Lakland (pronounce Lake-land) has been around since the mid 90s and had been a well respected instrument maker among the serious bass players.   They had been offering quality instruments that covers the vintage Fender vibe yet having a several modern features now became the bench mark of high end electric basses.    They’ve launched the more budget Skyline series that was manufactured in Korea back in 2003, and eventually moved the production to Indonesia in 2008 and had been favoured by many players worldwide for over a decade. 

Background
Lakland were one of the earliest maker that blended a Fender style neck pickup with a Musician style humbucker on the bridge, the modern offset body shape, the round ellipse bridge all made the instrument very recognizable. This 44-01 features the OEM pickup and electric from Bartolini and it’s a surprisingly practical instrument that covers most of the bass needs. The solid wood combination with fancy wood top is hard to beat.

Specs
- Ash body
- Spalted maple top
- Maple neck
- Rosewood fingerboard
- Bartolini MK1 soapbar pickups
- Bartolini OEM preamp with 3 band EQ (hi/mid/lo, boost/cut)
- Active/Passive push/pull switch on Volume
- Hipshot tuner (mine has a drop D tuner)

Playbility
The bass has a 1.625” neck, and has a more U shape profile that’s somewhere in between a p and j neck. Not necessary small but very comfortable. Bass balance well on strap, the body shape is not the most ideal in sitting position for my own liking but it’s manageable.
The fretwork is great, and the neck is very stable. I can easily archive low action buzz free.

Sound
It’s very efficient. A solid ash body, the extra bit of mass in the Neck gives a tight and solid foundation. It’s thick, clear and well balance throughout the entire neck. The active electronic pushes the overall sound more up-front, not really transparent, but the 3 band frequencies are well select and very efficient to cover any gigging needs. The 2 soap bars are very quiet. It’s a very professional instrument that can give you more good days than bad days.

Thoughts
Lakland is also one of the earlier maker that builds instruments oversea and do the final assembly, inspection back in North America . Finding a trust worthy manufacture that can provide consistent quality while making things affordable for the market yet profitable is never easy, that’s one of the first pioneer that opened this new chapter in manufacturing. The OEM Barts pickup and electronics also goes with their standard soapbor size that makes upgrade very easy. This bass is not one of those vintage delicate sounding one, but definitely holds its own place With the proper setup and the same fancy parts, this bass can be on par with any of the high end instruments

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