Lakland Basses

[molan]

In broad terms, and having seen a lot of both brands, I'd say the average level of build quality on a Korean made Lakland is generally superior to most MIM, MIJ and some US Fenders.

US Fenders are difficult to generalise about because they vary a fair bit. From about 2010 onwards they seem to be universally good. Before then they are mostly good but with the odd beast kicking around.

MIM Fender build quality is all over the place. Some are fine and others are complete dogs, poor neck pockets, nasty sharp fret ends, truss rod issues (either not working or pushing through the top of the neck), pick guards not aligned properly, scratchy pots, thin sounding pickups etc. etc.

However, there are definitely some very good ones out there as well and, maybe more importantly, they can be transformed with a bit of TLC from a decent luthier and possibly new pots & rewire along with better pickups.

The biggest issue to watch out for is a dodgy trussrod as this can be more complex and expensive to fix.

MIJ models generally fit in between the two. I've certainly played, and owned, some that have been the match of, or even better than, their US counterparts.

Laklands are almost universally well made and finished and have a pretty even tone. I've never come across a bad one, doesn't mean they don't exist just that I've not seen one.

US Laklands are another step up and are excellent instruments. Really nicely finished and all seem to have great necks and fingerboards.

On balance I'd say there's a greater chance of picking a Lakland off a shelf and it being good than a MIM, MIJ or pre 2010 US Standard but with Most Fenders below the Vintage, Deluxe or Custom Shop models it can be a bit hit & miss

[JTUK]

Seen a couple of American deluxe Jazzes recently and they have been very very nice.
I'd have one if I found the right one..mainly cosmetic detail, and I think these should be the basses
that Fender call their core line-up.
Not that knocked out with the rest of the range upto the American Deluxe ... I see them, and generally
I know straight away whether they'll be what I'm after, but I understand why a huge corporation has
a very big range of models, but......................

[stingrayPete1977]

A quartersawn neck and graphite rod is an improvement there can be no doubt, it looks the same for the purest of purests yet is factually stronger and more stable, who wants a less stable neck? How many of the die hard Fender fans have played a selection of USA Lakland basses at length? yet there word has to be taken as the be all and end all, BTW its a Lakland thread, we are discussing Lakland basses, where is the troll?

[stingrayPete1977]

I played a sub £700 Lakland in guitar guitar a few years ago it was excellent as was everyone of about 6 various ones on the stand, I tried EVERY Fender bass in the shop inc the most expensive ones in there and they all had some form of issue, the Jazz 5 active Deluxe (?) was the worst of the lot, sounded dull and lifeless with a flappy B string BigRedX would have had a field day with! Of course I went back to the first shop I bought the Stingray5 instead anyway

[stingrayPete1977]

[quote name='EBS_freak' timestamp='1412422652' post='2568799']
What era Fenders are we talking?

Are we talking out of the box instruments? Or instruments that have been inspected and hand finished in close detail?
[/quote]
Have you seen a single Fender bass of any model as good as Mr S's 55-94 would have when it was new? The funny thing is I am not expecting them to be, the USA Lakland is a £3500-4000 bass why anyone should feel one for £1800 should be as good is beyond me?



This should be a closer match yet I have never tried one
[url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/fender_american_dlx_custom_jazz_v_vwt.htm"]http://www.thomann.de/gb/fender_american_dlx_custom_jazz_v_vwt.htm[/url]

[stingrayPete1977]

But with anything in life if you have tried dozens of one brand from various sources and quite a few of a rarer more expensive brand and EVERY one of the expensive ones were perfect yet the more common one had a few stinkers is it not a fairly good bet which will produce the better item most times?

I have not driven every single Dacia Sandero, I am sure they are an OK car more than capable of meeting my needs but I would have a punt on a new Honda Civic being better built and finished almost everytime, and so it should at twice the price.

I have tried Sadowsky basses, Alleva, Lakland USA's, GB etc etc they were all better than my Stingrays, it has not stopped me liking Stingrays but I can accept it.

The feel and sound of a bass in subjective I agree 100% but a more solid neck joint, a sturdier more stable neck made of proven higher grade wood etc I cant see as subjective, even Fender have put the Hipshot tuners on their own custom build Jazz bass in the link.

