Roscoe Sound Clips - Page 11

VroomVroom · #**201** 10-06-2009, 10:15 AM

Dave, the clips sound great. Live recordings are the ones I appreciate the most - they truly represent the sound we hear during a gig...and help demonstrate how the instrument cuts through the mix. Your bass sounds fantastic, and the playing is top-notch!

Joe & Greg... I too am grateful to Joe for that DVD. Terrific stuff in there. The manual? Less than useless, IMO. The DVD really is helpful, and I like the way everything is presented. When I opened the box, I probably spent a minute or two less than Joe did with the (cough) manual (cough). There's a fellow on youtube, 'thouston', who has some helpful videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkSQ5xlaPps&

You'll want to fast-forward through some things, but I thought it was really nice of him to offer what Roland should've done out-of-the-box.

RocketMusic · #**202** 10-06-2009, 02:07 PM

Dave - nice clips! They're not crystal clear, but they are GROOVING!

I apologize in advance for the slap wankery I'm about to foist on ya'll, but I wanted to post a new clip of my personal Roscoe 5 with the Joe Barden pickups. The playing is what it is (sorry, I was in a hurry!), but oh, the tone!!! I finally captured my Barden tone, thanks to the video Joe shared with me. The bite and the beef are finally both coming across... I'll try to do a better clip once things calm down here...

LilRay · #**203** 10-06-2009, 02:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RocketMusic

Dave - nice clips! They're not crystal clear, but they are GROOVING!

I apologize in advance for the slap wankery I'm about to foist on ya'll, but I wanted to post a new clip of my personal Roscoe 5 with the Joe Barden pickups. The playing is what it is (sorry, I was in a hurry!), but oh, the tone!!! I finally captured my Barden tone, thanks to the video Joe shared with me. The bite and the beef are finally both coming across... I'll try to do a better clip once things calm down here...

Great tone and level on this one Greg. It even sounds good on laptop speakers.

God Bless, Ray

JOME77 · #**204** 10-06-2009, 06:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RocketMusic

I apologize in advance for the slap wankery I'm about to foist on ya'll, but I wanted to post a new clip of my personal Roscoe 5 with the Joe Barden pickups. The playing is what it is (sorry, I was in a hurry!), but oh, the tone!!! I finally captured my Barden tone, thanks to the video Joe shared with me. The bite and the beef are finally both coming across... I'll try to do a better clip once things calm down here...

Very nice tone and chops Greg!
Certainly nothing in the area of playing to apologize for!

Man! Those Barden p/u's (and I'm sure p/u positioning) really produce a killer slap tone!

It makes me second guess my thoughts that I only need one Roscoe fretted.

RocketMusic · #**205** 10-07-2009, 10:46 AM

Hah, thanks Joe! I'm knocked out by how much closer my clips are getting to the actual tone of these basses.

Here's a slow blues clip that I did this morning of the Century Standard bass shown below. We've had some CS clips before, but this one is --gasp-- fretless, so I thought I'd share. The fretless ones really sing with that diamondwood board.

Darkstrike · #**206** 10-07-2009, 10:51 AM

Damn, the CS's sound just fantastic.

lwrthnwhalepoop · #**207** 10-07-2009, 02:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RocketMusic

Hah, thanks Joe! I'm knocked out by how much closer my clips are getting to the actual tone of these basses.

Here's a slow blues clip that I did this morning of the Century Standard bass shown below. We've had some CS clips before, but this one is --gasp-- fretless, so I thought I'd share. The fretless ones really sing with that diamondwood board.

Greg, the clip sounds great - the playing, the production values, and the bass. The sound clips have be the best sales tool ever, and I mean that from a customer's perspective. Lots of pretty basses for sale, but how do they sound? Once you've heard a clip of a bass that has the sound you're looking for, why would you buy some other bass "sound unheard?" It's a drag to be infatuated with a bass only to get her home and find "she doesn't put out."

