I finally got to play two bass brands I'd only heard of, but had never played: a Rogers 5-string, and a Colibri 4-string jazz bass. Both exceeded expectations, so I thought I'd share some thoughts on them here. I'll discuss the Rogers here; my thoughts on the Colibri are in a separate post, here: This One Goes Up to 11 (Colibri Bass Review)
The Rogers 5-string jazz bass was a beauty, and the construction was really top-notch (pics below). I'd never played anything with such gorgeous top wood: it sported a Brazilian cinnamon imbuia top that definitely focused the sound. On the rear of the body, you can see the rich grain of the swamp ash. At just over 10 lbs., this thing definitely felt like a grown-up's instrument!
People with large hands would love this bass. The neck was 1 7/8" wide at the nut, so pretty wide. The string spacing at the bridge is 19mm, but it felt more like 20mm. Plenty of room for large hands to get in there and slap! However, the flat modern radius (it felt like a 12" radius) and relatively slim neck profile made it easy to get up and down the neck. It definitely made me want to try out my more challenging riffs and licks.
The current owner converted the bass into a passive instrument, with volume-volume-tone controls. In its current incarnation, it's equipped with hand-wound single coil jazz pickups from Howard Ulyate, who has been building amazing pickups for several brands in recent years (more on the pickups in my next review). What I heard in the current incarnation was lots of low mid-range punch and growl -- focused enough for soloing, but without getting too "nasal" in the mids. With both pickups up full and the tone wide open, the treble added some tasteful modern growl, but without the harshness of extreme highs.
Overall, the Rogers 5-string jazz bass is a beautiful, pro-level instrument with all the modern accoutrements! I hope to update this post with better pictures soon. Please feel free to respond to this thread with any similar experiences, or further thoughts on Rogers basses!
Disclosure: I'm not on the payroll of Rogers, Colibri, Ulyate, or the Bass Hang, and I've never received any merchandise from them. Thanks to Steve Araujo of The Bass Hang (The Bass Hang - Where Musicians Hang) for setting up this "test drive."
The Rogers 5-string jazz bass was a beauty, and the construction was really top-notch (pics below). I'd never played anything with such gorgeous top wood: it sported a Brazilian cinnamon imbuia top that definitely focused the sound. On the rear of the body, you can see the rich grain of the swamp ash. At just over 10 lbs., this thing definitely felt like a grown-up's instrument!
People with large hands would love this bass. The neck was 1 7/8" wide at the nut, so pretty wide. The string spacing at the bridge is 19mm, but it felt more like 20mm. Plenty of room for large hands to get in there and slap! However, the flat modern radius (it felt like a 12" radius) and relatively slim neck profile made it easy to get up and down the neck. It definitely made me want to try out my more challenging riffs and licks.
The current owner converted the bass into a passive instrument, with volume-volume-tone controls. In its current incarnation, it's equipped with hand-wound single coil jazz pickups from Howard Ulyate, who has been building amazing pickups for several brands in recent years (more on the pickups in my next review). What I heard in the current incarnation was lots of low mid-range punch and growl -- focused enough for soloing, but without getting too "nasal" in the mids. With both pickups up full and the tone wide open, the treble added some tasteful modern growl, but without the harshness of extreme highs.
Overall, the Rogers 5-string jazz bass is a beautiful, pro-level instrument with all the modern accoutrements! I hope to update this post with better pictures soon. Please feel free to respond to this thread with any similar experiences, or further thoughts on Rogers basses!
Disclosure: I'm not on the payroll of Rogers, Colibri, Ulyate, or the Bass Hang, and I've never received any merchandise from them. Thanks to Steve Araujo of The Bass Hang (The Bass Hang - Where Musicians Hang) for setting up this "test drive."
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