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NB lakland 55-01 MTD kingston heir or ???????

johnnybass01

johnnybass01

Sep 3, 2010
892
57
Sparks NV
Disclosures
Edorsing artist: Brubaker Guitars
#1
well I am getting ready to take the plunge on a new bass and have narrowed it down to a small selection.
Lakland 55-01 limited edition (trans Blue) 35" scale
MTD kingston heir 35" scale

The main thing I am looking for is number 1 a maple fingerboard(i live in northern nevada) and although I do like rosewood they just don"t hold up in this climate .it is to dry and rosewood shrinks.
The second most important thing is that I don't want to have to upgrade electronics( i want it great without dropping 400.00 on pickups and preamp)
I guess this should have been the most important thing ( A TRULY FOCUSED B STRING) I DON'T WANT A B STRING THUMBREST!!

typically my favorite bass's over time have all had an ash body and maple on maple necks.
And although I do have a brubaker brute right now with bartolini's pickups and preamp , the playability is great there is just something I don't like about it. when played acousticaly it just sounds hollow, and this comes through amplified as well.This could just be the nato wood used or who knows.
Another thing to mention is that I like wide fairly thin necks and for me 35" scale could help me In my quest.
right now my brute has a balanced 142. set of circle k strings so the b is pretty solid.
 
#3
The MTD Kingston Heir 5 is a fine instrument. I had one in sunburst with the maple fretboard. Great workmanship, great tone, and well-balanced. Unfortunately, I just couldn’t get accustomed to the Heir’s 35" scale, and reluctantly ended up selling it, going back to 34" scale fivers.
 
#4
GobBass said:
I'd recommend a G&L L2500. You can get the maple fretboard and from the one I tried it seemed to have a very responsive B string.
Click to expand...

G&L is not a 35" scale.

I'd probably go for the Kingston Heir as well. Drop some SGD pickups in that baby and you're ready to rock! An SGD MM Neo humbucker would kill in that bass.

johnnybass, tell me more about your Brute. I have one as well. Do you have the MM or JJ version? I have the JJ, and upgraded to Barts, then converted it to the MM version with SGD pickups. What a HUGE difference that made. With the Barts, the B string was rather useless, but with the SGD's the B string now rivals my $2400 35" Spector. That's partly better pickups and partly going to the MM at the bridge.
 
#5
I have an heir. It's a 4, but my point is that I do not like the stock electronics. You stated you were not looking to spend $400 on an upgraded electronics set. That was exactly what I did. I couldn't be more pleased with it now, but the stock wiring produces that woody sound which I just don't like. If you're not looking to swap guts I don't think the heir is the way to go. Though they are built very well (it's still Mike's name on them) and the right guts swap can give you a fantastic bass.
 
#7
What's more important, the neck or the B? I've owned both a Kingston Heir 5, and a Lakland 55-02. Lakland is a better B string, but I love the MTD necks. Saying that, I would go MTD. It's a great instrument, and if you did decide to upgrade electronics down the road, you're at a great starting point. I would like to get another MTD when the cash comes up.
 
#8
on my brute I went with the bartolini ntmb5.4 with active/passive push pull volume, and if I remember right the pickups are the 59j1 bartolini jazz set.
As for the g&l I have played those and If I remember right the spacing was a little tight. I did have an earlier mtd the one that came out years ago and had that upside down shark fin looking pickguard, and I can't remember why I moved on from that one either. I did swap the pickup in that one and added a preamp, so maybe it was the woody tone of it , it's been a while. I do remember loving the neck though.
 
#10
johnnybass01 said:
on my brute I went with the bartolini ntmb5.4 with active/passive push pull volume, and if I remember right the pickups are the 59j1 bartolini jazz set.
Click to expand...

That's exactly the pickups I had in mine. Converting it to the MM config made a night/day difference! That might be all you need. Like I said, I prefer SGD pickups, but Bart makes a drop-in MM pickup for the Brute that will mate well with your neck pickup and your preamp. BestBassGear has it for $105. A new pickguard is $69 from Kevin's distributor, or Kevin will make you a sweet one from wood for $250. They are nice, but I couldn't justify the cost of one of Kevin's custom guards :)
 
#11
i might just wait for the next shipments of brubaker brutes and get a mjx5, i hear the new electronics are much better than the first one , so at least if I decide to swap pickups it will be further down the road
 
#12
I just recently picked up an MTD Kingston Saratoga 5 string...passive electronics, 34" scale with a killer B string and that comfy MTD neck profile. The bass has the Buzz Feiten tuning system, excellent fretwork and dead quiet pickups. I have an MXR M80 preamp / DI pedal which I use with the bass so I'm not missing out on the "active" frequency boosting capabilities.

