You don’t need to spend a fortune to have it all: a lightweight 5 string with a thunderous low B, great tone and versatility.
Once again, the Skyline series by Lakland has hit the nail in the head.
The neck is ultra comfortable, with a nice soft C profile at the first frets that gradually flattens as you move up the neck. Access to the end of the fingerboard is excellent for a bolt on.
String spacing is wide but not cumbersome. Hipshot Ultralight tuners help balance the bass nicely. Lakland’s own bridge allows you to anchor the strings in a traditional manner, but also through the body for maximum sustain.
Electronics:
Two Bartolini USA pickups offer great quality and coupled to the 3 band Bartolini preamp you have more than enough room to experiment. The preamp can be bypassed for a more traditional tone.
Lakland has been using this pickups arrangement since the early 90’s and it is in fact one of the best we can think of: a single coil at teh neck, plus a splittable humbucker at the bridge. Actually, the 3 way miniswitch lets you select the North or South coils in the humbucker as well as both in parallel. In fact, you can get (among others) sounds that closely resemble a Musicman, a Jazz Bass and even a modern Precision. All of them are there and if you take some time to tweak the controls, you will find more useable sounds
This is a great sounding fretless bass that delivers equally well fast 16th notes in stacatto, as well as sweet long sustained notes that seem to develop after you have played them.
If you prefer a more traditional 5 string check out the signature Darryl Jones 5 or Joe Osborn model 5
