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F Bass vs. Roscoe

jazz5757

jazz5757

Supporting Member
May 23, 2003
1,044
1,268
68
St. Louis, Missouri
#1
Just received an F Bass BN4 and must decide this weekend if I'll keep her or not. The attention to detail on this bass is wonderful and it's got a beautiful sunburst finish. Plays very nice but not quite as nice as a Sadowsky Metro I recently owned. The sound is bassically liked a souped up j bass - however I prefer the more aggressive sound of a p bass. I also love the look of Keith Roscoe's basses and am wondering if they are more agressive sounding. Has anyone compared a BN4 to an LG3000 or an F to a Roscoe for that matter? Any general comments would be greatly appreciated.
 
#2
Never played an F Bass but I have a Roscoe LG-3000 and I can tell you that with the blend knob all the way to the neck pup it has a very growly aggresive modern P tone ... no mistaking it's a P tone, lots of P grind. With the pups split even or blended to the bridge it sounds totally different--pretty much loosing the P growl and going more to like a punchy "J" tone you might say. I used to have another Roscoe LG-3000 and it performed in the same way. BTW Roscoe's are super basses IMO, I really dig mine.
 
#8
Roscoe's can sound pretty aggressive out of the box (in a good way!). I never thought of them as "P-basses" per se, but the sound is generally pretty fat - so that might not be a huge stretch. They are definitely nice basses. As with most luthiers though I've played a few great ones, and a few average ones.

F-bass to me is always my first recommendation for a guy who wants to be in that specific price range but still "want's it all". They are so well made, sound amazing, are incredibly versatile, and (compared to many comparable basses) are priced very resonably.

I was floored by the first one that came through my hands. Everyone that has come through here after has been as good. I'm fairly positive that your mileage will not vary when it comest to F!
 
#9
Fretless5verfan said:
I've played both...they both rock...but if you're looking for aggressive P-style tone, there's no mistaking that Roscoe is the way to go.

I think the guru of this debate, Mr. AG himself, will agree. Why he doesn't own a roscoe i'll never know :rollno: :p
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Adrian---are you out there????? :ninja:

It's decision day!!! Should she stay or should she go? She is a beauty to behold I must say but I'm horribly confused ... :confused:

Let me see if I can post a link to the bass in question:

Invalid Link Removed
 
#10
Sounds to me like the F isn't doing it for you. At these prices I don't think it's a "get used to it" kind of thing. I don't know if a Roscoe will work for you but I would say move one from the F. Understand, I really like F Basses and have owned several, and hope to own another at some point, but there are many other great basses out there. You'll eventually find it.
 
#11
Peter Parker said:
Sounds to me like the F isn't doing it for you. At these prices I don't think it's a "get used to it" kind of thing. I don't know if a Roscoe will work for you but I would say move one from the F. Understand, I really like F Basses and have owned several, and hope to own another at some point, but there are many other great basses out there. You'll eventually find it.
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Peter - thank you for that bit of wisdom :) You're right....especially when you're shelling out this kind of $$$....the bass should smack you in the head and yell "keep me"!!!!

I just got finished spending some more "quality time" with the F. It DOES have quite an array of usable tones and I absolutely love the way it looks. However, I don't think the neck is as sweet as the Sadowsky Metro I recently had, nor does it get some of the sounds that I might find to be more usable---I mainly got rid of the Sadowsky because it was quite heavy and frankly I quickly became bored with the vintage white look. The Roscoe may not be the answer either....I suppose the search will have to continue... :(
 
#12
jazz5757 said:
...However, I don't think the neck is as sweet as the Sadowsky Metro I recently had, nor does it get some of the sounds that I might find to be more usable---I mainly got rid of the Sadowsky because it was quite heavy and frankly I quickly became bored with the vintage white look...I suppose the search will have to continue...:(
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Then why not get a lighter Metro in a different color?
 
#13
JRBrown said:
Then why not get a lighter Metro in a different color?
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You know JR, you might just be onto something there - those LPB RV 4's are VERY nice
:bassist: But - I think all the Metro's weigh about 9.50 lbs - I swear might felt like about 12 lbs - apparently ONLY the NYC basses have the chambered bodies which reduce the weight but that neck -damn, that is one sweet neck indeed! That's what sets in apart in my opinion....it just feels right.
 
