founded 1994 founder dan lakin hugh mcfarland headquarters chicago illinois usa area served global key people john pirruccello president products solid and hollowbody electric bass guitars . parent hanson musical instruments ltd. website www.lakland.com lakland guitars is a chicago illinois based manufacturer of electric bass guitars . the company s first bass combined elements of the fender jazz bass and the music man stingray . the company s current line up includes basses inspired by classics like the fender precision bass and jazz bass as well as lakland s own original designs . lakland s line of signature models includes basses designed in collaboration with well known bassists joe osborn donald duck dunn jerry scheff darryl jones and bob glaub . lakland basses are manufactured in the united states and indonesia . contents 1 history 2 prototype 3 instruments 3.1 signature basses 3.2 hollowbody 3.3 decade 3.4 u.s. series 3.5 skyline series 4 mij shoreline series skyline series 5 references 6 external links history edit founded by bassist dan lakin and luthier hugh mcfarland in 1994 the company s name pronounced lake land is a portmanteau of lakin and mcfarland the surnames of its founders . lakin and mcfarland began developing the first lakland prototype in january 1994 1 and showed it later that year at the july 1994 namm show . 1 the pair launched lakland in 1994 with a 20 000 home equity loan 2 and lakland basses went into production in the united states in 1995 . in 1996 the company became a unit of a. lakin & sons inc. a tire recycling company founded by lakin s grandfather abraham lakin in 1919 . mcfarland left lakland in 1997 . 2 in 2001 lakland introduced the skyline series a lower priced alternative to its u.s. made basses . manufactured in south korea the skyline series helped the company break even for the first time in 2003 . 2 production of skyline series basses was moved to indonesia in 2008 . 3 in april 2010 the company was acquired by chicago based hanson musical instruments . 4 hanson a maker of electric guitars and electric guitar and bass pickups and electronics had been lakland s primary supplier of bass pickups and preamp products since 2005 . 4 lakland was renamed lakland guitars llc and while the lakland brand name remains signature model names such as the bob glaub duck dunn and joe osborn basses were given numeric designations . lakland executive john pirruccello was named president . owners of lakland basses and others interested in the lakland company and its products formed the lakland owners group . it is not affiliated with lakland guitars llc . 5 prototype edit lakin and mcfarland began designing the first prototype in 1994 . made of ash and a quilted maple top rock maple neck and maple fingerboard the prototype was a blend of elements from a fender jazz bass and an early musicman stingray . 1 its similarity to fender s jazz bass drew a cease and desist order from fender for trademark infringement . 2 the prototype s electronics were inspired by a bass player magazine review of the warwick dolphin bass . pickups were supplied by bartolini and the bass featured lakland s characteristic oval bridge plate . originally made of aluminum mcfarland later replaced the bridge with one fashioned from chrome plated steel . 1 instruments edit lakland currently manufactures a u.s. made line of basses called the u.s. series and a lower priced indonesian made line called the skyline series . signature basses edit lakin conceived of a signature model bass in 1997 . 6 a bass player himself and a fan of bassist joe osborn lakin contacted osborn after reading an article about him in bass player magazine . 6 osborn known for his 1960 fender jazz bass collaborated with lakin and a team that included luthier michael tobias on what would become a vintage jazz bass style 4 string bass known originally as the joe osborn signature model and equipped with lindy fralin pickups . 7 other signature models were developed in collaboration with bassists geezer butler jerry scheff donald duck dunn darryl jones and bob glaub . the donald duck dunn and bob glaub signature models remain in production under the names 44 64 custom and 44 64 55 64 respectively . hollowbody edit the lakland hollowbody is a dual pickup hollow body electric bass guitar designed in conjunction with luthier michael tobias . 8 9 the bass is constructed of carved mahogany for the back and sides and of maple for the top and neck . the fingerboard is made of rosewood . current models are equipped with two of lakland s chi sonic pickups . the body of the bass is completely hollow with no supporting center block . 10 decade edit the lakland decade is a dual pickup solid body electric bass guitar released in 2004 to celebrate the company s 10th anniversary . the u.s. series decade is available in a variety of configurations . 11 the skyline series is constructed of a mahogany body maple neck and rosewood fingerboard and equipped with lakland s chi sonic pickups . 