Lakland Skyline Darryl Jones DJ-5 Review

I love this bass

This guy is a monster. It works great for so many genres. I play worship mostly with it, but I've done some metal and other genres and it's really nice. Deep sound, very heavy, and easily the best bass I know.

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Totally smitten!

First, the reason for 4.5 and not 5. This bass is surprisingly heavy! Okay, on to the good stuff. This bass is totally absolutely gorgeous. Photos don't capture how striking this is! From seasoned players to people that wouldn't know a bass from a mandolin, everyone commented on how beautiful! But that's just looks, right. The tone is very thick, Not muddy boomy thick,but very full… read more yet defined. The high G doesn't sound thin, like all your tone fell off, and the low B doesn't just rumble, it's also defined. Action and play ability? I've played 4 string (an old 4001 Ric) for 40+ years, and didn't know how I would adjust. Right hand string spacing was no adjustment at all, surprisingly, and adjusting to 5 was easier than I'd expected, probably because I couldn't put it down! A shout out to Sweetwater's inspection; no dead frets, great action, etc. Having had this about a week now, it already feels familiar and comfortable in my hands. In fact, the more I think about it, let's change this to a solid 5!!

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Fabulous instrument. Total work of art.

I was waiting for this bass to come back in stock and then I changed my mind and purchased a dingwall. Well, the bass came and I was going to just return it. My curiosity got the best of me so I opened the box. Needless to say, this bass isn't going anywhere. My only con is that it's on the heavy side for my old back. The design and layout are very well thought out. The maple neck… read more is smooth, comfy and really gets out of the way. Electronics are minimalist and it's very easy to build a tone relationship with this bass. The pickups sound fat and incredibly balanced. You can get a jazzy snarl or a warm P-Bass tone. This is a tool, built for getting down to business and despite me purchasing the dingwall, I'm going to put this thing to work. Highly recommend

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An Overwhelming Instrument With A Great Price Tag

I bought this Lakland bass around a year ago with the professional help of David Winkert, a Sales Engineer at Lakland. I was in search of the Lakland 55-60, and figured the tone is the same but with extras added. This Bass is a very professional sounding instrument and is easily my favorite sounding bass. I am currently getting a new precision bass as of course, this bass's Jazz… read more Pickups will not be able to imitate that of a precision's without the addition of bass pedals. The build is solid, the guitar came in one piece and without any flaws, and smells of new wood. I am more than please with this Bass, Sweetwater, and the careful attention that Sweetwater's Sales Engineer provided, taking from his time to actually do some research to find the right product fit for me. I've owned three Lakland Basses thus far, and can safely say this is a top end model, despite what the "Skyline" in its name would have you believe. If you do not care about having a super detailed / finished product, and just want an all around well balanced, pleasant sounding tone, and are in a budget, don't be afraid of choosing this Bass Guitar over its US counterpart.

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Blown Away

Wow I have had every fender p to jazz bass sire Ibanez all of um. This bass is by far the best jazz bass I have ever had I love the 35 inch scale beautiful to look at and play Im a Lakland fan forever now

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Near perfect!

This was not a surprise to me, since I read reviews on these basses before hand. Just vintage, fantastic sound and modern playability. The construction is as good as the Sadowskys I've owned (or anything else.) I managed to snag the light one at just over 8 lbs and it is very well balanced. It's 35" scale, which gives the B string a ton of boom. Haven't regularly played a 35" scale… read more for a while but I'm sure I'll adjust. So far no big deal. The vintage style pickups do have a little hum when they aren't both dimed but it's bearable. That's the trade-off: noiseless J style pickups just don't sound as good as the original vintage style. Big props to Richie's inspection and set up work at Sweetwater plus Mike Picotte's customer service. These guys are the real pros!

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Don't fret about the 35

What you will notice though is how clear and defined the B string is! After quite a bit of head to head with my well set up 34" 5er, the difference is clear, Lakland's 35" scale results in a far better 5th string with no flab and no wolf tones. Between the superior B, the handwound pups, the impeccable fretwork and the very low action (the DJ5 Skyline is made and finished in Indonesia… read more but assembly and set up, including PLEKing, is done in Lakland's Chicago factory using US electronics and bridge), it's shaping up to be my new #1 5er. If I was to nitpick, it didn't come with a case nor a gig bag and the pickguard has a very slight gap between the two screws on the bass horn. The p/g is no big deal but the lack of a gig bag or a case for a partly overseas made bass that only costs $150 less than the equivalent US Fender is a slight annoyance to me. In fact I called Sweetwater about this and I was advised that I should give the DJ5 a chance and I can always return the bass if I wasn't happy with that issue. Sure enough, the overall quality and playability helped get me over the case/gig bag issue quick. I just look at it this way, if spending the $100-$150 to buy a hard shell case brings me up to the price level of a US Fender, I still end up with a bass that is, IMO, easily equal if not superior in quality to a US Fender but with a far, far better B.The buying experience from Sweetwater through Brian Loney (fellow triathlete!) was pleasant and problem free and the bass was shipped triple boxed to ensure safe delivery. I also got numerous email notifications on the status and pictures of the bass.All in all I am very happy with my purchase and would, without reservation, recommend buying your Lakland from Sweetwater through Brian.Check your shipping box for case candy before you throw it away :) I got Tootsie Rolls and Laffy Taffy :)

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Best bass jazz in this price range

Amazing sound, flawless frets work, B string very solid. I have owned several jazz type basses from Squier to Dingwall, the DJ is my all time favorite.

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