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Roscoe Club

#7,841
smeet said:
Yeah, I think I'll stick to P/J. I've seen J/MM combinations, but rarely P/MM. I assume there's a reason, but I don't know what it is. About the only ones I found on youtube were Haeussel Jake basses, which sounded good in the demos, and one for a Schecter.
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Another option besides the usual P/J would be a P/DC. Mike Lull has made a few with that combo
5978-FRONT-700.jpg

Greg @RocketMusic Demoed a 4-string version here

A year or two ago I tried one myself at Mike's shop and the pickups balance very well.
 
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#7,844
smeet said:
Hey all, I know there's a Roscoe Classic thread, but there's more people on this one so...

I just ordered a Classic PJ5 (Alder/Pau Ferro/Aguilar pickups and pre). Then Keith mentioned that they also do a P/MM, which is something I had never considered. It feels risky, since a PJ is a known quantity, and I really don't know what a P/MM would sound/feel like. Man, I was all set and decided and this new possibility has thrown me for a little bit of a loop...

I know either the P or the MM has to be moved from its sweet spot, so I might not get a true Stingray tone out of it. But if I could get a P and Stingray tone out of it, that would be amazing. But what does a blended P/MM tone sound like?

Can anybody offer any advice on the P/MM thing, compared to the P/J thing, especially as it might apply to a Roscoe 5er? Oh, the MM pickup would be an Aguilar as well if that makes a difference.
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A Classic PJ5 (Alder/Pau Ferro/Aguilar pickups and pre) is an excellent choice. Regarding the previous post, the MM location is only about 1/32" from its normal sweet spot, not enough to make a noticeable difference. I checked into it before doing one of my Clement builds. Here is a pic of one from another thread to show the position.
SPECTOR® Owners Club
There is also an excellent P/MM demo that Carey Nordstrand and Dan Lutz made which showcases all the tones the P/MM can provide. See 7:26 in where Carey mentions the MM position.
P/J or P/HB?
The MM is the Nordstrand Bigman in that demo but I'd go with the BigSplitMan which has a similar tone but two humcancelling coils. I'm curious what Keith would use in a Roscoe P/MM.
 
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#7,846
smeet said:
Hey all, I know there's a Roscoe Classic thread, but there's more people on this one so...

I just ordered a Classic PJ5 (Alder/Pau Ferro/Aguilar pickups and pre). Then Keith mentioned that they also do a P/MM, which is something I had never considered. It feels risky, since a PJ is a known quantity, and I really don't know what a P/MM would sound/feel like. Man, I was all set and decided and this new possibility has thrown me for a little bit of a loop...

I know either the P or the MM has to be moved from its sweet spot, so I might not get a true Stingray tone out of it. But if I could get a P and Stingray tone out of it, that would be amazing. But what does a blended P/MM tone sound like?

Can anybody offer any advice on the P/MM thing, compared to the P/J thing, especially as it might apply to a Roscoe 5er? Oh, the MM pickup would be an Aguilar as well if that makes a difference.
Click to expand...


I don't remember playing any brand bass with the P/MM combo. I did own a Roscoe with the J/MM configuration. It was a very bright sounding combo. Very different than the traditional Roscoe tone. I can't remember the Bart model of the MM pickup that Roscoe installs (as their STD MM) but it didn't sound anything like a MM (which I've owned several of). IMO, the P pickup might actually sound better than the J pickup with the MM. As I remember when I soloed the J neck pickup the bass took on a very acoustic tone (that bass did have a very light Spanish Cedar body though; see discussion above on SP body Roscoe's).

We'd all love for you to give a P/MM Roscoe a try though. Then you could tell us how it sounds. :)
 
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#7,853
I just have a hard time with $250+ for a gig bag. The Contego ($125) I had (still do) and used for a long time is still in decent shape and has really nice and convenient (in my opinion) storage. It can "vertically load" like Mono so maybe I'll explore this option more. I like the Roscoe bags a lot but things wear out and it's fun to change it up. I don't mind advertising for Roscoe but maybe a more discrete bag wouldn't be bad...not that anyone around here really knows what a Roscoe bass is.
 

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