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Roscoe Club

#7,222
JohnnyR said:
I've been known to "piddle" at woodworking occasionally.

I'd not be at all surprised at "around" 0.070 inches total difference in body thickness. That's about one pass through a planar. Could have been necessary to made sure a grain tear was completely cleared or to remove coloration or grain spur. Could have been necessary because of another part of the build.

I'd chalk that difference up to attribute of being hand-made. Just one more thing that makes it one of a kind. Fit, workmanship and finish on all my Roscoes is as good as anything on the market. They all have their own "feel", but none were made on an assembly line on a CNC machine either.

It's all good. ;)
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That's what I thought it might have been. As I said before, I'm not complaining at all as I prefer a thinner body. The neck shape is fantastic and fits my hand quite well. The flatter radius has taken a little bit to get used to, but the narrower neck has made it an easy transition from my Fender and G&Ls. I like a bit of variety, but if it were my only bass, I'd be fine with that.
 
#7,223
IMG_7716.jpg
It's not a true bar gig unless you're in the corner with the Pacman machine!
 
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#7,224
dedpool1052 said:
Thanks Gard.
The difference between them was more noticeable than a few thousandths. I recall measuring the body depth on the old one being around 1.8 while the newer one is around 1.73, which is about a 2mm difference. Not complaining at all as I prefer a thinner body anyway, just thought I'd ask if there was a spec change.
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Ah, ok, yes, that would be from the hand-sanding done - the bodies are cut to a spec, then sanded out by hand, and sometimes either due to the wood itself being a bit more rough and requiring more sanding to be level, or someone being a bit heavy-handed on that day, they can get a bit thinner from time to time. So, yeah, hand made variation, not spec change. :)

Now what about the pleking and fall-away I asked about?
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Totally missed this question, sorry!

Yes, there is a fall-away built into the program we use for Pleking the fingerboard. It is very slight, and really helps keep the clarity of notes there.
 
#7,227
Timmy-Watts said:
What is fall-away? Is that why my neck is attached at an angle, and the fingerboard wood is runner at the body than at the nut?
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"Fall away" is when the fret dress takes a bit "extra" (as in literally fractions of fractions of millimeters) off the higher frets so that where the string oscillates at it's greatest, it will be far less likely to "rattle" by hitting the upper frets. You can't really "feel" it when playing. It does not have anything to do with the angle of the neck.
 
#7,230
Gard said:
Ah, ok, yes, that would be from the hand-sanding done - the bodies are cut to a spec, then sanded out by hand, and sometimes either due to the wood itself being a bit more rough and requiring more sanding to be level, or someone being a bit heavy-handed on that day, they can get a bit thinner from time to time. So, yeah, hand made variation, not spec change. :)

:thumbsup:
Thanks Gard. That's kind of what I figured was going on.

Totally missed this question, sorry!

Yes, there is a fall-away built into the program we use for Pleking the fingerboard. It is very slight, and really helps keep the clarity of notes there.

Gotcha. I thought something felt different, as I tend to set my basses up stupid low like Entwistle. The action feels good up to about the 14th/15th fret and then I notice the lack of clank/buzz when I dig in. I prefer the action to be as even as possible up the neck and it does change the feel for me. Not really my preference but I certainly see the practicality of it for other players.
If I were to order another bass, could I request there be no fall-away?
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#7,231
I received my first Roscoe bass today. A Century Custom 5J bass built in 2014. First I just want to say the bass is beautiful. Redwood Burl front, Mahogany back and Bird's Eye Maple fingerboard. Kind of funny that brown is my favorite color and the woods on this bass match so well. Especially the front and fingerboard.

I was a bit disappointed at first because the B string buzzed like crazy. I gave it about 3/16 turn of neck relief and raised the B string a half a turn. Sounds great now. It looks like the intonation is off a bit but I think I'll put new strings on first. Right now I'm into DR Low-Riders. I think I read in past messages on this thread that these should be fine. (I'm on page 50 of reading though this thread.)

I haven't played it a whole lot yet but I panned a bit to the bridge pickup and boosted the mid a bit and this thing just growled. I look forward to getting to know this bass.

I have a question for Gard. This bass originally had Bart pickups with the Aguilar OBP-3 preamp. Apparently the original owner had the pickups changed to Nordstrands. What tonal differences does this make? Should I put the Barts back in to see how they sound?

I posted a couple of pics from the seller. I'll post some of my own when I get a chance.

Regards,
Dave H.
 
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#7,232
bassfuser said:
I have a question for Gard. This bass originally had Bart pickups with the Aguilar OBP-3 preamp. Apparently the original owner had the pickups changed to Nordstrands. What tonal differences does this make? Should I put the Barts back in to see how they sound?
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Dave -

First, officially, welcome to the family. Sounds like your minor setup issues were indeed minor, good news there. :)

On your question for pickups - without knowing exactly which Nords you have, it's tough to compare them to the stock Barts. The Barts (if they're not CB's, but our OEM pickups), are a bit compressed and slightly dark/punchy (not "dark" as in muddy, just fat-warm). Most of the Nord designs are a lot less compressed and slightly brighter, how much so will be determined by which set you have.
 