These Century Standards are the best deal on the planet, period.

The CS in this clip has a brighter and more focused sound than my Spanish Cedar SKB3006 fretless (the one on the right in this photo) and a fair bit more sustain, I'm guessing. Interesting that you chose a blues tune for the clip, as my fretless is the first bass I grab for straight-ahead blues.

RocketMusic · #**208** 10-07-2009, 02:48 PM

Thanks, man!

Yeah, I reach for my fretless for just about any slow number, blues or otherwise. When I pick up the fretted one, the notes start flying (and not always in a good way). The fretless makes me play more slowly and lyrically, I tend to milk more out of each individual note. I'm hoping that tendency migrates to my fretted playing eventually.

I thought your fretless sounded amazing in that studio clip you posted. VERY Roscoe. And of course it looks like the bee's knees, too.

Claus_L · #**209** 10-08-2009, 04:21 AM

Uhhhhmmmm that CS fretless 5 sounds fab Greg...see I would have expected a lot more top end from that bass...I wonder if the BR-600 has something to do with that...

Great playing and great sound!

JOME77 · #**210** 10-08-2009, 05:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Claus_L

Uhhhhmmmm that CS fretless 5 sounds fab Greg...see I would have expected a lot more top end from that bass...I wonder if the BR-600 has something to do with that...

Great playing and great sound!

Probably has more to do with strings, EQ settings and pickup blend settings.

Greg/lwrthnwhalepoop,
Are you guys both recording with everything set flat and p/u blend set to center detent? Kind of difficult to compare the sounds without knowing that info.....

It's hard for me to play a fretless without the bridge p/u soloed. I just love that growl and burpy tone!

lwrthnwhalepoop · #**211** 10-08-2009, 07:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JOME77

Probably has more to do with strings, EQ settings and pickup blend settings.

Greg/lwrthnwhalepoop,
Are you guys both recording with everything set flat and p/u blend set to center detent? Kind of difficult to compare the sounds without knowing that info.....

It's hard for me to play a fretless without the bridge p/u soloed. I ljuar love that growl and burpy tone!

In my case, my pan pot was just "bridgeward" of center and I probably had the mid knob pushed in and boosted 10-15% above center. The engineer had me plugged into an Avalon tube preamp and an eq, and I don't know what shaping he may have been doing in the eq but I suspect not much.

RocketMusic · #**212** 10-08-2009, 08:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JOME77

Probably has more to do with strings, EQ settings and pickup blend settings.

Greg/lwrthnwhalepoop,
Are you guys both recording with everything set flat and p/u blend set to center detent? Kind of difficult to compare the sounds without knowing that info.....

It's hard for me to play a fretless without the bridge p/u soloed. I ljuar love that growl and burpy tone!

On the fretless CS clip, I slightly biased towards the bridge pickup (~20% off center), bass was boosted quite a bit (~80% off center), mid was pulled and boosted ~50% off center, and treble was flat. That's probably why it didn't sound as bright as you might expect, Claus. I like the mwah, but I also like some body/depth on the tone, too.

My approach to the clips is to make the bass sound as good as it can for whatever vibe/style I'm going for. I'm sure that makes it harder to compare one bass to another (everything flat would be ideal for that), but many basses sound not so good with everything flat, especially for certain styles.

That said, I do try to keep the BR-600 from molesting the tone too much. I've let a little compression, limiting and bass cut (20 Hz and below) creep in, but all of the EQ settings on the recorder are flat.

Claus_L · #**213** 10-08-2009, 11:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JOME77

Probably has more to do with strings, EQ settings and pickup blend settings.

Absolutely Joe, has a lot to do with it, BUT we all know how different amps/preamps can affect the tone of our basses. Just the other day I tried my bass through a Genz-Benz Shuttle 6.0 with a matching STL-12T
speaker, and it sounded quite different to the MarkBass/Acme B2 setup I have. Not to mention the myriad of studio preamps, each claiming to have a "signature" sound. Not trying to be right or argue or anyting, just trying to comprehend the infinite variables with which bass tone can be produced....phew....and I apologize if that didn't make any sense, I'm from Denmark... English = second language...

