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Lakland (pronounce Lake-land) has been around since the mid 90s and had been a well respected instrument maker among the serious bass players. They had been offering quality instruments that covers the vintage Fender vibe yet having a several modern features now became the bench mark of high end electric basses. They’ve launched the more budget Skyline series that was manufactured in Korea back in 2003, and eventually moved the production to Indonesia in 2008 and had been favoured by many players worldwide for over a decade.
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Fodera had been building custom basses since the 80s, they basically represents the best of the industry of boutique electric basses, and IMO, they’ve archived a tad more than the other builders. The sound, feel, and craftsmanship of their instruments are just incompariable.
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Modern bass went into a whole new chapter in the 80s, music industry was in its peak back then, with very high demands for live and studio musicians everywhere. The need for electric bass also evolved. In the late 70s there were a lot of instrument makers building some very thought after basses and became today’s classic. Ken Smith is one of them.
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Michael Tobias and MTD basses have been around for decades. I remember playing some new and old build of his and they are all equally top notch in terms of craftsmanship, playability and the wide tonal variety. Here comes a predecessor of the brand and some thoughts about their basses .
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A renown boutique instrument builder often spent most they career to design, make and then to perfect their signature product. I’d say a BN5 is the one that made the name for Fbass. And few decades later, they’ve decided to revamp their signature product to bring it up to a new level. I’m lucky enough to have my hands on one of the earlier BN5 Deluxe bass and I think they did it.
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I had a privilege to have my hands on this extremely rare Coppolo bass. A LG4 Classic Supreme Resurrection that was build for NAMM 2005 that showcase what Jimmy Coppolo is all about.
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It’s no news that Coppolo basses are obsessive to myself and many other player / collectors in the world. Here comes something less popular. The Alleva Coppolo 81009, the Old Fashioned Electric bass 5, the OG telecaster style precision bass, in 5 string form.
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People often see the 60s style LG line from Alleva Coppolo as their ultimate, Jimmy also makes exceptional 70s style LM line. And when it comes to flexibility, it comes to his RA line, it’s the mixture of 60s and 70s jazz bass and has the best of both worlds. After own/tried many of them, I’ve finally pulled the trigger and had this bass built to my specs.
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Electric bass was first invented in the 30s by Paul Tutmarc, then it was mass-produced in the 50’s by Leo Fender and the rest was history. They were initially made to do what the upright bass do in a smaller, more portable package. It was first made with frets on so that it’s easier to play, what’s also why it was called the precision bass.. Throughout the years, there were many variation and improvements over all kinds of combinations and designs. There was first the Violin bass by Hofner in German, then until recent year, another German luthier Marleaux had build a semi-hollow electric bass with upright bass in mind.
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Here comes something you don’t get to see so often .. Jimmy’s exhibition piece for NAMM 2008, the 1600 Limited Edition
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2 years after the release of the original short scale Stingray , I'm still digging this serious little guy ... to the point I had to buy another brandnew one ...
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After Rob’s MB2 (34”), then Mouse 30 (30”) , I’m lucky enough to try out this flagship model he offers. Where Rob says the Deep4/5 has the most convincing acoustic tone if cost is not an issue. And man .. I just can’t agree more.