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Roscoe Club

#24,183
Chuck M said:
My LG 5 and my Century 5 are both carved top custom Roscoe's and neither has a volute. My SKB 6 is also a custom and it has a volute. My Century 6 FL is a Signature and it has no volute.

It seems to be simply an option that is not called out in the list of options.
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In years past the volute was only on a Signature Custom. The volute is now standard on a Custom. Here's a quote from Gard about that in 2013 ....

Gard said:
Ken, thanks for all the kind words! :)

That is indeed a volute on the back of the headstock/neck angle - and it has been standard on the Signatures from day 1, and is now standard on the Custom series basses (what everyone thinks of right now as the 300x basses).

:)
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#24,184
JOME77 said:
The volute is now standard on a Custom. .
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Thumbs up on your response regarding volutes, Joe. One comment about volutes is that they might vary in shape and size depending on number of strings, neck wood composition, and neck profile/contour. Consider luthier/artist muse at time of neck carve, and realize that general rules apply sometimes, but not always.

When I think of all the unique and amazing aspects of a Roscoe bass, I can only conclude that Keith Roscoe is a wood and bass whisperer, sharing his art and craft with those working in his shop, and his lucky customers and players of Roscoe basses.

2 unique Roscoe shop characteristics seen in this thread: 1) Keith and Kyle will build an amazing bass according to just about any customer specification, crossing model definition boundaries in the process (ask that of any other XYZ shop and be denied, and possibly scorned for even asking); 2) Give Keith and Kyle carte blanche in building your bass, and be stunned with the beautiful bass they produce. (Go back and check out club threads 21709 and 21710 for an example)

Skip Chucker said:
My 2019 LG custom was made almost entirely by Kyle. Keith did the paint, Kyle did everything else. Kyle is really good. Like, better than his dad, good. He's got the best of both worlds- his dad's knowledge and skill, with youthful exuberance and new ideas.
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My late 2021 bass was made by Kyle, too, with Keith supplying his finish magic. It is an amazing playing, sounding, and looking Roscoe bass, and one of my favorite basses of all time.

army kyle(1).jpg
 
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#24,185
I hadn't really thought about it much, but apparently Kyle did most (or all) of the building on my Koa Signature 6. When Keith posted it on IG, his comment began, "OK, I think we have outdone ourselves again, or really Kyle has. He has been the builder for a while now."

I don't think I've posted any follow-up reviews of the bass since my initial "happy new owner" post. By now I've played it enough to have changed the strings -- around 12 hours on stage, plus untold hours of solo practice. So I have enough perspective now to say confidently that it's the best bass I own. That's out of 8 Roscoes, a Wyn, and a really nice old Dingwall. So Kyle is definitely getting it done.

I've played 6 string basses in the past, so I didn't expect much of a transition from the 5 -- but I also didn't expect it to be as effortless as it was. The neck is so comfortable. I really expected I'd end up leaving this one home a lot and gigging more with one of my 5 strings, just to make it "easier", but so far I haven't felt that way at all.
 

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#24,186
I've had at least 5 or 6 Roscoes custom made over the years... maybe more (can't really remember ). Anyhow, I'm in talks with Keith now about another build but, I'm quite concerned now after reading that a few have yet to still received their instruments after 2 plus years. Have any of these issues been resolved? Keith have always shown the utmost integrity as far as I'm concerned and I've never heard of him stiffing anyone until now. Should I be concerned?
 
#24,187
edbutler3 said:
I hadn't really thought about it much, but apparently Kyle did most (or all) of the building on my Koa Signature 6. When Keith posted it on IG, his comment began, "OK, I think we have outdone ourselves again, or really Kyle has. He has been the builder for a while now."

I don't think I've posted any follow-up reviews of the bass since my initial "happy new owner" post. By now I've played it enough to have changed the strings -- around 12 hours on stage, plus untold hours of solo practice. So I have enough perspective now to say confidently that it's the best bass I own. That's out of 8 Roscoes, a Wyn, and a really nice old Dingwall. So Kyle is definitely getting it done.

I've played 6 string basses in the past, so I didn't expect much of a transition from the 5 -- but I also didn't expect it to be as effortless as it was. The neck is so comfortable. I really expected I'd end up leaving this one home a lot and gigging more with one of my 5 strings, just to make it "easier", but so far I haven't felt that way at all.
Click to expand...

