Yahoo! Our first two Roscoes showed up this morning. I've been playing them all morning trying to get a feel for Roscoe's style.

Obviously, the looks are stunning and the construction is excellent. These are as pretty as any bass I've seen.

I must say I'm really digging the 35" scale, too. I've played 34" for forever... I didn't know what I was missing. The added stiffness in the strings feels great to my fingers, and the tone seems more articulate, too. The B string is sublime.

I'm not sure I'm sold on the Bart/Bart electronics... they sound a little muffled to my ears, I tend to prefer a more hi-fi sort of sound to my electronics... I'm going to have to do some experimenting with different amps to see if there's a magic combination that I'm missing.

That's my quick initial impression, anyway!

Roscoe LG-3005 Burkeye Burl Top & Ebony Fingerboard (http://www.rocketmusic.net/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?preadd=action&key=2832)
http://www.rocketmusic.net/images/2832.jpg

Roscoe LG-3005 Box Elder Burl Top & Cocobolo Fingerboard (http://www.rocketmusic.net/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?preadd=action&key=2837)
http://www.rocketmusic.net/images/2837.jpg

You may want to try the Bart Classic Pickups with the Audere or Aguilar preamps that are offered. You can also get an after market Glockenklang or Demeter.

How about the Nordy PUPs? How do they fare in terms of clarity & crispness? I'm sure this has been covered to death over in the Roscoe forum, I just need to go dig a bit...

Clint's done some serious experimenting, his take is about what mine is. :)

I like the Nords, and have them in my personal basses, but for a "stock item", I would tend toward either sticking with the stock pickups or the CB's, as they don't add cost to the instrument.

Preamps are a good way to "twiddle" with tone, if you're hearing the unamplified sound you are looking for, particularly. The Bart is a bit compressed sounding and has a strong low-mid presence; the Aggie is less compressed sounding, and has a strong mid to upper-mid presence; the Audere is more "modern" and very clear (doesn't color at all, to my ear), and of the three is the most flexible - however that comes at the cost of being a bit more fidgety to learn (worth it, IMO).

Glad to see they both made it safe and sound! :D

I switched from EBS amps to Genz-Benz, and the tone improved quite a bit. I've found that EBS amps are pretty finicky - they sound great with some basses, and not so great with others. Genz-Benz amps usually sound great with everything...

So, yeah, the Bart/Bart electronics aren't as muffled as I initially thought, in fact they're pretty good. Still, I think I'd go Nordy/Audere if I were buying a bass for myself. I'll experiment with some of my future orders...

Ah, those guys are drunk - Bart + Bart = much happiness. :D

:hiding:

FWIW, my personal addition to that equation will lead to an even bigger smile. To wit:

[Roscoe + (Bart + Bart)] + (Epifani + Epifani) = :hyper: :bassist: :D

Seriously, those are two sharp instruments that will undoubtedly find very happy owners.

Bart+Bart = 1 happy Ryan, too:). Never tried the Bart/Aguilar combo, but since I know I like Aggie preamps, I'm sure that one would float my boat too.

I've got to turn Gard & Co. on to Joe Barden pickups... but they'd have to do a bass with jazz style pickups...

The cool thing is that the Roscoe is such an awesome platform for whatever electronics you ultimately want to put into it. I can't believe how well these things play, they're really sick. And, of course, they look incredible, too.

Man, something funky is going on with my power here... everything I've plugged into my EBS amps for the past 4-5 days has sounded like absolute crap. But I just plugged in my bass (a Warwick Thumb NT 5), and it sounded fantastic... so I grabbed the Roscoes to give 'em another run.. holy cow, they sound amazing!!

I think the entire wall where my EBS amps sit has been experiencing either low voltage or just really noisy voltage. Basses that never buzz have been buzzing, and everything has sounded muffled... But right now, all is well... I think the construction next door is causing some wierdness on the AC lines... I hate to do it (serious $$), but I need to get some power conditioning going in my store...

So cancel my foolish questioning of the Bart/Bart electronics :) The Box Elder LG-3005 is really singing for me, and the Buckeye Burl LG-3005 is bright and punchy. Both have superb tone.

Happy 2009! We just had our first Roscoe sale ever on this the first day of 2009 :bassist:

What a GREAT way to kick off the new year :D

Thanks very much, Cliff!! The Buckeye Burl LG-3005 will be on it's way to you tomorrow.

Good choice!

Heck, yeah! I'm kinda sad to see this one go. It's been one of those great conversation pieces that we shop owners love to have in the store. People see it immediately and have to walk over to take a closer look.

So it's time to order another Roscoe showpiece. I'm thinking this top in Cobalt blue with a bird's eye maple board...

http://www.rocketmusic.net/images/2870.jpg

Oh, yeah, the Cobalt Blue order is in. I had a Century Signature V scheduled for January, but I bumped that one out in favor of this blue one (they didn't have wenge in stock to make the Century anyway). I should see this blue SKB-3006 (http://www.rocketmusic.net/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?preadd=action&key=2870) in February!

Oh, yeah, the Cobalt Blue order is in. I had a Century Signature V scheduled for January, but I bumped that one out in favor of this blue one (they didn't have wenge in stock to make the Century anyway). I should see this blue SKB-3006 (http://www.rocketmusic.net/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?preadd=action&key=2870) in February!

That one should be killer.

Yeah, I saw a used one like that somewhere recently (Roscoe's forum?), and my jaw dropped. That's usually a good sign :)

When I put that order in, Gard initially said June would be the earliest they could do. Yikes, I decided to get my butt in gear and spec out the rest of my tops for actual orders.

I did, however, leave the Bubinga top & back alone in case you decide that you want it. If you're going to pass, please let me know by, say, the end of this month? No rush.

Here are the latest orders. These still need final price confirmation from Gard, but it's in the ballpark.
LG-3005 (Aboyna Burl, Wenge board) (http://www.rocketmusic.net/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?preadd=action&key=2859)
LG-3000 (Bosse/Sapele, Wenge board) (http://www.rocketmusic.net/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?preadd=action&key=2860)
SKB-3005 (Exh Quilted Maple in Cordovan, BE Maple board) (http://www.rocketmusic.net/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?preadd=action&key=2869)

Yep, will do. I'm hoping to be able to make something happen with that---probably with pretty much the exact spec's we discussed/priced out.

I'll be in touch by the end of the month.

Oh, man, Gard just hit me with three more KILLER tops. I've now got so many basses on order and tops on reserve that you can't find the ones that I actually have in stock for sale!! Time to re-arrange the site a little bit...