VroomVroom · #**214** 10-12-2009, 12:45 PM

Hey Folks,

Ok, so before heading out to Hotlanta for a week, I pulled the trigger...selling my gorgeous #5907 and picking up #5836. Five string neck + lines = very comfortable intonation. Doesn't hurt that this bass is a tone MONSTER.

Ash body, flame myrtle top, standard neck, lined diamondwood board. Bart pickups w/ Aggie OBP-3 pre-amp.

Had a long wedding gig at the Mark Hopkins hotel in SF...here's a view of the rig @ The Top of The Mark:

I used the bass the whole night, and it sounded on everything from cocktail jazz to Jewish folk tunes, and big band swing to old-school R&B. The bass went into the GB Shuttle 6.0-12T combo. and I added the 12T extension cab for the louder full-band stuff. EQ on the bass was flat/centered. Amp settings: pre-gain @ 7, volume @ 4, lows @ 6, everything else flat & centered. Onto the tunes...

My Baby Just Cares for Me

Play That Funky Music

I Need to Know

I Wish

Brick House

So Very Hard to Go

lwrthnwhalepoop · #**215** 10-12-2009, 03:34 PM

Jerry, LOVE your new baby. It's really growling and cutting nicely on "Brick House" but on "My Baby Just Cares for Me" it fits perfectly into the more traditional sound of that tune (sounds like you were playing over the neck pickup on that one, which is the best way to soften/fatten the sound for just this situation). So this replaces the unlined ebony board sixer?

The five string neck is pretty comfy, huh? I noticed that when I did a fairly long session a couple of weeks ago with just the fiver and one of my old four-stringers. My left hand wasn't fatiguing at all, which is definitely does with the fretless sixer. Having to make those big spans in the first few positions on a fretless sixer is taxing on my left paw.

I'd be open to the same sort of trade you worked here. I so seldom use that C string, and the weight is getting to be a problem for my back.

I love the sound of the Aggie pre. It's by no means too aggressive for the stuff you're doing here.

The playing, as always, is groovalicious and squeaky-clean.

Keep us posted from Hotlanta. I'm a bit envious as we just got a dump of snow here.

VroomVroom · #**216** 10-12-2009, 04:04 PM

Thanks, Dave! This bass is fantastic. I kept 'shedding with it, and thinking to myself that I could use it on any gig. I decided to test my logic, and fortunately I was right. How comfortable is the neck? I had my nose in a few new charts, and was still able to play in-tune.

On "My Baby" I was actually palm muting, although you're spot-on. I'll usually play off of the neck pickup when walking, but the palm-mute gives just a hint of upright vibe.

I went back and forth for months on this bass, knowing all along that it was really something special. My hang up was with the beauty of the sixer, and of course the investment I had tied up into it. I was also stubborn...hanging on for far too long to the notion that I could play that thing in-tune without devoting full attention to eyeballing every single note.

The only question I'm asking myself now is....what the heck took me so long?

Darkstrike · #**217** 10-12-2009, 04:15 PM

Very nice, espcially liked Brick House.

LilRay · #**218** 10-12-2009, 04:42 PM

Jerry, Congrats on the new bass but

You're TOO good

God Bless, Ray

lwrthnwhalepoop · #**219** 10-12-2009, 04:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LilRay

Jerry, Congrats on the new bass but

You're TOO good

God Bless, Ray

Jerry, they said the same thing about Tiny Tim so don't let it get you down.

davecheng · #**220** 10-12-2009, 07:00 PM

As always, I keep wondering to myself how much of that tone is in the amp and how much of it is the bass itself... But in the end, does it really matter?

Nice playing, Jerry!