12 u.s. series edit lakland u.s. series basses are manufactured by lakland in the united states . current u.s. series models include 44 94 lakland s first bass 13 55 94 lakland s first 5 string bass featuring a 35 inch scale neck 14 decade a dual pickup bass created to celebrate the company s 10th anniversary 15 44 60 55 60 the first lakland signature model 6 a vintage jazz bass style bass formerly known as the joe osborn signature and available in 4 and 5 string models 7 44 64 55 64 a vintage precision style bass formerly known as the bob glaub signature and available in 4 and 5 string models 16 44 64 custom a 4 string bass combining a precision style body and a jazz style neck formerly known as the duck dunn signature 17 44 51 44 51m 4 and 5 string basses inspired by the first fender precision bass which debuted in 1951 18 44 aj 55 aj an active jazz style bass available in 4 and 5 string models 19 hollowbody a dual pickup hollow body bass designed in conjunction with luthier michael tobias 20 55 69 tetsuya a pink finished 5 string bass designed in collaboration with l arc en ciel bassist tetsuya and japanese electric guitar and bass manufacturer esp 21 skyline series edit lakland introduced its lower priced skyline series of basses in 2001 . originally manufactured in south korea 2 skyline series basses are currently built in indonesia and korea . the first two digits of the serial number on a skyline series bass indicates the year it was built . 22 skyline series basses are shipped to lakland s u.s. facility for the installation of electronics and final inspection and set up . 2 23 in 2001 lakland introduced the korean indonesian since 2008 made skyline series . developed with the help of importer exporter westheimer corp. the midrange skyline series is constructed using north american wood and features the same overall design as the us basses excluding the graphite reinforcement on the 4 string necks all necks being half sawn instead of quarter sawn acrylic nuts instead of bone no left hand models no alder body wood option and in far fewer colors but is cut finished and assembled overseas . once the instrument arrives in chicago the company s builders work to install its electronics and make sure the frets are leveled within specification of lakland s us models . lakland currently uses the plek setup and leveling system . the skyline 44 02 and 55 02 models originally contained the usa bartolini mm j pickups and ntmb preamp the same system that was in the usa 4 94 and 55 94 basses . currently all of those models 4 94 55 94 44 02 55 02 contain the lakland hanson lh3 system . the skyline 44 01 and 55 01 models contain the korean bartolini mk1 pickups and preamp . the osborn scheff and jones signature models previously featured hipshot licensed tuners and lakland hanson custom pickups . previously when lakland used aero or lindy fralin pickups . mij shoreline series skyline series edit the lakland shoreline series is manufactured in japan to lakland usa specs by the japanese guitar company esp and is available for sale exclusively in japan . esp also manufactures the skyline series much the same way as they produce their own edwards range . these are a slightly lower cost option in the mij line up ; much of the rough cutting and routing and rough finishing is carried out in korea not in japan where as the final finishing assembly and installation of pick ups is completed in japan . most japanese skyline series such as the skyline 44 aj feature duncan design pick ups and the bartolini me 1 pre amp they are very good for the money . references edit roberts jim 2003 . american basses an illustrated history & player s guide . backbeat books . isbn 978 0 87930 721 9 . a b c d roberts jim 2003 . american basses an illustrated history and player s guide . san francisco backbeat books . isbn 978 0 87930 721 9 . p. 112 . a b c d e f lambert emily . his own beat forbes . july 5 2004 . retrieved 2011 02 25 . pirruccello john official lakland owners club part 8 talkbass.com . november 24 2008 . retrieved 2011 02 28 . a b molter dave . hanson guitars buys lakland ; brand name will continue with model changes music gear review . may 3 2010 . retrieved 2011 02 24 . about us lakland owners group website . retrieved 2011 02 26 . a b c roberts jim 2003 . american basses an illustrated history and player s guide . san francisco backbeat books . isbn 978 0 87930 721 9 . p. 113 . a b lakland 44 60 vintage j . retrieved 2011 02 24 . lakland hollowbody lakland company website . retrieved 2011 2 19 . round up 4 retro bass guitars musicradar.com . march 16 2010 . retrieved 2011 2 19 . lakland skyline hollowbody bass price and spec round up 4 retro bass guitars . musicradar.com . march 16 2010 . retrieved 2011 2 19 . namm 09 lakland basses skyline decade model online video clip . premier guitar . retrieved 2011 2 20 . lakland decade lakland company website . retrieved 2011 2 19 . lakland 44 94 . retrieved 2011 02 24 . lakland 55 94 . retrieved 2011 02 24 . lakland decade . retrieved 2011 02 24 . lakland 44 64 vintage p . retrieved 2011 02 24 . lakland 44 64 vintage p . retrieved 2011 02 24 . lakland 44 51 . retrieved 2011 02 24 . lakland 44 55 . retrieved 2011 02 24 . lakland hollowbody . retrieved 2011 02 24 . lakland hollowbody . retrieved 2011 02 26 . lakland production by serial number pdf lakland company website . retrieved 2011 02 26 . skylines receive stateside attention to detail . retrieved 2011 02 25 . external links edit lakland guitars lakland at esp japan lakland mexico hanson pickups hanson musical instruments lakland owners group log retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title lakland & oldid 721865692 categories bass guitar manufacturing companieshidden categories vague or ambiguous time from may 2016 navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history 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