Roscoe Club

[oren]

Well, friends, as of this morning I have left the ranks of Roscoe owners. I’ve sold my SKB, that I’ve owned for at least 17 or 18 years. We’re getting ready to move in the spring from our house into a condo, so it’s time to thin out our possessions. Given that 98% of my gigging is on upright these days, I can’t really justify keeping six electric basses. And on the rare occasion when I do play electric, I tend to grab one of my 4 string Fenders (either my 68 Jazz or my frankenFender PJ). So off my Roscoe goes to a very nice fellow in San Jose who assures me it will be well loved and played frequently. End of an era! I will admit to feeling a little melancholy at letting it go, but hopefully it will make a lot of good music for years to come!

 

[Bass Viking]

Well, friends, as of this morning I have left the ranks of Roscoe owners. I’ve sold my SKB, that I’ve owned for at least 17 or 18 years. We’re getting ready to move in the spring from our house into a condo, so it’s time to thin out our possessions. Given that 98% of my gigging is on upright these days, I can’t really justify keeping six electric basses. And on the rare occasion when I do play electric, I tend to grab one of my 4 string Fenders (either my 68 Jazz or my frankenFender PJ). So off my Roscoe goes to a very nice fellow in San Jose who assures me it will be well loved and played frequently. End of an era! I will admit to feeling a little melancholy at letting it go, but hopefully it will make a lot of good music for years to come!

Clean out your workstation. Security will escort you to the front desk where you will hand in your membership card.

But seriously, 18 years is a good run and it sounds like your Roscoe went to a good home. In the last year I sold off all my other 5 stringers (Ken Smith, Sadowsky, Warwick) but kept my Roscoe.

 

[Thumper]

Clean out your workstation. Security will escort you to the front desk where you will hand in your membership card.

But seriously, 18 years is a good run and it sounds like your Roscoe went to a good home. In the last year I sold off all my other 5 stringers (Ken Smith, Sadowsky, Warwick) but kept my Roscoe.

Kept my Roscoe signature SKB 3005, Dingwall SJ5XXX, and custom shop Carvin fretless 5ers, everything else are 4s

 

[MattLplaysBass]

Well, friends, as of this morning I have left the ranks of Roscoe owners. I’ve sold my SKB, that I’ve owned for at least 17 or 18 years. We’re getting ready to move in the spring from our house into a condo, so it’s time to thin out our possessions. Given that 98% of my gigging is on upright these days, I can’t really justify keeping six electric basses. And on the rare occasion when I do play electric, I tend to grab one of my 4 string Fenders (either my 68 Jazz or my frankenFender PJ). So off my Roscoe goes to a very nice fellow in San Jose who assures me it will be well loved and played frequently. End of an era! I will admit to feeling a little melancholy at letting it go, but hopefully it will make a lot of good music for years to come!

I remember playing that bass at a Chicago TB gtg many years ago, it’s a great one!

 

[SteveC]

Tastes and situations change. I never thought I’d be playing a passive 4 string P as much as I do. Fortunately it’s a Roscoe Classic. Gift from my wife so it’ll stay forever. Also have a Fender passive 4 P. That said, I will always have my Century 5 around. It’s just the nicest bass/neck I’ve ever played. It’ll stay with me as well. Nice to have options.

 

[oren]

Tastes and situations change. I never thought I’d be playing a passive 4 string P as much as I do. Fortunately it’s a Roscoe Classic. Gift from my wife so it’ll stay forever. Also have a Fender passive 4 P. That said, I will always have my Century 5 around. It’s just the nicest bass/neck I’ve ever played. It’ll stay with me as well. Nice to have options.

I’d love to have a Roscoe Classic at some point. I played a PJ Classic with Honey Badger pickups a bunch of years ago when I visited Greg at Rocket, and I still lust for that one.

 

[SteveC]

I’d love to have a Roscoe Classic at some point. I played a PJ Classic with Honey Badger pickups a bunch of years ago when I visited Greg at Rocket, and I still lust for that one.

My Classic P has a Honey Badger in it. HipShot Ultralite Tuners. Nice bass. One of the first ones I believe. Looks like a Fender Pino. Gift from my amazing wife from Greg at Rocket…where all my Roscoe’s have come from.

 

[Bliff Curton 2]

I could use some advice on fingerboard selection.

My bandmates complain about 'clank' on my bass with ebony FB (Carvin LB75).
Im looking into building a mahogany Century and am wondering about a wenge fingerboard.
Ive never had a wenge FB and am gassing for one. But, is wenge clanky?
If so, my next option is either maple or rosewood/pau ferro.

Ive never had a maple board. I hear in sound samples theres a lot of expression in the notes with maple but the treble can be harsh.

In the end, im looking for warm and expressive...with minimal clank

Thanks

 

[JOME77]

I could use some advice on fingerboard selection.

My bandmates complain about 'clank' on my bass with ebony FB (Carvin LB75).
Im looking into building a mahogany Century and am wondering about a wenge fingerboard.
Ive never had a wenge FB and am gassing for one. But, is wenge clanky?
If so, my next option is either maple or rosewood/pau ferro.

Ive never had a maple board. I hear in sound samples theres a lot of expression in the notes with maple but the treble can be harsh.

