Lakland Skyline Hollowbody 30 inch scale

[Alberto Rigoni]

Hello guys,
any one has tried it? I have some GAS 

Cheers

 

Al

 

[kyuuga]

From that picture it looks like a toy...the design is so weird.

But hey, to each his own!

[Alberto Rigoni]

I like the look a lot and should a very vintage vibe 

[ikay]

In case you haven't already seen this..

 

[Alberto Rigoni]

Thanks 

[scrumpymike]

I like this a lot but not sure that the sunburst finish works with the body shape.

[BassBunny]

@solo4652

Steve, is this the Lakland you have? Maybe able to add some real user input.

[solo4652]

3 hours ago, BassBunny said:

@solo4652

Steve, is this the Lakland you have? Maybe able to add some real user input.

Yes - this is the bass I have. It's my no.1 bass and has remained with me while other short-scales have come and gone. Some key points, from my experience:

It's very light - noticeably so compared to every other shortscale I've had. This is one of the main reasons I bought it. Hardly any neck-dive - with a wide, rough-finish strap it sits obediently in a slight neck-up position. Stock pickups are fairly bright and modern. I'm fairly sure that the stock arrangement is V/V/T. Mine's been changed to V/blend/T. The neck pickup solo-ed could not honestly be described as "Precision" tone. Rear pickup sounds pretty much like a jazz. Best for me is a 50/50 mix of the two, although I know that when Bassbunny played it, he liked the balance a little more towards the neck. See embedded video for an example of me playing it in a 5-piece covers band. Nut width is 38mm. The neck is quite deep front to back and for that reason feels a lot more substantial than other 38mm short-scale necks I've tried. Also, the neck is positioned more outboard than other shortscales, meaning my fretting hand is a little further away from my body than other shortscales, so the playing position doesn't feel too cramped. Only hardware issue I've had was a slipping hipshot tuning peg - replaced with a new one recently.

I've tried quite a few different strings. I've settled on Labella black tapewounds. Their depth of tone balances-out the slightly "modern" tone of the pickups to give a nicely rounded sound with plenty of low end. Fender flatwounds didn't work quite so well - a bit too bright on this bass, in my opinion.

These are pretty rare beasts - not often you see these for sale. I suppose the styling is a little "old school", but I forgive it that for the way it sounds. It will most probably stay with me for as long as I'm playing bass. 

Any other questions - just get in touch.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzxB5LU29Vc

 

Edited March 7, 2020 by solo4652

[Alberto Rigoni]

18 hours ago, solo4652 said:

Yes - this is the bass I have. It's my no.1 bass and has remained with me while other short-scales have come and gone. Some key points, from my experience:

It's very light - noticeably so compared to every other shortscale I've had. This is one of the main reasons I bought it. Hardly any neck-dive - with a wide, rough-finish strap it sits obediently in a slight neck-up position. Stock pickups are fairly bright and modern. I'm fairly sure that the stock arrangement is V/V/T. Mine's been changed to V/blend/T. The neck pickup solo-ed could not honestly be described as "Precision" tone. Rear pickup sounds pretty much like a jazz. Best for me is a 50/50 mix of the two, although I know that when Bassbunny played it, he liked the balance a little more towards the neck. See embedded video for an example of me playing it in a 5-piece covers band. Nut width is 38mm. The neck is quite deep front to back and for that reason feels a lot more substantial than other 38mm short-scale necks I've tried. Also, the neck is positioned more outboard than other shortscales, meaning my fretting hand is a little further away from my body than other shortscales, so the playing position doesn't feel too cramped. Only hardware issue I've had was a slipping hipshot tuning peg - replaced with a new one recently.

I've tried quite a few different strings. I've settled on Labella black tapewounds. Their depth of tone balances-out the slightly "modern" tone of the pickups to give a nicely rounded sound with plenty of low end. Fender flatwounds didn't work quite so well - a bit too bright on this bass, in my opinion.

These are pretty rare beasts - not often you see these for sale. I suppose the styling is a little "old school", but I forgive it that for the way it sounds. It will most probably stay with me for as long as I'm playing bass. 

Any other questions - just get in touch.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzxB5LU29Vc

 

Thanks a lot for the great feedback. I ordered one! As soon as I get it I will make a demo and some videos and let you know your thoughts 

cheers

 

alberto

[solo4652]

21 minutes ago, Alberto Rigoni said:

Thanks a lot for the great feedback. I ordered one! As soon as I get it I will make a demo and some videos and let you know your thoughts 

cheers

 

alberto

Good for you! I should perhaps have said that mine is the Skyline variant, not the USA one.

Steve

[Alberto Rigoni]

3 hours ago, solo4652 said:

Good for you! I should perhaps have said that mine is the Skyline variant, not the USA one.

Steve

I bet it sounds great anyway

[scrumpymike]

6 hours ago, solo4652 said:

Good for you! I should perhaps have said that mine is the Skyline variant, not the USA one.

Steve

Is that a cut-price version made outside the US?

[solo4652]

31 minutes ago, scrumpymike said:

Is that a cut-price version made outside the US?

I may well be confusing myself here! Not too sure whether there were/are US and non-US versions. Apologies...

[Alberto Rigoni]

Right handed is only skyline . They made a USA one for lefty

[grayn]

Your one, with the Fender(ish) headstock looks a lot better than the more recent version.

[Alberto Rigoni]

29 minutes ago, grayn said:

Your one, with the Fender(ish) headstock looks a lot better than the more recent version.

This one was 34 discounted 

[grayn]

Oh Yeah, hadn't spotted that, although GuitarGuitar still have this 34" model.

https://www.guitarguitar.co.uk/product/05090913515618--lakland-skyline-hollowbody-bass-3-tone-sunburst?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI96TjyruL6AIViEHTCh1QVQi5EAQYASABEgJjgfD_BwE

[jonno1981]

I love everything about the original hollow body design apart from the headstock. They really sounded fantastic. 

[scrumpymike]

Confusing!  Just been on Lakland's website which seems to confirm that there are two different body styles with the same model name.

[Alberto Rigoni]

19 hours ago, scrumpymike said:

Confusing!  Just been on Lakland's website which seems to confirm that there are two different body styles with the same model name.

I can find only this as Hollowbody 30 https://www.lakland.com/product/skyline-series-hollowbody-30/

[ikay]

They're still showing a pic of the original 34" hollowbody in the scrolling picture bar near the top of the Skyline Series page. It is discontinued though I think. I've played one of these and really liked it. It had a nice semi-acoustic vibe but was still tight and punchy.

[scrumpymike]

22 hours ago, ikay said:

They're still showing a pic of the original 34" hollowbody in the scrolling picture bar near the top of the Skyline Series page.

Ah, so that's the discontinued 34" hollowbody.  Like I said, confusing if you don't know that.  When you click on 'MORE IMAGES' under the main pic, all images are of the 34" design too.

[flutophilus]

Looks great. Can I ask how it balances on the knee? Does it neck dive at all when you play it sat down without a strap? Thanks.

[Mortone]

Stock round-wound strings, d'addario 40-100