Roscoe 3006 Bart to Aggie OB3 Pre

[jzbass6]

I plan to switch out the Bart NTMB pre out with a Aggie OB3, I was also thinking of adding a two 3 way's to toggle between series parallel and single coil ( Nordstrand DC6's). Is anyone else doing this or something similar that could give some feedback on thier results? If I'm headed down the wrong road let me know.
Thanks, Will

[xkimsungminx]

Hi there. Well my Roscoe has the Nordstrand DC5 + Aggie OBP-3 set up with switches for each pickup to control the Series/Single coil/Parallel toggling and I like it. I don't mess around it too much as I either leave them set as both Series or both Single coil.

What I haven't tried yet is mis-matching the settings. [For example: Parallel for neck pup and Series for bridge pup in a live situation] I have tried different combination of switch settings just at home and it does give you lots of variations, and it's just a little too much for me to tell you the truth haha. That is why I only use my bass in both Series or both Single coil when I'm playing at church on Sunday's.

Oh one more thing that's good about having 2 individual switches is that if I need the bridge to be equal volume to the neck pup [or very close to being equal in volume] I can set the bridge pup to Series and the neck pup to either Parallel or Single coil and it compensates for the volume difference instead of having to pan the pickups too much.

-Paul

[jzbass6]

Thanks Paul, this is exactly the kind of feedback I was looking for, I'm the bassist for our Praise & Worship team also. I'm looking for variety, but more so a solid slap and fingerstyle tone. Communicating with Stew from Nordstrand he recommend the parallel setting for gospel, funk & slap. But with everything it's all subjective, by the way how is the slap tone? Hopelully I should have it all done in a couple of weeks as I'm waiting for the parts to arrive.
Will

Originally Posted by xkimsungminx

Hi there. Well my Roscoe has the Nordstrand DC5 + Aggie OBP-3 set up with switches for each pickup to control the Series/Single coil/Parallel toggling and I like it. I don't mess around it too much as I either leave them set as both Series or both Single coil.

What I haven't tried yet is mis-matching the settings. [For example: Parallel for neck pup and Series for bridge pup in a live situation] I have tried different combination of switch settings just at home and it does give you lots of variations, and it's just a little too much for me to tell you the truth haha. That is why I only use my bass in both Series or both Single coil when I'm playing at church on Sunday's.

Oh one more thing that's good about having 2 individual switches is that if I need the bridge to be equal volume to the neck pup [or very close to being equal in volume] I can set the bridge pup to Series and the neck pup to either Parallel or Single coil and it compensates for the volume difference instead of having to pan the pickups too much.

-Paul

[bgartist]

Not that it sounds like a Roscoe, but I have the same Nordstrand DC/Aguilar set up on my Warmoth Gecko and I find that I play it in single coil mode 90% of the time. I, too, play for my church-a lot of old Gospel songs yet a little funky. I like the single coil sizzle while the OBP-3 gives a little more bass boost to balance it out.

[xkimsungminx]

Originally Posted by jzbass6

Thanks Paul, this is exactly the kind of feedback I was looking for, I'm the bassist for our Praise & Worship team also. I'm looking for variety, but more so a solid slap and fingerstyle tone. Communicating with Stew from Nordstrand he recommend the parallel setting for gospel, funk & slap. But with everything it's all subjective, by the way how is the slap tone? Hopelully I should have it all done in a couple of weeks as I'm waiting for the parts to arrive.
Will

No problem Will. Always a pleasure being of some help when people ask and definitely for a brother who does Praise and Worship too .

For one, when I ordered my Roscoe, Gard told me the pickups being wound in Series was a part of the "Roscoe" formula, so I had my DC5's wound in Series instead of Parallel. The guys over at Nordstrand do recommend the DC's in Parallel as you said Stew recommended that setup [they also say that there won't be as much of a drop in volume when switching from Series/Single coil/Parallel if the pickups are wound in parallel]. The volume drop really is significant from Series to either Single coil or Parallel but I don't change up my settings when I'm playing at Church as it's sufficient leaving my bass at just one setting [whatever it may need to be that day].

The slap tone isn't exactly like a Jazz bass and it's definitely not like an MTD, I'm not sure exactly how to describe it but it feels like it it fits for me as I rarely do the slap and pluck. And this will vary depending on what woods you have and I think especially what FB you have. My bass has a Pau Ferro board so it has a "thicker" slap tone to it [to my ears as opposed to Wenge or Maple or some other denser FB wood]. I think I really should put time aside for really experimenting with different combinations of the switches and with the blend at the same time to see what more I could get out of the bass. This is just me but, I prefer the slap tone when I have both pickups in Single coil mode over when they're switched to Series [it resembles the Jazz bass slap tone this way I think...].

For fingerstyle tone, I love having the bass in Series. It's really growly and I think it cuts a little better in Series for fingerstyle. Our church recently got an Epifani UL410 S1 and that paired with my Thunderfunk is really something else [we were using a 5+ year old Carvin 4x10 cab, and all I have to say is.... that thing doesn't come CLOSE to the Epi in terms of realizing the potential of the way bass should sound].

