Lakland 5501 upgrades

[ebenezer]

Well, I have just bagged myself a lovely used 5501 at a very reasonable price.... anyways, I plan to upgrade the preamp and pickup's... nothing much wrong with the current setup but the bass strikes as a perfect platform for some tasty upgrades.....just to say, I had a 5502 but I could never quite achieve the tone I was after...I would be grateful for some ideas?

[Machines]

What do you want from it that it can't already do? Sounds like you want to upgrade but have no actual target to aim for. 

[krispn]

You after pick ups or tone shenanigans? If it's pick up's and you wan some trickery there's some (objectively) good pick ups out there for the MM position. I like the Nordstrand Bigman with switchable coils as found in the Dan Lutz DL VM5. It's this one... I'm tempted to whack it in my p bass if I decide to go down that route in the future with the coil switch option.

 

[ezbass]

1 hour ago, ebenezer said:

Well, I have just bagged myself a lovely used 5501 at a very reasonable price.... anyways, I plan to upgrade the preamp and pickup's... nothing much wrong with the current setup but the bass strikes as a perfect platform for some tasty upgrades.....just to say, I had a 5502 but I could never quite achieve the tone I was after...I would be grateful for some ideas?

I had one too, played great but ultimately a bit 'beige' tonewise. It would definitely fit right in with any genre and do a sterling job, but I ultimately felt it lacked character; I should've bought 'Ray or Sterling 5, but I had fiver GAS and that was the best and affordable, available on the day (impatient b'stard syndrome). Looking back, I should've replaced the bridge p/up with an MM type and then maybe the preamp.

For the 5501, I would go for for Nordy Big Singles as they have real character and should drop straight in. Of course, your needs may well differ. However, if you get the right upgrades, I reckon that could easily be a 'Bass For Life'^©.

[ebenezer]

I had an ibanez with the Aguilar super double pickup's and they didn't do it for me...I quite like a jazz like tone but with the ability to get nasty when you dig in!....not keen on too much bottom, prefer good definition.... does that make any sense.

[krispn]

Ooops I thought the 5502 had the MM/J config. Ignore me

 

[ezbass]

35 minutes ago, ebenezer said:

I had an ibanez with the Aguilar super double pickup's and they didn't do it for me...I quite like a jazz like tone but with the ability to get nasty when you dig in!....not keen on too much bottom, prefer good definition.... does that make any sense.

Nordy Big Singles for you then, my good man. When I had them on an Ibby, the first time I dug in, I wondered who was getting gnarly - it was me.

[dave_bass5]

I had a 55-01 and upgraded the preamp. Didn’t make much difference (then again why should it). My advice is start with the pups. Those Bart MK1’are quite boring. 

[ebenezer]

Looking on the talkbass site it would seem the preamp is more of a weak link....one guy changed his pickup's a few times then went back to the mk1's

[ebenezer]

Come on folks.... John East uni-pre maybe?

[ezbass]

I'd always start with pickups, if the they have no character you're asking what should be just a boost/cut circuit to add this, which isn't really what it's there to do (although some do seem to have certain characteristics that are pleasing beyond the +/- dB). Play your pickups passively, if they're not doing it for you then you're going to be rolling a turd in glitter by changing the preamp. IMO.

On 08/06/2020 at 08:23, ebenezer said:

Looking on the talkbass site it would seem the preamp is more of a weak link....one guy changed his pickup's a few times then went back to the mk1's

I would say someone who has changed their pickups a few times, only to go back to the originals, didn't really know what they wanted in the first place. Again IMO.

[chris_b]

A few years ago I bought a 55-01 with a plan to upgrade. I was going to replace the pickups, remove the preamp and make it passive. I liked the bass but in the end, at nearly 10lbs, common sense took over. I'm never going to gig a bass that heavy again.

[dave_bass5]

49 minutes ago, ezbass said:

I'd always start with pickups, if the they have no character you're asking what should be just a boost/cut circuit to add this, which isn't really what it's there to do (although some do seem to have certain characteristics that are pleasing beyond the +/- dB). Play your pickups passively, if they're not doing it for you then you're going to be rolling a turd in glitter by changing the preamp. IMO.

I would say someone who has changed their pickups a few times, only to go back to the originals, didn't really know what they wanted in the first place. Again IMO.

I agree. A good pre amp wont have a lot of character, its just there to amplify what the pups are feeding it. Obviously worth EQ you can change the tone of them, but its best to start with one you like IME. 

[Sibob]

I found upgrading my old 55-01 pups and Pre from the MK1 stuff really bought it alive.

I opted for Bartolini US dual coils (in the same shell size as the MK1’s), and a Bart NTMB preamp. I had La Bella tape wounds on it and it really sang, regret selling it! 

