Lakland 60-11 - 30" VI bass @ NAMM

Ankhanu · Post by **Ankhanu** » Fri Jan 20, 2012 5:41 pm

More 2012 NAMM goodies, a Lakland VI prototype, the 60-11. It's a fairly standard hardtail VI 30" E-e set up, with some interesting twists, including P-90s and some unusual pickup selection on the 5-way switch. From the video below, it appears there's no middle pickup position; position 3 is, instead, a neck and bridge position, and 2 and 4 are middle and either neck or bridge (1 and 5 being standard neck or bridge alone). It sounds pretty decent, really... but the aesthetic is a little squashed looking to me. Love the P-90 VI implementation though.

[youtube][/youtube]

gaybear · Post by **gaybear** » Fri Jan 20, 2012 6:07 pm

it's pretty.
i hope it doesn't inspire bassists to play too busy, though!
haha
but i do like it.

honeyiscool · Post by **honeyiscool** » Fri Jan 20, 2012 6:20 pm

I like it a lot. I also like that bridge. It should be a nice hardtail bridge for geetars.

Ankhanu · Post by **Ankhanu** » Fri Jan 20, 2012 6:37 pm

gaybear wrote:it's pretty.
i hope it doesn't inspire bassists to play too busy, though!
haha
but i do like it.

I don't play my VIs any "busier" than my 4-strings, but I do play differently, with more chording and different fingering (as well as normally playing with a pick rather than fingers).
The 30" E-e 6 string bass isn't a new design concept, they've been around since the late 50s as an electric instrument (I think Danelectro produced the first)... they never properly caught on, though. There has seemed to be a bit of a resurgence of VI instruments in the past few years, with Schecter producing 4 models, Fender reissuing the Fender VI and making a Jaguar VI, and a few other manufacturers making them too.

mordechaister · Post by **mordechaister** » Sat Jan 21, 2012 5:36 am

Every bassist should have something like this. Never know when you'll need to lay down a tic tac part in the studio. That being said, I'm a bassist and don't have one. I love that Lakland though. Interesting it only has 18 frets. No mention anywhere if it's a USA or Skyline model though. Anyone know?

Ankhanu · Post by **Ankhanu** » Sat Jan 21, 2012 6:17 am

mordechaister wrote:Every bassist should have something like this. Never know when you'll need to lay down a tic tac part in the studio. That being said, I'm a bassist and don't have one. I love that Lakland though. Interesting it only has 18 frets. No mention anywhere if it's a USA or Skyline model though. Anyone know?

Neither at the moment, it's a prototype. I'm curious as to whether they'll make it a production model at all...

mkt3000 · Post by **mkt3000** » Sat Jan 21, 2012 6:32 am

hmmm...

mordechaister · Post by **mordechaister** » Sat Jan 21, 2012 6:51 am

Ankhanu wrote:
mordechaister wrote:Every bassist should have something like this. Never know when you'll need to lay down a tic tac part in the studio. That being said, I'm a bassist and don't have one. I love that Lakland though. Interesting it only has 18 frets. No mention anywhere if it's a USA or Skyline model though. Anyone know?
Neither at the moment, it's a prototype. I'm curious as to whether they'll make it a production model at all...

Right. I guess that is what prototype means after all. Definitely a surprise from Lakland who are such a bassist's company. I think we were expecting them to come out with a proper 6 string bass before this.