Lakland Skyline Darryl Jones DJ-5 - Natural with Maple Fingerboard Review

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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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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