Roscoe Club

[JOME77]

I'm interested in a stingray bass but not about buying something mass produced. I had a bad experienced with an Fender american strat where the neck warped badly, so would prefer to get a bass where I know I won't have problems. Wondering if a Roscoe standard with the MM pickup would be equivalent soundwise to a Stingray. Could anyone who has this configuration, chime in about its sound?

I've only had one Roscoe with the Stingray style pickup. It was a Custom model and it also had the Jazz pickup in the neck position (it's called a JM model). It had a nice sound but was not at all similar to the MM Stingray sound.
It was a much smoother sound (not nearly as aggressive a Stingray).
That being said though, I suspect that one of Keith's Classic models (Fender style) would come really close (if the correct version of a MM pickup was installed in the sweet spot like a MM Stingray).

 

[staccatogrowl]

Roscoe Standard with MM pickup?

Have you seen the monkey man, the monkey man, the monkey man?

Have you heard the monkey man? It lived @Pacman way. .

Roscoe SKB MM

 

[Pacman]

That was the first Roscoe with a MM pickup, and the only (I believe) with the pickup in the EBMM spot. That thing was one DOPE bass!

sighs in regret....

 

[armybass]

I had one too. It was glorious and is on my build list too. Probably my next bass.

 

[Chuck M]

I had one too. It was glorious and is on my build list too. Probably my next bass.

View attachment 4663474

That was the only Roscoe I have owned that I didn't bond with. It played and sounded great but my small hands felt very slow on that 19mm spacing at the bridge. Here is a better photo of it.

 

[SteveC]

I'm struggling a little bit with this "sounds like" thing. I think my Roscoe Classic P sounds like a P bass. I think that is the easy one to get as it's basically putting the split pickup in the "sweet spot" for a P and matching it with a passive volume and tone control. I think after that it's maybe not so easy? Maybe I'm wrong.

I was looking for a good "jazz" bass sound. I haven't tried a Roscoe Classic Jazz or a regular Roscoe with jazz pickups so maybe they do get that "jazz" sound - whatever that is. Some people suggested different pickups in my current Roscoe, but I like the way it sounds, it's just not the "jazz" sound I wanted. I ended up trying a Sadowsky. I think Roger really has a handle on the "jazz" sound, be it maybe a bit modern. I think his preamp has a lot to do with that.

Same with a MM maybe? The pickup and placement certainly influence the tone, but so does that preamp, right?

Maybe I'm way off base. I love both my Roscoes, but for now, the Century 5 isn't the sound I want/need. I don't think that's a bad thing. It's just a thing. Sorry if I got off track.

 

[staccatogrowl]

MM? The pickup and placement certainly influence the tone, but so does that preamp, right?

Yep. Pickup type (and wiring combinations) and placement; preamp; strings; neck and body woods; player's fingers, touch pressure, and placement over pickup or near bridge. . All those things, like usual, right?

 

[Thumper]

I don't dig the preamp sound in anything, all passive for me anymore.

 

[JOME77]

I had one too. It was glorious and is on my build list too. Probably my next bass.

View attachment 4663474

That was the only Roscoe I have owned that I didn't bond with. It played and sounded great but my small hands felt very slow on that 19mm spacing at the bridge. Here is a better photo of it.

Lol
Looks like all three of us owned the same bass.
I bought it from the guy that had it built through Atlanta Bass Gallery. Great playing and sounding bass but certainly didn’t sound like a MM Stingray. Very acoustic sounding to my ears. Probably partially influenced by the Spanish cedar body (and the Jazz neck p/u). Not very “traditional Roscoe” sounding either.

 

[KaseOfBass]

I had one too. It was glorious and is on my build list too. Probably my next bass.

View attachment 4663474

That was the only Roscoe I have owned that I didn't bond with. It played and sounded great but my small hands felt very slow on that 19mm spacing at the bridge. Here is a better photo of it.

Lol
Looks like all three of us owned the same bass.
I bought it from the guy that had it built through Atlanta Bass Gallery. Great playing and sounding bass but certainly didn’t sound like a MM Stingray. Very acoustic sounding to my ears. Probably partially influenced by the Spanish cedar body (and the Jazz neck p/u). Not very “traditional Roscoe” sounding either.

And me fourth

I bought that bass from Scott and loved it...other than the wider string spacing and wider nut width. It's also the bass that changed my mind about not liking Bart pickups/preamps. Great bass that I might've kept if it had the traditional Roscoe ergonomics.