#7,233
Gard, Thanks for the reply.

The pups are Nordstrand NJ5FS. I'm not sure about the Bartolini. The guy I bought it from said the bass was sent to you guys to replace them.

I think I have the same Norstrand pups, 4 string version, on my 4 string jazz and really like the sound and they sound great on the Roscoe. I'm just curious of the differences and trying to understand why someone would want to switch them.
 
#7,234
bassfuser said:
Gard, Thanks for the reply.

The pups are Nordstrand NJ5FS. I'm not sure about the Bartolini. The guy I bought it from said the bass was sent to you guys to replace them.

I think I have the same Norstrand pups, 4 string version, on my 4 string jazz and really like the sound and they sound great on the Roscoe. I'm just curious of the differences and trying to understand why someone would want to switch them.
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See, this is what I get not referring to the photo. :D

OK, the Barts are the 57J1's, which is their humbucking (side-by-side with rails) set. They are a bit "modern-y" sounding compared to a "traditional" J pickup, and WAY quieter (as in dead silent). I find them just a bit cleaner and compressed when compared to most other J's, but not to the level of a set of soapbar pickups. I'm not super familiar with that set of Nords, but I bet there are a few of the guys in here that are and will pipe in, soon. :) At a guess, I'd guess they're a bit more "traditional" sounding, more open (not compressed) and a bit edgier/bite-y-er.
 
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#7,235
bassfuser said:
Gard, Thanks for the reply.

The pups are Nordstrand NJ5FS. I'm not sure about the Bartolini. The guy I bought it from said the bass was sent to you guys to replace them.

I think I have the same Norstrand pups, 4 string version, on my 4 string jazz and really like the sound and they sound great on the Roscoe. I'm just curious of the differences and trying to understand why someone would want to switch them.
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I can speak from experience, leave the Nordstrand Pickups in the bass. The first thing I did with my old Century JJ after a week, I yanked the Barts, they just sounded to thin and lacked good punch. The Nords produce a tone very close to a single coil pickup without the hum. The Nords have a nice open tone and a fuller range over the Barts.

The crazy thing about Bart J pickups, the slim 6 string version sounds amazing in my friends SKB3006 but the standard J pickups are a bit disappointing.
 
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#7,237
A bit late to post about this, but it's finally close to "done" for now. I had this fretless CS4J made for me back in 2012. I later sold it with no regret, but having sold my other fretless and still having a fondness for it when I saw it come up for sale I had to contact the seller. We were able to work out a deal, and I had him send it to Roscoe for a once over and PLEK.

When I got it back from them it played better than ever. I subsequently have swapped out electronics for a set of Nordstrand Big J-Blades (warm and wooly wind) and Nordstrand 2B preamp + V/V/T controls. It sounds fantastic and I couldn't imagine a more perfect fretless to have.

FullSizeRender 8.jpg
 
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#7,238
Jeff Moote said:
A bit late to post about this, but it's finally close to "done" for now. I had this fretless CS4J made for me back in 2012. I later sold it with no regret, but having sold my other fretless and still having a fondness for it when I saw it come up for sale I had to contact the seller. We were able to work out a deal, and I had him send it to Roscoe for a once over and PLEK.

When I got it back from them it played better than ever. I subsequently have swapped out electronics for a set of Nordstrand Big J-Blades (warm and wooly wind) and Nordstrand 2B preamp + V/V/T controls. It sounds fantastic and I couldn't imagine a more perfect fretless to have.

View attachment 2156654
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I haven't tried the Big J-Blades yet. I am curious to the noise level, are they on par with most single coils or are they quieter?

I really want to try the Delano JC TF 'Times Square' Jazz Bass Pickups but even with my discount the price is over $300 for the set which has stopped me from pulling the trigger.
 
#7,240
Jeff Moote said:
A bit late to post about this, but it's finally close to "done" for now. I had this fretless CS4J made for me back in 2012. I later sold it with no regret, but having sold my other fretless and still having a fondness for it when I saw it come up for sale I had to contact the seller. We were able to work out a deal, and I had him send it to Roscoe for a once over and PLEK.

When I got it back from them it played better than ever. I subsequently have swapped out electronics for a set of Nordstrand Big J-Blades (warm and wooly wind) and Nordstrand 2B preamp + V/V/T controls. It sounds fantastic and I couldn't imagine a more perfect fretless to have.

View attachment 2156654
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Very cool Jeff! I remember when you had that one made.
I really like the idea of the small dots on the face of the finger board. I bet that really helps playing in the upper register.

Congrats!
 

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