I picked up a RBV from lomo last week. This is a bass that I have been very interested in for a long time, but I had never touched one before. The closest I had ever come was simply seeing one hanging on the wall in Bass Central back in 2006.
My impression of the bass was very favorable when I first unzipped its case. It is easy to see that this bass was one of Fender's high end offerings, not unlike a Fender Jazz QMT or Victor Bailey/Marcus Miller V. My first impression is that this is a really big bass! The body on my 2008 American Standard Jazz V seems quite small in comparison, and a bass like a Fender Deluxe or Sadowsky seems almost tiny.
The neck is also fairly large for a bass that seems to be Jazz style. Vertically, the neck is a bit thick, but the fingerboard is nice and wide with 19mm spacing at the bridge. The nut seems fairly wide also but I have not measured it. Interestingly, although the RBV is big, it is not terribly heavy at 9 lbs. 7 oz. according to its former owner. On a strap, the RBV does not feel heavier, but is greater bulk is noticeable.
Soundwise, this bass really shines!
It is a passive bass, but it has very hot twenty-two pole humbucking pickups whose coils can be split for single coil and series parrallel function. The tone control can also be pulled allowing for some nice options too. The biggest difference I noticed between the Roscoe Beck V and a true Jazz bass is the use of a Strat style pickup selector instead of two volume knobs. The lack of two volume knobs or blend control limits the mixing of pickups on what is otherwise a very versatile bass. Effectively, this means that one cannot get the tones associated on a Jazz with slightly backing off one the volume controls.
That said, the bass kills live.
When I first played out with it, it was a rehearsal with a local guitarist playing Seventies rock. The bass come with flatwounds, and it sounded absolutely perfect. Being the high end geek I am, I changed the strings to DR Marcus Miller sigs which really liven up its slap attack. The now brighter RBV sounded great at choir practice on Monday. The bass has a nice modern sound with both pickups on series parallel. It really cut through twenty or so voices, a loud keyboardist, and slammin' young drummer. When I went back to my Jazz, I really had to turn up the volume to make up the difference. When practice was over, my wife said, that grey bass (shoreline gold) sounds better than that white one (Jazz.)
The bottom line is that my new Roscoe Beck V is going to see some major playing time, but I am so used to the neck profile and body size of Jazz V that my old bass will not be going anywhere any time soon.
My impression of the bass was very favorable when I first unzipped its case. It is easy to see that this bass was one of Fender's high end offerings, not unlike a Fender Jazz QMT or Victor Bailey/Marcus Miller V. My first impression is that this is a really big bass! The body on my 2008 American Standard Jazz V seems quite small in comparison, and a bass like a Fender Deluxe or Sadowsky seems almost tiny.
The neck is also fairly large for a bass that seems to be Jazz style. Vertically, the neck is a bit thick, but the fingerboard is nice and wide with 19mm spacing at the bridge. The nut seems fairly wide also but I have not measured it. Interestingly, although the RBV is big, it is not terribly heavy at 9 lbs. 7 oz. according to its former owner. On a strap, the RBV does not feel heavier, but is greater bulk is noticeable.Soundwise, this bass really shines!
It is a passive bass, but it has very hot twenty-two pole humbucking pickups whose coils can be split for single coil and series parrallel function. The tone control can also be pulled allowing for some nice options too. The biggest difference I noticed between the Roscoe Beck V and a true Jazz bass is the use of a Strat style pickup selector instead of two volume knobs. The lack of two volume knobs or blend control limits the mixing of pickups on what is otherwise a very versatile bass. Effectively, this means that one cannot get the tones associated on a Jazz with slightly backing off one the volume controls.That said, the bass kills live.
When I first played out with it, it was a rehearsal with a local guitarist playing Seventies rock. The bass come with flatwounds, and it sounded absolutely perfect. Being the high end geek I am, I changed the strings to DR Marcus Miller sigs which really liven up its slap attack. The now brighter RBV sounded great at choir practice on Monday. The bass has a nice modern sound with both pickups on series parallel. It really cut through twenty or so voices, a loud keyboardist, and slammin' young drummer. When I went back to my Jazz, I really had to turn up the volume to make up the difference. When practice was over, my wife said, that grey bass (shoreline gold) sounds better than that white one (Jazz.) The bottom line is that my new Roscoe Beck V is going to see some major playing time, but I am so used to the neck profile and body size of Jazz V that my old bass will not be going anywhere any time soon.
It seems to me that Fender is adept at killing their best five string designs. Afterall, the QMT V, Precision Deluxe V, and Roscoe Beck V, were all canned. At least they still make the Marcus Miller and Victor Bailey Vs.
