...and just a couple more days til I get it!


until i can collate & organize the entire saga (i've posted a few bits here & there in other threads), i'll just put the link to jay's site, since he's johnny-on-the-spot with pix! (p.s. thanks jay - and gard - for helping me make this happen!)

jay's blogspot update (http://blueberryhillbass.blogspot.com/)

more pics in his sold basses gallery (http://www.blueberryhillbass.com/SoldBassesGallery.htm#roscoe)

needless to say, i'm just a bit psyched. ;)

Man, that bass looks awesome!! I think the Nordstrands just add so much to the asthetics of the instrument.



.....and yeah, they do okay for the tone.;)

:hyper: :hyper: :hyper:

So when do you take possession? Jay, Gard, if you're around, did you get a chance to try it out?

Oh good Lord! This doesn't help the fact that I'd still love to have a 34" scale 6 string Roscoe.....

That's going to be a really punchy bass.

The finish on that bass is ooozing sex. Gorgeous.

Oh God!!!!

That is incredibly beautiful, WOW. I love the blueburst/maple board/chrome hardware combination!. Simply stunning!

When you get it, please tell me how you like the 34" scale on the SKB3006.

Congrats man, very sweet!!!!! this bass changes my attitude toward blue basses!!!!! LOVE IT!!!!

I need a lie down after all of this Roscoefrenzy....too many pretty basses, and this one.....wow it's really special:help:

So when do you take possession? Jay, Gard, if you're around, did you get a chance to try it out?

I spent a little time with it last night after taking some photos of the bass (and watching an episode of "Dirty Jobs". :D LOVE that show!). I was extremely impressed. The look of the bass is amazing...very custom and very unique. But, the tone and playability are outstanding as well. If a bass doesn't play well and sound well, then what's the point, right? ;)

I got everything boxed up for Kurt last night, and the bass will be shipping out today. :bassist:

kl,
who did the pickup covers for you? Carey?

Something about the chrome hardware just makes that bass sooooooo right. Very nice!

thanks for all the nice comments guys! i CAN NOT WAIT to get this under my fingers.

basso - yes, carey did them. they came about because at the time i ordered this bass, pickup covers for the nordstrand DC's were not available w/holes. (similar situation to Gard's when he had his done).

i wanted the exposed pole-pieces, and the only option at the time were these ebony ones. of course, some time went by and plastic ones became available, but i figured i'm already in too deep. jay also kept me on my original plan of spending as much as humanly possible. (thanks a LOT, jay! :p ;) just kidding!)

i toyed for a moment w/having maple ones done, but decided to stick w/ones direct from carey so they'd be exactly right.

KLORENCE, I am GASPING at that bass. When I began to lust after one like that in my mind, I knew it would be a killer combo.

That stainless hardware sets it off perfectly. In my (not so humble) opinion, your bass is one of the top three most beautiful Roscoes that I have ever seen. :ninja:

C:hyper: ngratulati:bassist: ns

This thing was just painful to pack...it is an amazing bass, I could stare at it for HOURS...Kurt, man, you had a great "vision" on this one! :) It plays and sounds as good or better than it looks too...just a great bass (I'm still a 35" guy though).

until i can collate & organize the entire saga

Dude, you have been the pinnacle of patience!!! Thank you.

:hyper:

;)

...getting this bass done has been like giving birth, almost literally a few times.

Jay had a GREAT comment on the phone the day it shipped, but I'll let HIM post it, if he's up to it....I will say that I was literally laughing out loud for a good 5 minutes after the call about it...

:D

ok, here are the pics roughly organized into a sort of "birth of a roscoe" order... i thought i'd leave out all the gory details of how this particular bass came to be, but the 3rd iteration certainly looks like it will be a keeper! :smug:

(some pics/posts i made can be found in here (http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=271929) and here (http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=272187), if you're interested.)

anyhow, on with the show!

3& 4

5&6

7&8

9&10

11&12

13&14

15&16

17&18

19&20

21&22

22&23

whew. i think that's it for now.

SMASH - thanks! jay did a great job as usual w/his pics. (of course, he's got a vested interest...! ;) )

according to the FedEx site, it should arrive sometime today.

unfortunately, i'm heading straight to a gig from work, so it will have to wait until tomorrow for its debut! :D

From the FedEx site:

"1:16 PM, Delivered, Left at front door. Signature Service not requested."

Just checked the site & then called home...

I can't understand how FedEx, UPS, etc. can just leave your package leaned against the garage door outside without even knocking on your door. :scowl:

My house is on a corner, the garage is on the side. If they don't knock, I have no idea that it's arrived, and any number of passersby could just walk up & take it.

