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Roscoe Advice

W

WayneKerrins

Oct 27, 2010
99
23
Buckinghamshire, England
#1
I played a Roscoe LG3000J yesterday and loved the feel and tone.

I play in a rock and indie covers band anything from Credence CR-Neil Young-Seger-Joy Divison-Chillie Peppers-SilversunPickups-Arcade Fire.

I particularly liked the lows on the bass (which was spanish cedar with boxelder topwood). Pickups were bartolini jazz type.

Given the above data could any Roscoe experts give me some guidance on the best tonewoods and hardware for a new Roscoe? Also is the bass model the best fit?

Appreciate the advice guys.
 
#2
I've owned 6 Roscoe basses and they all have/had great lows and are very versatile instruments that work in a variety of musical styles.

I think the different woods and electronics will have a more noticeable impact on the mids and highs as I've never heard a Roscoe that was weak in the lows.

The Roscoe forum under the Sponsored Forums can provide you more than enough information on any number of topics.
 
#3
That's going to be really hard to answer, since the questions you're asking are incredibly personal.

My instinct says that if you liked it, you've found a great fit *for you.* I really like lows in my basses, too, and that's why all 4 of my Roscoes have a mahogany body. Mahogany is said to have more lows than spanish cedar, which in turn has more lows than ash.

The LG is the smallest of the bodies in the Roscoe line, but they're all fairly close. The SKB (my preference, although I do own an LG) is the 'middle' sized and the Century is the largest, at about the size of a jazz bass.
 
#5
Pacman knows as much as anyone about Roscoe's. Maybe Gard will chime in. I've had a couple, currently have a fretless and am having a fretted built for me. While the woods certainly do make a difference, I think in some cases it's subtle. I mean, you can tell, but I have yet to play a Roscoe I didn't like.

I like the Century body style. Just seems to fit me better. My fretless is mahogany with a special JB pickup placement. I think it sounds amazing for a nice modern fretless tone.

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The fretted Century that I have being built is an ash body with CB soapbar pups. A pretty "standard" Roscoe combination. I still think there will be plenty of lows. This is the top that will be on it with a birdseye maple fingerboard.

7442206076_0960bb4dc8.jpg


Bottom line, Roscoe is making incredible basses right now. If the one you played spoke to you, get it. The basses are amazing. The company is amazing. The people who work there are amazing. Heck, they've put up with enough from me over the last year to last a lifetime, but they still work with me and have made me amazing basses with extra touches I wouldn't have expected.
 
#8
I have a mahogany/redwood/birdseye maple SKB that is seriously SICK! I could (realistically, if you put a gun to my head) get do every gig I get called for on it. (But where would the fun be in that?)

This one:

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#9
And that's "just" a Standard Plus! Yet another bass that shows that they don't "save" all the good wood for the "signature" basses.

I find I prefer the standard bodies. The carved tops are really nice, but you don't need a carved top (as this bass shows) to get a beautiful bass. And look at that fingerboard!

Can't wait to see my new completed standard plus...
 

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