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Some pretty mismatched grain on a Lakland
- Thread starter Alder P Ashman
- Start date
I like it. It has some personality. Also, it's a Lakland so it probably sounds killer.
I'd still try to get the retailer to knock 10% off if I was buying it though.
I'd still try to get the retailer to knock 10% off if I was buying it though.
Excellent.
I've had a Lakland bass for 12 years and I love it.
I hope you have as much fun with yours as I've had with mine.
I wish you many, many years, and a butt load of happy gigs with your new bass. But PLEASE don't ask us whether or not we think you should put flatwounds on it! Heh heh!
My horror story stems from the 90's. A Squier J-bass body made up from 7 pieces of alder with a front and back ash veneer to hide that fact. Near the jack a big piece of white epoxy made up for a local lack of wood... The whole was, how convenient, sprayed black to hide the crimes. Since then no more cheap solid color instruments for me, I like to see what my $300 buys me in terms of wood. Things may be different nowadays but I recently learned to be sucpicious of a solid black belly cut on a sunburst body. A black belly cut may hide the tell tale plywood signs.
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- Sep 5, 2014
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I know Squier in particular was guilty as all get out of using Ply in their early 90s models. FWIW, had they used void free ply made from some reasonable tonewood, I don't see the problem. Tons of high end instruments do multi layer laminates of exotic woods. Plywoods when done right are dimensionally more stable than solid pieces of wood as ply SHOULD be made with the grain of each layer at a 90 degree angle to the layers above and below it, each layer stabilizing its nieghbors. So theoretically it would be preferable to a solid piece of wood. That is in theory, in practice, ply tends to have voids, and some manufacturers fill those voids with all sorts of garbage, laminating adhesives vary in quality between manufacturers etc...
I know my $109.99 SX Ursa 1, it doesn't show well in the pics, but I can see the grain on the edges, and this is no plywood. It is hard to tell where the joint is exactly, but it looks to be 3 pieces of basswood glued side to side.
My point being, if SX can get it right at the $109.99 price point, a premium brand like Lackland (probably misspelled that, sorry) has no excuse for putting something like the OPs questioned bass. It would gnaw on me until I am dead having spent premium prices for sub base model grains. A clear, translucent, or natural finish is done to showcase the grain and beauty of the wood, and this instrument deserved to be painted.
I know my $109.99 SX Ursa 1, it doesn't show well in the pics, but I can see the grain on the edges, and this is no plywood. It is hard to tell where the joint is exactly, but it looks to be 3 pieces of basswood glued side to side.
My point being, if SX can get it right at the $109.99 price point, a premium brand like Lackland (probably misspelled that, sorry) has no excuse for putting something like the OPs questioned bass. It would gnaw on me until I am dead having spent premium prices for sub base model grains. A clear, translucent, or natural finish is done to showcase the grain and beauty of the wood, and this instrument deserved to be painted.
And yet out speaker are made out of plywood and that's something people actually hear. We keep saying that we're playing a bass, but we're really plucking the strings and playing the speaker cabinet.
Some speaker cabinets are made to vibrate like an acoustic instrument, don't know exactly which brand it was (either Spendor or Harbeth). Usually these are expensive hi-fi cabinets. Any bass cabinets out there that are designed to vibrate like an acoustic instrument?
I don't mind the grain mismatch, but that oval bridge! How can someone find something that unnecessary "cool"??? Why does the bridge have to be oval? Is it so Fender doesn't sue them?
New Lakland Skyline owner here...I find the thing to be amazing! Mine has a nice bookmatched quilted top which is very nice but I am sure it doesn't contribute one bit to the tone. As far as I know, Lakland is pretty well known for their consistency when it comes to build quality, playability and tone.
It is troubling to see some crazy mis-matched body woods though. Here is another example of a Sweetwater bass currently for sale that has a bit of a disappointing aesthetic:
I bet it plays and sounds just as fantastic as any other 55-02 though!
It is troubling to see some crazy mis-matched body woods though. Here is another example of a Sweetwater bass currently for sale that has a bit of a disappointing aesthetic:
I bet it plays and sounds just as fantastic as any other 55-02 though!
I like the bridge, it's different. It does look a little out of place on their Fenderish basses but it is a signature of the Lakland brand.
While your asking about the unnecessary shape of the bridge, why does a bass need all that wood on either side of the body? and who needs headstocks with unique shapes when you can use headless hardware? Why don't we all just play Steinbergers and get it over with?
Regardless of anyone's opinion of these ugly basses I think it's great that Sweetwater lets you see the bass before you buy.
The more I look @ this thread, the funnier I find that this bass doesn't " make the grade ", but, a roadworn/ relic is perfectly acceptable to pay more for.
Just imagine what this bass would fetch had it been common practice for Leo Fender to sell mismatched grain, transparent finish basses in the 60's?
Just imagine what this bass would fetch had it been common practice for Leo Fender to sell mismatched grain, transparent finish basses in the 60's?
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I had that same bass.I bought it from sweetwaters,and my bad I didnt pay attention to the photos provided before buying it. I sent it back for the same reason,IDK Im a stickler for things like that.Thats what happens sometimes with a 2 or 3 piece body build,and fact it was built overseas in a factory,where sometimes attention is not paid to weight too. the book match was off and kinda bothered me.Dont get me wrong,that bass, like all of their US and skylines, plays like butter.Lakland 5 strings plays so great,I went ahead and ordered me a US 55-60
That's funny that you bought it and returned it. Yeah, it is an excellent bass. I just finished my third gig with it. Because of its light weight, sound and playability it's my new #1 (my Sadowsky is now a backup bass!). The grain match is weird on the back, but it's not bothering me that much. It just looks like what it is: two pieces of wood glued together. Wabi sabi.
