LeftyBassist.com

http://cgi.ebay.com/Lakland-USA-55-94-l ... 3a62374530

Yeh I know this was mentioned before but I couldn't find the link. Besides being back up on the bay I remember the winning bid was from a guy who had a rating of zero or one or two and he bid way higher than anyone else..I remember thinking that poor seller is going to rip his hair out trying to collect from that guy. Must have taken a month or two to sort out. Scary selling on ebay sometimes.

WOW!
A no reserve auction of a beautiful Lakland
Do you remember how much it went for last time?
It's got 5 days to go and I'd imagine the last minute sniping is going to be ugly, but I have it on my watch list. I want to see how this plays out.

More excitin' than the Superbowl, ya'll!

I have bought and sold more basses than I can remember and most I couldn’t care if I ever saw again but I bought one of these from Addison and I wish I never let it go. These basses are so nice. Perfect mix of vintage feel and modern building expertise. I can't remember exactly but I think it was high 3K's.....yes too high I know...das y itz bak upyo!!!

I will admit to having some heartburn with Lakland but dispite that every one of them I have evr heard both live and on recordings sound absolutely awesome. I keep hoping that some day I will luck into one of those "impossibly great deals TM " and finally have one in my stable. Until then I live vicariously.

I just noticed the Bartolini pickups are installed upside down. Is that the way they are normally done by Lakland?

Yup this is the one I had

Yeah, a 55-94 is probably the only bass I ever let go that I would buy again, given the right opportunity.

Awesome basses... ESPECIALLY the older ones.

There was magic happening in the Lakland shop for a period of time... they were making some KILLER basses.

Seeing the pic of my old baby that thumbslam posted gives me heartburn.

Not sure if anybody's checked this one out but this is (or was, just sent him an email to see if he still has it for sale) Oskar Rosza's 55-94 that is on Arni's site. He's replaced the pickups with Nordstrands and it has a J Retro pre in it. He's asking 2000 Euro for it, would probably take $2500 US (just guessing).

Just posting here for a market comp.

As a side note, one of my pet peeves about Laklands is that they mount the pickups backwards with the Bart logo upside down (I know, minor detail). At least with the Nordstrands there's no obvious upside down logo.

Here's a pic of my old Kinal with the Bart logos mounted correctly. The physical difference is that the side of the MM pickup with two adjustment screws is on the G string side.

I have to admit that I couldn't believe it when you put that on the market!
You sir, are a stronger man than I.

Since I have a Lakland, I'm curious - which period are you referring to?

I should have clarified by asking is that the way they install Bart's in Lefty's, or is that the way they're installed in all of their basses. Also, why is that done - are the Bart's wound a particular way, so they have to be installed upside down to catch the bass frequencies?

I wondered about that myself but it seemed fine on my Kinal. After all, isn't it just a couple of coils? However, if anyone more knowledgeable than me would like to chime in on this (Rodent?), please do. Also, if you look at a righty Lakland you'll see that the two screw side of the MM pickup is on the B string side, the side your thumb would rest on.

Please see attached pic.

Hope everyone that wants to bid on it has an internet failure for the next 3 days and I win it ;D

What year did you get that bass? I think I might've worked on it.

I don't recall if the Bart pickups were string specific. I don't think so. I think Kinal does that because it puts the pickup logos the same way as on a righty. Just a cosmetic detail. I know Rod puts them in that way on righty and lefty basses, because it gives you more acreage to anchor your thumb on top of the pickup.

This is only my opinion, but other's I've talked to seem to agree.

There was a time period in Lakland's history... up until around the time they decided to add a separate battery box route and change electronics to the Lakland brand to bypass Bartolini and save money... this was when they really hit their stride, had a solid team of loyal guys on staff, and were building some basses that were really special.

I blame a lot of it on the Skyline series. I think they were starting to get overwhelmed trying to keep up with that stuff... turnaround times on USA order jumped from 4-6 months to almost two years. My JoBo was ordered in 2005 and I didn't get it until 2007... it took 18 MONTHS.

So... I'm not saying that they're making shit basses now or anything like that... even though I sold both of my Laklands, I still love them and will probably own another someday.

An update on this (if anybody is interested). . . I DID IT!

Well, I received it yesterday. Sorry to any fellow leftybassists that might have been bidding on this. Got it for $2100 shipped. Not bad.

The bass is in pristine condition. It's a '98. It looks like somebody played it at home for 6 month and stored it under a bed for 12 years. Frets are a bit rusty, and the fretboard was a bit dry (put on some oil already).

In the pictures it looks like blueburst, but it is tealburst: very nice an classy, not too showy. I had another Lakland before this, so I knew what they were like, and sure, it's just top-notch, beautiful quality all the way.

Even though the neck is wide, it's extremely comfortable. Action is stupidly low, and I love the fretboard radius, and how it let's you finger funk and crack the notes just like on a Fender. A pet peeve of mine is that most 5-strings usually have very flat radius (12" and flatter) and it's hard to crack the notes. I saw a video of Carl Pedigo (Lakland luthier) and he mentions that they build the necks to have a relief of 1/8000" at the 12th fret when the neck is perfectly straight. This allows you to have very low action without buzzing. I concur.

Soundwise, it's just as everybody says: great low-B, great definition and consistency from string to string. I'm familiar with Bartolini electronic, so no surprises there. I'm mostly using it in a Jazz-Bass pickup configuration.

So, I think I scored.

My only letdown: it weighs 9.1 lb. It's right on the verge of being too heavy for me. I was hoping for a lighter bass, but the bass is so good that for now I think I'll man-up and keep it. I've been using 4"-wide leather straps, but I'm going to try a monocase strap to see if it'll make it more manageable. (I tried Comfort Strapps, but found them too spongy.)

Here are the eBay pics for when the eBay listing expires:
http://picasaweb.google.com/suenalo/CurrentBasses#5566113760222019858

Hi Andrew, that bass has quite a story. I ordered it I THINK around 2001 or 2002. I ran out of money though and Mike then tried to sell it at Bunny Bass in Hawaii. So it went to Hawaii. I believe Carlos (Lefty007?) in Miami bought it so it went to Miami. It didn't work for him so it went back to Hawaii. Then I got some money and asked Mike if I could finish paying for it and what he would charge me for his troubles and we worked out a deal. It went back to him in Vancouver for a tweak and then he sent it to me in Florida. I had it for a while then needed some money so I sold it to a fellow in Israel. His parents were in Florida and picked it up in person for him. I occasionally send him an email asking if he wants to sell it back to me. Not yet...

She's got some miles on her.

Apologies gents for the slightly off topic tale.

Congratsamundo Lefty007!

Quite a story Mark!