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Roscoe Club

#7,141
Blues Infidel said:
Looking for some opinions for pickups for a Century Standard Plus 5. I like the stock Bart pickups a lot, but I'm in need of a more 'traditional' sound for my Americana/Country band. My other Century 5 (a RMLE) has Aguilar DCB's. I like those a lot too, but they don't have the sound I'm looking for either.

I know I could just pick up a 5 string P-Bass, and still might, but Roscoes are my favorite fivers and I'm just wondering if maybe a pickup swap (and maybe the pre) could get me the tone I'm looking for.
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Definitely contact Nordstrand. They have J pickups in Soapbar shells. I was just at their shop and tried their Big Blade pickups. Man....those are so incredible. Those would bark for sure. They also have the BigRig pickups, which is what I have in my bass. It's a dual coil 51 P pickup. Beautiful sounding pickup that can be split series/parallel/singlecoil. Any of those three choicea would get you there.
 
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#7,143
smeet said:
So... my current #1 is my new-to-me Century Standard 5 with Nordstrand Big Splits and Nordstrand 3-band pre. We tried something new with the wiring, leaving the pickups ungrounded (I think that's what it is) for some extra highs and "air". I love it. So far it's done a great job with a big band, a classic rock band, an old school funk with horns band, and a Bollywood pop thing. And the 35" scale is amazingly easy to play. Woot!

It's this guy:
View attachment 1271558
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I recognize that bass! Glad it's working out for you - it's a killer instrument! :bassist:
 
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#7,146
smeet said:
Yesssss! Thanks for selling it to me! :D
It's funny, I know this is a "low end" Roscoe, but it's so good, and I even love the sandblasted look and feel, it's fancy without getting all coffee-table-like.
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No such thing as a low end Roscoe in my mind. I have had a couple high end Roscoes, and I actually think I prefer my Standard Plus basses. Same guys do the work, neck is still hand fit to each bass, etc. Still the best money you can spend on a hand made in the US bass - in my opinion.
 
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#7,147
smeet said:
I know this is a "low end" Roscoe
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FWIW, I work here at Roscoe, and I own two.

BOTH are Century Standard 5's, one fretted 5M (nicknamed "Vader"), one fretless 5JB (nicknamed "The Stormtrooper").

That's ALL I have - no Custom, no Signature (I had 2 of those at one point), just the basic Roscoe with no bells & whistles. As was just said above, there are no "low end" Roscoes, from the Classic (which I will have soon! :cool: ) to the Signature, they are all built with the same attention to detail, by the same guys, in the same shop, with the same techniques and materials. Some are just more refined and "fancy", which adds a lot of labor, hence the additional cost.

But, if you want "that tone", it is a standard feature on every bass (and guitar) we build. Period.
 
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#7,155
Gard said:
FWIW, I work here at Roscoe, and I own two.

BOTH are Century Standard 5's, one fretted 5M (nicknamed "Vader"), one fretless 5JB (nicknamed "The Stormtrooper").

That's ALL I have - no Custom, no Signature (I had 2 of those at one point), just the basic Roscoe with no bells & whistles. As was just said above, there are no "low end" Roscoes, from the Classic (which I will have soon! :cool: ) to the Signature, they are all built with the same attention to detail, by the same guys, in the same shop, with the same techniques and materials. Some are just more refined and "fancy", which adds a lot of labor, hence the additional cost.

But, if you want "that tone", it is a standard feature on every bass (and guitar) we build. Period.
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+1 to all that, except I don't work at Roscoe (although I've done my fair share to assure that they get paid). :)

I've owned a few of both models and loved them all.
In the end though, I just love the carved top on the Custom models! So classy!

..... and I typically prefer the slightly compressed tone of the Roscoe Bart's (over the Classic Bart's).
 
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#7,157
Now I don't care for the "classic" or "J' basses,

But now that you mention a "P" bass Roscoe! Now your starting to talk, that I can accept.

But more importantly, where are the headless fretless Roscoes?!

I will be getting one. I know your making them Roscoe.

You better start.

And I'm going to buy one.

Oh, and they better work with LaBella Super steps taper wound.

Haha. :smug:
 
#7,158
Worldeeeter said:
Nope. On a fretless, they are lined up with the odd fret lines, unless you request otherwise. The dots line up with inlays on fretted basses, between the frets.
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Thanks, but I would have to keep side dots inline with 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, 12th and corresponding 12th fret above these location and any lines on the side inline with where the intonation would be on fretless. Having side dots to represent between frets on fretted and on frets lines on fretless is way too weird for me. :wacky:
 

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