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Roscoe Club

#321
KJung said:
+1 Haven't had a bass with the 'bling' (all the fancy woods and laminates, etc.) for quite a while. Hard to not just look at the thing all day:D

Hey, Zeb is doing the circus this month again, so I've been gigging with Miles and Kara. What a treat that is. Talk about world class players. FYI, Kara is playing at the Bistro this weekend with Rick Haydon, with Roger Guth and Jimmy Mayer (from Buffet's band) on drums and bass (they are two of the finest jazz players around). If you can get down there, it should be quite something.

Sorry for the OT guys!
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...eh, there is no "OT" with this crowd, we might start arguing about baseball or movies any second now...talking about gigs is pretty ON topic in this environment!

;)
 
#322
Gard said:
Exactly, which is why our pickups & electronics options have been significantly "broadened" in the past couple of years.

How would you dig a bass with the same production values and attention to detail as that Signature 5, but as a 4 string with Aguilar HC-4J's, an OBP-1 with active/passive switching and a passive tone control?

...or, Bart J neck and MM bridge....or, Aguilar PJ5....

Options abound! :)
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+1 Very nice! I've been checking out all the different configurations. For my first 'dip my toe in the Roscoe water', I wanted to start with the more 'legacy' sort of classic Roscoe tone. That is quite impressive in itself, but again, obviously not anything like a J or P. Nice to be able to get closer to a more traditional vibe in that amazing quality package! Again, thanks for making such a nice instrument.
 
#323
3Roscoes_zpsc1133fd6.jpg

I can't bring myself to let any one of these go even though I feel it's excessive to own 3. Figured I should post a group pic in the event that I do one day. Great basses made by good guys.
 
#324
SteveC said:
What I like about Roscoe is that the attention to detail is also very evident in their "budget" model Standard/Plus basses - of which I have two.

The "veneer" flame maple top on my $2,600 fretless looks like a $8,000 Fodera. My frets got checked by Keith just like any touring pro's bass.

The people are as impressive as the basses they make. A nobody like me in North Dakota who plays at church gets the same respect and attention as a pro.
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I suspect a big chunk of Roscoe's good prices stem from the fact they are made in North Carolina instead of NYC. Although I was ultimately unhappy with the slap tone (it probably was just made from an unsnappy combination of wood) of the one Roscoe I ever owned, I can vouch for the fact that the company provides outstanding customer service myself, and I had a second hand instrument.:)
 
#325
Dr. Cheese said:
I suspect a big chunk of Roscoe's good prices stem from the fact they are made in North Carolina instead of NYC. Although I was ultimately unhappy with the slap tone (it probably was just made from an unsnappy combination of wood) of the one Roscoe I ever owned, I can vouch for the fact that the company provides outstanding customer service myself, and I had a second hand instrument.:)
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Doc, if you wanna build a "slapper", we can definitely do that, but we need to start on the path correctly...there are absolutely combinations of woods and electronics that will not lend themselves to that tone.
 
#328
KJung said:
+1 Haven't had a bass with the 'bling' (all the fancy woods and laminates, etc.) for quite a while. Hard to not just look at the thing all day:D

Hey, Zeb is doing the circus this month again, so I've been gigging with Miles and Kara. What a treat that is. Talk about world class players. FYI, Kara is playing at the Bistro this weekend with Rick Haydon, with Roger Guth and Jimmy Mayer (from Buffet's band) on drums and bass (they are two of the finest jazz players around). If you can get down there, it should be quite something.

Sorry for the OT guys!
Click to expand...

I may check out Rick Haydon this weekend at the Bistro. Sorry for being off topic!
 
#330
My Ash/Maple/Soapbar Roscoe can slap no problem.
My Mahogany/Diamondwood "JB" fretless has amazing tone.
My next fretted will probably be mahogany...probably jazz pups...maybe "JB" location.
 
#337
FrenchBassQC said:
My LG 3005 with swamp ash body and bolivian rosewood fretboard and the bart soaps can slap.
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The slap tone with the Barts is unique. If you are used to a J bass slap tone, or a P slap tone (i.e., the classic slap tone profile), the Roscoe (at least the classic Bart configuration) can be quite a shock. It is closer to Mark King's Alembic slap tone. It is not particularly a Roscoe thing, since I remember many guys favoring that slap tone back in the 80's, (and many of us had the old Hi A (which became Bartolini later) soap bars as replacement pickups back then, with the classic Bart pre).

When Anthony (Dr. Cheese) said he 'didn't like the slap tone' of his previously owned Roscoe, I don't think he meant that you can't slap a Roscoe, but rather that the extreme upper bass attack, and that upper treble ping with a bit of a hole between the mid mids and treble, did not fit his slap tone preference. The narrow string spacing can also be a bit of a negative for some (doesn't really bother me). Also, the 24 fret design is not universally favored by slappers, although again, doesn't bother me much. You have to work a bit harder to maintain the fullness of the low end in the initial note attack, since those extra frets move your thumb a bit closer to the bridge.

Any bass with any wood combination can be slapped (flats, rounds, taped, passive, whatever). Whether that slap tone speaks to you is another thing.

Luckily, slap style has all but disappeared from pop music (which is what I play mostly at this point) and it has become a moot point for me at this point.

IMO!
 
#339
^
That's what I have in mine and it definitely is a good sounding set to my ears. I am jonesing for a set of the Aguilar DCBs though. As soon as I can find them in stock somewhere, I think I'm going to make the move.

Edit: I see where Dave B. posted yesterday on TB that DCBs in the D4 (Bart P4) size had shipped to retailers. Looking...
 
#340
GroovinOnFunk said:
I threw an aggie pre in my roscoe, now anything from hard aggressive rock to slap is no problem. I miss that "bartolini" tone you get with their preamp, but the aggie obp with roscoe barts is gettin it done for me these days
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That pre is a bit less 'burpy and barky' than the Bart, and I could see where that would take some of the rough edges off the Bartolini soaps, which would be a positive for some.
 

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