lowregisterhead Posted December 1, 2019 Share Posted December 1, 2019 (edited) NOW SOLD I'm offering for sale my very rare Lakland 55-76 Deluxe. This bass is the holy grail for Stingray fans who would like a wider string spacing and 35" scale. It has a Teal burst finish over a flame maple top, maple neck with ebony fingerboard, and 19mm spacing at the bridge, with thru-body or bridge stringing. It also has a removable Stingray-style see-thru scratchplate. Weight is 4.3kg. I bought it a while back from a guy in the Netherlands as a fretless, and had it fretted by a very skilled luthier who has the distinction of having re-fretted some of Peter Green's guitars, so I knew it was in pretty safe hands. The result was astonishing - the ebony board has such a sheen on it you can literally see your face in it. Not surprisingly, it also plays beautifully, and has that big, fat Stingray sound in spades, with the legendary Lakland B string. The oddity about this particular bass is that it has no serial number - the assumption is that it was made very early on, perhaps even the first or prototype of the model. This would place its date of manufacture at somewhere in the mid-90's, when Lakland was still in its infancy. Although it will certainly be US made, it also doesn't have the usual 'Made in the USA' stamp on the back of the neck, giving more credence to its early manufacture date. The tuners are Hipshot in design, but with no markings. (I have a Lakland 55-94 whose serial number dates it to 1998 that also doesn't have the USA neck stamp, and has the same style of tuners.) It's in excellent condition for a 20+ year old bass. There's a small crack in the lacquer next to the neck pocket, and a couple of tiny dings on the body that I've tried to show in the photographs, but otherwise it's in extremely good shape. Now we come to the colour. I've tried photographing it with three different cameras, but it always comes out more blue than it appears to the naked eye - in reality it's closer to a Teal Green. Any interested parties are very welcome to pay me a visit to have a closer look at it. Social distancing will be observed, obviously. I'm near Woking in Surrey, a few minutes from junction 10 of the M25. The pickup is wired to a 3-way coil tap switch (parallel, single coil, series switching) with a Bartolini NTMB-L918 3-band preamp with a push/pull volume pot for active/passive switching. I fitted the chrome knobs, but the original black rubberised ones are also included. The bass comes complete with a Hiscox Liteflite case. I believe that you can still get this model from Lakland as a special order, but with the build cost, deluxe burst finish, ebony fingerboard, Bartolini electronics, custom pickup, shipping and import duty, it would take several months and you wouldn't get much change out of five grand. Also (and I say this as a huge Lakland fan) in my opinion the older ones are just better made. Taking all that into consideration, the price I'm now asking is a steal. Payment by cash on collection or bank transfer/Transferwise. Sorry, but I'm only looking for a straight sale, so no trade offers please. Edited August 4, 2020 by lowregisterhead 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oldman Posted December 2, 2019 Share Posted December 2, 2019 Tsk, tsk, tsk, where do you dig ‘em up? Looks the Biz GLWTS 😎 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andysg42 Posted December 2, 2019 Share Posted December 2, 2019 What pickups that ? Not a lakland or Bartolini . Lovely bass 😳👍 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lowregisterhead Posted December 3, 2019 Author Share Posted December 3, 2019 21 hours ago, andysg42 said: What pickups that ? Not a lakland or Bartolini . Lovely bass 😳👍 Not sure, I had a look on the back, but there are no markings. I had another 55-76 a few years ago, and it had the same. I imagine the exposed pole pieces were to mimic the Stingray look, and possibly get a more similar tone. A Bartolini wouldn't have the same bark, IMO. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maui-san Posted December 3, 2019 Share Posted December 3, 2019 3 hours ago, lowregisterhead said: Not sure, I had a look on the back, but there are no markings. I had another 55-76 a few years ago, and it had the same. I imagine the exposed pole pieces were to mimic the Stingray look, and possibly get a more similar tone. A Bartolini wouldn't have the same bark, IMO. Awesome bass!! The pickup could be Seymour Duncan? I remember the stock model had a Seymour Duncan pickup. GLWTS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lowregisterhead Posted December 3, 2019 Author Share Posted December 3, 2019 8 hours ago, maui-san said: Awesome bass!! The pickup could be Seymour Duncan? I remember the stock model had a Seymour Duncan pickup. GLWTS. Yes, I think that's very likely. It sounds great, whatever it is! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassbandit Posted December 14, 2019 Share Posted December 14, 2019 There's basses, then there's basses 👌 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SzunaP Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 Hi. Couldn't find any sound samples, do you have some, plz? Or recordings. Standard MM sound or different a litl bit? THX! Lovely stuff! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HCC Posted January 15, 2020 Share Posted January 15, 2020 On 07/01/2020 at 23:38, SzunaP said: Hi. Couldn't find any sound samples, do you have some, plz? Or recordings. Standard MM sound or different a litl bit? THX! Lovely stuff! This could help a bit. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lowregisterhead Posted January 16, 2020 Author Share Posted January 16, 2020 On 07/01/2020 at 22:38, SzunaP said: Hi. Couldn't find any sound samples, do you have some, plz? Or recordings. Standard MM sound or different a litl bit? THX! Lovely stuff! I'll try and get some sound samples or a video uploaded this week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SzunaP Posted January 16, 2020 Share Posted January 16, 2020 Thanks! Pino is a monster, cool song! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubinga5 Posted March 19, 2020 Share Posted March 19, 2020 You should ask the guys on TalkBass, IE Lakland Club. These guys are experts at early Lakland.BTW it should have a 4 number serial number on the side/top of the headstock.? If not this is (like you say) a prototype.. Any Lakland aficionado will say these early Laklands are amazing. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lowregisterhead Posted March 21, 2020 Author Share Posted March 21, 2020 On 19/03/2020 at 21:55, bubinga5 said: You should ask the guys on TalkBass, IE Lakland Club. These guys are experts at early Lakland.BTW it should have a 4 number serial number on the side/top of the headstock.? If not this is (like you say) a prototype.. Any Lakland aficionado will say these early Laklands are amazing. That's a good idea bubinga5, I may just do that. It has no serial number anywhere, so it must be very early. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SzunaP Posted March 22, 2020 Share Posted March 22, 2020 Wow, thanks for the video, amazing sound and finish!! Mesmerizing... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alberto Rigoni Posted May 25, 2020 Share Posted May 25, 2020 Trade with a stunning 6? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lowregisterhead Posted May 25, 2020 Author Share Posted May 25, 2020 39 minutes ago, Alberto Rigoni said: Trade with a stunning 6? Sorry Alberto, thanks for the offer, but a 6 isn't for me - I have enough trouble with 5 strings! 😁 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
busccini Posted June 5, 2020 Share Posted June 5, 2020 i willing to risk my marriege fro this one !!!!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ariston Posted June 6, 2020 Share Posted June 6, 2020 open to trade? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lowregisterhead Posted June 6, 2020 Author Share Posted June 6, 2020 8 hours ago, Ariston said: open to trade? No, sorry, sale only. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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