New (to me) Lakland US Joe Osborn 4

Well, after a few weeks of waiting for Royal Mail to get their incompetant shipping and customs procedures out of the way, I finally received my new (to me) Lakland Joe Osborn 4. Its an absolutely sweet natural ash with birdseye maple fingerboard. Its been modded by Mike Lull with Nordstrand NJ4SE's and an Aguilar Obp-1 with a passive tone control. Here are the full specs:

Model: U.S. Lakland Joe Osborn 4 String (est. 2005 build date)
Serial Number: JO335
Case: Hardshell Included (original crème G&G case in excellent condition)
Made In: Chicago, IL USA

Construction:
Neck: Quarter-Sawn Rock Maple with Graphite Reinforcement Bars
Fingerboard: Birdseye Maple with Ebony dots
Body: Swap Ash with black pickguard
Finish: Natural (nice grain!)
Nut: Bone

Dimensions:
Nut Width: 1.5" 1.8"
Fret Size: .041/.085"
Width at Final Fret: 2.48"
1st Fret Neck Depth: .77"
12th Fret Neck Depth: .94"
Fingerboard Radius 10"
Scale Length 34"
Frets: 20
Bridge String Spacing: .78"
Weight: 8.8 lbs.

Electronics:
Pickups: Nordstrand NJ4SEs
Preamp: 18-volt OBP-1 preamp
Controls: Volume, blend, tone control (that pulls up to bypass the preamp), and stacked bass/treble boost

Hardware:
Bridge: Lakland Dual Access (through body or through bridge)
Tuners: Hipshot Tapered Shaft, Reverse Gearing (does NOT have optional Hipshot D-Tuner)
Chrome Pickup cover included (currently not installed)

I got the bass of Bryan - CaptainWally on the forums who was a top guy to deal with. I am still at work at the moment so will need to take some pics and have a play when I get home, but I am totally excited about this bass.

 

The problem is she's my "tide me over" bass until my MTD 535 arrives later this year. I have been without a bass since I moved to the UK and needed to get my chops back in order until my MTD arrives. So in a sense, this is the rebound fling until my "wife" arrives!

Although, after tonight I feel it may be hard to let go of this one when the MTD arrives and I may have to keep both!

 

Definitely, I am waiting for it to start production which will hopefully be around June and if I am lucky I will see the finished product around October / November. Maybe in time for my birthday!

The bass is absolutely stunning and I was playing it a fair bit last night. However tragedy stuck as I wasnt able to make it to a bass store last night to get a lead (I have been without a bass since I got to the UK) and so I could only play the bass acoustically as I don't have an amp, only my cafe walter and my recording gear in the UK. However the bass looks even better in person than it does in the pictures - its absolutely killer. The neck profile is fantastic and the bass is so lightweight compared with the other ash/maple jazz basses I have had (2 marcus millers) and lighter than my Hotwire (alder / maple). Its a joy to play.

There is a little bit of fret buzz and I will need to do a setup once the neck has had time to adjust to the UK temperate. Its probably a bit of a shock coming from sunny California to London in the space of a few days!