Roscoe Club

[MattLplaysBass]

I wonder if the average person in a bar room or church house listening to a live band cares at all that a bass has a brass or aluminum bridge on it. And with all the other electronics used in the bass signal chain before a plucked note is even audible, is the added punch/sustain from the bridge even noticeable?
Who performs playing an electric bass with just a mic on the bridge?

What, are you saying our obsession over every minute detail of our gear that may or may not affect our tone might be a waste of time? Then what would we do on talkbass? I might actually have to do some work...

 

[Nightman]

IKR!
Carry on then.

 

[armybass]

It’s not a waste of time to me because I hear the difference and my playing is inspired by better tone and playability. I will play the songs the bar crowd wants to hear but the bass tone, that’s completely for my enjoyment.

 

[JOME77]

My experience is opposite of that article. And, some noted builders agree. For example, Fodera uses brass, as does Smith. Brass it is.

Regarding punch? Those brass knuckles are made of brass for a reason : 0

Lol
Yeah. I’m all about brass these days too.
I’ll say that I can hear a difference but then again maybe I just want to.

 

[JOME77]

It’s not a waste of time to me because I hear the difference and my playing is inspired by better tone and playability. I will play the songs the bar crowd wants to hear but the bass tone, that’s completely for my enjoyment.

I’m with you Scott. I play much better when my tone inspires me.

 

[chadds]

I changed strings on a bass. Not a Roscoe. I've played it for several months with these strings. I spent time in practice adjusting the tone controls in ways that if observed don't make sense. I used only my ears. The settings gave me a firm push back from finger attack. The distortion from my pluck disappeared. It ended up clear and wonderful. My fellow player spoke about the full tone and clarity after hearing the recordings at his studio.

So.
No matter what, our respect for our tone spreads onto our audience and the music as respect. Every choice we make if done for the music is great. Do they know or care? Brass or over bent metal? Nope. If you play better and your mates are influenced why reduce your contribution on the whole music?

PS I love Roscoes!

 

[SteveC]

All the time and money spent tweaking tone is for me. The crowd will maybe appreciate a good bass sound, but I could get a “good enough” sound for that with much less gear. My stuff is for me. Playability, tone, looks, weight, whatever.

 

[MattLplaysBass]

All the time and money spent tweaking tone is for me. The crowd will maybe appreciate a good bass sound, but I could get a “good enough” sound for that with much less gear. My stuff is for me. Playability, tone, looks, weight, whatever.

Vanity, thy name is SteveC

Or Roscoe Steve?

 

[MattLplaysBass]

It’s like deja vu all over again… I think @RocketMusic ’s pics did more to get my Roscoe GAS going than anything else.. sigh… no affiliation, btw, just nostalgic

2013 Roscoe SKB-3005 XQM Orange | Rocket Music | Reverb

 

[SteveC]

Greg caused a lot of G.A.S back in the day. He did for me. He had some nice basses. I did all my Roscoe buying through him.

 

[staccatogrowl]

SKB 3005 Rocket Music re-sale listing, Reverb

Looked at Roscoe's original build pics and description, and the current listing. Both concur, listing Spanish Cedar as the body wood. Had it not been specified in both places, I would have guessed Mahogany.

Spanish Cedar is not a wood that I easily ID, and seems quite variable in appearance. Any clues or hints as to telltale characteristics?

 

[Nightman]

Sweet!

 

[RocketMusic]

Looked at Roscoe's original build pics and description, and the current listing. Both concur, listing Spanish Cedar as the body wood. Had it not been specified in both places, I would have guessed Mahogany.

Spanish Cedar is not a wood that I easily ID, and seems quite variable in appearance. Any clues or hints as to telltale characteristics?

View attachment 4625680

The smell is very distinctive. When I cracked the case after the bass arrived back at the store, that lovely smell wafted out like it had just left the Roscoe shop yesterday.

It's hard to convey the smell through the interwebs, of course.

EDIT - Spanish Cedar is also typically quite a bit lighter than mahogany.

 

[Nightman]

No moths to worry about within 10 feet of the bass’s location.

 

[edbutler3]

Looked at Roscoe's original build pics and description, and the current listing. Both concur, listing Spanish Cedar as the body wood. Had it not been specified in both places, I would have guessed Mahogany.

Spanish Cedar is not a wood that I easily ID, and seems quite variable in appearance. Any clues or hints as to telltale characteristics?

Here's another Spanish Cedar example. I think the wood grain pattern is distinctive enough that you can probably distinguish it from mahogany even when stained a color. I've never actually seen natural Spanish Cedar without a stain applied. I'm guessing that's because it's not a great aesthetic.

 

[RocketMusic]

Here's another Spanish Cedar example. I think the wood grain pattern is distinctive enough that you can probably distinguish it from mahogany even when stained a color. I've never actually seen natural Spanish Cedar without a stain applied. I'm guessing that's because it's not a great aesthetic. View attachment 4625873

Yeah, in that photo I would say that dark grain filler was applied to highlight the grain. In raw form, Spanish Cedar is kind of a salmon color and those dark streaks are not there. So it is rather bland looking without some skilled finish work, and Keith is the man for that job.

 

[Nightman]

In raw form, Spanish Cedar is kind of a salmon color and those dark streaks are not there

Raw/natural finish Spanish Cedar definitely has the salmon color compared to natural Mahogany, which is more brownish.

I used to own a fretless Roscoe with a natural finish Spanish Cedar body. I wonder if I can find a picture of it, or maybe the current owner could offer up a good current photo of it.

I found a photo with a Zon, which has more of a reddish color finish.

 

[armybass]

Ok would anyone like to discuss their opinions of Spanish Cedar’s tonal comparison to say ash, alder or mahogany?

 

[JOME77]

Ok would anyone like to discuss their opinions of Spanish Cedar’s tonal comparison to say ash, alder or mahogany?

Spanish cedar, sound wise, is probably closer to mahogany than any thing else but it has more of an acoustic sound (more polite sounding IMO). I've had 6-7 Roscoes with Spanish cedar bodies and as I remember the lighter ones definitely sounded more acoustic sounding while the heavier ones sounded much closer to mahogany.
I also had a Skjold 6 that had a Spanish cedar body (very light) and it had a very sweet tone. Definitely very acoustic sounding.

 

[emjazz]

Chiming in to say that many years ago I had a Roscoe with the full Bart package and a Spanish cedar body. That bass was lost in a mix like I've never experienced before or after. I personally would never have that combo again. I'm sure with different pickups it may have been better