I thought some of you might like to see this. Among other things, I changed the bridge on a Lakland.
I bought a (used) Lakland 55-01 that is great as it is. As with any bass that I own I gave it a fret level, even though it really didn't need it.
I don't like wide string spacing on five string basses so I changed the bridge. I chose an ETS/Maruszczyk bridge that I had lying around. The spacing on it is adjustable, I chose 17,5mm. I don't really like how the Lakland bridge looks, for my taste it's too big and feminine so the new bridge is a visual improvement for me aswell.
The stock MK-1 pickups sound great IMO. But, I had an old set of Bartolini dual coil pickups lying around so I thought I might as well drop them in. There is a big difference in sound which makes sense because the MK-1 pickups aren't dual coils. IMO both pickups sound great for this bass and I would choose based on the style of sound I'd want. MK-1 for a polite modern sound, Bartolini's for the typical dual coil growl.
Lastly, I made a radiused playing ramp between the pickups. I love ramps on multi-string basses so this bass got one. Nothing special, just a soft textured wood (red cedar) that I shaped and painted black.
It's a great bass! The preamp isn't very good but I can get a great basic sound from it. I also like the light colored maple. All my other maple fingerboards have an amber/yellow tint so this is a nice change. The bass plays and sounds great, very happy with it.
I bought a (used) Lakland 55-01 that is great as it is. As with any bass that I own I gave it a fret level, even though it really didn't need it.
I don't like wide string spacing on five string basses so I changed the bridge. I chose an ETS/Maruszczyk bridge that I had lying around. The spacing on it is adjustable, I chose 17,5mm. I don't really like how the Lakland bridge looks, for my taste it's too big and feminine so the new bridge is a visual improvement for me aswell.
The stock MK-1 pickups sound great IMO. But, I had an old set of Bartolini dual coil pickups lying around so I thought I might as well drop them in. There is a big difference in sound which makes sense because the MK-1 pickups aren't dual coils. IMO both pickups sound great for this bass and I would choose based on the style of sound I'd want. MK-1 for a polite modern sound, Bartolini's for the typical dual coil growl.
Lastly, I made a radiused playing ramp between the pickups. I love ramps on multi-string basses so this bass got one. Nothing special, just a soft textured wood (red cedar) that I shaped and painted black.
It's a great bass! The preamp isn't very good but I can get a great basic sound from it. I also like the light colored maple. All my other maple fingerboards have an amber/yellow tint so this is a nice change. The bass plays and sounds great, very happy with it.
