Lakland Skyline 55-02 Deluxe Bass Guitar - Transparent Black - Sweetwater Exclusive Reviews

I've been playing since 1990. Been around through the 90's scene, toured a bit, studio'd a lot, and have played/owned some of the best basses in the world. Owned too many but hey you know how that one goes. Everything from German Warwick's , to classic Fender American Jazz, Zon, Pedulla, Ibanez, Schecter, Jackson, Guild, Rickenbacker, Gibson, Sadowsky, G&L, Sandberg, Music Man, Specter, and Fodera(this one I did not own only got to play it a few times on my personal rig, and the owners rig, and for me it was great but very mid forward and not enough low end oomph for me). There are more put you get the idea. My point is I've only stuck with 2 basses out of all of those other ones! Lakland being my primary! I've had the American built one as well, but got into hard times and had to get rid of it, went with the cheaper version and was astonished in how identical it sounded to my American built one. So much so that I could not tell the difference. And mine is a 2009 version and still kicking with absolutely NO problems at all! The neck Never needs to be adjusted, and I live in Chicago so cold winters, and humid hot summers, which is terrible for wood! I've had Ibanez necks crack on me before, American Fenders needed to be adjusted every 2 months, and on, and on! Not so with Lakland, and in fact out of all those basses that I've listed, I've had NO problems at all with this Lakland! Oh and the Lakland/Hanson pickups/preamp SMOKE the muddy Bartolini's! Seriously make sure your model has them! It's so worth it! And the the lows on this thing are amazing, the B just keeps going, and going, and going, and it's so full! Kinda like HD or 4k if you will. There's this veil that gets lifted from your notes, depending on your strings...I recommend DR Fat Beams for this bass...just crazy clean and articulate, piano like clarity!! And it stays in tune all month long! You could leave your bass sit in the case, pick it up 20yrs later, and it would still be in tune! Well I did for a few years as I was experimenting finding out which bass was best for me. And when I came back, I was like, why did I ever leave...it was right in front of me the whole time! So what's the deal. Well it ain't light that's for sure! It's about 12lb's. But that's what you need for great low end information! The lighter the bass is, the more hollow, less low end there will be in the bass. You have to have MASS to the instrument! Pickups and electronics are super important, like 70% of the tone, but that other %30 is what makes or breaks a great instrument! And Quality will determine whether your constantly going out of tune before a show, or double checking your tuning in the smelly, dirty, bar bathroom, or always not finding the right setup for your instrument! You can't get shizzer to shine! Oh and mine is the trans black with maple fretboard, as the maple cuts through a bit more than ebony or rosewood.

The Good:
• She may be beauty, but this thing is a beast.
• Sustain for days! There's a reason I love string-through designs. When playing at church services, the other members of the team head off-stage and get some coffee…I'm still ringing out the low end. My worship director calls it my "flex".
• The tonal options are crazy. The preamp is incredibly versatile. Minor adjustments to the T/M/B knobs create huge changes. For most of my use, treble is at 12, mid at 12:30-ish, and bass at 1. I haven't needed much more tweaking there.
• The p/u switching options give a ton of variety as well. Even switching coils on the bridge humbucker provides a lot of variety. Mixed in with the neck J pickup, you have everything from deep warm tones to bright slap-happy goodness.
• This is my first bass with an ebony fretboard; my main bass for the past 20 years (Fender Urge) is pao ferro, and rosewood prior to that (Fender Jazz Bass Special). I've been very surprised by the warmth I can get; I was expecting more brightness. The ebony definitely has a different feel when adding a little vibrato.
• The neck is fast and comfortable. I prefer a satin finished neck vs. painted neck, and this one is fantastic.
• The matching headstock and inlay-free fingerboard kick it up that extra notch in the looks category.
• The 35" scale length was surprisingly easy to adjust to, and I've primarily played a medium scale bass (32") for the last 20 years or so.
The Not as Good:
• The finish is supposed to be 'Transparent Black' – definitely has a greenish hue to it in person. Certainly not as black as shown in the photos.
• I'm not a huge fan of the D'Addario strings; they feel a little "gritty" to me and have a slightly higher tension than I am used to. I will be swapping them out for a set of Ernie Ball Slinkys once these are dead.

I purchased this bass over a year ago and thought it was time for an update. I have been using my 55-02 as my primary bass for the last year for band practice, recording, gigging, and everything else. We play originals and i'm riding the B string 30% of the time so the extra inch in scale length really helps with live and studio recordings.It has great sustain and clarity from the 35" scale length. The diversity in sounds from the pickup configuration is second to none. Especially when recording. But the actual reason i'm writing this update is for the overall quality of playability. When i venture into music stores to check out new basses, i'm happy to find that my 55-02 holds up to everything I try and beats many in the $1800-2500 range. My next bass will be another Lakland.

I ordered my transparent black 55-02 a few months ago and received it within a week. Bass was packaged great and had no damage. This bass has incredible action thanks to the Plek'd neck. I own an Ibanez SR506 which has great action as well but the strings on it are too close to the body for slap bass playing. The 55-02 is great for slap and the variety of tone is amazing with the active electronics and pickup configuration. The 35" scale length creates good sustain and sound from the B string. Better than any other 5 string bass. As for looks the finish is on par with any other bass in this price range and better than some costing more. The ebony fretboard looks and feels great as well. I like the look of no fret markers too (there are the little markers on the side of the fretboard). I'm sure the all American made 55-94 is better, but $3000 better? I don't know about that. This bass has the American made pickups and electronics in it and they are installed here in Chicago at the same place as the 55-94. Buy this bass.

great basses my friends,i been use jazz bass and musicman 5 hh sterling ,and theres no bass better than lakeland 55-02 deluxe..love it.........l

The only issue I have with the bass is the fret edges are way less than smooth. I had them filed down and the bass is awesome.