That is a bad 6er. Let me know if you ever sale it!
 
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#24,188
Nine-and-three-Quarters said:
I've had at least 5 or 6 Roscoes custom made over the years... maybe more (can't really remember ). Anyhow, I'm in talks with Keith now about another build but, I'm quite concerned now after reading that a few have yet to still received their instruments after 2 plus years. Have any of these issues been resolved? Keith have always shown the utmost integrity as far as I'm concerned and I've never heard of him stiffing anyone until now. Should I be concerned?
Click to expand...

I don’t think that you’d have anything to be concerned with Deon. One of those cases has been caused by special order pickups and the customer has been fine waiting (although Keith has offered to finish the bass by installing his pickups and sending the special order pu’s when they arrive). The other case we have no idea of those exact circumstances. One of us has offered to contact Keith on his behalf and he has not asked for that to happen.
Most new builds are being completed in 6-12 months. Just maintain communication via phone, text and email.
 
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#24,189
JOME77 said:
I don’t think that you’d have anything to be concerned with Deon. One of those cases has been caused by special order pickups and the customer has been fine waiting (although Keith has offered to finish the bass by installing his pickups and send the special order pu’s when they arrive). The other case we have no idea of those exact circumstances. One of us has offered to contact Keith on his behalf and he has not asked for that to happen.
Most new builds are being completed in 6-12 months. Just maintain communication via phone, text and email.
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Thanks Joe! Think I’ll order a single cut 34" 19mm SS.
 
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#24,196
Jesuguru said:
Gorgeous! What type of body wood, cedar? Mahogany?
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Thanks! 3 piece Honduras mahogany w/veneers. Didn’t ask for the fancy multi-piece and all that but they had this as a blank laying around. Adds some character since the back will be left natural. I jumped at it because I have a bit of a back-of-bass fetish :woot:
 
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#24,197
geggy spoiger said:
Thanks! 3 piece Honduras mahogany w/veneers. Didn’t ask for the fancy multi-piece and all that but they had this as a blank laying around. Adds some character since the back will be left natural. I jumped at it because I have a bit of a back-of-bass fetish :woot:
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The best sounding Roscoe I ever owned (and I've had a couple) was my first, LG-3005 from 90's with a mahogany body. Looks aside, and not to (re)start any tonewood debate, I miss it and would jump on a used mahogany Roscoe 5'er. It just had a special phatness to it...
 
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#24,198
Jesuguru said:
The best sounding Roscoe I ever owned (and I've had a couple) was my first, LG-3005 from 90's with a mahogany body. Looks aside, and not to (re)start any tonewood debate, I miss it and would jump on a used mahogany Roscoe 5'er. It just had a special phatness to it...
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Yeah. I’ve had some great sounding Roscoes with mahogany bodies. Around 2000 Keith got a lot of of nice Spanish Cedar and he pretty much stopped using mahogany for a while because SC was said to have most of the tone qualities of mahogany but was usually lighter in weight. Unfortunately, SC has more of an acoustic tone and usually doesn’t have the nice growly midrange that mahogany has (except maybe in the heavier SC bodies).
I know you said you didn’t want to start a tone wood debate but Mahogany and ash are my absolute favorite body tone woods (and I’ve got Roscoes in one of each).:)
 
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#24,199
JOME77 said:
Yeah. I’ve had some great sounding Roscoes with mahogany bodies. Around 2000 Keith got a lot of of nice Spanish Cedar and he pretty much stopped using mahogany for a while because SC was said to have most of the tone qualities of mahogany but was usually lighter in weight. Unfortunately, SC has more of an acoustic tone and usually doesn’t have the nice growly midrange that mahogany has (except maybe in the heavier SC bodies).
I know you said you didn’t want to start a tone wood debate but Mahogany and ash are my absolute favorite body tone woods (and I’ve got Roscoes in one of each).:)
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Well between us there's no debate :laugh: The only mahogany I've had sounded spectacular, most ash have sounded almost as good (albeit sometimes a bit scooped), and the one cedar I had sounded kind of thin and hollow.
 
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