Bass_Guardian Posted December 20, 2010 Share Posted December 20, 2010 I have a lakland skyline 44-01 on the way due wednesday (whether thats true is too be seen) Anyone have or had one of these basses and if so whats ur opinions on them? Thanks Alex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sockdeluxe_mikey Posted December 20, 2010 Share Posted December 20, 2010 (edited) [quote name='Bass_Guardian' post='1064891' date='Dec 20 2010, 06:36 PM']I have a lakland skyline 44-01 on the way due wednesday (whether thats true is too be seen) Anyone have or had one of these basses and if so whats ur opinions on them? Thanks Alex [/quote] I would be very happy to speak very highly of them. When I went shopping for a new bass nearly 12 months ago I wanted to try and get the best playing and sounding bass I could get for maximum £600, largely ignoring aesthetics and preconceived notions etc. [b]To me[/b], the Lakland 44-01 felt conspicuously better to play than practically anything else in the price range, and I've subconsciously always really liked the sound of the Mk1 Bartolini pickups which I will most likely keep in the bass. The only thing I think almost everybody finds lacking (including me) is that the preamp could be a little less noisy (which is a shame, because it's actually a pretty nice sounding preamp I think, but it's moot point as it is passive defeatable) although quite a few people also don't like the standard Mk1 pickups either and replace those (the rout incidentally fits some 'interesting' pickup choices!). General personal points - it has really grown on me so much, and although I don't own many basses it is without a doubt the bass I would sell dead last if I really had to. If you've got any more in depth questions then just fire away P.S A lot of people hugely underrate these out of hand, I think! They're no peacock visually but that's really what makes them such great value for money IMHO. Edited December 20, 2010 by sockdeluxe_mikey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bass_Guardian Posted December 20, 2010 Author Share Posted December 20, 2010 [quote name='sockdeluxe_mikey' post='1064928' date='Dec 20 2010, 07:04 PM']I would be very happy to speak very highly of them. When I went shopping for a new bass nearly 12 months ago I wanted to try and get the best playing and sounding bass I could get for maximum £600, largely ignoring aesthetics and preconceived notions etc. [b]To me[/b], the Lakland 44-01 felt conspicuously better to play than practically anything else in the price range, and I've subconsciously always really liked the sound of the Mk1 Bartolini pickups which I will most likely keep in the bass. The only thing I think almost everybody finds lacking (including me) is that the preamp could be a little less noisy (which is a shame, because it's actually a pretty nice sounding preamp I think, but it's moot point as it is passive defeatable) although quite a few people also don't like the standard Mk1 pickups either and replace those (the rout incidentally fits some 'interesting' pickup choices!). General personal points - it has really grown on me so much, and although I don't own many basses it is without a doubt the bass I would sell dead last if I really had to. If you've got any more in depth questions then just fire away P.S A lot of people hugely underrate these out of hand, I think! They're no peacock visually but that's really what makes them such great value for money IMHO.[/quote] Thanks for that, when i first had a wee noodle on it i was very impressed and blew the jazz bass i was hopin to get out the water. Yeh sure its a bit loud...very loud like u said with the preamp but thats what u want sometimes . I just hope once ive settled down with it and playing it for hours hopefully i wont find too many faults Roll on Wednesday!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sockdeluxe_mikey Posted December 20, 2010 Share Posted December 20, 2010 [quote name='Bass_Guardian' post='1064938' date='Dec 20 2010, 07:11 PM']Thanks for that, when i first had a wee noodle on it i was very impressed and blew the jazz bass i was hopin to get out the water. Yeh sure its a bit loud...very loud like u said with the preamp but thats what u want sometimes . I just hope once ive settled down with it and playing it for hours hopefully i wont find too many faults Roll on Wednesday!!![/quote] I have used this bass for about 95% of all of the gigs I've done this year and it has never, ever done me wrong. I've really depended on it and it has not put a foot wrong whatsoever. I still don't get why people swap out the pickups so readily. A lot of people say they sound 'thin' or too bright, but judging from experience they may have a cabinet that goes really 'high' and that'll reveal the very wide frequency range of these pickups. However, remove quite a lot of that high end and they sound [b]exactly[/b] like a traditional high impedance pickup (like on my MarkBass for example, the VLE can give a HUGE amount of different 'subsets' of sounds by changing the frequency response of the high end of the pickups). In other words, don't let other people's comments sway you too quickly! It's worth learning how to get the best out of these pickups first Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubinga5 Posted December 20, 2010 Share Posted December 20, 2010 (edited) IMO..best bass at that price range Bar none.. every one ive played has been a cracker.. pre may be lacking, but if you feel the need to its a very tweakable bass... very well made.. to be honest its way past its price range... if you want you could put a US Bart pre in there and some US Barts, or Nordstrands, and turn it into a bass that would sound as good as the US models.. i had a 55-01 with a Glock pre and some Nord Fatstacks and it sounded better than my Sadowsky... of couse the standard bass is still great.. hope you enjoy it.. Edited December 20, 2010 by bubinga5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bass_Guardian