REVIEW > LAKLAND
LAKLAND
44-AJ
BY DAN BERKOWITZ
PREMIER GUITAR MAY 2011 135 lighter than many I’ve tried, but still very substantial feeling. The rosewood neck fit snugly and precisely into its pocket and is adorned with pearloid block inlays, with carefully placed black position dots on the edge of the fretboard. The neck is reinforced by a pair of graphite bars which provide ultra- stability, but I’m also inclined to think they have a lot to do with the bass’s great sustain. Four Hipshot vintage-style long shaft reverse tuners grace the headstock, a top quality choice even if the tuning direction always throws me at first (turn toward you to raise the pitch). Stacked Treble/Bass knobs Active pickups Blend Swamp-ash body with flamed-maple cap Push-pull Volume Midrange
Aslogan atop Lakland’s homepage reads “Familiar in aesthetics, revolutionary in performance.” It says a lot about
Lakland’s reverence for the classic Fender
designs that still define the electric bass.
But it also speaks to the company’s ingenuity and conviction that those designs,
though near perfect, still leave room for
refinement. Few bass makers have explored
those potential refinements as effectively as
Lakland—and the success in walking the
line between vintage and modern has won
the loyalty of scores of real-world professional users, from session ace Jerry Scheff
to U2’s Adam Clayton to Meters funk master George Porter Jr.
Chicago-based Lakland has been around
since 1994, and even though the company
changed hands in April 2010, the Jazz
Bass-style 44-AJ (AJ stands for Active Jazz)
reviewed here felt sturdy, smooth, and otherwise worthy of the Lakland name.
Obvious Evolution
Setting the deep red 44-AJ next to my
early-’70s sunburst Jazz, the Lakland
looked right at home. With that said, both
similarities and departures from the classic
were quickly apparent. The most familiar
aspect of the Lakland’s design, apart from
the J-bass body profile, was the sleek neck
with narrow nut, block markers (optional
upgrade), and bound fretboard. But the
Lakland neck’s sexy, hand-oiled finish felt
smoother and faster than the Fender’s
thick, glossy varnish. The body shape also
has some functional refinements on Leo
Fender’s design, including a contour,
which in my opinion, more comfortably
followed the body’s waist curve.
The fit and finish were spectacular and
the flame maple cap on the swamp ash
body was captivating through its black
cherry finish. I was happy to find that
this bass weighed in at 8. 8 pounds, a little
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