Si

Edited Friday at 17:05 by Sibob

[dave_bass5]

1 minute ago, Sibob said:

I found upgrading my old 55-01 pups and Pre from the MK1 stuff really bought it alive.

I opted for Bartolini US dual coils (in the same shell size as the MK1’s), and an Bart NTMB preamp. I had Lakland tape wounds on it and it really sang, regret selling it! 

Si

Thats the same preamp i upgraded to. I also had a toggle switch put on the bass itself rather than use the internal one. I cant actually remember what it did. Was it mid freq adjust?

Either way, it was a nice upgrade but didn’t really change the tone of the bass, just added more EQ options. 

[Sibob]

1 minute ago, dave_bass5 said:

Thats the same preamp i upgraded to. I also had a toggle switch put on the bass itself rather than use the internal one. I cant actually remember what it did. Was it mid freq adjust?

Either way, it was a nice upgrade but didn’t really change the tone of the bass, just added more EQ options. 

Not sure, I just left it inside haha.

Yeah I would say that the pickups made the biggest difference (they sounded way better than the MK1’s in passive mode), but figured I’d do the preamp too while I was at it.

Si

[dave_bass5]

5 minutes ago, Sibob said:

Not sure, I just left it inside haha.

Yeah I would say that the pickups made the biggest difference (they sounded way better than the MK1’s in passive mode), but figured I’d do the preamp too while I was at it.

Si

I remember back then everyone was talking about the NTMB as the obvious upgrade, I think the 55-02 had it or the USA model. The Gallery had a used one so put it in for me. Never got around to changing he pups but i definitely would have. Can’t complain though, i gigged it for at least two years solid. 

[Sibob]

2 minutes ago, dave_bass5 said:

I remember back then everyone was talking about the NTMB as the obvious upgrade, I think the 55-02 had it or the USA model. The Gallery had a used one so put it in for me. Never got around to changing he pups but i definitely would have. Can’t complain though, i gigged it for at least two years solid. 

Yeah the old 55-02’s had it when they they had Barts, but moved to the Hanson/Lakland stuff after. 

The 55-01 was actually a bit of an accident, when Lakland were waiting for the first 55-02 test models, the overseas factory didn’t have any MM/J pups, so they stuck a couple of soapbars in so Lakland could at least see the bass build quality. The rest is history.

Si

[dave_bass5]

5 minutes ago, Sibob said:

Yeah the old 55-02’s had it when they they had Barts, but moved to the Hanson/Lakland stuff after. 

The 55-01 was actually a bit of an accident, when Lakland were waiting for the first 55-02 test models, the overseas factory didn’t have any MM/J pups, so they stuck a couple of soapbars in so Lakland could at least see the bass build quality. The rest is history.

Si

Ooh, cool story. 

[ebenezer]

thanks for the comments folks!.....looking on youtube, there is a guy who has fitted aguilar super splits along with an aguilar obp3 preamp to his 55-01.....listening to the bass firstly with the cheapo bartolinl mk1 and then with the super splits (both with the obp3) i have to conclude, i prefer the el-cheapo bart mk1s....sounds cleaner to me and i think the mk1s suit the preamp.....what do you think?

[ezbass]

3 hours ago, ebenezer said:

thanks for the comments folks!.....looking on youtube, there is a guy who has fitted aguilar super splits along with an aguilar obp3 preamp to his 55-01.....listening to the bass firstly with the cheapo bartolinl mk1 and then with the super splits (both with the obp3) i have to conclude, i prefer the el-cheapo bart mk1s....sounds cleaner to me and i think the mk1s suit the preamp.....what do you think?

I think it's hard to really judge accurately with YouTube due to the compression they use, but if you prefer the Barts in that side by side comparison, then perhaps leave those in. However, I thought you wanted something that has the ability to "get nasty".

[Sibob]

6 hours ago, ebenezer said:

thanks for the comments folks!.....looking on youtube, there is a guy who has fitted aguilar super splits along with an aguilar obp3 preamp to his 55-01.....listening to the bass firstly with the cheapo bartolinl mk1 and then with the super splits (both with the obp3) i have to conclude, i prefer the el-cheapo bart mk1s....sounds cleaner to me and i think the mk1s suit the preamp.....what do you think?

Worth noting that the stock MK1 p’ups are also split-coils, but clearly voiced differently to the Aguilars.

Si

[ebenezer]

Yes, apparently reverse split coil which should serve to give a tighter bottom end.... going to upgrade the pre first and if I feel the pickup's need replacing can do it at a later date.... thinking of the east uni-pre.

[benh]

Just found this thread! In a similar situation with my Cort A5 (same pickup/preamp).