How do YOU get your Roscoe to sound like...

[NJL]

1) A Jazz Bass

2) A P Bass

I know they are apples and oranges here, but how do YOU get those sounds to come out of YOUR bass?

[DaveDeVille]

ok , here's how you do it ....

first ,
get a Fender Precision ,
and then get a Fender Jazz ....

j/k

[Dave]

I dont usually try and go for a Jazz sound, but Ive found that with my Roscoe, I can mimic a P fairly well.

I will use either the neck or both pickups, depending on if I want a smoother sound or not. I roll the treble off a good bit, almost completely off, bass down to less than half, and the mids set on 250 hz boosted just a tiny bit, if not flat. I have the Bart Pre/pickups, just to clarify.

[NJL]

Originally Posted by david meissner

ok , here's how you do it ....

first ,
get a Fender Precision ,
and then get a Fender Jazz ....

j/k

I knew someone would eventually say this, but I would never, in a thousand years, think it would be YOU! How could you?

[T. B. Player]

Wow - the smarta$$ answer right off the bat - I usually do that...

But honestly, with a Roscoe, or any bass for that matter, I think lots of what you're looking for has to do with what you're playing through. I've played my cheap Brice bass through several systems, and after I play it through my stuff, I just want to chuck it - yet, I'll play it through a SWR rig with 4-10s and a 15 that's been set up for all the bands on the concert stage to play through, and I'll wonder how I can get the amp and cabs off the stage without anyone noticing.

The bass is only half the battle....

[Basso Gruvitas]

I've got a different preamp in each Roscoe so there's some variance on settings but here goes:

J bass, Jaco style:
Pan about 1/3 to 1/2 toward the bridge pickup and boost either mid frequency to voice to the room. Also the more I pan over to the bridge, the more I boost the bass so it keeps from getting too honky.

P bass:
Pan to the neck pickup and boost the upper mids a bit to accentuate the growl. Also boost the bass to give it some booty.

J bass, Marcus style:
For the Bart Pickup, you might as well hang it up. On the Nordstrand-equipped bass, I go to single coil mode, pan slightly to the neck pickup, boost the bass and treble equal amounts and keep the mids flat. It sounds awesome! NOT A CLONE TONE, MIND YOU BUT IT SURE SOUNDS GREAT!!

[JOME77]

Originally Posted by T. B. Player

But honestly, with a Roscoe, or any bass for that matter, I think lots of what you're looking for has to do with what you're playing through. I've played my cheap Brice bass through several systems, and after I play it through my stuff, I just want to chuck it - yet, I'll play it through a SWR rig with 4-10s and a 15 that's been set up for all the bands on the concert stage to play through, and I'll wonder how I can get the amp and cabs off the stage without anyone noticing.

The bass is only half the battle....

That's certainly been true with some basses I've owned but I've found that a Roscoe can overcome a great deal of deficiencies in an amp or speaker cabinet. I was reminded of this a few weeks ago when I played DI through the system at a local church. I was bummed out about it at first but during the sound check I was quickly reminded of just how much control I have using only the EQ on my Roscoe.

This was re-enforced again when I played through the churches Eden WT400 and SWR Goliath Jr. III last Sunday. Although I much prefer the sound of my TFunk/Berg rig, I'll have to admit that the Roscoe sounded great through that rig.

In reference to NJL's question:

I can get a killer Jaco sound with the bridge p/u soloed and a slight mid boost (this is certainly one side of a J basses personality).

For a great pick sound I set the p/u pan & treble controls just slightly of center toward the neck p/u & add a slight mid and bass boost. IMO this is more reminiscent of a P Bass (but much thicker; i.e. P bass on steriods)

For an awesome finger style tone I Boosted the treble a bit more changed the Mid center freq. switch to the down position (400HZ center?)

For slap style I set the p/u pan to center detent, boost the bass and treble @ approx. 3/4 and leave the mid control at center detent. I also set the TFunk Enhance control to approx. 2/3 and set the Timbre control to center detent. (reminiscent of a J bass with two test tickles! )

I suppose that someone looking to really cop the J bass sound might argue that the Roscoe will alway be warmer and thicker but IMO, that's a good thing!

My current Roscoe has the Demeter pre/Bart p/u's. I suspect that Basso's new Roscoe with the Aggie OBP-3 and Nords would come much closer to the true J bass sound. One things for sure, I'll find out sooooooooooooon!

[T. B. Player]

Originally Posted by JOME77

That's certainly been true with some basses I've owned but I've found that a Roscoe can overcome a great deal of deficiencies in an amp or speaker cabinet. I was reminded of this a few weeks ago when I played DI through the system at a local church. I was bummed out about it at first but during the sound check I was quickly reminded of just how much control I have using only the EQ on my Roscoe.

This was re-enforced again when I played through the churches Eden WT400 and SWR Goliath Jr. III last Sunday. Although I much prefer the sound of my TFunk/Berg rig, I'll have to admit that the Roscoe sounded great through that rig.

Thanks, Joe - that's some REALLY great info to know about Roscoes - definitely another selling point (even though they don't need anything more to sell them).

[NJL]

Thanks guys! Keep em' coming!