White Cloud

For me, my Overwater Progress had the sound that I'd always had in my head and always been looking for. I only moved it on because the weight was killing my spine! It had Overwater's signature pups and pre but weighed in at 11lbs. Considering myself more of a player, I've got to admit I find the whole technical aspect of gear boring ... but I couldn't fault any aspect of my OW other than weight.

Absolutely top quality handmade instruments. I owned a stunning fretless Progress (picked it up in a trade). The design, workmanship, playability and sound was sublime, however, at almost 11lbs I had to move it on in the end!

Huge influence on me during the 80's. Great player!

Flea.

Totally empathise with the OP on this; poor grain matching on a natural finish is heresy to me. I think it's inexcusable tbh. I would have sent it back too! Such a shame. I owned one of the early Lakland DJ's and it was an absolute killer jazz bass ... better by a considerable margin than my vintage Fender jazz.

For me Percy is one of the true greats. Monster creative force on bass!

Another happy customer here, I think they're great!

I did like mine; a great 60's jazz replica that looked and more importantly felt right. A couple of little things ground my gears (the bridge pickup routing was very oversized for the pup and looked as though it had been gouged out by a blunt teaspoon!) ... however, overall good bang for buck.

I hear you. Good points well presented, nonetheless; 1: I honestly don't think I was psychologically prejudicial in the sense of some unconscious bias at all. 2: The fundamental response was dramatically altered, inclusive of when the new strings had been played a lot and become dull (inevitably). 3: I've honestly never owned a rosewood fingerboard bass (by far and away my preference btw) with a particularly bright or snappy resonant response... especially unplugged! My own subjective experiential perception of having played bass for 40 years (and owning almost everything at least once) is that the key to the tonal fundamental is in the neck/fingerboard construction. That said, I'm an 'artiste' and not a 'scientiste' 😝

For those that don't believe there can never be enough proof, for those that do no proof is required!

That's a reasonable question. The best that I can offer in reply is this; I owned a Lakland Skyline 4402 back in 2008 with a rosewood board which developed a crack in the neck. On contacting Lakland they actually offered to ship me a new neck however, I requested a maple board instead. No problem was the reply. They even paid for a luther of my choice to fit it and a new set of strings (Jimmy Moon in Glasgow). Exemplary service all round. Anyway, the moral of the story is that the maple had a snap and brightness as opposed to the prior mellow response. I know that this is by no way empirical evidence, but for me this experience was pretty conclusive.. Same bass all round with an identical replacement neck other than the board (although I accept no two necks are ever identical given the bespoke material that is wood).

Really fantastic basses. I owned a Progress for a while and it was truly marvellous however, at almost 11lbs I just had to move it on because I couldn't bear the weight #☹️

The only qualification I have with regard this topic is the subjective interpretation of my ears. I have always found there to be a marked difference in sound/tone between maple, rosewood and any other fretboard material. Fascinating topic which begs the "Why?" Question.

Lakeland Skyline Daryl Jones ... the bomb!

I also had a Jaydee supernatural in the 80's with a dodgy neck. It eventually developed a terminal backbow (which broke my heart given that it was beautiful). I'm over it now. I'd personally go new but I'm reliably told that the reasonable price means plenty of orders, hence a considerable wait.