New Lakland is a Wonky Donkey!

[Horizontalste]

Decided to treat myself to a new Skyline 55-02 from one of the big shops & when it arrived in Thursday I was disappointed.

The whole thing is, well, just a bit crooked. The A string is out of line with the dots, the headstock looks like it was carved with a penknife & the routing for the MM pickup is huge!

Already owning two good Lakland basses I decided to discuss an exchange fearing I'd just been unlucky but talking to the shop they have confirmed that the others in stock in the UK are also a bit misaligned.

So, with that said, it's going back, I know it'll do my head in & I'm not paying that much for a bass that I need to realign the bridge on.

Proper disappointed with Lakland I am!

[Horizontalste]

Comparison with my other 55-02!

[ezbass]

Ooh, that’s not good. It’s not like they’re cheap either.  

[Horizontalste]

Just now, ezbass said:

Ooh, that’s not good. It’s not like they’re cheap either.  

Yep, I thought maybe I was being overly critical but I just can't live with misalignment (tickles the OCD).

[yorks5stringer]

Harley Benton would be ashamed of that headstock bevel....! QC is way lacking.

[ezbass]

Just had a look at the ones on the GG website, all the 5502s are off centre. The J type was OK though, weird. 

 

2 minutes ago, yorks5stringer said:

Harley Benton would be ashamed of that headstock bevel....! QC is way lacking.

Yeah, that’s a shocker.

[Horizontalste]

2 minutes ago, ezbass said:

Just had a look at the ones on the GG website, all the 5502s are off centre. The J type was OK though, weird. 

 

Yeah, that’s a shocker.

Crazy how they got past QC!

[Reggaebass]

Your not being over critical, that’s way off , I’d be sending that straight back 

[PaulThePlug]

Are Lakeland now doing 'build-your-own' kits?

[ezbass]

This thread has made me go and check out the photos of my old 5502 - spot on (pun unintended).

[bubinga5]

The only thing that would bother me is the headstock. Pics of the gap.??

Edited June 11, 2022 by bubinga5

[chris_b]

It's a new bass so I wouldn't accept any niggles or issues, no matter how slight.

[bubinga5]

actually that would annoy me. It looks like one of those lovely black headstock 55-02's. Props to not giving out the shops name.

[Newfoundfreedom]

Yup. If that came on a sub £200 bass I'd still send it back. Let alone a Lakeland. 

[BassApprentice]

Yikes, that's not great.

 

I tried one of the new roasted maple/satin finish models in GG the other week, didn't check the alignment but the pickups were definitely out of balance. I appreciate it's a 10s job with a screwdriver to adjust pickup height and it is personal preference, but it does sound like the QC on these is slightly lacking.

[Lozz196]

That business about the A string/dots would irritate the hell out of me, irrespective of how the bass played & sounded I’d have to send it back.

[Horizontalste]

49 minutes ago, bubinga5 said:

The only thing that would bother me is the headstock. Pics of the gap.??

I didn't take a picture of the gap as if already decided to send it back but it's still here until Monday so if I get 5 I'll take it back out & grab a pic.

[Musicman20]

I think I tried 3-4 Lakland basses in the past, and all of them had issue like this. Looked completely rushed.

 

Definitely send it back. 

[theplumber]

Try a Sire!!!

[TheLowDown]

The QC on all mass produced basses is likely to be the same irrespective of price, although many people may believe they're actually getting "better QC" for their money.

Must be a real bummer to pay all that money and still get a lemon.

Edited June 13, 2022 by TheLowDown

[ezbass]

IIRC the original Skylines came via the US where they were checked and maybe even PLEked before shipping. I wonder if this is still the case?

[LeftyJ]

44 minutes ago, ezbass said:

IIRC the original Skylines came via the US where they were checked and maybe even PLEked before shipping. I wonder if this is still the case?

Don't know if it matters anymore, but these original Skylines were made by Cort in South-Korea rather than the current Indonesian production (still by Cort though). I don't know if they all still go through their Chicago workshop for QC and setup. There's also the Shoreline Series which is made by ESP in Japan and I think they're exclusively for the Japanese market - so I doubt these go through the US. 

[Horizontalste]

On 11/06/2022 at 15:45, bubinga5 said:

The only thing that would bother me is the headstock. Pics of the gap.??

Actually doesn't look so bad in the photo but it's definitely more roomy around the pickup than on my other one.

[Horizontalste]

4 hours ago, LeftyJ said:

Don't know if it matters anymore, but these original Skylines were made by Cort in South-Korea rather than the current Indonesian production (still by Cort though). I don't know if they all still go through their Chicago workshop for QC and setup. There's also the Shoreline Series which is made by ESP in Japan and I think they're exclusively for the Japanese market - so I doubt these go through the US. 

This one has the Plek'd in Chicago label on so I can only assume they're still having the electrics added & final set up in the US&A.

[Cliff Edge]

I bought a new Fender P bass around 1972 which had the same alignment problem. It went back for a replacement. 

The shop confirmed it wasn’t the only one they’d had. 
Pleased to say my 72 Jazz bought some 10 years later is still in fine shape. Except for all the bits that I’ve had to replace over the years when they failed due to being used.