These basses are amazing quality for the money. I played a G&L Tribute 5 string and it was great, but the B string on this Saratoga blows it away, hands down.
 
#13
johnnybass01 said:
well I am getting ready to take the plunge on a new bass and have narrowed it down to a small selection.
Lakland 55-01 limited edition (trans Blue) 35" scale
MTD kingston heir 35" scale

The main thing I am looking for is number 1 a maple fingerboard(i live in northern nevada) and although I do like rosewood they just don"t hold up in this climate .it is to dry and rosewood shrinks.
The second most important thing is that I don't want to have to upgrade electronics( i want it great without dropping 400.00 on pickups and preamp)
I guess this should have been the most important thing ( A TRULY FOCUSED B STRING) I DON'T WANT A B STRING THUMBREST!!

typically my favorite bass's over time have all had an ash body and maple on maple necks.
And although I do have a brubaker brute right now with bartolini's pickups and preamp , the playability is great there is just something I don't like about it. when played acousticaly it just sounds hollow, and this comes through amplified as well.This could just be the nato wood used or who knows.
Another thing to mention is that I like wide fairly thin necks and for me 35" scale could help me In my quest.
right now my brute has a balanced 142. set of circle k strings so the b is pretty solid.
Click to expand...

Hey Johnny a Lakland 55-02 could be a good option no need to upgrade the electronics the LH3 pre and lakland pubs sound great. And the body is ash and they have plenty of maple fingerboard models. Or you can go with the MTD KZ models amazing basses for the price. They have a couple of colors to choose from. They come standard with burl tops and wooden pickup covers I played one at a gig last month and people were telling me how great the bass looked and sounded there pubs sound great stock with the maple board. The one i played that my friend lowned me had the natural burl top, gloss finish,maple board, with a mohagany body and it felt awesome. The B string was very tight and focused. Check both out you can't go wrong with ether models.
 
#14
Unfortunately my main bass Brubaker Brute, was stolen recently when I was gigging in Utah, and fortunately I found a fellow TBer that had a modified one for sale so I jumped on it. I did get reimberced through my insurance so I think I will just wait for the release of the new Brute singlecut sometime this spring . I just love the necks on these bass's so much (flat,thin) and so easy to play and with a set of balance circle k strings they just play like butter.and for a 34" scale bass it has the best b string I have played.
 
#15
west*coast*bass said:
I just recently picked up an MTD Kingston Saratoga 5 string...passive electronics, 34" scale with a killer B string and that comfy MTD neck profile. The bass has the Buzz Feiten tuning system, excellent fretwork and dead quiet pickups. I have an MXR M80 preamp / DI pedal which I use with the bass so I'm not missing out on the "active" frequency boosting capabilities.

These basses are amazing quality for the money. I played a G&L Tribute 5 string and it was great, but the B string on this Saratoga blows it away, hands down.
Click to expand...

+1. I've goofed with west*coast*bass's Kingston and it is solid. Super light also.

55-01's are great basses, and many people don't feel the need to swap the factory electronics.

Unless you are absolutely sold on 35", you might consider a Carvin SB5000 (or B25). No upgrades needed and in my experience they play closer to a US Lakland than to a Skyline, and their B strings are every bit as good as any of the Laklands I owned. They are unbelievably good basses.
 
#16
I have a older 35" scale MTD Kingston (passive MM-style pup), and a 55-01 Delux dating from 2002 or so.

They are both great, but I have to say the Lakland neck has never needed even a truss rod tweak, but the MTD went to Sky Guitars in Denton, TX to have the neck heat-treated/straightened (worked great, Erik at Sky is brilliant).

While obviously the passive Kingston with MM-style pickups is a very different sounding animal than the Lakland, I love them both because each one does what the other doesn't do.

If I were picking just one, it would be the Lakland 55-01. The fit, finish, fretwork, hardware, range of tones, and wood quality blow the MTD away, IMHO. :D
 

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