In the end, im looking for warm and expressive...with minimal clank

Thanks

I found that various woods can sound quite different on different brand basses. For example, I had a Norm Stickton MTD 535, which had a tulipwood body, maple top, wenge neck and wenge fingerboard. It was the most honky (nasal) sounding instrument that I've ever owned. The band members actually ask me to please not bring it to a gig anymore.
But I now currently own a solid ash bodied Roscoe with a Wenge wedge neck and a wenge finger board and it sounds incredible. It's not honky (nasal) sounding at all. It has a nice phat somewhat compressed tone, and the notes sustain forever.
IMO, the bottom line is that neck construction has a tremendous effect on the overall sound of an instrument. The Roscoe Bartolini pickups also add a great deal of phatness and compression to the tone which typically minimizes the clank that you mention.
To my ears, maple adds a nice snap to the notes (on a Roscoe). Keep in mind that a Roscoe fingerboard isn't really thick so it doesn't affect the tone as much as some thicker fingerboards do.
I think that an ash body and a wenge neck go well together because the wenge tames (slightly compresses) the aggressive tone of the ash nicely. A mahogany body sounds good with wenge too, but I'd be prone to go with a maple/wenge neck (rather than solid wenge neck) with the mahogany body.

Here's the construction of the wenge wedge neck of my current Roscoe. It has just enough maple in it to smooth out the tone a bit.

The typical wenge wedge neck has a bit more maple in it. I had it with a mahogany bodied Roscoe and it sounded really nice.

 

[Chuck M]

I could use some advice on fingerboard selection.

My bandmates complain about 'clank' on my bass with ebony FB (Carvin LB75).
Im looking into building a mahogany Century and am wondering about a wenge fingerboard.
Ive never had a wenge FB and am gassing for one. But, is wenge clanky?
If so, my next option is either maple or rosewood/pau ferro.

Ive never had a maple board. I hear in sound samples theres a lot of expression in the notes with maple but the treble can be harsh.

In the end, im looking for warm and expressive...with minimal clank

Thanks

With most amps It is possible to EQ out the clank with judicial use of the EQ section. The clank is in the highs/upper mids.

I happen to own an SKB 6 with Ebony fingerboard/Mahogany body and a Century 5 with a Wenge fingerboard/Ash body. I enjoy both basses but have found that the Ebony/Mahogany bass does have more highs and I have flat wound strings on it. Wenge seems to always add something....difficult to describe but something really nice to the tone and even the Wenge fingerboard on my Century does lend that special tone to the bass. Every bass I have owned that has had Wenge in the build shared that something in the tone that sounds good to me.

I apologize for the vague description of "something" as I know that is not too helpful. There is something in the mids that adds warm clarity to the tone. No harshness but clarity.

My second favorite fingerboard wood is Pau Ferro. It can be beautifully figured and is a very good sounding wood for fingerboards.

I personally do not like Maple fingerboards because they get dirty (unless they have a clear hard finish) and are a royal pain to clean. I also prefer the look of dark wood fingerboards.

 

[Bliff Curton 2]

Sweet. Thanks guys

Damn, @JOME77 those wenge necks are outrageously beautiful
Unfortunately that would put me iver my budget...but maybe I'll upgrade the neck after some years...or maybe by then I'll be getting another Roscoe

 

[SteveC]

I love my BEM board. Looks so nice with the Koa top. Standard maple neck and swamp ash body. Barts. Nickel rounds. Sounds like a Roscoe.

I did like the sound of the mahogany body on my fretless as well.

 

[villis]

Guys i would like to have some advice here! i Have the LG3005 and it plays wonderfull when i play regular with fingers very punchy and clear but when i am switching to slap i am loosing it ! the most basses i have or had at the past like sadowsky jerzy drozd warwicks when i slaped with the same amp coming in frond very clearly and loud but now i think its loosing volume or lost in the mix...i am using elixir 40-130 now and i dont if this is something that has to do with the bass, the strings or the combination with the amp

 

[JOME77]

Nothing about a Roscoe that causes that.
I’m sure that you’re aware of the primary things (decently low action, fresh strings, bass and treble at slight boost, mids slightly cut, slap above the end of the finger board, pickups decently close to strings). Other than that, I had a similar issue when using a 2-10 SWR Goliath Jr. cabinet. When I played through the 2-10 my slap volume really dropped down in the mix. When I used my 4-10 it totally killed in the mix.

 

[villis]

Nothing about a Roscoe that causes that.
I’m sure that you’re aware of the primary things (decently low action, fresh strings, bass and treble at slight boost, mids slightly cut, slap above the end of the finger board, pickups decently close to strings). Other than that, I had a similar issue when using a 2-10 SWR Goliath Jr. cabinet. When I played through the 2-10 my slap volume really dropped down in the mix. When I used my 4-10 it totally killed in the mix.

yes absolutely i know all things mentioned! My cab is 2x10 too!!!

 

[JOME77]

Let's end 2025 posting gig pics with your Roscoe .......

Here's a pic of mine from this past Sunday morning ........

 

[Mighty Thumb]

Great idea Joe. The triplets.

 

[JOME77]

Great idea Joe. The triplets.
View attachment 7400018

Beautiful collection Nate!

 

[staccatogrowl]

Calling @SteveC : Siren song (link)

 

[SteveC]

If that bass came back I’d be divorced. 3 times is the limit. In hindsight I wish I would have made it a 5 string. I’d still have it. It’s a beautiful bass. Way beyond the usual build quality of a Standard Plus 13 years ago.