Lakland - price rise again!

[Musicman20]

Hi

I was asking around about the current Lakland situation, and apparently, the distributor have discontinued their contract with Lakland as there was yet another price rise.

Now I thought the prices were high anyway...depsite the fact they are fantastic.

But...another price rise?!

What are you thoughts? Its a shame really, I think they need to keep the Skylines just below or above the £1k mark depending on the model otherwise its just getting damn silly.

I wonder when the UK will see the new JO bass with blocks/binding?

[SMART]

We suffered a 14% price rise last Feb/March with Modulus and with the exchange rates being what they are compared to 18 months ago this pushes up the price to end-users here in the UK unfortunately.

The same effect will be felt and experienced on price rises and currency exchange rates if anyone decides to make a personal import from the USA not forgetting the import duty and good 'ol VAT back at 17.5%!

Ciao

Ian

Edited February 23, 2010 by SMART

[bumnote]

The pound is weak again against the dollar and vats gone back up again That will be the excuse

Apparently in 1915 you could get 5 dollars to the pound, now wouldnt that make basses affordable

[jezzaboy]

Nice looking basses but at the end of the day they are (feel free to correct me if I`m wrong) a Cort bass, set up in Chicago and are therefore grossly overpriced. A G&L L 2000 built by the same company retails around £650 and is a fantastic piece of kit. It doesn`t add up to me.




Jez

[AndyTravis]

apparently Guitar Guitar have tge new distributorship (is that a word, if so i like it...)

This probably means not many other dealers apart from them.

40% price rise i'd heard.

Trav x

[Linus27]

[quote name='AndyTravis' post='755090' date='Feb 23 2010, 03:25 PM']apparently Guitar Guitar have tge new distributorship (is that a word, if so i like it...)

This probably means not many other dealers apart from them.

40% price rise i'd heard.

Trav x[/quote]

40%???? Are you sure?? Thats huge

[Musicman20]

[quote name='Linus27' post='755124' date='Feb 23 2010, 03:58 PM']40%???? Are you sure?? Thats huge [/quote]

There is no way id pay that amount...no way. You can get a lot more for your money. It basically takes the idea of a Skyline outside of the normal buyers pricepoint.

[machinehead]

I know a lot of people love the Skyline Laklands. Any that I've played have been lovely players. (A bit heavier than I'd like. Even my SX jazz was lighter)

The value of a bass is very subjective and varies for every player. Sometimes the name alone adds massively to the price as we all know. Place of manufacture is often pushed as a big pricing factor, perhaps best of all by Fender. Nothing wrong with that.. They're just two of many marketing strategies.

Someone a few posts back said that Cort make these Laklands. I knew that and it got me thinking about a gorgeous Cort GB94 on sale here (maybe sold?) which is a beautiful guitar and for a fraction of the price of a Lakland. I really had to resist buying that one or face SHMBO.

I guess Lakland add apparent value by setting them up in the US but I'm quite sure that they could get them set up equally well in the factory for a fraction of the cost of shipping to the US, paying US wages etc.

So there it is, selling price has only a loose relationship to cost of manufacture. A big factor for a lot of us is the resale value and in that respect, Lakland seem to do well.

If you want a Lakland and you percieve the price to be worth it, you'll pay the price. If not, you'll just spend your money elsewhere. Maybe the latest price increase for UK buyers has pushed the price (for some of us) over the threshold of percieved price versus value?

Frank.

[crez5150]

[quote name='AndyTravis' post='755090' date='Feb 23 2010, 03:25 PM']apparently Guitar Guitar have tge new distributorship (is that a word, if so i like it...)

This probably means not many other dealers apart from them.

40% price rise i'd heard.

Trav x[/quote]

Never a good move when a retailer try's their hand at distribution....... or distributorship

[krispn]

lets hope GG do a blowout on Lakland just like with the TecAmp gear

[Musicman20]

A quick update on this one.

I am about to order a Ray 5, although not from GuitarGuitar.

I was passing and I have a TC Electronic Nova Repeater on order with them, and I went in to ask again where it was. I've been waiting for a month and I've been fully charged!

They had a Ray 5 in, and some 2009/10 plek'd Laklands.

They seemed very wary of why I wanted a Stingray over a Lakland. They told me to have a try, which I thought may as well.

Now Lakland 5 necks are awesome...I have no doubt about that. I tried a JO5 and a 55-02. The JO5 was the heaviest bass I've ever picked up. We must be talking 12-14lbs...seriously.

The JO5 I tried had QC issues all over it. I was seriously shocked. I have yet to find a new Lakland without any issues, although it may be just my bad luck. 5 months back I looked into the DJ5, and I couldn't get hold if a good one, yet everyone I asked didn't have the problems I was having.

The 55-02 sounded great but the Humbucker wasn't Ray enough! Bit lighter though.

The Stingray 5 also played like a dream. Smooth tight b, easy string spacing, nice contours, classic Ray tone. It was much more expensive than other stores though. I realise Rays are more expensive than some Laklands, but the build quality was higher, and you get a proper EB case etc.

