Roscoe Club

[Skip Chucker]

I remember Keith saying in a FB or Insta post that as a young man he'd be able to spray and finish a LOT more basses at a time but as an older guy his shoulders just don't have it in them anymore.

I'm not sure if Kyle has started to do that part yet.

 

[Skip Chucker]

Thanks for posting that. I have a Roscoe 3006 fretless that really needs a Plek to deal with some "fret line" sprouting, and I'm way more likely to actually get it done if I don't have to ship the bass.

I didn't know that a Plek could fix fret sprout.

When my new LG had fret sprout issues I took it to a local guy who was a master builder for Gibson and then Heritage before retiring. 50 bucks, a few cool stories later and the frets were just like they came from the shop again.

As an aside, this guy has a really good log book of all of the guitars he built for Gibson. He's seeing a lot of them come back for work and refreshes and restores. Very cool.

 

[MattLplaysBass]

Right now MTD is about 11 months

My October '21 order is just getting around to picking a top, that's a long 11 months

Everyone is behind now, parts are hard to get and materials are expensive. The used market is a better deal than ever

 

[Nightman]

My October '21 order is just getting around to picking a top, that's a long 11 months

Everyone is behind now, parts are hard to get and materials are expensive. The used market is a better deal than ever

So, you have about 11 months and 2-weeks to go to decide on the FB.

 

[Life of Brian]

My October '21 order is just getting around to picking a top, that's a long 11 months

Everyone is behind now, parts are hard to get and materials are expensive. The used market is a better deal than ever

Dang so even the great Michael and son is taking time. I hear it's all parts allocation at that shop. It's gotten worse lol. Well sorry just trying to spread some positive vibes. Like Keith's Gram site i have to stay off MTD's. It's the whole self preservation thing.

 

[ArtechnikA]

I didn't know that a Plek could fix fret sprout.

fret -line- sprout -- his 3006 is fretless...

 

[SteveC]

From my spy…it’s in the room where basses get assembled. Apparently Keith said he thought it could maybe go out next week. We’ll see. I may just have it PLEK’ed again while it’s there. it’s only another $125 and a few more days, right? Gloss finish. PLEK. Should be set for years and years.

 

[Nightman]

Why not? It would only add about another 2-weeks to the already 6 months!

 

[Thumper]

From my spy…it’s in the room where basses get assembled. Apparently Keith said he thought it could maybe go out next week. We’ll see. I may just have it PLEK’ed again while it’s there. it’s only another $125 and a few more days, right? Gloss finish. PLEK. Should be set for years and years.



View attachment 4963088 View attachment 4963089

Wow, that's a looker

 

[mwbonsall]

From my spy…it’s in the room where basses get assembled. Apparently Keith said he thought it could maybe go out next week. We’ll see. I may just have it PLEK’ed again while it’s there. it’s only another $125 and a few more days, right? Gloss finish. PLEK. Should be set for years and years.

View attachment 4963088 View attachment 4963089

The gloss finish really makes that Koa pop, love it!

Mark

 

[Mighty Thumb]

Absolutely. . "Working on it right now. ." "Soon. ." "Two more weeks. ."

While I attest to being highly impatient when it comes to turnaround times, my expectations are based on turnarounds from 5 years ago. No custom shop that I'm aware of has completion dates of that time. None.

And, I will say that I placed a deposit with a luthier (not Roscoe) about 5 years ago. That put me on their waiting list, which was 2 years long. And, that was just a production placeholder list, not including any production time. Production time was an additional 18-24 months. Total turnaround was 3.5 to 4 years, pre covid, pre supply issues, pre inflation, pre labor shortage, etc.

Once upon a time we could go to our favorite restaurant and be seated in 10-15 minutes. Now, the seating wait is 1.5 to 2 hours. Restaurants around here can't find cooks, waitstaff, dishwashers, etc. Restaurants have closed in this environment, especially as plenty of customers became belligerent, taking their frustrations out on owners and their employees.

Moral of the story? Want your Roscoe exactly your way and new? Then be willing to pay the price tag for that, including money and wait time. Need it now and cheap? There are sweet used Roscoe deals on TBass right at this moment, just like the past, and hopefully the future.

So, does the squeaky wheel still get the grease in 2023? Probably not. Just about all the wheels are squeaky now. And, all that grease has spilled onto the roadway. Think 1/4" of ice on an Atlanta highway.

This is a great post and hits a number of nails on their respective heads.

Hopefully everyone gets their basses back in 23. I think it's a two man shop now with Keith and Kyle. I've spoken to a couple former employees that were there during the 6 week build time. Right now MTD is about 11 months and Moolon is 3 years so I think Keith is doing his best.

During my enjoyable but short visit today we talked a bit about the difficulties in finding and retaining talent. I work for a small business too and I can attest to just how hard it is right now. He is hopeful that he will have an electronics guy starting soon, which will help things move along a bit. They are working as hard as ever and there is a shop full of basses at various stages. Keith had a great IG post today talking about the spray room being rebuilt.