Sheesh. Don't they know I'm approaching my heart attack years?!?!
:rollno:

Thank goodness someone was home & discovered it when they went outside at 3:30.

:eyebrow:

...man, who took all those photos???

(My finger hurts...)

;)

So, I'm guessing we'll get the verdict tonight or tomorrow???

:hyper:

:)

Great looking bass!

Looks like lot's of folks are going with the Nord's!

Purhaps this is the beginning of "Revenge of the Nords III"?!?:hiding:

Great looking bass!

Looks like lot's of folks are going with the Nord's!

Purhaps this is the beginning of "Revenge of the Nords III"?!?:hiding:

HA!



Glad no one ripped off a brand new Roscoe SKB from the front doorstep!:eek:

Okay, when you describe how wonderful it is to play, use adjectives that haven't been used on the Roscoe forum yet.;)

Sounds like the bridge pickup was wired incorrectly. Hopefully it's that and not a faulty pickup. Either way I'm sure they'll take care of you. Good luck.

i deleted my earlier post because it's become clear that it's NOT faulty wiring -- FedEx must have given this bass a jolt during shipping.

the master volume knob was a little off-kilter when i received it, and the packing job in which it arrived looks like it was not the original packing job.

nothing suffered construction-wise (thank goodness - this bass is built SOLID), but after discussing it w/Gard we both are sure something was jarred in the control cavity during shipping. it's going back to him & he's going to make it right under warranty (thanks, Gard).

Yup, I played this one extensively before it was shipped, everything was working 100% correctly, Jay confirms the same at his shop. So, somewhere between Blueberry Hill and Steelerville there was a bit of a "bump in the road" that cause the issue.

It'll be set to rights and returned post haste.

(Thanks for clearing things up, Kurt! :) )

No more FedEx ground...I'm going back to the tried-and-true UPS. Worked good for me for years. Unless someone specifically asks for FedEx ground, it's going to be UPS! :mad:

One of the greatest things about dealing with Keith and Gard is that there is never any doubt about their integrity in dealing with their customers.

It gives you a warm fuzzy feeling all over. :D

Wait a minute, maybe that's just Gard laying on top of me:eek: :eek: .

:p Sorry to hear about the problem, but we're all in good hands with these gents.

nice....nice is that a 19 mm spaceon the strings

So, somewhere between Blueberry Hill and Steelerville there was a bit of a "bump in the road" that cause the issue.

maybe the fedex guy was getting even for the steelers-bears Snow Bowl toward the end of last season... ;)

though from the looks of it, chicago would kill us right about now. :bawl:


nice....nice is that a 19 mm spaceon the strings

i think it's standard, which is 18.3mm. feels very similar to my MM5; plenty of room to dig in there/slap/etc.

i also like the fact that they leave some space on the edges of the fretboard; some basses i've played have the strings way out at the edges, and they tend to slip off the edge if you pull a little hard or use a wide vibrato. not the case with this roscoe.

Just found this thread. I'm not on Talkbass as much as I used to be.

This bass is absolutely gorgeous!

I can't wait to read your honeymoon reviews when you get it back. Enjoy your new bass.

From the FedEx site:

"1:16 PM, Delivered, Left at front door. Signature Service not requested."

Just checked the site & then called home...

I can't understand how FedEx, UPS, etc. can just leave your package leaned against the garage door outside without even knocking on your door. :scowl:

My house is on a corner, the garage is on the side. If they don't knock, I have no idea that it's arrived, and any number of passersby could just walk up & take it.

Sheesh. Don't they know I'm approaching my heart attack years?!?!
:rollno:

Thank goodness someone was home & discovered it when they went outside at 3:30.

:eyebrow:

Hey Kurt - et al -

Not to hijack, but speaking of UPS...

I just picked up a Washburn J-6 Wes Montgomery jazz box from ebay (J Zucker would LOVE this thing...anyway). My work address is 723 East Pittsburgh Street.

The UPS address on the box was 123 East Pittsburgh Street.

123 does not exist. 121 is a house, and 125 is a vacuum repair shop. Since there is a walkway between the two buildings, UPS LEFT IT OUTSIDE IN THE WALKWAY. The vacuum store owner saw it when she was leaving for the day and brought it into the store. Thank God she did, because it was the night of that torrential downpour/thunderstorm we had last week.

As for UPS, I think I know why they call it "brown" - I know something else that's brown that they're good for. No UPS or FedEx for me - It's DHL all the way. I've used them for all my radio stuff and documents for the past 7 years (started with Airborne, and then DHL when they bought Airborne out). Have NEVER had a problem with them.