I hope this helped some more.

- Paul

[jzbass6]

Hey Paul,
I really appreciate your help and even more so that your gifts are being used to glorify the Lord. I'm excited about our music ministry and I can't wait until I get the mods done to see how it turns out. I'm playing through a Aguilar 500SC with a GS212 and I really love the sound, but I been itching to try the Epifani cabs and heads. I keep you posted on the results, I also checked out your bass, man that bad boy is sweet.
Peace & Blessings, Will

Originally Posted by xkimsungminx

No problem Will. Always a pleasure being of some help when people ask and definitely for a brother who does Praise and Worship too .

For one, when I ordered my Roscoe, Gard told me the pickups being wound in Series was a part of the "Roscoe" formula, so I had my DC5's wound in Series instead of Parallel. The guys over at Nordstrand do recommend the DC's in Parallel as you said Stew recommended that setup [they also say that there won't be as much of a drop in volume when switching from Series/Single coil/Parallel if the pickups are wound in parallel]. The volume drop really is significant from Series to either Single coil or Parallel but I don't change up my settings when I'm playing at Church as it's sufficient leaving my bass at just one setting [whatever it may need to be that day].

The slap tone isn't exactly like a Jazz bass and it's definitely not like an MTD, I'm not sure exactly how to describe it but it feels like it it fits for me as I rarely do the slap and pluck. And this will vary depending on what woods you have and I think especially what FB you have. My bass has a Pau Ferro board so it has a "thicker" slap tone to it [to my ears as opposed to Wenge or Maple or some other denser FB wood]. I think I really should put time aside for really experimenting with different combinations of the switches and with the blend at the same time to see what more I could get out of the bass. This is just me but, I prefer the slap tone when I have both pickups in Single coil mode over when they're switched to Series [it resembles the Jazz bass slap tone this way I think...].

For fingerstyle tone, I love having the bass in Series. It's really growly and I think it cuts a little better in Series for fingerstyle. Our church recently got an Epifani UL410 S1 and that paired with my Thunderfunk is really something else [we were using a 5+ year old Carvin 4x10 cab, and all I have to say is.... that thing doesn't come CLOSE to the Epi in terms of realizing the potential of the way bass should sound].

I hope this helped some more.

- Paul

[JOME77]

If slap is your thing then I'd definitely go for the single/dual coil switching. The slap tone with the Nord's wired single is very nice. I can't really comment about how they sound parallel verses series as I haven't tried that but I will say that while you're doing the modification you might as well give yourself as many options as possible (without over cluttering up the bass with switches).

I'll also give the Aguilar OPB-3 pre paired with the Nord p/u's the thumbs up. But, If you're exclusively playing a fretted though you might also want to consider the Roscoe Audere pre with the Nord p/u's. The 4 band EQ (2 mids, bass, treble) really allow for some great fretless emulations and the 3-way Z-mode switch cops some very nice slap tones.

[jzbass6]

JOME77
Thanks for the advice, I have a Audere on my Lakland DJ5 and I like a lot, but I hoping that the Aggie Ob does the trick.
Here are some pic of my bass and as usual they don't do it justice.
Will

Originally Posted by JOME77

If slap is your thing then I'd definitely go for the single/dual coil switching. The slap tone with the Nord's wired single is very nice. I can't really comment about how they sound parallel verses series as I haven't tried that but I will say that while you're doing the modification you might as well give yourself as many options as possible (without over cluttering up the bass with switches).

I'll also give the Aguilar OPB-3 pre paired with the Nord p/u's the thumbs up. But, If you're exclusively playing a fretted though you might also want to consider the Roscoe Audere pre with the Nord p/u's. The 4 band EQ (2 mids, bass, treble) really allow for some great fretless emulations and the 3-way Z-mode switch cops some very nice slap tones.

[xkimsungminx]

Originally Posted by jzbass6

Hey Paul,
I really appreciate your help and even more so that your gifts are being used to glorify the Lord. I'm excited about our music ministry and I can't wait until I get the mods done to see how it turns out. I'm playing through a Aguilar 500SC with a GS212 and I really love the sound, but I been itching to try the Epifani cabs and heads. I keep you posted on the results, I also checked out your bass, man that bad boy is sweet.
Peace & Blessings, Will

Yea, no problem at all! I really enjoy playing for church and being able to do something to contribute in making worship what it is so thanks for the encouragement especially since it's coming from someone so much older than I and way more experienced. You should definitely give the Epi gear a try everyone on the praise team was grateful for the change from the Carvin to the Epi 410 haha.

Thanks for the compliment on my bass as well and I had no idea it was you that bought that SKB 3006. It's a killer looking bass so definitely let me know how the upgrades turn out for you and the bass. [I was actually trying to track down a few Roscoe SKB 3006's that had Bird's Eye Maple boards to see if their owners would sell them but I had no success in tracking them down .]

- Paul