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Thoughts on Lakland Skyline 55-01

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My stock 2003 55-01D:

55-01-full.jpg
 
Soft frets and broken truss rods? I'm certainly not going to doubt these experiences. All I can say is that in close to 9 years of reading and posting in these threads, and about 8 years of being a moderator and admin on the LOG forum, this is the first time I can recall EVER hearing about Skylines having either one of those issues. Way way way out of the norm, IME.
 
Same here.. I discovered Lakland through TB and I have never heard those issues.. Fret sprout.. Sure that can happen to any bass....I use nickel rounds on all my basses. I can't imagine

I keep rounds on all my Laklands (DR Pure Blues nickel. I never use SS strings) and have had no issues whatsoever.

Those strings are great aren't they! I recently put a set of Dunlop SBs on my Cirrus ... I was surprised at how good they were because I have been DR guy for years now... I like the PBs better than the BBs or the HBs.....
 
Just to reiterate my earlier post... the stock pots on the bass in question, the 55-01, are 6mm solid shaft pots.

Yeah, that would require set screws if you stick with the stock preamp. The rubber knobs might squeeze over the solid shaft, or they might not. If you need to have set screws, maybe something like this would be close enough: Small Black Aluminum Knob - Best Bass Gear
 
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This bass is great for the price. The Skyline series, IMO, Compares to basses costing much more.
We have all heard the knock on the preamp and I personally identify with that.
I purchased this bass mostly because of the fantastically playable neck. The fit and finish didn't hurt either.
Since purchasing it, I have added the following:
full copper shielding, the
new Bartolini P25s single coil soapbar pickups, and a John East uni-pre preamp. Even with that done, it's
still a bargain and sounds unbelievable!
 
Fantastic basses! I love mine! I got it used at such an unbelievably low price that I used it as the foundation to make one of the best fretless basses I've ever owned.

View attachment 843745

Changes:
US Bartolini MK5 pickups
Lakland LH3 preamp to replace the stock Bartolini MK1
Sent it to Lakland in Chicago and had an ebony, lined fretless neck installed.

I think I remember when you got that bass.. You got it here right? I always thought it was gorgeous... My bass came with the same config. The prtevious owner had it wired for series or parallel. I took the LH out and put the Audere in it.. My Lakland was the one that made me realize that I did not have to have 24 frets.. This was the bass that remnded me that I really do not need a 24 fret bass..
 
I think I remember when you got that bass.. You got it here right? I always thought it was gorgeous... My bass came with the same config. The prtevious owner had it wired for series or parallel. I took the LH out and put the Audere in it.. My Lakland was the one that made me realize that I did not have to have 24 frets.. This was the bass that remnded me that I really do not need a 24 fret bass..
Yes, I bought it here on TB. Saw it listed. Fell in love. Had to have it! ;):D
 
I just bought and returned one. I debated b/c I liked the feel of the neck. It had a few buzzes but nothing terrible. Just needed a pro set up. The sound was ok. Wasn't crazy about the barts. But at a blues trio gig it sounded fine. Filled out the sound well. No complaints from the band. The upper register on the neck was less comfortable than the lower. But again, not terrible. I really wanted to keep it, but the thing that pushed me over the top was the fret edges. They were jagged all the way up the neck. I've never owned a bass that felt like that and I just couldn't stand it. Anyway, for the money, they are decent basses.
 
I have had several 55-01s. Great basses! One of the things to be careful of is comparing it to other basses. That is, "does it cop a jazz tone?" "Can it sound like a P?" In my experience, a 55-01 sounds like a 55-01 and it should be evaluated as its own thing. They sound great in the mix and many people keep them bone stock forever.

Now, having said that, the 55-01 is one of the best modding platforms ever. The pickups are standard soapbar size and the bass will accommodate a wide range of replacements. Additionally, the cavity has plenty of space for any kind of pre you might want to add. One of the coolest basses I ever owned was a 55-01 that I modded with a set of Nordstrand big splits and a Sadowsky pre. That bass sounded like the ballsiest J bass you ever heard and it looked great.

55-01 is a great choice out of the box with plenty of potential to grow with.
 
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I call Bull Pucky on this. I've had a 55-01 since early 2003—it has been played a lot. It is still bone stock. I have never needed to adjust the truss rod in 13 years, and that instrument has lived in San Francisco, Dallas, Honolulu, and Kentucky. Not heavy and a great "fast" neck that sets up perfectly.

In addition, I have a Lakland JO 55-60. Same great neck—flawless. Tree trunk? Hardly. I find the size, shape, and feel to be thin, ergonomic, and silky.

I'm not doubting you may have been dissatisfied, but if you broke two truss rods on anything, it was pilot error.

Good morning my bass playing brother! :)

I know YOU feel you have a sufficient understanding of my particular circumstances in order to diagnose 'pilot error', but just for the benefit of the others who do not:

1) Bass number 1 was broken by a very highly respected bass builder and boutique bass merchants in Camden, London. He, like me, couldn't straighten the neck sufficiently. Being a dealership, Lakland switched out the faulty neck free of charge. The only thing was, the replacement neck was much thicker front to back than that of the original (the old Joe Osborn model) maybe because it was a 55-01 neck instead......?

2) Despite setting up and assembling ALL of my own instruments over the last 33 years including refrets, fret levels and reprofiling, bass number 2's truss rod broke whilst I was trying to straighten its neck. The action at the 12th fret was always higher than that at the 22nd fret and that is the role of the truss rod. After running out of adjustment and using the 'washers over the trussrod trick', there was still a backwards bow and further adjustment lead to it snapping.

Neither wishing to, nor being in the financial position to be able to throw away further money, means I would never consider this brand again. That's a real shame because a 35", 19mm spaced, 'normal looking' 5 string Jazz bass like their current 55-60 model is not easy to find elsewhere. Still, I rather doubt I or Lakland will be losing much sleep over the repercussions of my decision to be honest! :)

Have a great day!

Rob.
 
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Yes, I would certainly hope that to be true, but having had bad experiences with Laklands (actually 3 times, although the last wasn't a fault of either of their factories and only with the shop which advertised it misleadingly) I won't risk any further investment on them. Those necks are really thick -and I don't usually have any problem with thicker necks.

Maybe someone with one of the newer Indonesian models can confirm to those still considering them whether the newer fret alloy is that soft? There's an easy enough test to perform this:

If anyone with an Indonesian Lakland who uses stainless steel round wound strings could play a note on, say the G or D string and add a heavy up and down vibrato to it for a few seconds - just like a guir@rist would. Then check that particular fret top by pulling / moving the string to the side. Is the top of the fret scratched / marked / consumed by the windings on the string? Otherwise, if you play a little slap, do the B, E and A strings make noticeable divots in the 20th - 22nd frets -in practically no time at all?

Peace,

Rob.
This topic has moved along quickly, but it doesn't appear that anyone has read or tried what I suggested yesterday (in my copied above post).

Is it the preferred method on here that I start a new thread when asking new questions in an existing thread?

Peace,

Rob.
 
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This topic has moved along quickly, but it doesn't appear that anyone has read or tried what I suggested yesterday (in my copied above post).

Is it the preferred method on here that I start a new thread when asking new questions in an existing thread?

Peace,

Rob.
I think a few people have posted about no problems with this. If they don't have the problem there is no need for a test. I'm sure if they had noticeable and premature feet wear they would have stated so. That's my 2¢ worth.
 
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