LeftyBassist.com

Lakland 55-94 Deluxe for sale. Left-handed and all. Ready to play. Left-handed frets and strings. Even the battery is installed in left-handed orientation.

Seriously now. This bass is a gem. Built in 1999 - so this is from the old Lakland era when all the good guys were still in the company, and has the coveted original Bartolini electronics. Condition is excellent plus. It has been played, but gently, and I treat my basses with a lot of care and dignity. Looks great with Hawaiian shirts and sandals, too. Might have a superficial smudge here and there and it's a 14-year old bass, but it feels like new to me. Very little fret wear if any. Amazing blue quilt top, which I actually never look at, but I know it's there, and it's beautiful.

The frets and setup in this bass are pure joy. At one point I liked 55-94s so much than I bought a new one, last year, but returned it promptly. It did not have the same quality setup and actually I couldn't set up the action as low as I had it on mine. Don't get me wrong, new Lalkand still are incredible, but this "old" ones are just a tad better, IMHO.

Reasons for selling: I want a Roscoe, which has tighter string spacing and a narrower neck, and I want a lighter bass. This one is only 9.1 lb, but I want 8.5 lb or less.

Now the bad news: I don't want to give it away and I'm not in any rush to sell it. Price is and will be $2600 - that includes shipping and Paypal within the continental USA. These are $3960 new. International buyers, please e-mail me for a shipping quote: kakoguzman@hotmail.com - or send me a PM here. I'm not going to list this at Talkbass or eBay, just here.

I'm not looking for trades, unless you have a 5-string Roscoe that weighs 8.5 lb or less.

This picture are from when I bought the bass, so it might show just a bit of wear now.

Gorgeous!

Yes it is! I remember the first time I ever heard a Lakland. Was at a July 4th concert in 2000, at Schofield Army Base in Wahiawa, Hi. The military was only charging $5.00 for three bands... which were Eddie Money opening, Joe Walsh in the middle, and The Doobie Brothers headlining. Great trio for $5.00! Anyway, I was with a group of friends, and we were on the lawn back about fifty yards from the stage enjoying the music. As soon as The Doobies starting playing, I was blown away with the tone of the bass player, and like a lemming to the sea, began to make my way through the crowd, to the stage...

Once I got up to the stage, I was mesmorized by the bass player (must have been Skyler), and was struck not only by the sound of his bass, but by how nice it looked... took me a minute or two to catch the name on the headstock (which I had never seen before), and finally caught the name - Lakland! Man, I wanted one Bad at that point - it just sounded thunderous and warm, and in a good way! After that concert, I started searching online and found info on Laklands, and (gasp!) the cost of them; a price-point I simply could not afford at the time....

I never did buy a Lakland, but have a reverence for them still. Cash flow and impending trip to New York this Thursday doesn't allow me to consider buying this beauty, but that doesn't mean I can't have some lust in my heart for it!

Sorry to hi-jack your thread, and wish you the best of luck on your sale.... Aloha!

Nice story

Personnally I'm not fan of these fancy flamed/burled/highly figured tables, but this one is great, and the color is really nice.
I cannot afford it (and don't want to buy it blindly, without being able to try it first) but damn I really like it.

Looking back at pictures through Google, I believe Skylark's model was a sunburst. Looks like he also played an Alembic quite a bit as well...

I think I have my mind made up and I'm really going to order a custom build, so I'm going to start pushing a bit more aggressively to sell this beauty. But I don't want to place the order for a new bass until this sells.

I'd still rather sell it here than on eBay, so hit me with offers. Not really interested in trades, though, 'cus the whole point of selling this is to get a bass built to my specs, otherwise I'm still really happy owning this bass.

Thanks

Overall this is a beautiful bass Carlos. However, I guess we all have our little pet peeves, and stop me if you've heard this before, but one of the things that bugs me about this bass is the Bartolini logos appearing upside down. There's no real need for the pickups being oriented that way in relation to the strings is there?