Posted December 20, 2010 Author Share Posted December 20, 2010 [quote name='sockdeluxe_mikey' post='1064957' date='Dec 20 2010, 07:29 PM']I have used this bass for about 95% of all of the gigs I've done this year and it has never, ever done me wrong. I've really depended on it and it has not put a foot wrong whatsoever. I still don't get why people swap out the pickups so readily. A lot of people say they sound 'thin' or too bright, but judging from experience they may have a cabinet that goes really 'high' and that'll reveal the very wide frequency range of these pickups. However, remove quite a lot of that high end and they sound [b]exactly[/b] like a traditional high impedance pickup (like on my MarkBass for example, the VLE can give a HUGE amount of different 'subsets' of sounds by changing the frequency response of the high end of the pickups). In other words, don't let other people's comments sway you too quickly! It's worth learning how to get the best out of these pickups first [/quote] I never really planned on changing the pups. They sounded great to me, i like quick a bit of top end as i like to slappa da bass but of course i could cut it quite a bit with the preamp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bass_Guardian Posted December 20, 2010 Author Share Posted December 20, 2010 [quote name='bubinga5' post='1064962' date='Dec 20 2010, 07:31 PM']IMO..best bass at that price range Bar none.. every one ive played has been a cracker.. pre may be lacking, but if you feel the need to its a very tweakable bass... very well made.. to be honest its way past its price range... if you want you could put a US Bart pre in there and some US Barts, or Nordstrands, and turn it into a bass that would sound as good as the US models.. i had a 55-01 with a Glock pre and some Nord Fatstacks and it sounded better than my Sadowsky... of couse the standard bass is still great.. hope you enjoy it..[/quote] How much did all those mods cost? Sounds a bomb... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sockdeluxe_mikey Posted December 20, 2010 Share Posted December 20, 2010 [quote name='bubinga5' post='1064962' date='Dec 20 2010, 07:31 PM']IMO..best bass at that price range Bar none.. every one ive played has been a cracker.. pre may be lacking, but if you feel the need to its a very tweakable bass... very well made.. to be honest its way past its price range... if you want you could put a US Bart pre in there and some US Barts, or Nordstrands, and turn it into a bass that would sound as good as the US models.. i had a 55-01 with a Glock pre and some Nord Fatstacks and it sounded better than my Sadowsky... of couse the standard bass is still great.. hope you enjoy it..[/quote] Yeah, there is a very strong list of pickups that you can put in the 44/55-01 if you don't like them. That's what makes it such fantastic value - as long as you like how it plays, you basically are in a win/win situation because even if you do not like the electronics package you can upgrade to what can be quite pricey electronics packages and STILL be at around £800-850 total outlay, which could prove to be devilishly good value for money to the right person...! A list of pickups: US Bartolini Mk4 Nordstrand Big Singles/Splits/Dual Coil Lakland Chi-Sonic 44/55-01 retrofit pickups Lakland LH3 44/55-01 retrofit system(!), which is both pickups and preamp Hence, one of many reasons I would simply refuse to sell this bass point blank in most situations. I really like how it plays and it's relatively easy to retrofit different kinds of pickups/preamps. In my mind, what is possible is almost like the pricier version of what many people do with really well playing Squier Jazz Bass/Precision Bass's (except to some degree the build and play quality is imaginably and remarkably consistent) - put simply, a bass that can be upgraded to a high standard and still end up being very good value for money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sockdeluxe_mikey Posted December 20, 2010 Share Posted December 20, 2010 [quote name='Bass_Guardian' post='1064975' date='Dec 20 2010, 07:43 PM']How much did all those mods cost? Sounds a bomb...[/quote] I think if you shopped around, were patient enough and found a decent and fair technician to install everything, you would be talking about £200-250 to get new pickups and a preamp with installation bar a few kinds of pickup and preamp. Definitely 'learn' the pickups though, once I did I realised they had a lot of sounds that I really like! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bass_Guardian Posted December 20, 2010 Author Share Posted December 20, 2010 I cant wait for this bass to arrive XD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bass_Guardian Posted December 21, 2010 Author Share Posted December 21, 2010 It doesn't arrive till Thursday now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bass_Guardian Posted December 23, 2010 Author Share Posted December 23, 2010 Its arrived absolute stunner and it sounds well good Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BottomE Posted December 23, 2010 Share Posted December 23, 2010 [quote name='Bass_Guardian' post='1067701' date='Dec 23 2010, 12:37 PM']Its arrived absolute stunner and it sounds well good [/quote] enjoy - if its anything like the 55-01 that i am selling it will be amazing. A lot of bang for the buck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris2112 Posted December 23, 2010 Share Posted December 23, 2010 [quote name='Bass_Guardian' post='1067701' date='Dec 23 2010, 12:37 PM']Its arrived absolute stunner and it sounds well good [/quote] Pictures then, lets see it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bass_Guardian Posted December 23, 2010 Author Share Posted December 23, 2010 Haha well Ive got photos on my phone but I can't find my USB cable... Typical init Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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