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Roscoe Club

#2,403
Gard said:
Ash will be "quick" and punchy sounding, a bit edgy, but not bright; adding maple (we are talking about a Custom or Signature, right? If we're talking about a Standard Plus, disregard the top - not enough wood there to matter, honestly, it's just "cosmetic") will add some brightness and "snap" to the soup; mahogany with maple will be punchy, slightly compressed, fat without being "muddy", and you will get a bit of snap/bright from the maple (again, Custom or Signature, not so much with a Standard Plus - but even without the maple, it will sound great)



Definitely a difference! :) The soapbar/dual coil (or quad coil, if it's our custom wound pickup) is a bit smoother and more "refined" sounding than even the Bart MM pickup (and we offer the Aguilar AG-4/5M as an option); the MM pickups are a bit more aggressive and edgy sounding, and the Aggie is VERY like the old 70's MM to my ear - but it does not offer the option of the 3-way switching, they felt that the parallel tone was significantly better than either of the other options, and it is hard-wired in that mode. I have the Aggie, and LOVE the thing. Love it.

[/\QUOTE]I'm looking for something with a really sweet, tight, focused midrange and of course good bottom end. I'm actually getting it from another bass that has mahagony/maple and a single MM humbucker but it's not the most comfortable bass for me to play all night and I want dual pickups.
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You might consider going with the Bart JM set, very functional and will give you something you're comfortable with sonically (MM) with the ability to get more of a neck pickup tone if you want/need it. Wood wise, based on what you're saying, I'd go mahogany for the body, the rest (top if applicable, fingerboard) can be ironed out to fit what you are looking for.[/QUOTE]


Fantastic info and great advice.....which I seem to have ignored...but I didn't mean to :)

Sounds like a mahogany body with J/MM pickups is the ticket...but guess what I put a deposit down on? A Century Plus ash body/maple top with soapbars! I picked it up (or will soon) from Overbybr who lives about an hour from me. We met up and it just hit me that I had to have it. The sound and feel is just fantastic. I really wanted that J/MM pickup (on paper, anyway), but in person this one sounds soooo goooood!

Here she is:

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
 
#2,405
mmbongo said:
Sounds like a mahogany body with J/MM pickups is the ticket...but guess what I put a deposit down on? A Century Plus ash body/maple top with soapbars! I picked it up (or will soon) from Overbybr who lives about an hour from me. We met up and it just hit me that I had to have it. The sound and feel is just fantastic. I really wanted that J/MM pickup (on paper, anyway), but in person this one sounds soooo goooood!

Here she is:

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
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Gotta go with what moves you. It's a beautiful bass. Very similar to mine and if it's anything like mine sounds amazing and is a dream to play. Enjoy!
 
#2,407
mmbongo said:
Sounds like a mahogany body with J/MM pickups is the ticket...but guess what I put a deposit down on? A Century Plus ash body/maple top with soapbars! I picked it up (or will soon) from Overbybr who lives about an hour from me. We met up and it just hit me that I had to have it. The sound and feel is just fantastic. I really wanted that J/MM pickup (on paper, anyway), but in person this one sounds soooo goooood!
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On an Ash bass I definitely prefer the soapbar pickups in the normal Roscoe location, it adds to the punch. For me, I am an Alder person, I let an LG3005 go a couple years ago that had an Alder Body, Roscoe Barts and Demeter preamp, I want to kick myself every time I think about that bass.
 
#2,408
CrashClint said:
On an Ash bass I definitely prefer the soapbar pickups in the normal Roscoe location, it adds to the punch. For me, I am an Alder person, I let an LG3005 go a couple years ago that had an Alder Body, Roscoe Barts and Demeter preamp, I want to kick myself every time I think about that bass.
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Yeah I'm still dialing this bad boy in, I'm looking for just the right combo of strings and stuff. Stupid work takes up most of my day, leaving little time for Roscoe fondling :)
 
#2,409
I think I'm turning into Steve. ;)

I've only had my fretless for two months and I already have it up for sale. After playing the new travel bass a lot over the past couple of weeks I really want a fretless with JB pickups as well. It's amazing how much the sound of them has grown on me.
 
#2,414
JoelFT said:
I think I'm turning into Steve. ;)

I've only had my fretless for two months and I already have it up for sale. After playing the new travel bass a lot over the past couple of weeks I really want a fretless with JB pickups as well. It's amazing how much the sound of them has grown on me.
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It's not THAT bad to be me.

The JB placement on a fretless (with a mahogany body, too) is amazing. Like I said, the best fretless I had. That's why I have a new fretless all spec'd out and ready to go. I actually played that bass as my only bass for a few months. When my beautiful Koa fretted 5 came I still played the fretless. When my 6 sells, the order is going in. Gard has a top set aside for me and everything.

I think for me a pair of 5's will be my set up for a while. Either bass would/will work for my church gig, and either one/both will work for any fill in gig I can think of around here. I was tempted to sell/swap my fretted for a JB version, but I like having a little variety available. Fretted/fretless, ash/mahogany, standard/JB placement...
 
#2,416
evilgus, I own F079, found here
http://www.rocketmusic.net/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?preadd=action&key=5797
which has the neck pickup spaced @2". not sure exactly how much farther it is from the bridge pickup compared to standard spacing, and I've never played another roscoe in person, so I have nothing to compare it too. I do have a p-bass, and I wanna say it does give it a bit of a p-bass type tone, it does sound a bit more refined than your typical p-bass due to the bart pickups. the neck p'up placement might lose some tightness/clarity, but that's what the EQ and blend control are for, right?
 
#2,417
#2,419
Thanks, Dedpool, looks great to me! I've been talking to Gard about a custom order and might do the same. I'm sure he'll correct me if I'm wrong, but any changes to standard pickup routes are a custom request and your mileage may vary, so to speak.

In my case, I'm after something that sounds roughly like my old ash MTD 535, so that means the neck pickup probably should be closer to the neck, than standard. Might not be as tight and Smith-sounding, but be easier to get thicker, fuller, reggae-like tones, etc. Yes, totally understood that pickup height can be adjusted to tweak the overall tone balance, but then ergonomics could be impacted. :)

Also interested to hear if there's much difference in sound between an SKB and Century, with similar woods and electronics. Tending to go with the Century shape, for more wood and longer upper horn, but I'm also quite fond of the SKB shape, after playing one for 3 years. :)

EG
 

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