LOL, never noticed that. Reason 1, I think is that the lead comes out of the treble side, so if you install the pickup upside down, the lead will be under the whole pickup, which not only could pinch the cable but it won't let the pickup get as low as possible if the setup calls for that. Second reason, I don't think Bartolini (or any pickup manufacturer) wires their pickups differently if they were to be left-handed - so there is no impact in sound. Reason three, the bridge pickup has two ears on the top and one on the bottom - I think that Bartolini's intention is to have them installed that way, and to flip them just for the logos to be in the usual orientation would look weird (having the two ears on the bottom, but it's possible, I guess, and Lakland would have had to route the ears to go on the bottom).

I think all Bartolini pickups are this way, so in order to avoid the logos being "upside down" you would have to have the cables run under the pickups (which might not be a problem after all). Or make cavities for the cables. Or install a different brand of pickups - like the new Lakland pickups (although those also have logos).

Since you asked about this, I lookup photos on an MTD 535 I used to have, and in their case, they installed the pickup upside down (no ears, so no problem), so the logo looks "right" in a lefty bass, but I'm guessing the pickup cable ran under (and I'm guessing there was enough space, as Mr. Tobias really knows what he's doing).

Lakland fanboys swear by these older Bartolini pickups, though, so I think it's a small price to pay if you or anybody is considering this bass and might be deterred because of this innate imperfection. Wasn't there a Zon bass we saw recently with a righty logo? And doesn't Warwick and Gibson do this all the time with the model names in lefty instrument? Why do manufacturers think they can get away with this kind of stuff? Just because we are left-handed it doesn't mean we are stupid, you know.

My favorite is the R bridge on lefty Rickenbacker guitars.

I believe Lakland did this for the 2 top screw adj holes to be on top. It doesn't matter what direction the pickup is for Barts. They are the same both ways in the shell unless its the custom P in soap shell (MTB Basses). The only differerence on the 5 string single coil is the split. The split is between the E and or D depending on what direction it is. I'm unsure if the Classic series is the same tho. I think Lakland did this for the adjustments. You can look up the specs on Bartolini's website if still up. It will be changed soon as they have a new owner.... But Bill and Pat will still be working until they retire. They are the greatest people.

Just to be more concrete about my bottom price, I'd do $2400 shipped and Paypaled to most countries in Europe (via US Post Service, given that your country has the size allowance to ship a bass), and $2300 to US buyers, Fedexed and Paypaled. And I guess $2350 for Canada (or whatever actual shipping is more than the typical $50 for US shipping).

Botton line, I'd want $2200 in my pocket to let it go. I know the market is tough and people are only buying bargains, but this baby is just too good to give away.

Thanks and sorry if this still is overpriced. . .

If it helps at all, my 55-94 is the only bass I've ever sold that I wish I still had... I literally think about it every few days and I'm bothered by the fact that I let it go.

I want another one really bad and would pop on this one in a heartbeat, but I'm on a mandated spending freeze right now. No exceptions.

So, whoever decides to get this one will NOT regret it... I get the strong impression through various sources that they simply do not make them like this anymore.

Good luck on your sale man!

If I had the $$ I would have snatched this one up. These are GREAT basses and well built. This price is very good and seller is trusted. Good Luck Carlos!!

Actually, Warwick makes all their truss rod cover model names in both right AND left handed versions. So they seem to be pretty good about it. Even my '97 Streamer Stage 1 is correct.

An update on this bass: it's back for sale. I had two buyers lined up and ready to send money, but in the process of making a demo (for one of the buyers) I played the bass again and took it to a gig, and I just couldn't let it go (apologize again, gentleman). But I'm cool and collected now and I promise not to back down again.

I'm not getting any other 5-string right now, and my trade preferences are toward a P-Bass right now. So if you happen to have a musty '70s P-Bass taking up space in your closet. . .

And I'm happy and sorry to announce that this bass has been sold. I'll miss her, sometimes.

This is SOLD. Please move. Thanks.