Roscoe Club

[JOME77]

Guys! Don’t miss your opportunity this month!

 

[lowfreqman]

Guys! Don’t miss your opportunity this month!

My wife participated!

 

[Thank You Leo]

Well that one didn’t last long!

I'm the one who bought it. I wanted to wait until the honeymoon was over to comment on it. It is a very nice bass. I'm not 100% sure the seller was all that familiar with Roscoes, but after they answered my questions, I rolled the dice. Long story short - it's way nicer than I expected. It was listed as 'Used - very good' so I was expecting some wear and maybe some minor dings, but it's more like mint. I had concerns about the pickups as the bridge pickup had no logo. It had dots on the fingerboard which is not common. I also had reservations about the color as it looked a little bright in the listing photos.

I pulled the bridge pickup when I changed the strings and it's indeed an Aguilar. The pickups sound excellent as does the OBP-1 which also has a passive tone and active/passive bypass. The position markers are legit, though I've not seen another Roscoe Century Plus with them. In normal light, the finish is a nice reddish brown burst.

I'm a little surprised there aren't more of these out in the wild. The P/J setup is very versatile, especially if you're a P-Bass nut like I am. And then there's that Roscoe 'B'. As you can see, I'm pretty impressed, so much so that I'm going to part with my Century Custom JJ as I just play this P/J more.

Here's some photos which show it's true color:

 

[scubaduba]

Very nice!

 

[JOME77]

I'm the one who bought it. I wanted to wait until the honeymoon was over to comment on it. It is a very nice bass. I'm not 100% sure the seller was all that familiar with Roscoes, but after they answered my questions, I rolled the dice. Long story short - it's way nicer than I expected. It was listed as 'Used - very good' so I was expecting some wear and maybe some minor dings, but it's more like mint. I had concerns about the pickups as the bridge pickup had no logo. It had dots on the fingerboard which is not common. I also had reservations about the color as it looked a little bright in the listing photos.

I pulled the bridge pickup when I changed the strings and it's indeed an Aguilar. The pickups sound excellent as does the OBP-1 which also has a passive tone and active/passive bypass. The position markers are legit, though I've not seen another Roscoe Century Plus with them. In normal light, the finish is a nice reddish brown burst.

I'm a little surprised there aren't more of these out in the wild. The P/J setup is very versatile, especially if you're a P-Bass nut like I am. And then there's that Roscoe 'B'. As you can see, I'm pretty impressed, so much so that I'm going to part with my Century Custom JJ as I just play this P/J more.

Here's some photos which show it's true color:View attachment 7233949View attachment 7233951

Beautiful! Very classy looking bass.
The Aguilar P/J setup on a Roscoe is awesome!
I regret trading my P/J Roscoe to Nate (@Mighty Thumb ) but he’s certainly enjoying it and you can’t own them all!

 

[Mighty Thumb]

I'm the one who bought it. I wanted to wait until the honeymoon was over to comment on it. It is a very nice bass. I'm not 100% sure the seller was all that familiar with Roscoes, but after they answered my questions, I rolled the dice. Long story short - it's way nicer than I expected. It was listed as 'Used - very good' so I was expecting some wear and maybe some minor dings, but it's more like mint. I had concerns about the pickups as the bridge pickup had no logo. It had dots on the fingerboard which is not common. I also had reservations about the color as it looked a little bright in the listing photos.

I pulled the bridge pickup when I changed the strings and it's indeed an Aguilar. The pickups sound excellent as does the OBP-1 which also has a passive tone and active/passive bypass. The position markers are legit, though I've not seen another Roscoe Century Plus with them. In normal light, the finish is a nice reddish brown burst.

I'm a little surprised there aren't more of these out in the wild. The P/J setup is very versatile, especially if you're a P-Bass nut like I am. And then there's that Roscoe 'B'. As you can see, I'm pretty impressed, so much so that I'm going to part with my Century Custom JJ as I just play this P/J more.

Here's some photos which show it's true color:View attachment 7233949View attachment 7233951

Congrats! Big fan of the Century PJ here. I really like the finish on that top.

Beautiful! Very classy looking bass.
The Aguilar P/J setup on a Roscoe is awesome!
I regret trading my P/J Roscoe to Nate (@Mightythumb) but he’s certainly enjoying it and you can’t own them all!

I do very much enjoy the bass Joe, and I’m taking good care of it!

 

[Stranger Danger]

I'm the one who bought it. I wanted to wait until the honeymoon was over to comment on it. It is a very nice bass. I'm not 100% sure the seller was all that familiar with Roscoes, but after they answered my questions, I rolled the dice. Long story short - it's way nicer than I expected. It was listed as 'Used - very good' so I was expecting some wear and maybe some minor dings, but it's more like mint. I had concerns about the pickups as the bridge pickup had no logo. It had dots on the fingerboard which is not common. I also had reservations about the color as it looked a little bright in the listing photos.

I pulled the bridge pickup when I changed the strings and it's indeed an Aguilar. The pickups sound excellent as does the OBP-1 which also has a passive tone and active/passive bypass. The position markers are legit, though I've not seen another Roscoe Century Plus with them. In normal light, the finish is a nice reddish brown burst.

