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Roscoe Club

#342
TXLawDawg said:
After having a Roscoe Bart pup/Bart pre setup and now the Roscoe Bart/Aguilar OBP-3 in a different bass, the Aguilar seems to have more "rough edges", much more aggressive sounding that the Bart pre IMO.
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Interesting. I've had that pre in a number of basses, and I always felt it was 'overly wide' (i.e., shelving points of the bass and treble lower and higher than the Bart... at least the distortion levels and slope seemed quite a bit more relaxed to my ear). I guess all this stuff interacts. Man, if it is more aggressive than the Bart pre, I can't imagine!

Another funny thing about that pre, is Aguilar says the Tonehammer pedal/preamp is based on the OBP-3, and I hear absolutely NOTHING similar between those two pre's.

Who knows! If you dig it, you dig it! Of course, since you are comparing two different basses, other things might be going on also.
 
#343
KJung said:
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!
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Class dismissed....
 
#344
KJung said:
Interesting. I've had that pre in a number of basses, and I always felt it was 'overly wide' (i.e., shelving points of the bass and treble lower and higher than the Bart... at least the distortion levels and slope seemed quite a bit more relaxed to my ear). I guess all this stuff interacts. Man, if it is more aggressive than the Bart pre, I can't imagine!

Another funny thing about that pre, is Aguilar says the Tonehammer pedal/preamp is based on the OBP-3, and I hear absolutely NOTHING similar between those two pre's.

Who knows! If you dig it, you dig it! Of course, since you are comparing two different basses, other things might be going on also.
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True, two different basses and, you know your stuff when it comes to these kinds of things. Either way, it sounds GOOOOOOOD! :bassist:
 
#345
TXLawDawg said:
True, two different basses and, you know your stuff when it comes to these kinds of things. Either way, it sounds GOOOOOOOD! :bassist:
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Yeah, amazing how all this stuff interacts to really work sometimes, and to result in different tonality depending on the entire system, etc. I will look forward to hearing some of the Roscoes that have 'all Aguilar' innards eventually!
 
#346
The Aggie pres are definitely more aggressive than the Barts. No question, but I've thought the Bart is a nice 'polite' pre, very neutral sounding.
 
#348
chaosmic said:
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.
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Beautiful instruments. I love those 2 tone tops. I think 2 Roscoe's is a minimum, 'cause I gotta have a backup. Three is just right. Ideally I would have a Roscoe in each room of my house. There's been so many times I've felt inspired and wished I had my Roscoe at hand....especially in the bathroom:D
 
#351
Active Reasoner said:
I think 2 Roscoe's is a minimum, 'cause I gotta have a backup. Three is just right. Ideally I would have a Roscoe in each room of my house. There's been so many times I've felt inspired and wished I had my Roscoe at hand....especially in the bathroom:D
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I have 2 and keep thinking just one more as well. Maybe it's like decorating - you group things in 3's. Not sure what I'd get for #3 though. I am loving my fretless, and the fretted ash/soap is nice but I've been thinking a fretted mahogany/JJ or JM would e nice, too. Or a second fretless.
 
#352
SteveC said:
I have 2 and keep thinking just one more as well. Maybe it's like decorating - you group things in 3's. Not sure what I'd get for #3 though. I am loving my fretless, and the fretted ash/soap is nice but I've been thinking a fretted mahogany/JJ or JM would e nice, too. Or a second fretless.
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Yeah, I can't wait until I order my next one. I'm still pissed at Gard that it took me so long to order the first one! Sorry Gard, of course it's not your fault, but we rodents don't do personal responsibility. :spit:
 
#353
TXLawDawg said:
^
Nice! How would you describe the tone vs. the standard Bart setup?
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I dig the EMG tone quite a bit more than the stock Bart's. The EMG's have that classic crunch behind them, which works great for my metal purposes.

For slapping I usually have to adjust the tone a bit to take some of the bite out of it.
 

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