I agree. The feel of the natural finishes is nice. I almost didn’t gloss mine, but I’m glad I did. I just love the lol of my bass even more with the gloss finish. Brings out the grain in the Koa and the ash.
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Roscoe Club
- Thread starter JOME77
- Start date
Thank you all for the warm welcome and the excellent information and advice! I’ve adjusted a few of my plans and am now thinking:
Century Body (thanks for the tips)
Koa top and matching headstock
Swamp Ash for light weight and aggressiveness (thanks for the tips)
Barts with Nordstrand pre for openness as I don’t want the tone too dark/warm in a dense mix. (Thanks for the tips again)
BEM fingerboard
Maple neck
Now to pick the exact top from the pics Keith sent!
If anyone has any more recommendations or thoughts please share as I greatly appreciate them!
Last edited:
That sounds killer. I like the Nordstrand pre with the Roscoe Barts best. Compared to the tone control on my Sadowsky preamp basses I don’t find the passive control of the Nordstrand to be nearly as flexible. But still nice to have. The Nordstrand has a more open, less compressed sound and feel compared to the Bart preamp. The EQ range seems more graceful too.
Thank you! This is very helpful as I would like a brighter, less compressed sound so this helps confirm that. Appreciate your time!
We’ll help you pic the top, too, if you post some pics of the options. 
If you want aggressive then I would actually suggest an Aguilar preamp, but either way that sounds amazing!
Yeah. For some reason the aggressive Aggie OBP-3 never seemed to work for me in a Roscoe paired with the Roscoe Barts (and I've tried several). But suddenly years later I purchased my current fretted Roscoe 5 and it has the Aggie OBP-3 preamp with the Roscoe Barts (ash body/quilt maple top/ebony finger board) and it totally kills!
Not sure if my ears changed or I just finally got the perfect wood combinations for that combo. I've had it in other Roscoe's with ash bodies and it just sounded to "in your face". Maybe it's the dark ebony finger board. What ever it is, I have a Nordstand preamp sitting in the box and I just can't bring myself to replace the Aggie.
Having been in the shop a few times looking through piles of fancy wood I’m certain he’ll have some great options for you. He has stuff I’ve never heard of before and stuff he forgot he had
^Very much this^We’ll help you pic the top, too, if you post some pics of the options.
I had a bass years ago that was super polite sounding…the Aggie pre saved that bass. That taught me that it’s about finding the right recipe for each individual bass. Sometimes it’s a setup that changes a bass, sometimes it’s new strings, or pickups or a new preamp. Every detail can change a bass fairly dramatically for sure.
My collection includes instruments with electronics from several builders. My Roscoe basses are all Bartolini equipped as is my Modulus Q6. My G.Gould ggi6 has EMG electronics (PU's are specifically built to Geoff's specs) and that one sounds great to me with the highs and mids cut. Most of the Bart equipped basses I use with the highs slightly cut. I own one Cort bass that has the Bartolini electronics built overseas and it sounds nice but I think those electronics are not as good as the USA built.
I also own a Yamaha TRB 1006 that was built in Korea. It is a nice bass but I am considering changing out the preamp in that one. The preamp is built similar to what Peavey did with the Cirrus/Millennium preamps in that the pots are mounted directly to the PC board so there is no was to change the position of the pots in the bass. That preamp is strange to me in that the blend and volume are reversed from the normal position (blend is where you expect volume to be) and the control for the highs works backwards (clockwise cuts highs). Everything looks original so I am at a loss as to how it ended up this way. It sounds good so I probably will just live with it but it is strange.
I have not tried the Aguilar preamp simply because most players describe it as aggressive sounding and that is not my thing.
I also own a Yamaha TRB 1006 that was built in Korea. It is a nice bass but I am considering changing out the preamp in that one. The preamp is built similar to what Peavey did with the Cirrus/Millennium preamps in that the pots are mounted directly to the PC board so there is no was to change the position of the pots in the bass. That preamp is strange to me in that the blend and volume are reversed from the normal position (blend is where you expect volume to be) and the control for the highs works backwards (clockwise cuts highs). Everything looks original so I am at a loss as to how it ended up this way. It sounds good so I probably will just live with it but it is strange.
I have not tried the Aguilar preamp simply because most players describe it as aggressive sounding and that is not my thing.
Last edited:
By aggressive you mean that very little knob Movement change the volume too aggressively?
While that is true, I personally meant aggressive as it giving more punch (more mid focus maybe?) and bite
Actually, I apply the same term to the Sadowsky preamp you installed in your Roscoe. To my ears (and their family tree) the Sadowsky and Aggie pre's are actually 1st cousins.