As for the new Roscoe, WOO HOO!! That's stunning! Didn't see the back of the neck before - simply awesome. Gotta let me know where you're playing to check it out when you get it! :cool:

As for UPS, I think I know why they call it "brown" - I know something else that's brown that they're good for. No UPS or FedEx for me - It's DHL all the way. I've used them for all my radio stuff and documents for the past 7 years (started with Airborne, and then DHL when they bought Airborne out). Have NEVER had a problem with them.


The last time I had something delivered by DHL was my last Roscoe 3006. It was being delivered from Florida. I contacted DHL 3 different times giving them specific directions (and phone numbers) to my house (new subdividison) and they never even bothered to try and find the house or call. I had to drive 35 miles to their depot at 7:30 at night (they closed at 8:00). I finally got there (as they were closing) and they couldn't find the package. It finally turned out that the driver had taken it out and it was laying in the middle of the loading area where all of the trucks pull in/out to load and unload. I saw the guy pick it up off the pavement through the open door in the office. It was laying right beside the rear tire of one of the trucks.
In my area I prefer Fed Express. I guess it all comes down to the individuals that work for them.

:bawl: :bawl: Please no more!!! My baby is in transit. :(

In my area I prefer Fed Express. I guess it all comes down to the individuals that work for them.

I've worked for FedEx a while ago. Granted this was FedEx Ground, but i doubt it's any different in express. Personally broken lots of stuff. Not really on purpose but when you get paid like $8-9/hr, you are not even going to remotely risk any kind of strain or injury. All you are going to get for your trouble if you get hurt trying to lift boxes or set them down gently is 'let go'.

Here is a little test you can do at home to see if your box is ready for consumer freight.

1. Take your package and hold it at about eye level.
2. Let go.
3. Check to see if it broke.
4. If it did, get another one and pack it better.

Sorry to say, that's the truth. Most people would be surprised what a package goes through before it get's to your house. Especially if the package is heavy and/or awkward. People read your name on the label and cuss you out.

You have NO idea how many sleepless night you just gave me! :bawl:


:bassist:

:bawl: :bawl: Please no more!!! My baby is in transit. :(

Joel, When does your bass show up??

Be sure to start a new thread for us when it arrives!:D

I went to the local UPS store today - it just opened a couple of months ago, but I always use the one two doors down from where I work. I found out the new store's manager is a person I used to do management training with, so I know she's training her employees well...and that's a bit of a comfort.

The scary part was seeing a representative of the US Postal Service show up, and pick up some boxes that were stacked to be shipped out.

Does UPS subcontract to the USPS? Vice-versa? Does each shipping company help each other out? Are they all upset because they have to do more work because of all of these on-line transactions, yet still get paid $8-9 an hour?

Yeah, I'd lose sleep too after finding out all of this...but there are a whole lot of things out there to lose sleep over if we think about any of it too much. I think that's why we were blessed with the invention of alcoholic beverages....

There was an article in Bass Player Magazine about how to ship a bass this month or last. The writer who is the Bass fix it man (I forget his name) packed it in a case with lots of padding. The Roscoe cases do that well, then he used some thin plywood and then another box to put that in.

The one thing he did which I've been told is wrong is detune the strings a half step down. That's a topic for a whole new thread.

These stories really make me want my bass shipped that way if I get them shipped.

I'm thinking that a 5 hour drive to Greensboro might not be a bad idea.........I hear there's some nice scenery between Georgia and NC

Jome77, When I was touring with a group in the early '80's,
I spent a lot of time in South Carolina,North Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama, Kentucky, and Va Ginny.

We called it the "toothless" tour. :D

Anyway, it was some of the most gorgeous country I have ever seen. Hanging moss, kudzu everywhere, not to mention getting addicted to boiled peanuts.

I still have to have a moon pie and an RC cola every once in a while, even out here in Cali.

You could certainly do worse than making that trip to N.C.

Basso, I have some pics I will try to put up now, but Gardfather will have my bass again to put Nordies in it monday, then I will get it and put out some sound clips.

I still don't have any pics up of my other Roscoes either. I better get busy catching up to you guys.

Of course if I had your black beauty, I would have it plastered all over the internet. :p

Man that thing sounds killer.

Re: Shipping

DHL & FedEx Ground are tied in a heat for DEAD LAST in my book.

DHL has consistently proved to me that they couldn't pour pee out of a boot with instructions on the heel; FedEx Ground is NOT FedEx, they are a contract carrier, each local truck is owned and operated independantly - some maybe OK, but there is NO "corporate oversight" or accountability.

Avoid both at all costs, IMO.

UPS is very consistent and reliable, not 100% perfect, but they WILL make it right if they foul up (you just have to jump through the correct hoops in the correct order). FedEx Express is very good as well, but also very expensive.

