Landing L3 medium scale 3-Pickup BEAST 2015 Bumblebee Strat Bass

Here we have a boutique bass, a Landing L3–the scale length is 32”—handmade in the USA by one of the most accomplished specialists in short-scale bass design, Jimmy Wilson. It used to be Bartolini city, with pickups and pre from that storied company, but to me it all sounded very sterile and polite. I had it made passive with passive tone control, the P replaced with a Bill Lawrence P46, and the JJ with some LOUD hum-bucking Man O Wars. Wearing new Dr Hi Beams for maximum smoothness.

This is the hottest, yet most articulate passive bass I’ve played, and the medium scale, 1.5” nut (Jazz width) and light weight make it an absolute joy to handle. Action gets really low with no buzzing anywhere.

We also added TWO series/parallel switches, one for the P and one for the JJ. Activate both when you want to melt some faces. This bass has off-the-charts versatility and an abundance of usable tones, from basic 50s P to scooped modern J, with the flick of a switch. Having pickups in the bridge, middle, and neck positions negates the need for any kind of preamp: just add bass, mids, and treble through the various pickup settings. Anything you pile on the signal after that is just icing on the cake. The sliders turn the individual pickups on and off to avoid circuit interference. The P volume doubles as a blend knob when the other pickups are on. You can even hide your weed (or your Lipitor) in the now-vacant battery compartment.

The one thing this bass can’t be, sadly enough, is 30”, my personal comfort zone. I was so stoked about all the boxes it checked, I ignored the extra two inches. Comes with a new Landing HSC! Price is jammed as low as it can go, folks!