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The Mike Lull Club Part 2

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#501
Is it possible that my recent Lull purchase has turned me off from playing my beloved Lakland 55-94?? Every time I plug it in after my M5V, the Lakland sounds really muddy even after some EQ tweaking.......:bawl:

Maybe I'm just becoming enamored with the clear, crisp single coil tone? I have always been a Bart fan, but lately it just doesn't sound the same...

Anyone else experience this? Anyone else not enjoy a past beloved bass after playing their Lull?
 
#504
Replaced my Lakland Skyline Bob Glaub with Fralins with a Lull P4 with Fralins. But kept the Lakland Skyline with Darkstars, cuz that's a different animal altogether. Play what you like, no regrets!
 
#505
MarTONEbass said:
Is it possible that my recent Lull purchase has turned me off from playing my beloved Lakland 55-94?? Every time I plug it in after my M5V, the Lakland sounds really muddy even after some EQ tweaking.......:bawl:

Maybe I'm just becoming enamored with the clear, crisp single coil tone? I have always been a Bart fan, but lately it just doesn't sound the same...

Anyone else experience this? Anyone else not enjoy a past beloved bass after playing their Lull?
Click to expand...

I have had a 55-02 and a 55-94 and several JO5s and DJ5s. My 55-02 and 55-94 had the lakland pre and pickups, but compared to the single coils of my JO5s it was less open sounding like you describe. My DJ5 had bart pickups and J-retro and it was warmer sounding but less articulate and not as open sounding. I absolutely loved my ash/maple JO5 with Jretro and lakland singl coils. I am digging my ash/maple MV5 with aguilar and lull single coils, but I am feeling like change in the electronics may be neccesary. I am not a fan of the aggie pre.
 
#507
Ron Plichta said:
Join the club. Had a Lakland 55-02 until I took it on a gig with my V5. It sounded muffled to me and my wife and friend in the audience agreed. It was listed in the TB classifieds the soon after.
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I am going to have a hard time letting go of my 55-94, but it might happen. I love the way it plays and feels, and its super light. Its only recently that the sound has not pleased me, so I will wait a while and try some different EQ options, and hope that its just a case of "the new bass is the best one" syndrome.. Muffled is a good descriptor, certainly not as clear and open as the Lull.

VroomVroom said:
^ Yup. And even more telling on R&B gigs, particularly with my alder/rosewood bass, bandmates frown and say, "Awww..." if I bring something else. :D
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Jerry, are you saying that the band members like or dislike the alder/rosewood combo? That is warmer than ash/maple generally speaking, correct? Saturday will be my first gig with the Lull. I do a funk/soul band with full horns and I'm really looking forward to hearing the Lull in the mix!

Holdsg said:
Replaced my Lakland Skyline Bob Glaub with Fralins with a Lull P4 with Fralins. But kept the Lakland Skyline with Darkstars, cuz that's a different animal altogether. Play what you like, no regrets!
Click to expand...

Just tryin' to STILL like the Lakland! I thought I was done flippping basses for a while......:p (but if anyone has a Roscoe/535/Lull PJ5,they want to trade, let me know:hiding:)

Saluki said:
I have had a 55-02 and a 55-94 and several JO5s and DJ5s. My 55-02 and 55-94 had the lakland pre and pickups, but compared to the single coils of my JO5s it was less open sounding like you describe. My DJ5 had bart pickups and J-retro and it was warmer sounding but less articulate and not as open sounding. I absolutely loved my ash/maple JO5 with Jretro and lakland singl coils. I am digging my ash/maple MV5 with aguilar and lull single coils, but I am feeling like change in the electronics may be neccesary. I am not a fan of the aggie pre.
Click to expand...

VERY good to know that the LH3 setup is still less open sounding like the Barts, as that was one option I may have considered before flipping the Lakie. My other bass is the Elrick in my avatar which has single-coil-sounding Barts and I am very much digging that bass as well, so I think I am developing a preference for J bass-sounding basses in general. Not a bad thing.

I have had a few Aggie pre's and I have liked them, personally. They seem a bit unusable in the extreme settings, but I like the EQ points. The Elrick and Lull have the NTMB and I like it very much, seems more musical, just wish the mids were sweepable.
 
#508
Not enough pics in this thread!

P1040016-1.gif
 
#509
MarTONEbass said:
Jerry, are you saying that the band members like or dislike the alder/rosewood combo? That is warmer than ash/maple generally speaking, correct? Saturday will be my first gig with the Lull. I do a funk/soul band with full horns and I'm really looking forward to hearing the Lull in the mix!
Click to expand...

They love it - it really is a special bass. Cuts right through, but does so politely, if that makes any sense. Great character, and the perfect mix of muscle and old-school J-bass grind. And since you mentioned pics... :D

4958686896_1c1b282f4a_b.jpg


IMO, it's definitely warmer than my ash/maple M5V (okay...another pic :ninja:)...