From my spy…it’s in the room where basses get assembled. Apparently Keith said he thought it could maybe go out next week. We’ll see. I may just have it PLEK’ed again while it’s there. it’s only another $125 and a few more days, right? Gloss finish. PLEK. Should be set for years and years.

View attachment 4963088 View attachment 4963089

It really does look great! The pictures don’t do it justice.

 

[cousinelmer]

He is hopeful that he will have an electronics guy starting soon, which will help things move along a bit.

Oh man... I'm a retired computer programmer who is safe with a soldering iron --- my early career included light electronics design and fabrication. I would come out of retirement for kind of work and I live in central NC. But Greensboro is just a little too far for me to commute. Sigh!

 

[JOME77]

From my spy…it’s in the room where basses get assembled. Apparently Keith said he thought it could maybe go out next week. We’ll see. I may just have it PLEK’ed again while it’s there. it’s only another $125 and a few more days, right? Gloss finish. PLEK. Should be set for years and years.

View attachment 4963088 View attachment 4963089

Looks awesome Steve!
As for adding a Plek ..... a few days? Seriously? I think the shop is totally slammed. I'd just get the bass back ASAP. A few days could easily translate to a couple more months.

 

[31HZ]

Looks awesome Steve!
As for adding a Plek ..... a few days? Seriously? I think the shop is totally slammed. I'd just get the bass back ASAP. A few days could easily translate to a couple more months.

I suspect that they have a dedicated PLEK tech. When I inquired a few months ago about sending them a bass to "plek," they told me that they could turn it around in a few days.

 

[armybass]

Looks awesome Steve!
As for adding a Plek ..... a few days? Seriously? I think the shop is totally slammed. I'd just get the bass back ASAP. A few days could easily translate to a couple more months.

Yes my last “two weeks” was two months ago…

 

[SteveC]

I suspect that they have a dedicated PLEK tech. When I inquired a few months ago about sending them a bass to "plek," they told me that they could turn it around in a few days.

The first time I had this bass plek'ed was just as covid shutdown was starting to hit. They turned it in like 16 hours. Received it in the afternoon and called me to say it was done the next morning. They wanted to get it back to me before UPS/FedEx shut down and it would sit in a warehouse somewhere. Pretty awesome of them I thought.

 

[SteveC]

Yes my last “two weeks” was two months ago…

Mine as well. About 6 weeks. With pictures there is now hope. It's almost like getting a new bass, except I know for a fact that I will love it.

 

[staccatogrowl]

I have a Roscoe 3006 fretless that really needs a Plek to deal with some "fret line" sprouting

Plek worked great on my fretless Century 5, sent to the Roscoe shop. It returned to me super smooth, with great playability and tone. Also, since using a whole-house humidifier, my fret sprout issues have disappeared, fretted or fretless. Our indoor humidity ranges from 40-60% year round, drastically different from non humidified or air conditioned.

I didn't know that a Plek could fix fret sprout.

 

[Geri O]

I had a similar bass. Century 6, Bart jazz pups and pre, Wenge board, quilt maple top, ash body. Not a great pic but you get the idea.
View attachment 4960580
View attachment 4960583

Not a Roscoe owner yet, considering buying a Century from a friend who is a wonderful player, but has sadly decided to retire completely from playing.

I Just had to comment on the pic with Jimmy, who is one of my most favorite players and whom I've had the pleasure to meet and hang out with while doing production for the Yellow Jackets for a couple of shows. Quite a character! Loved those times. And very cool pic with him!

 

[SteveC]

Not a Roscoe owner yet, considering buying a Century from a friend who is a wonderful player, but has sadly decided to retire completely from playing.

I Just had to comment on the pic with Jimmy, who is one of my most favorite players and whom I've had the pleasure to meet and hang out with while doing production for the Yellow Jackets for a couple of shows. Quite a character! Loved those times. And very cool pic with him!

Get one. The Century is my favorite. Many people seem to prefer the SKB or LG. I like the way the Century "hangs" as it feels more comfortable playing down at the first fret for me. The SKB and LG 5 string basses weren't as comfortable for me. My 34" LG3000 is fine. I would sell/trade it for a Century 5 fretless though. Maybe someday a deal will work out.

As for Jimmy, yeah amazing player and person. I wasn't introduced to the Yellowjackets until the early 2000's. Mint Jam was my introduction. I've heard them play live maybe 4-5 times. That picture was taken at a GTG in Greensboro about 11 years ago. Jimmy was doing some classes in conjunction with Roscoe and Rocket Music. I actually got to hang out with him and a bunch of awesome Roscoe guys. Had dinner and chatted. Even had a lesson with him. Knowledgable of course. Lots of great stories and lessons. Just can't say enough about him. We used to have a group here that played "contemporary jazz" and did some Yellowjackets stuff. Big reason I had the Century 6 built. It was a great time and I remember it well. Met a bunch of great people.