[M@23]

I've not actually played a Lakland, they look great though.

In response to the whole for/against Fender debate (again), us Fender players dislike it when others make such broad generalisations and state opinion as fact. It's someone saying yet again that 'X is better than any US Fender ever made!!' That is annoying. It's opinion, not fact. Lots of people say that Fender QC isn't the best, but they must make quite a few more instruments than the next biggest manufacturer. So if the odd one slips through the net, it would be ridiculous to judge the brand on that one poor example.

Offering more options and variations does not equate to better either, I want a P bass, not active EQ or Musicman or tapped coil pickups. That might make something better for you, but not me.

[stingrayPete1977]

I have never got this getting upset by other peoples opinion as so called fact, If I was registered here as Lakland Basses I could see the problem but as I am clearly like most of us just a fellow bass nerd surely the IMO IME should just be a given? Also what I can say is from the many many Fenders I have tried and the fewer Laklands I can say for a FACT the Laklands were better quality instruments, they were better than my own Musicman basses too, I am man enough to admit that As I have said before though they were more expensive too against any comparable Fender.

[stingrayPete1977]

I like the way the topic is about Lakland basses and the Fender boys have managed to make any negative Fender comments on this thread to be trolling I admire you tenacity if nothing else guys

[JTUK]

I went to check out a Lakland and brought a Sei... no surprises there but the Lakland
I passed on, I recommended to a friend who brought and sent it straight back. He also
had big issues with MM as well, and I don't think they are the company they were, but there you go.
If you are talking about production made basses, a few dogs are going to slip thru ...if only because
of the numbers that they make.
This is why, IME, you very very rarely buy unseen and played.... and I would exempt VERY few makers
from that mantra.
But that is me...........

[stingrayPete1977]

I aim to please

[stingrayPete1977]

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1412430094' post='2568894']
I went to check out a Lakland and brought a Sei... no surprises there but the Lakland
I passed on, I recommended to a friend who brought and sent it straight back. He also
had big issues with MM as well, and I don't think they are the company they were, but there you go.
If you are talking about production made basses, a few dogs are going to slip thru ...if only because
of the numbers that they make.
This is why, IME, you very very rarely buy unseen and played.... and I would exempt VERY few makers
from that mantra.
But that is me...........
[/quote]

What was wrong with the Lakky? See I have no issue with these basses being better built than ones for half the price, I presume most of the buyers of them know what they want and are happy to pay for it, they should and almost always are up to the mark IMO.

I still cant understand why people get so upset about this, A mex P bass is less than £450 including shipping from Thomann, a USA lakland P bass style bass is around £3000, is it not normal that the Lakland should be a better built bass regardless of opinions or subjectivity?

[White Cloud]

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1412433519' post='2568926']
I still cant understand why people get so upset about this
[/quote]
This site is male dominated by an overwhelming majority.....

Too much testosterone.

[JTUK]

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1412433519' post='2568926']
What was wrong with the Lakky?..................
[/quote]

It was a DJ5 and I went to see 3 basses. The Lakland was pretty good, passive and nice enough
but the Sei was up for a second hand price and miles better...as you would expect, but there was
only a £200-300 price difference, IIRC, and so a no brainer.
I brought the Sei and it was my friend who pointed out the neck pocket issue with the Lakland but I didn't think it
was that bad. I think I would have walked away from a sale had they not had a Sei there at the time
but only because the Lakland didn't entirely convince as a general bass, as opposed to the pocket issue.
Would I buy one for £700 now...??? hmm... wont say 'never' ( that DJ5 wasn't £700 though )
The Sei was a great buy and I still use it a lot.

[woodyratm]

Wouldnt life suck if we all liked the same basses?!

FWIW i tried dozens of basses before deciding on my lakland, that was trying high end fenders, MM, Warwicks etc.
Even based my purple beastie on it!

You might get a few dogs occasionally, but for my (personal) testing, i found 9/10 fenders were howling, but all the Laklands i tested were lovely in comparrison.

