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Let's see those Green basses!

#41
My US Lakland Decade

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#47
sneha1965 said:
I always wondered who ended up with the slick Seafoam Green Mike Lull P5 from Blueberry Hill Bass. Long before anyone catch on to making P5's, Mike was putting them out. I popped on the Lake Placid Blue one but had your's been available I would have scooped it up instead. Nice score.

How do you like the Lakand BG? I've been thinking of picking up one of those too.
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I was kicking tires thinking about a new bass and had been hearing and reading good things about Mike Lull's basses so I wanted to try one but not at new prices! Since there are no dealers even remotely close to me, I think the nearest dealer is about a 9 hour drive so I found that one here on TB, I was really looking for a 4 stringer. Either way, that is a lot of money to spend on curiosity! So I figured if I didn't like it I could always sell it and get my money back.

There was a wonderful lady that was selling her husband's basses, he had passed away so she was liquidating his estate. That was the last bass she had, I didn't have the money at the exact moment in time to buy it. She was/is so cool and let me put a few bucks down which gave me a couple of weeks to get the cash together. It is such a great bass, I have had a few 5 string basses but am not much of a 5 string player. This one is staying here, I love this bass so much I sold off all of my other 5'ers.

Now on to the question at hand, the USA Lakland...it is a pre-Hanson model Duck Dunn though not a Bob Glaub, the main difference is the 1.5" Jazz neck profile, matching headstock, bound neck and block inlays. It is a great bass, I like my Sherwood Green Lull UV4 more, it has a 1.5" Jazz neck as well...there are several reasons I prefer the Lull over the Lakland.

1. It is lighter 7.2 lbs vs 8.5 lbs on the DD
2. The Lull has a richer tone
3. The QC on the Lull is better
4. The build time was literally 1/4 the time as Lakland. The DD showed up on my doorstep exactly 1 day shy of a year, from the day it was ordered! The Lull took a little over 3 months.
5. For the average consumer the Lull is about $1,000 less. I have a buddy that was a Lakland dealer, cost plus 10%.

Now, none of this is to say the Lakland is a bad bass by any means, it is a great bass, I just like the Lull a little more. when you A/B them they are fairly similar...the Lull just has a bit more bottom end. I think that may be attributed to the swamp ash over the alder? Also, having 3 herniated disks in my neck the Lull is easier for me to play for extended periods of time.

Sorry for the novel, I just wanted to be as detailed as possible. :smug:
 
#50
deedub72 said:
I was kicking tires thinking about a new bass.....
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Thanks for the breakdown on both instruments. I don't mind at all hearing all about them. I though perhaps you might be the original owner. I'm pretty sure this bass was purchased from Blueberry Hill Bass due to the color combination w/ maple neck and reverse P pickup. Here's a link to what I believe may be your bass:
Sold Basses Gallery

I'm sure you picked it up for a good price considering they go for about $1500 used. I also thought your Duck Dunn might have been one of the skyline versions but it sounds like there's a big difference in the weight. Both nice basses.

I love my Mike Lull P5 as well and will not be parting with it any time soon. I agree about the full bottom end on these. Mine has a custom wound Duncan pickup so maybe that has made the difference. Perhaps yours has one as well? :)
 
#52
sneha1965 said:
Thanks for the breakdown on both instruments. I don't mind at all hearing all about them. I though perhaps you might be the original owner. I'm pretty sure this bass was purchased from Blueberry Hill Bass due to the color combination w/ maple neck and reverse P pickup. Here's a link to what I believe may be your bass:
Sold Basses Gallery

I'm sure you picked it up for a good price considering they go for about $1500 used. I also thought your Duck Dunn might have been one of the skyline versions but it sounds like there's a big difference in the weight. Both nice basses.

I love my Mike Lull P5 as well and will not be parting with it any time soon. I agree about the full bottom end on these. Mine has a custom wound Duncan pickup so maybe that has made the difference. Perhaps yours has one as well? :)
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I am almost ashamed to admit this, I never noticed the P pickup was reversed!!! :rollno:

When you mentioned it I went back and looked, I'll be damned it is! I have had this bass for about a year or so and have NEVER noticed it...

About the Dunn, I was really pissed at Lakland for the limited edition run of Skylines in Teal Green Metallic, one of the main reasons I ordered it in that color was to have something different than the CAR Skyline...I hope this doesn't depreciate the value of my USA Lakland.
 
#53
I would find that a little disappointing too however, I bet the workmanship is much better on the US than the Skyline. Plus 7.2 lbs is hard to beat for resell value and opposed to a 9+ lbs you see on most of the Skyline DD's.

An interesting thing Mike Lull does with his P5's is to place the pickups so that the side of the PU with 3 pole pieces are set for the G, D, and A strings as opposed to setting them for the B, E, and A. When I received my P5, I flipped the pickup so that the 3 pole side of the PU covered the B, E, and A so as to represent the pole positioning of a 4 sting E and A strings. Not sure if that would matter to you but if you flipped your PU so the the 3 pole side covered the B, E, and A, it would match the pole positioning of a reverse P 4 string.
 
#55
sneha1965 said:
I would find that a little disappointing too however, I bet the workmanship is much better on the US than the Skyline. Plus 7.2 lbs is hard to beat for resell value and opposed to a 9+ lbs you see on most of the Skyline DD's.

An interesting thing Mike Lull does with his P5's is to place the pickups so that the side of the PU with 3 pole pieces are set for the G, D, and A strings as opposed to setting them for the B, E, and A. When I received my P5, I flipped the pickup so that the 3 pole side of the PU covered the B, E, and A so as to represent the pole positioning of a 4 sting E and A strings. Not sure if that would matter to you but if you flipped your PU so the the 3 pole side covered the B, E, and A, it would match the pole positioning of a reverse P 4 string.
Click to expand...

The build quality is much better, I had a couple of Skylines 5 strings and a couple of Duck Dunns. I was told by a friend that the USA Lakland was not twice the bass for twice the money, I can say right here right now...that is NOT true.

The Lull is the bass that weighs 7.2 the Lakland is about 8.5, but still less than the Skyline DDs I had, they were close to 10 lbs each. I will say that the Skyline series prior to Hanson is a better built bass than most USA Fender basses that are coming out. I also have a CAR Lakland Joe Osborn that belonged to Howie Epstein from Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, it is one of the first 100 Osborns made in 1998 and has the Joe Osborn name on the headstock. that is a really nice Jazz style bass. Again, for the money I am going to stick with Lull basses from here on out.
 
#59
VitalSigns said:
So is it just m or do alot of these basses look blue... :/
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Green is half blue. The "surf green" and some similar colors show the bluish tone a lot more.

Man, this thread kills me. I'm GASsing so badly for a trans green bass, I go browsing for them and don't even care what it plays or sounds like, I just crave a green bass! What's wrong with me?
 
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