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Roscoe Club

#3,201
Basso Gruvitas said:
Guys, I recently picked up a Century Standard black onyx and played it out for the first time this weekend. First, a pic. This is from the previous owner (thanks James!!)
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I am having Nordstrand Fat Stacks and an Aguilar OBP-3 installed before I do my the real "Big Reveal", but hope this pic will hold you for now! :)

Anyway, I've had a fretless SKB-5 for 12 years and have always enjoyed it. This is my first venture into another Roscoe in about 8 years - and I LOVED IT! How it hangs on my shoulder, the look, and the feel were all wonderful! The Bart tone is not my cup of tea for a Roscoe fretted, but I'm working on that. In short, the bass excelled! It never fatigued me, was easier to play than its predecessor, and every note from top to bottom (yes I play them all) was there!

Once I get the Nordstrands installed, I'll give ya'll another review. I anticipate it slicing the room in half!

"It makes me Happyyyyyyyyy...."
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I'm very quickly becoming a huge fan of the Fat Stacks/OBP3 combination. It seems to *really* work well.
 
#3,209
Basso Gruvitas said:
Ryan, I forgot that your new Roscoe has this combination. Do you have any sound clips? Or can you tell me something about it?
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No sound clips, and no way to record/post them.

I'm still getting to know the bass myself, and haven't gigged it yet, but so far, just from using it at band practice, Gard's description pretty much nails it---you will definitely be heard! As in, *every* note will be heard, but not in an obnoxious way.
 
#3,210
KaseOfBass said:
Similarly, I have become a huge fan of the Big Singles/OBP3 combo in my Roscoe. Just great!
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I had a Valenti with Big Singles/OBP1, and I really dug that combo too.

And the Nordstrand NJ5F single coils/Nordstrand 3 band preamp combination that I have in my Century J is a winning combination as well.

I'm becoming a fan of Carey's stuff more and more as time goes on.
 
#3,215
J2Kbass said:
That is the one of the best flame tops I've seen.
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I looked at lots of basses after I bought it and I didn't find a top like that on any bass. It looks nicer than Fodera tops. And this was "just' a Standard Plus, not a Custom or Signature. That's one thing I like about Roscoe. They don't "save the good stuff" for just the top end basses. The tops of the 3 Standard Plus basses I owned were amazing.
 
#3,218
Gard said:
On fretless, I get the neck almost completely straight, then lower the strings until they start to "choke", raise slightly, and done. Intonation is more art than science on fretless.....;)
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All the above is true.
Normally I'd argue with Gard over setting up a bass without using gauges :D (to set the string height from the bottom of the string to the finger board) but unfortunately the overall quality of the leveling of each fretless finger board is much more of a factor on fretless basses (verses fretted basses) and obtaining optimum mwah and growl can be a bit different on every fretless bass (IMO).
However, I do typically start by adjusting the truss rod until the neck is virtually straight (hold the bass in a playing position, fret the A or E string in first fret area [using left hand] and fret same string in 24th fret area [using right hand], the string should be just above laying flat on the finger board) and then set the string height at .06 from the bottom of the string to the fingerboard (at the 24th fret). From there I go up or down depending on when the string chokes. Roscoe fretless finger boards are usually very well leveled so most of them end up at around .06 at the 24th fret for the C-A and just over that for the E & B (with the B sometimes as high as .09).

Of course the best sounding and playing Roscoe fretless that I had actually worked best with the C string just about .04 at the 24th fret (and the string height graduated up slightly from that for the other strings). Let your ear and hands be your guide.

..... and remember ....... use a very light touch.:)
 
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#3,219
Mine was roughly 3/16 from bottom of each string to fretboard, or .19, so relatively high. I need to tweak the truss a little before I can get to .06, but I got it to .09 or 3/32 pretty easily. Also need to probably lower the pickup height because they're pretty close now. Thanks for the tip.
 
#3,220
Here's a new tune that I recorded last weekend and tweaked a little this morning. I posted it in it's original format (on the Roscoe Sound Clip thread) for a day or two this weekend but deleted it until I could tweak it a bit.
It's named after my newest grandson "Weston James Fair". He's 6 months old and I was way over due to put together a tune and name it after him. The tune was inspired by the intro drum loop and just developed from there. I used my Spanish cedar/maple Roscoe 3006 for all parts except the slap part in the end (which was my mahogany/koa Roscoe LG with the Demeter preamp).
Man that Roscoe 6'er is fun to play! :)

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

.... and here's a pic of the bass:

Roscoe 3006 full.jpg
 
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