A little bit of history: Alex Aguilar, co-founder of this brand (Aguilar) along with bassist Dave Boonshoft, is the man behind the legendary Sadowsky onboard preamp.
Actually, I apply the same term to the Sadowsky preamp you installed in your Roscoe. To my ears (and their family tree) the Sadowsky and Aggie pre's are actually 1st cousins.
A little bit of history: Alex Aguilar, co-founder of this brand (Aguilar) along with bassist Dave Boonshoft, is the man behind the legendary Sadowsky onboard preamp.
I have played both, and since the Sadowsky is a boost only, you can really dial in the volume (and when I say volume I refer to sound, tone, eq etc) - the aguilar pre that is similar to Sadowsky would be the OBP-1, they do sound very similar, I do prefer the OLDER sadowsky Japanese preamps (pre-germany).
I would love to play a 34" scale SKB3005....does it even exist?
I always got the impression that Alex Aguilar was the designer and Dave Boonshoft was the brains/marketing behind Aguilar (until Dave bought Alex out).
Oh yes. There are many 34" scale Roscoe out there. They are custom order only but still quite a few.
@ragetoca Here's a 34" scale SKB that recently appeared in the classifieds
Hello Justin,
I also joined the Roscoe club with my Koa top custom SKB5 bass made this year. Our specifications are almost the same. Koa is a beautiful top wood and I strongly recommend that you pick the wood which shows the lightest golden yellows too... I think that's what makes the 3D effect and creates a striking contrast which draws people's attention.
Here is an example of the wood i picked and i am so happy that I didn't go with the brown-orange darker woods (which was my first intention);
Turned into this;
First of all, this turned out to be my favourite bass of all time. But listen to this;
After using a fender deluxe jazz5 with the sweetest trebles, this bart/bart combination is going to sound DARK! I am emphasizing this because you said you have been using those MTDs. It is so dark that i had a hard time to be able to get those trebles in slap style, which i still can't, caused me to consider selling the bass.
But i persevered and in time i realised how this bass carry the low end with so strong authority and definition that dropped the jaws
it was an interesting transition in my feelings. Now i accepted it with it's darker high frequencies and i am so happy with it.But i still consider trying those other preamps people are talking about here in order to brighten the tone a bit...
Another thing i wanted to add is the thickness of the neck. Roscoe neck is thick! Again, i am emphasizing this because i know you are coming from those MTD necks and this will be important for you. Sometimes i feel too much pressure on the root of my pointing finger on my fretting hand around the first fret. When i ordered my bass i didnt know if there was a neck thickness option, i still don't know but you might want to consider talking about it with Keith.
Other than these, i am sure this will be an awesome bass with an excellent build quality and a very strong presence in music. I can describe every sound coming from it is upgraded to Ultra HD quality after all those basses i have used.
You can ask about more, anytime you like.
Attachments
Last edited:
Hello Justin,
I also joined the Roscoe club with my Koa top custom SKB5 bass made this year. Our specifications are almost the same. Koa is a beautiful top wood and I strongly recommend that you pick the wood which shows the lightest golden yellows too... I think that's what makes the 3D effect and creates a striking contrast which draws people's attention.
Here is an example of the wood i picked and i am so happy that I didn't go with the brown-orange darker woods (which was my first intention);
View attachment 5160346
Turned into this;
View attachment 5160348
First of all, this turned out to be my favourite bass of all time. But listen to this;
After using a fender deluxe jazz5 with the sweetest trebles, this bart/bart combination is going to sound DARK! I am emphasizing this because you said you have been using those MTDs. It is so dark that i had a hard time to be able to get those trebles in slap style, which i still can't, caused me to consider selling the bass.
But i persevered and in time i realised how this bass carry the low end with so strong authority and definition that dropped the jaws
But i still consider trying those other preamps people are talking about here in order to brighten the tone a bit...
Another thing i wanted to add is the thickness of the neck. Roscoe neck is thick! Again, i am emphasizing this because i know you are coming from those MTD necks and this will be important for you. Sometimes i feel too much pressure on the root of my pointing finger on my fretting hand around the first fret. When i ordered my bass i didnt know if there was a neck thickness option, i still don't know but you might want to consider talking about it with Keith.
Other than these, i am sure this will be an awesome bass with an excellent build quality and a very strong presence in music. I can describe every sound coming from it is upgraded to Ultra HD quality after all those basses i have used.
You can ask about more, anytime you like.
First I've ever heard of a "thick Roscoe neck." Roscoes typically have the thinnest necks I've ever played and Keith will definitely shape your neck to whatever you'd like.
