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Roscoe Club

#21,521
otto B said:
I have several questions; what preamp and Pickups provide a punchier and cleaner sound in the Roscoe basses. I ask because I bought a new century signature 5 and it has Nordstrand 3b and dual coils pickups and the sound is not clean it sounds like if you put a blanket over the speaker, kind of muffle. I have to crank the treble and lower the bass and mids in order to get it some kind of clean sound. I don't think is the woods, the bass has: wenge neck, Birdseye fretboard, ash Body with Koa top and headstock. when do you all think?
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The Nordstrand preamp and pickups typically sound much more open than the Bartolini preamp and Roscoe Bart p/u’s.
I’d be more inclined to say try a Roscoe with different woods. The wenge neck really compresses the overall tone (which is already midrange voiced by design). Maybe you’d prefer the standard maple/purple heart/maple neck.
The only preamp that opens it up better than the Nordstrand would be the Demeter. Not a lot of tone shaping with it though. The Pope Flex Core and East also sound good in the Roscoe.
 
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#21,523
otto B said:
I have several questions; what preamp and Pickups provide a punchier and cleaner sound in the Roscoe basses. I ask because I bought a new century signature 5 and it has Nordstrand 3b and dual coils pickups and the sound is not clean it sounds like if you put a blanket over the speaker, kind of muffle. I have to crank the treble and lower the bass and mids in order to get it some kind of clean sound. I don't think is the woods, the bass has: wenge neck, Birdseye fretboard, ash Body with Koa top and headstock. when do you all think?
Click to expand...

I always felt the beloved Roscoe Barts/Bart preamp put out the exact tone you described and thus, never cared for it. Though I've never played any of the Nordstrand preamps or their dual coils, the best sounding soapbar Roscoe I ever had, was equipped with an Aguilar OBP-3 pre and Nordstrand Big Singles that I swapped in to replace the Roscoe Barts. Very open and fairly aggressive tone - definitely no blanket there.
 
#21,524
KaseOfBass said:
I always felt the beloved Roscoe Barts/Bart preamp put out the exact tone you described and thus, never cared for it. Though I've never played any of the Nordstrand preamps or their dual coils, the best sounding soapbar Roscoe I ever had, was equipped with an Aguilar OBP-3 pre and Nordstrand Big Singles that I swapped in to replace the Roscoe Barts. Very open and fairly aggressive tone - definitely no blanket there.
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I agree. To me Bart/Bart with nickel rounds is the Roscoe sound. For many people it is too muffled, I call it polite. I thought about changing things on my Century 5 as I wanted something more aggressive. I decided to get a different bass (Sadowsky 5JJ) for the cover band instead. Very aggressive. But for some things - like contemporary/smooth jazz/soul - I think the Roscoe sound works well. Of course I'm a little biased as I listen to Yellowjackets and Jimmy Haslip who is the "posterboy" for Roscoe basses - IMHO.
 
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#21,525
Anyone know the exact build of AC's old Roscoe?

upload_2022-5-19_11-35-57.png
 
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#21,527
Life of Brian said:
Yes, it's an earlier one with Bart/Bart setup It's a spalted or myrtle burl on top of Spanish Cedar. Spalted PurpleHeart board and Ivory nut originally but he may have replace the nut. Gotah tuners
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Spanish cedar ... interesting. How does that body wood sound compare to ash?
... and are those Barts Roscoe-Barts or Bart-Barts?
 
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#21,528
Gard said:
Nothing like a good piece of ash!

:spit:

I'm an ash man myself as well, so I can totally identify with this.

;)

On the question at hand:

My take on it is that Spanish Cedar is similar to Mahogany (warmth, depth), but without the overly focused mids and "wooly" lows that mahogany can sometimes have. It's a more "open" sounding wood to my ears than mahogany and a bit cleaner toned in the lows, very "acoustic-y". When used with fretless, it gives a very warm and thick tone with good definition, not as aggressive as ash or "boomy" as mahogany.

If you're looking for the "Jaco tone", it's not the right choice, I'd suggest ash instead, but if you're looking for a mellower but still clear tone, S/C is a tough choice to beat.

On the fingerboard, diamondwood will be more bright and mwah-y sounding, it is essentially analogous to the epoxied board that Jaco came up with and Mike Pedulla is a genius at executing, but without the epoxy wearing off. Ebony would be less defined and more "acoustic/upright" in tone.

Hope that helps! :)
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#21,534
This is arriving tomorrow according to FedEx tracking: Roscoe Century 5 2012 | Reverb

In anticipation I spent some time playing my Century 6 FL that has not been played out recently due to lack of gigs on electric bass and I must say I was just blown away exactly as I was when I first played this bass. I was a dedicated Pedulla Buzz player for many years but after receiving this bass I sold the Pentabuzz I had at the time. There is absolutely no comparison. The Pedulla was a great bass and my Roscoe is only about 10X better.

I am also getting a Century 5 this week. This one: SOLD - New Price drop!! Roscoe SKB 6

I'll shoot a few family photos when I have time. Here is my Century 6 FL:

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My bass teacher tried to buy it after I let him play it for a set on one of his gigs. Armybass also tried to buy it and I am so happy I said no, thanks.
 
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