I'm glad I had a quick go, just to make me realise a Ray 5 is right for me.

If you ask me, gg obtaining the lakland distribution is not a good thing. Why? Well, my friend enquirer about a 4 string and they wouldn't make a deal with a hardcase. Apparently their prices were seriously low. Not to those who know pricing though...

Also, their comment on weight was 'the quality of wood is very high; it's a necessary evil'. Not true.

My friend also asked about ordering a bass in with a different board. They kept putting it off, not responding, and finally said it was special order, non refundable, and normally Lakland don't do this. They were really trying to sell him the stock basses.

My thoughts? A bass specialist would be better for Lakland.

Edited April 16, 2010 by Musicman20

[Sibob]

I have to say, I've never played a Lakland that blew me away!
The 44-02D I had was very polite and not very inspiring, the DJ I tried in gallery was boring as well!

I think I just don't get them!

Si

[martthebass]

I've owned a couple of Lakky Skylines (a BG and a DJ5). Both were nicely put together basses, the DJ5 particularly so but I wouldn't have rated the fit finish as good as MM or for that matter better than current US Fender. Both were heavy and I've noticed significant variability in this respect on Skylines (once found a DJ4 with a very nice tone that can't have been more than 8lbs - I should have bought that one) - far more so than MM or Fender.

At the end of the day only the buyer can decide at what point a supplier prices themselves out of the market, but for my 2p I would not pay more for a DJ4/JO4 than I would for a US Jazz. Also, out of all the afforementioned, a US Ray or Sterling is the only ones I would happily buy 'blind'.

[Musicman20]

[quote name='martthebass' post='808390' date='Apr 16 2010, 01:47 PM']I've owned a couple of Lakky Skylines (a BG and a DJ5). Both were nicely put together basses, the DJ5 particularly so but I wouldn't have rated the fit finish as good as MM or for that matter better than current US Fender. Both were heavy and I've noticed significant variability in this respect on Skylines (once found a DJ4 with a very nice tone that can't have been more than 8lbs - I should have bought that one) - far more so than MM or Fender.

At the end of the day only the buyer can decide at what point a supplier prices themselves out of the market, but for my 2p I would not pay more for a DJ4/JO4 than I would for a US Jazz. Also, out of all the afforementioned, a US Ray or Sterling is the only ones I would happily buy 'blind'.[/quote]

My thoughts exactly. I wouldn't pay £1300 for a non US instrument that's not 100% amazing!

Again, I agree. I've bought Stingrays blind in the past and I always will to get my spec. They don't mess about with them!

[JTUK]

I tried a DJ5 and liked it enough at the price....£899 IIRC and just when DJ stopped his connection with LL.. but bought a better bass from the shop that day anyway.
I thought it played well but I would have put a pre amp in pretty soon just to give it that edge that it didn't have passively.
I guess I am sold on actives.

But the wider point in all this is how much transpancy there might not be in the prices. I often check out one maker and see how they transfer over to this country to see if all the charges kind of add up and then pick another maker and see if the same charges, and rates pan out.

I feel one or two distributors seem to mask these prices with all sorts of excuses or reasons. It doesn't help if that distributor/shop is the sole outlet for the product.
Basically, I'd be very wary of a sole distributor/shop prices and I don't think a monopoly is a good thing, generally, for the customer. It can be a very good thing indeed for the distributor/shop.

[chris_b]

If you'd rather not put any more of your cash into the Government’s or some financial spiv's back pocket, get a high end bass made in the UK. Same money with more of it going into your instrument.

[JTUK]

[quote name='chris_b' post='808446' date='Apr 16 2010, 02:24 PM']If you'd rather not put any more of your cash into the Government’s or some financial spiv's back pocket, get a high end bass made in the UK. Same money with more of it going into your instrument.[/quote]


Agree, I did this with a Sei when I was first looking for a 5 with a decent B string, about early 90's I guess.
I tried all sort of exotica but decided that everything from a shop would have 30% plus on it straight away, then import charges etc etc ..
and decided to put as much of the money I had into a commisioned bass from someone that wasn't too much of a gamble...ie, had a bit history and
would have a resale value if it didn't work out.

My gamble was only in picking the woods and how the combinations worked. The quality and the craftsmanship wasn't in doubt and he was quite the hot new maker at that time with all sorts of 'name' commisions in the workshop. He told me, that for the money he could make me a better bass than...well, you fill in the line.
And for the money I paid, he was right, IMO.

[Simon.]

I have been seriously GASsing for a Duck Dunn Lakland recently, but given that current price of a new Skyline model, the fact that nowhere seems to have one in stock, the restriction in colour choice and a potential further price rise, I'm changing my mind rapidly. I'm now seriously looking at going down the custom build route, getting something which has all the elements I like from the DD, but with a bit more flexibility. Jon Shuker, here I come....