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Roscoe Club

#22,321
Life of Brian said:
Why are all the Roscoes on Ebay from Japan seemingly?
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Also, a lot of then are the same bass listed by multiple “brokers”- my understanding is these people will go to the store and buy it for you and ship it to you, thus the variety of prices. I don’t see this for other countries, maybe a Japanese thing?
 
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#22,322
I don’t feel comfortable doing neck adjustments with my Roscoe’s. I’m afraid I’m gonna mess something up. I mean I’ve been doing my own setups for 35 years and I’m not bad at it but these basses intimidate me for some reason when it comes to putting a truss wrench to one. Any pointers?
 
#22,323
armybass said:
I don’t feel comfortable doing neck adjustments with my Roscoe’s. I’m afraid I’m gonna mess something up. I mean I’ve been doing my own setups for 35 years and I’m not bad at it but these basses intimidate me for some reason when it comes to putting a truss wrench to one. Any pointers?
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Well first make sure you have the right size (9/64), and that it’s short enough to fit (i had to dremel a few down before). And then just do 1/4 turns, nothing drastic. I’ve only had to tweak mine a few times, and not very often- they respond pretty quickly, and don’t seem to move much (quartersawn and graphite reinforced makes for a solid neck :D ).
 
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#22,324
armybass said:
I don’t feel comfortable doing neck adjustments with my Roscoe’s. I’m afraid I’m gonna mess something up. I mean I’ve been doing my own setups for 35 years and I’m not bad at it but these basses intimidate me for some reason when it comes to putting a truss wrench to one. Any pointers?
Click to expand...

Actually, the Roscoe basses are quite easy to set up. The truss rod is very responsive. I am amazed at how easily that rod will move a 6 string neck. On some of my Roscoe basses it is a little bit of a trick to get the Allen wrench into the truss rod because the cutout in the body is not quite large enough. Other than that I would say they are among the easiest of basses to set up.

One tip I have for you is something I learned from an article by Rick Turner. Set the intonation using the harmonic and fretted notes at the 19th fret instead of the 12th fret. You will find it is much more accurate and the bass will play sweetly in tune.
 
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#22,327
armybass said:
I don’t feel comfortable doing neck adjustments with my Roscoe’s. I’m afraid I’m gonna mess something up. I mean I’ve been doing my own setups for 35 years and I’m not bad at it but these basses intimidate me for some reason when it comes to putting a truss wrench to one. Any pointers?
Click to expand...

There's an article out there in which Keith talks about how he wants his basses to be able to be set up easily by the musicians who play his basses.

I find that the wobble hex keys work really well for getting into that kinda hard to reach place. From there it's just feel.

I've also found a place in my fretless with GHS Bass Boomers (I love the midrange growl and bite the boomers give my fretless) in which the wilkinson bridge can't quite intonate right. But it's fretless so I just adjust a bit. I'll have to give the 19th fret technique a go.

I don't want to "update/upgrade" the bridge because I absolutely love the action I get right now, and I don't want to mess that up. The devil I know and all. 25 years and she's still my #1.
 
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#22,328
MattLplaysBass said:
Also, a lot of then are the same bass listed by multiple “brokers”- my understanding is these people will go to the store and buy it for you and ship it to you, thus the variety of prices. I don’t see this for other countries, maybe a Japanese thing?
Click to expand...

Not just Roscoes, but Smiths, MTD's, Alembics... a disproportionate number of higher end instruments end up there (and then listed there). It think it's partly the multiple-broker thing, and partly that Japanese have an affinity for high-end audio and instruments. They're the biggest buyers of pricey British Harbeth speakers, for example.

Maybe because they're Haslip fans too, but I think they buy more LG-3006's than all other countries combined.

EDIT: and... here's a timely recent thread about it:
Multiple listings of the same basses on eBay in Japan
 
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#22,329
HeavyJazz said:
I find the access to the rod disappointing and I have no intention of gouging out the top so I just remove the neck if I need a neck tweak. I'm pretty picky so if it's already close, I'll turn in fifths so I can feel the change more than see it. Works for me anyway.
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Unfortunately you have to grind your allen wrench to work with your bass. Roscoe does it this way for unknown reasons but has been the case as long as I can remember.
 
#22,330
LightGroove said:
Unfortunately you have to grind your allen wrench to work with your bass. Roscoe does it this way for unknown reasons but has been the case as long as I can remember.
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My experience is that KR sends Allen wrenches that match the bass when new. I have 2 that I keep in labeled ziplocks with serial numbers on each ziplock. Both of those wrenches are different lengths and fit their respective basses snug as a bug. So, if you have a wrench that doesn't fit your bass, it's entirely it's a garden variety replacement.

If I don't have an Allen wrench for a Roscoe, I go to the hardware and buy one. If it is too long for the access way, I grind it down, taking all of 2 minutes. Then it fits fine thereafter.
 
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#22,331
My tool of the trade this morning in service.
image.jpg
 
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#22,332
armybass said:
I don’t feel comfortable doing neck adjustments with my Roscoe’s. I’m afraid I’m gonna mess something up. I mean I’ve been doing my own setups for 35 years and I’m not bad at it but these basses intimidate me for some reason when it comes to putting a truss wrench to one. Any pointers?
Click to expand...
Out of all the basses I've owned, the Roscoe is one the few I'm most comfortable with making neck adjustments.
It was built right, and the TR is smooth, responsive, and predictable.

I understand being gun-shy, as I've snapped two TRs (both on the same bass. The original neck, and replacement neck #2. Neck #3 is perfect)
 
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