On Joel's bass: It's on the way, you should have it by the end of the coming week. :)

On Joe coming up for his bass: Dude, it would be great to have you up, we'd be happy to see you here. Matter of fact, first beer at Natty's is on me. :D

On shipping/detuning strings: Dan Erlewine (that's who wrote the article, Doc) is a great repairman, but he's fulla cow manure on the issue of shipping tuned to pitch - UNLESS he also mentions that you should loosen the truss rod completely, then have the bass professionally setup when it arrives. There is a "balance" in the setup between the tension on the strings and the tension on the trussrod, if you loosen one without loosening the other, it is quite possible that you can induce a permenant "bow" or twist in your neck! Note that when I worked at Bass Central, for five years, I opened THOUSANDS of cases from all kinds of high-end custom bass builders, and never ONE TIME was there a bass that was not tuned to pitch! Think Dan knows more than Mike Tobias, Vinnie Fodera, Mike Lull, Roger Sadowsky, Ken Smith, Rob Elrick, or Keith Roscoe (I can't speak for the others, but Keith has been doing professional grade setup and repair work since 1971)??? ;) Don't detune when you ship! (and that whole plywood thing, silly...just make sure you use a GOOD case, and a GOOD box, and some GOOD packing material :rolleyes: )

Yeah, I thought his instructions were a bit excessive in that article. Maybe if you were shipping it freight to Sri Lanka or something, but for domestic, that seems like overkill. If I have at least 3" of packing material on all sides of the case or gigbag (I like to have a bit more than that on the bottom), I feel pretty good about it.

The one thing I have heard about UPS is that they won't honor insurance claims on instruments that are one off's or custom builders. It has to be something with a documentable value somehow. When I was shipping my custom ABG that was built by a very small time luthier, I remember them saying that even though I paid 3500 bucks for it, they wouldn't honor that value. Does anyone know anything about this?

(hows that for off topic??) :)

Jake -

I've found UPS to be a bit recalcatrant at times, but again, IF you document correctly, if you maintain the correct packing methods, and if you insure it for the correct amount for replacement (any invoice that is verifiable is good), they will pay off, you just have to be patient and persistant.

Oh man! That bass is so nice! I really like the contrast of the dark, glossy finish with the exposed pole-pieces and the chrome hardware and maple fingerboard. Super sexy!! :help:

Those are some crazy stories – delivery dudes leaving basses outside, etc. :rollno:

FedEx Ground is NOT FedEx, they are a contract carrier, each local truck is owned and operated independantly -



This is true. All fedex ground drivers are subcontractors, or at least that's the way it was when I worked there (10 years or so ago, give or take). However, alot of the abuse a package gets isn't from the driver. The worst thing that a driver usually does is accidentally drop it getting it off the truck or from the top shelf to the floor (this is where the 5 foot drop test is handy, usually the farthest a package ever falls). The rest happens either on the belt or in sorting.

The following happens to packages every day


stacked with 1000lbs of packages on top of it (usually in the trailer)
crushed on the sort table (think a big giant slanted table about 40 feet deep that all packages get dumped into to be sorted to different belts), especially a problem for little, poorly packed boxes.
let drop from the belt at the individual truck sort level (very common, in fact, count on it if your package weighs more than 30 or 40 lbs). The sorters there are usually assigned to multiple trucks, and packages come down quite fast and it's common that they can't actually pull a box and put it on the correct truck in time to come back and get the next one. So they just drop them off the belt to the ground to be sorted later. These guys go through 100s (maybe 1000s of packages/night). if your box is heavy, it is dropped off the belt, and then either kicked or rolled to it's appropriate truck.


While the drivers for FedEx ground are not really FedEx employees, the sorters ARE.


Some maybe OK, but there is NO "corporate oversight" or accountability.


You are correct that it is seperate from fedEx Express, but there is *some* oversight. Personally I think most of the difference is that the Express guys don't routinely deal with large (read 'heavy') packages. You are simply not going to be able to find people who work from 11pm to 6am for $10 or less and little benefits who "really care" about the 1000 boxes they pick up and put down every night.

As an expample of the kinds of packages these guys see: I've seen a package about 1foot cubed that was simply filled with framing nails!!!! (not like in a bag or something, just poured about 100 pounds of nails in an empty cardboard box, then sealed with a single strip of packing tape). Slap a label on that bad boy and off it goes... :rollno: Well by the time it got to me, it had obviously been split open (from being dropped) and then at some point 'put back together' by basically just wrapping with about an entire roll of tape. So of course it still weighed a TON and had pointy things sticking out at random intervals. :eyebrow: I think i remember putting a voodoo curse (well some kind of curse) :spit: on the bastard who sent that.