I'm a little surprised there aren't more of these out in the wild. The P/J setup is very versatile, especially if you're a P-Bass nut like I am. And then there's that Roscoe 'B'. As you can see, I'm pretty impressed, so much so that I'm going to part with my Century Custom JJ as I just play this P/J more.

Here's some photos which show it's true color:View attachment 7233949View attachment 7233951

Love that. Definitely would have jumped on it too if I’d seen it.

 

[MattLplaysBass]

I believe that I posted a link to our entire Christmas presentation from this year, but I finally figured out a way to post only the performance that I did with two of our guitar players on stage. They did a great job on the video and special light effects.

I finally got around to watching this with headphones the other day- Joe was tearing it up! And some excellent lighting/shadowing almost made him look cool

Glad that bass is getting played!

 

[JOME77]

I finally got around to watching this with headphones the other day- Joe was tearing it up! And some excellent lighting/shadowing almost made him look cool

Glad that bass is getting played!

Lol
Almost cool! That’s probably as close as I’ll get!
Thx Matt!

 

[JOME77]

View attachment 7231655

Wow! I found myself just staring at this pic this morning. What a classy looking bass!
Is that a Pope preamp in it? I notice that it has 3 stacked knobs and apparently coil tap switches too. Totally tricked out (whatever the preamp is).

 

[lowfreqman]

Wow! I found myself just staring at this pic this morning. What a classy looking bass!
Is that a Pope preamp in it? I notice that it has 3 stacked knobs and apparently coil tap switches too. Totally tricked out (whatever the preamp is).

It is a an Audere ProZ 4-band preamp with Nordstrand dual coils. I found this bass on Reverb. It was built around 2005 and is in virtually mint condition. I couldn’t pass on it. The coil switches are only two-way, switching between series and parallel operation for each pickup. I have some three-way switches coming to me, so I can get the single coil option too. I am also making some purpleheart magnetic covers for the battery and control cavities.

I still can’t believe this bass is mine. It is easily the most versatile, easy-to-play bass I have owned.

 

[lowfreqman]

I love that the tops on Roscoe’s custom and signature basses are usually about 50% of the body. So gorgeous!

 

[SteveC]

I had a Century Standard Plus 6 (my first Roscoe build) that had a pretty thick top (quilt maple) considering it was just a Plus bass. Not half the body like this, but still a considerable slice of wood. I really don't think there is a nicer looking or better built bass out there. I have a Classic Precision with flats (looks like a Pino) that I play all the time. My Century 5 fretted and fretless Standard Plus basses have beautiful tops that you might think were custom or signature if you looked straight on. I love that even the "budget" Roscoe's have beautiful woods and the same care in bing built.

I recently added a Fender USA Precision that I got for a pretty good deal that I use for my "P with rounds" bass in my cover band. It's a nice bass, sounds like a P bass, but it just doesn't compare to the Roscoe Classic.

 

[JOME77]

Anyone besides @staccatogrowl have a new Roscoe build in progress?
I haven’t heard much talk in the subject of new Roscoe builds lately.

 

[JOME77]

View attachment 7238961
I love that the tops on Roscoe’s custom and signature basses are usually about 50% of the body. So gorgeous!

That is thick. You don’t see many (signatures or customs) with tops that thick. Most are more around 3/8” to 1/2” thick.
My Custom with a Koa top is carved really deep and it’s no where near 1/2 the thickness of the body. Closer to 1/3 the thickness of the body.

 

[staccatogrowl]

My take on referenced Roscoe top thickness discussion is that it reflects past building practices of around 20/20+ years ago. Lumber stocks were available, cheap, and plentiful then. Also, I perceive that thinner tops appeared about 10-15 years ago, for both Signatures and Customs. Lumber costs have skyrocketed since, as supply of decorative and some tone woods have greatly diminished.

 

[JOME77]

My take on referenced Roscoe top thickness discussion is that it reflects past building practices of around 20/20+ years ago. Lumber stocks were available, cheap, and plentiful then. Also, I perceive that thinner tops appeared about 10-15 years ago, for both Signatures and Customs. Lumber costs have skyrocketed since, as supply of decorative and some tone woods have greatly diminished.

Cost and availability probably does figure in some. I‘d also like to think that body wood combined with different top woods Might determine it too. The overall sound of the instrument is greatly determined by the body and top wood. For example, the right mix of maple and ash or koa and ash (or mahogany or any body wood) would be critical to the tone of the instrument.
And I think too that Keith sometimes just gets nice top woods in certain thicknesses due to availability and uses what he gets (and adjust body wood thickness as required).

 

[staccatogrowl]

While this thread is my 1st-go-to when visiting TB, there's not much happening lately. Have thus resorted to watching some re runs : )

Hey 'heads! We never get enough of gawking at beautiful Roscoes, right? Let's see 'em. I know we have some scattered posts and threads here and there, but with Gard's blessing, I'm thinking this might be the visual version of the 'Sound Clips' thread, where we can share pictures of our own basses.

Full thread here: A Roscoe rerun

If not a fan of reruns, how about a look into someone's possible future?

No seller affiliation: Something new in Onyx, just waiting for you

There you have it: Something old, something new. Now all we need is Something borrowed, Something blue

 

[bgartist]

Something blue…

 

[JOME77]

My ole cow bass .....