4811910051_3c00d37ebe_b.jpg


...but the alder/rosewood has a really fat presence in the upper mids. The ash/maple bass does the same kind of thing, especially when you lay into it a bit, but it's really got more of the "sizzle" that I generally associate with that wood combo. (And, FWIW, that speaks to the comment above about the Aggie pre in such a bass...just too much happening above 1k or so for my tastes.)
 
#514
VroomVroom said:
They love it - it really is a special bass. Cuts right through, but does so politely, if that makes any sense. Great character, and the perfect mix of muscle and old-school J-bass grind. And since you mentioned pics... :D

4958686896_1c1b282f4a_b.jpg


IMO, it's definitely warmer than my ash/maple M5V (okay...another pic :ninja:)...



...but the alder/rosewood has a really fat presence in the upper mids. The ash/maple bass does the same kind of thing, especially when you lay into it a bit, but it's really got more of the "sizzle" that I generally associate with that wood combo. (And, FWIW, that speaks to the comment above about the Aggie pre in such a bass...just too much happening above 1k or so for my tastes.)
Click to expand...

Wow, what a great looking bass, that one is sweet! I believe I have seen it before and was quite envious! I would really love to hear it, the tonal characteristics you describe are akin to my Elrick: warm and fat, but with some J grind and the fat upper mids.

Agreed on the Aguilar, too much high end for an already sizzly bass. Must have been why I really liked it on my old Modulus Q6, the chechen board warned it up in the 1k region.

pauliebass said:
Nice M5 MarTone! I like the flame. What # is that one?
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Thank you, it is number 778. I am very happy with it!
 
#515
kai_ski said:
Go Bart NTMB and don't look back.
Click to expand...

I love OBP3 but I have to say NTMB works better for me in my M5V. OBP3 is tighter in mids but NTMB is more transparent, more open in my Lull. Well I still fell I need to make sound just a little bit more tighter, maybe more creamy...I found original NTMB wireing (250K pot for blend and 25K volume/after preamp) puts what I need into it...well i have to try it live on gig but I feel I like that change...I think Mike makes his wireing just becouse it is best way how to make instrument active/passive switchable...I'm not electro-expert and I know Luthiers like Mike and others know better what to do ;) ...just my testing
 
#516
For giggles, here are some clips...

#1300, CAR, alder/rosewood, Duncan SC's & Bart NTMB. All flat, thru Genz Benz Shuttle 9.0 & 2x Bergantino HT112ER. (Amp all flat except for pre-gain @ 7/10, tweeters @ 10 o'clock on the cabs.)
Sample 1 - FWIW, I drop a low 'B' @ 0:57.
Sample 2
Sample 3

#1489, 3TB, ash/maple, Duncan LHB's & Bart NTMB. All flat, thru Genz Benz Shuttle 9.0 & Bergantino AE212 - same settings as above, and FWIW, same band and same room (Naval Postgraduate School ballroom in Monterey, CA)...just a different date, six months later.
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Just great basses!
 
#517
Wow Jerry, those both sound great. Its easy to differentiate the different sonic spaces they occupy in those recordings. I guess mine sounds more like clip 2, but man, you're right in saying the alder/rosewood punches through int that unique frequency range, really neat to hear. Is the difference as discernible when you A/B them with the same rig?

I assume that LHB means its a set of Duncan linear humbuckers in the ash/maple? Are they much different sounding than the single coils?

BTW, got and AE212 a month or two ago and couldn't be happier, great cab.
 
#518
To my ears, the LHB's sound just like single-coils...only without the noise. :D I absolutely love 'em. Worth noting that I haven't yet heard them in an alder bass. My comparisons were with A/B-ing my bass and a coupla' other ash/maple M5V's at my local store.

The basses are still unique - even more so, really - when running through the same cabs. To my ears (I keep saying that) the AE212 is the perfect "old school" cab - happy mids, and warm, almost cushy lows. Two HT112ER's (or even one) on the other hand, is more immediate...hitting really hard and quick in the lows, and as much as I hate this phrase, is more "hi-fi" throughout the spectrum. Two different flavors of delicious, really.

Side note... One of the most amazing rigs I've heard is the AE212 sitting below a GB Streamliner 900. Absolutely fantastic running a Lull into that rig - close your eyes and you'll swear it's an old SVT and 810 setup. Unfortunately, I don't like that amp with the HT, so it's been easy avoiding any temptation.
 
#519
I'm not even sure which ones came in my Lull, I assume they are the single coils. I run both pickups on full most of the time, so I'll have to check the next time I play it.

I agree with your assessment of the AE212, it's not quite as wide and low as a UL212 I used to have, but less punchy than the HT's. I have had a number of the HT series, but never the ER's although I certainly liked the HT's enough, just the weight killed me that and the lack of lows on the non-ER HT112's.

I'm running a Markbass SD800 and I really enjoy it. Great mid character, and the semi-parametric mids are great to play with depending on the bass/room etc. The VLE knob can really bring out the booty in the AE212!
 
#520
I've been running my Lulls through an Aguilar DB750 and am still looking for the perfect cabinet. I have a pair of AER cabs that I'm using for now, but they're too clean for rock use. I foresee an NV610 in my future, although I've been offered a nice deal on a Whappo Jr.
 
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