bubinga5 Posted November 19, 2009 Share Posted November 19, 2009 Im thinking about buying a bass to trick up....it has to be active, has to have 5 strings...im thinking of maybe buying a Lakland 55-02 and putting some brand of pre amp in it? and some hot pick ups?...not sure what the stock Bart/Lakland's are like... im looking to get alot of warmth, punch and snap.. i know this topic is very subjective would like some suggestions.. what bass? what preamp? what pickups? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTUK Posted November 20, 2009 Share Posted November 20, 2009 Agree you can get some dull old sounding 55-02's so I would go with an East Retro type pre. U-retro 5 knob delux should breath life into any bass, IMO. Not sure about pickups, maybe look into some custom winds as you'll need to match up a jazz bazz slot and a MM slot for the 55-02 Kent Armstrong used to do this sort of thing. I'd go for low winds and character in the pups as the pre will deliver everything else, IMV All this can change though depending on the carcass... what about buying in a pre-made Jazz body and neck and then building up from there. Or, just buy a DJ5 and be done with it...that is passive tho Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigwan Posted November 20, 2009 Share Posted November 20, 2009 Why not consider the 55-01 instead? Much wider range of replacement pickups available. I was playing mine last night and of all the basses I've owned it's the one that feels RIGHT every time (but then the 55-02 would feel exactly the same I suppose so UP THE LAKIES! Good choice of a bass to mod). I'd go for either an ACG/East filter pre or one of the Audere pres. It'll be one of these I'll go for if the NTMB in my 55-01 doesn't agree with the Nordy DCs I'm about to fit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cocco Posted November 20, 2009 Share Posted November 20, 2009 Stingray 5? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdgrsr400 Posted November 20, 2009 Share Posted November 20, 2009 I had one of the older (Bart PU) 55-02's and although I toyed with the idea of modding it, I never felt it really necessary as the fundamental sound was excellent across the board. The switching wiring of the stock PU's is quite complex and not exactly traditional so just a preamp upgrade would not have made sense. In the end, as I didn't really get on with the 35" scale and wide neck string spacing I recently sold it to a player who is very satisified with it as it is. Now I have an Ibanez SR1205 in natural maple/mahogany which is 34" scale and quite narrow string spacing (16.75mm) and is far more comfortable and easier to play than the 55-02 (though correspondingly not so suitable for slap/pop). I've scrapped the existing PU's and electronics and replaced them with Semour Duncan SSB-5 soapbars in a completely passive configuration. At some point, if I really feel the need to go active, I'd probably put in a Glockenklang preamp. I'm still working on the sound (probably need to change string type) and am generally pretty happy. If I had a criticism, it's that the low B notes are a bit less clear than the Lakland but that's probably a scale thing I have to live with. Let us know how you get on! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henry norton Posted November 20, 2009 Share Posted November 20, 2009 Isn't buying a Lakland then swapping out the pickups & pre a bit like buying a Ferrari then putting an Aston Martin engine in it? What about a 5 string Standard Jazz? You could put an ACG filter pre and have a massive range of hot pickups that would drop right in, no mods needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubinga5 Posted November 20, 2009 Author Share Posted November 20, 2009 [quote name='henry norton' post='660199' date='Nov 20 2009, 02:52 PM']Isn't buying a Lakland then swapping out the pickups & pre a bit like buying a Ferrari then putting an Aston Martin engine in it? What about a 5 string Standard Jazz? You could put an ACG filter pre and have a massive range of hot pickups that would drop right in, no mods needed.[/quote] Not really because a 55-01 is not a Ferrari in quality terms..more of an Audi?? im really liking the thought of tricking up a Yamaha 1005 maybe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henry norton Posted November 20, 2009 Share Posted November 20, 2009 [quote name='bubinga5' post='660333' date='Nov 20 2009, 06:00 PM']Not really because a 55-01 is not a Ferrari in quality terms..more of an Audi?? im really liking the thought of tricking up a Yamaha 1005 maybe[/quote] Yeah, fair point - the Yam could make a good mods project, a good quality base to start from, like a Swindon built Honda You may have to do some woodwork to get the pickups of your choice to fit... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubinga5 Posted November 20, 2009 Author Share Posted November 20, 2009 [quote name='henry norton' post='660404' date='Nov 20 2009, 05:49 PM']Yeah, fair point - the Yam could make a good mods project, a good quality base to start from, like a Swindon built Honda You may have to do some woodwork to get the pickups of your choice to fit...[/quote] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigwan Posted November 21, 2009 Share Posted November 21, 2009 I'd say a closer analogy (I read here the other day actually) would be that a 55-01 is like the caterham 7 overtaking the ferrari... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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