#14
I've owned Sadowsky, F-Bass, Roscoe, and P-bass. I currently own a Roscoe and a P-bass. IMO,

- The Sadowsky and F-Bass tone is very similar
- The Roscoe tone closer to that of a P-bass but not as
growly/aggresive as a real P-bass (nothing is).
- The Fbass' output volume is far less than all three
- The F-Bass and Roscoe are balanced better than the Sad
- The Sad tone is the most aggresive of them all
- The F-Bass had the sweeter tone of them all but its few
shortcommings (low output volume and "tacky" finish) were
enough for me to sell mine.

And if you're an Incurable P-Bass Addict, the choice is obvious. ;)
 
#16
Fretless5verfan said:
i disagree with JR just on the 2nd note, being that i can make my roscoe sound far more aggressive than any P-bass i've ever heard. So go play one and let your ears decide.
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:eyebrow:

I agree, let your ears be the judge.

To clarify. You're right, A Roscoe can be made to sound 10 times more aggressive than a P-bass! But in doing so, it no longer sounds like a P-bass. I was comparing the Roscoe dialed in to emulate a P-bass vs the real thing--it sounds like a P-bass but doesn't feel like a P-bass.
 
#17
JRBrown said:
I've owned Sadowsky, F-Bass, Roscoe, and P-bass. I currently own a Roscoe and a P-bass. IMO,

- The Sadowsky and F-Bass tone is very similar
- The Roscoe tone closer to that of a P-bass but not as
growly/aggresive as a real P-bass (nothing is).
- The Fbass' output volume is far less than all three
- The F-Bass and Roscoe are balanced better than the Sad
- The Sad tone is the most aggresive of them all
- The F-Bass had the sweeter tone of them all but its few
shortcommings (low output volume and "tacky" finish) were
enough for me to sell mine.

And if you're an Incurable P-Bass Addict, the choice is obvious. ;)
Click to expand...

Well JR....I'm not sure if the choice is that obvious----unless you mean just get a p bass :D I've got a '59 and a '57 so I can fairly say I've got that covered :p

I guess I need a good description of how the neck feels on the Roscoe----the neck is ultimately everything in my book (i.e. the wide flat '59 rosewood p neck...for me anyway!). The Sadowsky was the most playable of just about any bass I've encountered though (sorry Fodera!).... Anyone care to tackle that description on the Roscoe?
 
#18
jazz5757 said:
I guess I need a good description of how the neck feels on the Roscoe----the neck is ultimately everything in my book (i.e. the wide flat '59 rosewood p neck...for me anyway!). The Sadowsky was the most playable of just about any bass I've encountered though (sorry Fodera!).... Anyone care to tackle that description on the Roscoe?
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me, me, meeeee :hyper:

No contest! I prefer the feel of the Sadowsky neck.

My Roscoe neck is thick, chunky, fat, and round by comparison...but in a good way. There's nothing flat about the Roscoe neck at all. (Keith offers a flatter/thinner option). Also, its been said that the thicker neck is what gives the Roscoe its deep tone. Some players send their Roscoes to Keith for slight "flattening" ($150.00). I wouldn't change a thing about the neck on my Roscoe--that's what makes it what it is. I heard the the thicker, rounder shape of the Roscoe neck is ergonomically better.
 
#19
Getting a Roscoe with the 34" scale length option would get you closer to a P bass feel and sound. The thing is that the pickups are so drastically different that it would never be dead on. I can get a giant P "type" of tone though. A P bass on steroids if you will. I would say to get an "aggressive" sound you'd have to have pickups with Alnico magnets instead of the ceramic magnets that Bartolini uses. That's what gives an old P bass or J bass their sound (to start).
 
#20
JRBrown said:
me, me, meeeee :hyper:

No contest! I prefer the feel of the Sadowsky neck.

My Roscoe neck is thick, chunky, fat, and round by comparison...but in a good way. There's nothing flat about the Roscoe neck at all. (Keith offers a flatter/thinner option). Also, its been said that the thicker neck is what gives the Roscoe its deep tone. Some players send their Roscoes to Keith for slight "flattening" ($150.00). I wouldn't change a thing about the neck on my Roscoe--that's what makes it what it is. I heard the the thicker, rounder shape of the Roscoe neck is ergonomically better.
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One thing that REALLY suprised me is that the F bass is very non-slap-friendly.... :( That may suprise a lot of people but for some odd reason it just doesn't work for me. I just pulled out my (gasp!) korean Spector NS2000 and got a phenominal slap tone and it feels just plain easy to do ....not that I have a huge need to slap but it does make the F more disappointing in that realm---though for fingerstyle playing it feels VERY nice indeed.

JB---are you talking about only a Roscoe fiver? I'd be looking for a 4. Given the "chunky" neck do you find that more difficult passages are harder to articulate?
 

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