However, if i had the choice, I'd go through UPS, their employees are unionized, and they are treated MUCH better by management (or they strike, they've done it before). I'd still rely on the '5 foot drop test' though if what I was shipping was irreplaceable.

I will say that I would trust the case that came with my Roscoe to keep a bass safe in transit if it was placed in another box with some peanuts. The main thing I'd be worried about is the electronics getting a jolt (not the end of the world).

Re: Shipping

DHL & FedEx Ground are tied in a heat for DEAD LAST in my book.

DHL has consistently proved to me that they couldn't pour pee out of a boot with instructions on the heel;
:D
FedEx Ground is NOT FedEx, they are a contract carrier, each local truck is owned and operated independantly...
I didn't know that. :eyebrow:

Not to prolong the OT discussion further but I just did a trade with a fellow TB'er and we both used FedEx Ground. I sent him a Surine fretless 6 and he's sending me a Rob Allen MB-2 5-string. The MB-2 is expected on Tuesday. :hyper:
I'm starting to sweat a little though reading this since they're both in gig bags. I did a good packing job and I trust he did as well. I double-boxed mine with the gig bag wrapped in jumbo bubble wrap then I put peanuts (ghost turds :p) between the bass and the first box and then between the boxes themselves. There's also re-inforced cardboard inserts on each end. It's a nice snug fit with some room for compression during rough handling. I think that's pretty important, especially with a gig bag.

The combination of an ill-fitting case and a loose packing job is a recipe for disaster. The bass is pretty much flopping around inside there. Not good. I haven't had any trouble with FedEx Ground service in the past (knock, knock) but this info and bburk's sobering testimonies, disturbing as they may be, are good for everyone to know.

I think case design is pretty important too, especially the headstock area. Most of the newer cases are very good in this regard. Some of the older ones permit headstock contact. I can only think of one case that I'd ever had a problem with and that's the Smith teardrop.
Both Smith teardrop cases I have owned have permitted the tuners to touch the inside of the case. One was for a '89 BT6 and the other one was from '90. It is obvious that this only occurs after years of hard use so this is no knock on Mr. Smith. I just noticed that these older, well-loved cases seem to have this problem and if you just use a little common sense you won't bust a tuner....or worse...:(

Anyway, hope you get your baby back soon, klorence!
:D

needless to say, I'll be driving down to greensboro to pick up my roscoe.........:)

[QUOTE=Gard]Re: Shipping

.

On Joel's bass: It's on the way, you should have it by the end of the coming week. :)

:hyper: :hyper: :hyper: :hyper: :hyper: :D :D :D :D :bassist: :bassist: :bassist: :bassist: :bassist: :) :) :hyper: :cool: :cool:

Hot Diggity!!!!! I LOVE it when a company UNDER promises, and OVER delivers.:D :D

Gard you are THE MAN.:D :D

I know this, because the guy who USED to be THE MAN just called me and said, and I quote " I aint the man any more, Gard is now the man".

" How do I know? She told me, that's how I know. I know about the whole "plot thing". And,I know about the letters. How do I know about the letters, She told me, that's how I know."
My best Bill Murray voice from "the man who knew too little".

I am so stoked. Gard, how did it sound with the Nordies in it?

[QUOTE=Gard]Re: Shipping

.

On Joel's bass: It's on the way, you should have it by the end of the coming week. :)

:hyper: :hyper: :hyper: :hyper: :hyper: :D :D :D :D :bassist: :bassist: :bassist: :bassist: :bassist: :) :) :hyper: :cool: :cool:

Hot Diggity!!!!! I LOVE it when a company UNDER promises, and OVER delivers.:D :D

Gard you are THE MAN.:D :D

I know this, because the guy who USED to be THE MAN just called me and said, and I quote " I aint the man any more, Gard is now the man".

" How do I know? She told me, that's how I know. I know about the whole "plot thing". And,I know about the letters. How do I know about the letters, She told me, that's how I know."
My best Bill Murray voice from "the man who knew too little".

I am so stoked. Gard, how did it sound with the Nordies in it?


So...........are you excited yet?:D

So...........are you excited yet?:D

...oh, that's nothing, wait until Friday.

:smug:



( :ninja: that's when UPS says he'll be getting it! :ninja: )



:D

:eek:

I think I just wet myself.

Wooo HOOOO I just paid for my new knobs from THG, they are gonna be so killer. I love heartwood/sapwood amboyna.

:hyper:

Thank Gard it's Friday!!!! :D :D :D

:ninja: now where did I put my depends???