 

[eweise2]

I've only had one Roscoe with the Stingray style pickup. It was a Custom model and it also had the Jazz pickup in the neck position (it's called a JM model). It had a nice sound but was not at all similar to the MM Stingray sound.
It was a much smoother sound (not nearly as aggressive a Stingray).
That being said though, I suspect that one of Keith's Classic models (Fender style) would come really close (if the correct version of a MM pickup was installed in the sweet spot like a MM Stingray).

Thanks. This helps.

 

[KaseOfBass]

I'm interested in a stingray bass but not about buying something mass produced. I had a bad experienced with an Fender american strat where the neck warped badly, so would prefer to get a bass where I know I won't have problems. Wondering if a Roscoe standard with the MM pickup would be equivalent soundwise to a Stingray. Could anyone who has this configuration, chime in about its sound?

As someone who played nothing but Musicman SR5 basses for several years, having six total (still have one), and having owned the bass above that four of us have had, I'll offer my opinion.

The J/MM Roscoe, to my ears, had a funkier, splattier tone than the SR5s I've had. With just the MM pickup on, it was fairly close, don't know that I'd say equivalent, but because of pickup positioning, it was in the same ballpark. The Roscoe had more of scoop to the tone than any of the SR5s I've had - it also had the capability of achieving much more glassy highs than any SR5 I've had. With that said, if I were looking for an EBMM tone could I get away with a Roscoe in the mix? I think absolutely so. The one I had was a great sounding bass!

 

[armybass]

Can I get an alibi on whether this is Beeswing Bubinga?

 

[staccatogrowl]

I'll go out on a limb and say "yes on the Bees Wing." Had my eye on that bass. Knew better than to make even one inquiry. My guess is that it is an amazing sounding bass. Enjoy, enjoy : )

 

[SteveC]

Looks like we’re going to try and get the smooth/contemporary jazz/soul quartet gigging at small venues again. Sounds like a perfect gig for the Century 5. Maybe it’ll see some action again in a month or two.

 

[armybass]

I'll go out on a limb and say "yes on the Bees Wing." Had my eye on that bass. Knew better than to make even one inquiry. My guess is that it is an amazing sounding bass. Enjoy, enjoy : )

It seems as though whenever I have Keith build me a bass, I wind up getting a bass in trade very similar to the one I’m waiting on to be built. That’s not at complaint.

 

[Skip Chucker]

Skip how are you digging the Bart PJ? What pre do you have in it?

I like it a lot. I have the Bart 3 band pre. The best way to describe this bass is that it has the classic Roscoe sound but with a P flavor. It's not a big slab, complete mid heavy, honking, P-bass.

IF you're looking for that classic P bass with flats tone that "sits in the mix" this one ain't it, though I hear the classic series will get you there. There isn't a passive tone knob on this one, and to be honest, I think it would get in the way because it almost needs a HPF built in to tame the amount of ass you can dial in on the B string.

The sound I get from it is 180 degrees opposite of what I get from my fretless, but that's what I was going for.

My band can tell the difference between the two on the songs I've written. They tell me, "they both sound like you, except one is saucier and one is boomier." Saucy = fretless, boomy = P/J.

 

[steelin4u]

I like it a lot. I have the Bart 3 band pre. The best way to describe this bass is that it has the classic Roscoe sound but with a P flavor. It's not a big slab, complete mid heavy, honking, P-bass.

IF you're looking for that classic P bass with flats tone that "sits in the mix" this one ain't it, though I hear the classic series will get you there. There isn't a passive tone knob on this one, and to be honest, I think it would get in the way because it almost needs a HPF built in to tame the amount of ass you can dial in on the B string.

The sound I get from it is 180 degrees opposite of what I get from my fretless, but that's what I was going for.

My band can tell the difference between the two on the songs I've written. They tell me, "they both sound like you, except one is saucier and one is boomier." Saucy = fretless, boomy = P/J.

I've never heard a HPF described that way before

Thanks, I needed a laugh.

 

[JOME77]

IF you're looking for that classic P bass with flats tone that "sits in the mix" this one ain't it, though I hear the classic series will get you there. There isn't a passive tone knob on this one, and to be honest, I think it would get in the way because it almost needs a HPF built in to tame the amount of ass you can dial in on the B string.

I've never heard a HPF described that way before

Thanks, I needed a laugh.

LOL

Just goes to show you how your mind can work. I read that post and read BASS regardless of it missing the "B".

 

[Nightman]

It really becomes interesting when your brain ends the targeted sentence with a (.) before “string.”.