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Roscoe Club

What's a good gig bag for a LG3005? I'm ordering the bass with hard case for extra protection in shipping, but around town I use gig bags. What do LG owners recommend? Thanks!

I have an SKB3005 and an LG3005, I keep them both housed in an old LA Bass Gear Double Undercover Gig Bag. I have had this bag for around 15 years and it protects well. I also have my Roscoe Classic and an SX J bass, both are too tall for the Undercover gig bag so I bought a used Mono Double Gig Bag which I keep those in. If I am only taking one bass with me I use the TKL Gig Bag that came with my Classic or one of the Roscoe Hard Cases.
 
I'm thinking of buying a Century Custom 5 but I'm a bit intimidated by the 16" neck radius. Does this make the bass difficult to play and what is the advantage of such a flat neck? Any input would be appreciated.

Regards,
Dave H.

Sorry if this has been covered somewhere else but I did a search and couldn't find anything relevant.
 
Does this make the bass difficult to play and what is the advantage of such a flat neck?
Last question first, the neck radius is designer's choice and I'll defer the discussion of theoretical advantages to someone like Gard. One advantage that comes to mind is evenness of string-to-pickup height.

I do not find the Roscoe neck difficult to play - to the contrary, it's a thing of beauty.
Data point: I own a Roscoe 6 and a 7 with that same 16" radius. To be completely honest, it is a bit of a reach to the first three frets of the bottom string on my SKBs, especially on the 7. I have 'average' hands - I wear a 'Medium' glove. Note that the 'reach' on an SKB is noticeably longer than a Century, due mostly to bridge position.

I'm not completely sure why bass guitars even have a fingerboard radius, unless it's a holdover from uprights, which require a radius for arco. None of my acoustic guitars have fingerboard radius, so maybe it's a reflection of 'strumming' vs single-note intended purpose.
 
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Another couple questions @Gard
Did you guys change the standard body depth?
The new body on my LG standard 4 feels noticeably thinner than the old one.
Is this a change you guys made or is it just a side effect of the hand made aspect?

Regarding fretwork/pleking,
are the frets being leveled with a fall-away from about the 15th fret-up?
That's the way it looks, and feels on my bass.
 
Last question first, the neck radius is designer's choice and I'll defer the discussion of theoretical advantages to someone like Gard. One advantage that comes to mind is evenness of string-to-pickup height.

I do not find the Roscoe neck difficult to play - to the contrary, it's a thing of beauty.
Data point: I own a Roscoe 6 and a 7 with that same 16" radius. To be completely honest, it is a bit of a reach to the first three frets of the bottom string on my SKBs, especially on the 7. I have 'average' hands - I wear a 'Medium' glove. Note that the 'reach' on an SKB is noticeably longer than a Century, due mostly to bridge position.

I'm not completely sure why bass guitars even have a fingerboard radius, unless it's a holdover from uprights, which require a radius for arco. None of my acoustic guitars have fingerboard radius, so maybe it's a reflection of 'strumming' vs single-note intended purpose.

Thanks for the reply. I never thought about my guitars not having a neck radius. I may have to join this club soon.
 
I'm thinking of buying a Century Custom 5 but I'm a bit intimidated by the 16" neck radius. Does this make the bass difficult to play and what is the advantage of such a flat neck? Any input would be appreciated.

Regards,
Dave H.

Sorry if this has been covered somewhere else but I did a search and couldn't find anything relevant.

The Roscoe neck is excellent, very easy to play, very comfortable.

Mark
 
I'm not completely sure why bass guitars even have a fingerboard radius, unless it's a holdover from uprights, which require a radius for arco. None of my acoustic guitars have fingerboard radius, so maybe it's a reflection of 'strumming' vs single-note intended purpose.

It's probably more of a carry over from the guitars that Leo built first (9.5" R). The smaller radius seems to match the natural shape of the hand better, which makes chording easier. I suspect that Leo figured that since most guitar players would double on the bass it made since to make the necks feel as similar as possible.
That being said, I much prefer the feel of a bass neck with a large radius. I owned an Ibanez SR5006 for a while and the first impression that I got when I played it was "man this neck feels so good". The string spacing was a bit tight but it just felt so nice fretting it. Especially in the lower register. Turned out that the finger board radius was 500m R (19.68").

I really prefer the larger radius. The 16" R on the Roscoe just feels right to my hands. Maybe it's because I've played Roscoe's for so long, or maybe that's why I've played them for so long.:)
 
The Roscoe bags and cases are good quality in my experience. However, I typically use a Gator ProGo Ultimate gig bag for my local, drive-to dates. It offers great protection, light weight, reasonable price, and opportunity to go incognito (Roscoe stealth mode: no case/bag logo).

The new Roscoe TKL Gig Bags for the Classic are stealthy, no screen printed logo.
 
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I like my Roscoe bags - logo and all. Sadly, no one around here really knows the brand.

As for neck radius, I bought and sold dozens of basses looking for the Roscoe feel...and sound and look.

Most people don't know the brand. I consider that a good thing. People know what TV tells them, or what they see in Guitard Center, like Fender. Every time I show someone my Roscoe, they tell me they've never heard of them, and immediately comment on what a beautiful instrument it is. It's like being a member of an exclusive club. If you go into Bad Axe Boutique in Greensboro (a short distance from the Roscoe shop), you'll see all kinds of obscure guitar and amp brands, most of which I've never heard of. All of them are EXPENSIVE, too!
 
Looks like the question re: radius was answered, nice work guys.

dedpool, we didn't change anything, not sure why one "feels different", because the spec is the same across the line. Hm. There may be SOME very small variation, and that would indeed be related to the "hand made" part of things - the bodies are machined to a specific thickness, then things are hand-sanded afterward, so some may be thicker, some may be thinner, but we're talking about differences measured in thousandths of inches.
 
Thanks for all the replies guys. I offered him and had second thoughts almost immediately after I submitted. He has counter offered so it gives me a little time. I have a Bongo 5 that is really nice but the Roscoe is beautiful. I'm really torn.

I was away from TalkBass for awhile and now the GAS has returned and all of your replies have intensified my need or want for this bass.

I'll let you know if I buy the bass and post some pics.
 
Hey Gard, just wondering have ye ever done any customisation on a Roscoe/Bart pre on a new build? Is it possible to get the 3 EQ bands as trim pots in the back cover (like the gain is) rather than the knobs on the front and just have volume and blend on the front then? Just wondering as I have a terrible habit of randomly checking the tone controls to see that they're all centered (so I always tend to run it flat) and that the volume is up!
 
Thanks for all the replies guys. I offered him and had second thoughts almost immediately after I submitted. He has counter offered so it gives me a little time. I have a Bongo 5 that is really nice but the Roscoe is beautiful. I'm really torn.

I'll let you know if I buy the bass and post some pics.
I'm sure you love your Bongo 5. I loved lots of basses until I played a Roscoe 5. Now it's over. I have tried to "make" myself play other basses, tell myself I'll get used them eventually, and I probably would. I played a Geddy Lee jazz for a while and I really liked it. I could "get by" but as my wife insists, why? I have 2 beautiful Roscoes and am basically GAS free - except for a classic Roscoe.

I look, but not nearly as much as I used to, and really only to kill time. I could never buy another bass and be perfectly happy and capable to do any gig with my Roscoe Century 5.
 
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