[discreet]

[quote name='woodyratm' timestamp='1412440547' post='2568987']
...based my purple beastie on it!
[/quote]

Euphemism..?

[discreet]

[quote name='woodyratm' timestamp='1412440547' post='2568987']
Wouldnt life suck if we all liked the same basses?!
[/quote]

Actually no. There would be just one or two basses that everyone liked and I wouldn't have wasted such a large amount of my rapidly-dwindling life on this planet looking at, reading about, lusting over and playing many different types of bass!

Mind you, I would probably still have wasted a lot of time looking and amps and cabs. And porn.

Edited October 4, 2014 by discreet

[stingrayPete1977]

I didnt find all Fenders howling but all the Laklands were nicer than their counterparts with nicer tops too, I tried a Sterling SBMM which I found underwhelming, others like them a lot.
I was not looking a P basses of any kind, none of them do it for me really including the one in the OP.

Jtuk I have concidered a DJ5, I like they metallic grey ones, but the 55-14 is looking more my thing

[JTUK]

Me, I like the LPB Jazz types.... glorious colour and I think they have a few other great colours as well.
I don't want a bass with humbuckers though these days so the DJ looked a good fit

[molan]

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1412427674' post='2568860']

Have you seen a single Fender bass of any model as good as Mr S's 55-94 would have when it was new? The funny thing is I am not expecting them to be, the USA Lakland is a £3500-4000 bass why anyone should feel one for £1800 should be as good is beyond me?



This should be a closer match yet I have never tried one
[url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/fender_american_dlx_custom_jazz_v_vwt.htm"]http://www.thomann.de/gb/fender_american_dlx_custom_jazz_v_vwt.htm[/url]
[/quote]

USA Laklands shouldn't be that expensive - is there a UK dealer offering them at this price?

You can import one privately from the U.S. with all duties paid from as little as £1,650 for a plan colour 4 string up to around £2,500 for a lot of the flash top 5's. You might just creep over £3,000 but you'd have to spec an incredibly high upgrade top to get to that level.

The Fender link is a Masterbuilt CS. That not far off as expensive as they come from the Custom Shop. I'm not sure it's directly comparable with anything Lakland make because they don't offer this level of personal build wih custom options as far as I know.

[stingrayPete1977]

If I could find a fancy blue topped 55-94 for £2500 it would already be on one of my hooks! Where should I be looking? Ive seen 10 year old used ones go for around £2500.

[Japhet]

In my opinion, it's companies like Lakland and Yamaha (and many more) who keep Fender on their toes. Fender have gone though numerous periods of poor quality but their history and loyal followers keep coming to the rescue.

[Skol303]

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1412427327' post='2568851']I tried EVERY Fender bass in the shop inc the most expensive ones in there and they all had some form of issue, the Jazz 5 active Deluxe (?) was the worst of the lot, sounded dull and lifeless with a flappy B string[/quote]

Mostly subjective... and I think we've had this parlay before... but the Jazz V's I've tried have all been great instruments, certainly in terms of build quality, tone and B-strings. I also like the wide string spacing (19mm I think). But like I said, it's mostly subjective and we all have our own personal preferences and allegiances - sometimes nailed to the mast of our usernames

Although as a rule of thumb, I imagine it's fair to say that the build quality of most instruments increases with price (bar the odd exceptions). Were that not the case, the market for high end/expensive basses would surely not be able to support itself.

So yes, I'd imagine that a £2500 instrument would be 'better' than one costing £1000 or £100. If that weren't the case, I'd be taking it back to the shop.

[stingrayPete1977]

All I can say is the ones I have tried all had flappy B strings and sounded a bit lifeless compared to say the Lakland five strings in guitar guitar, I have tried many other Fender fives before and since and found the same results.

You shouldn't judge to much from my name I actually played a modified Squier Jazz 4 string alongside various Stingrays for years and years, I only sold it to someone on here once I had decided I am a five string player, if a Fender 5 took my fancy I would buy it, I am not anti Fender in any way.

[Skol303]

No worries Pete! I'm GAS'ing for a Stingray 5 having recently played one... so I suppose that speaks for itself