Fender Jazz basses that I've owned. -YMMV
If I've failed to put in all the appropriate "IMHO's", "IMO's", and "IME's", please see below.
-Art
king_biscuit said:
I'm new to this topic but personally, yes I do think Sadowsky or Lakland US basses are much better made than MM's.
But can a mass produced bass be as close to perfection as a hand made one ? Probably not. And there are some bothering details on MM's, such as random body woods or battery compartment whose door is hard to open and may break quickly.
Though, except in Europe where an SR5 is now at the same price as a Metro, MM's are very good basses at a reasonable price.
