@SteveC are you sure you wouldn't just compare that neck to your century? They are quite different (4 vs 5, classic vs modern shape, string spacing, etc.).
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Roscoe Club
- Thread starter JOME77
- Start date
Probably. Again, this is a reason I haven’t pulled the trigger on anything. I might like a 4 string if it were the right one, but it would take a while for me to decide/get used to it. I am very used to using my 5 string. Much of what I play could be done on a 4 string, save a handful of cover band stuff and the occasional “emphasis” notes at church. Sometimes I’ll do a set and never touch the B string. Sometimes I use it every song.
I guess I like having an “all in one” bass where I know I have all my options. Use the B, don’t use the B. Front pup, bump the mids on the eq and play closer to the fingerboard and I have a “P-ish” sound.
Rear pup, play by closer to the bridge, maybe bump the bass a little and I have a burpy jazz tone. Leave it flat and sound like a Roscoe. When I go liking for something, I’m usually trying to fix something that ain’t broke.
Last edited:
They are really nice. Beautiful workmanship. But in the world of boutiques, I’m a Roscoe man!
I guess that's one area where we differ. I don't have multiple basses for back ups. I have multiple bass to acquire different sounds and vibes for different genres of music. I play different when I pick up my Roscoe 5 with RW's than I do when I play one of my 4 string P-basses with flats (or my fretless). I'm not into redundancy. In 45 years of playing I can't remember a time when I had a bass break (other than maybe a string).
As for the feel of your Roscoe 5 string neck, yeah I agree, not a better feeling 5 out there. But a 4 string Fender feels like home too. It's far less stress on my left hand than any 5.
But hey, if a 5 string is you''re only thing, then get another one (or 2) and install different strings on them and enter a new world of inspiration.
My take exactly. I have multiple Basses to achieve different tones. I play in three different groups regularly and they each have unique musical needs that leads me to use different Basses on different gigs. Two bands actually tune to Eb so I have Basses set up for those bands in Eb but my main gig and nearly all of my sub work or show gigs are in E. Could I do it all with one bass..... yes but I feel having different tools that suit different jobs allows me to be better at my craft.
And Roscoe provides such a wide plethora of instrument choices that they really are a primo builder for players with a wide variety of musical needs.
Preach! You are the one making the art, and you should be happy doing it. It's not just about the audience, the genre, or the difficulty of the music (ok, it's sometimes about the difficulty).
Good morning to all TBers writing on this Roscoe section of the forum.
As I stated some time ago, I am considering buying an LG 5 Custom and, hence, I was searching YouTube to find some actual footage of a similar Roscoe bass played ... what I found in reality is much more.
There's a Thai bass-player, KenG, who tested several high-end basses on a tune of his, the comparison being quite interesting in my opinion as KenG managed to be consistent in his playing passing from one instrument to another ...
Amongst the basses which I found interesting to listen to (at least because they cover the boutique sector) KenG played the following ones:
1) Roscoe LG 3005 -->
2) Fodera Yin Yang Standard -->
3) Zon Sonus Special 5 -->
4) Spector Coda 5 DLX -->
5) Ken Smith BSR 5 EG -->
6) Warwick Thumb BO 5 -->
7) Tobias Classic 5 -->
8) Sadowsky Metroline MV5 Will Lee -->
The best sounding basses to me were the Roscoe and the Tobias; they have the rich bassy sound I'm looking for.
Good tone (not the slap one IMO) from the Ken Smith soapbar pickups; good tone from the Fodera, although clearly different; best jazz-like tone goes to the Sadowsky bass ... Warwick and Sonus in these demos sound bad IMO.
Overall best goes to the Roscoe however, a little growlier than the Tobias ...
What do you think?
As I stated some time ago, I am considering buying an LG 5 Custom and, hence, I was searching YouTube to find some actual footage of a similar Roscoe bass played ... what I found in reality is much more.
There's a Thai bass-player, KenG, who tested several high-end basses on a tune of his, the comparison being quite interesting in my opinion as KenG managed to be consistent in his playing passing from one instrument to another ...
Amongst the basses which I found interesting to listen to (at least because they cover the boutique sector) KenG played the following ones:
1) Roscoe LG 3005 -->
2) Fodera Yin Yang Standard -->
3) Zon Sonus Special 5 -->
4) Spector Coda 5 DLX -->
5) Ken Smith BSR 5 EG -->
6) Warwick Thumb BO 5 -->
7) Tobias Classic 5 -->
8) Sadowsky Metroline MV5 Will Lee -->
The best sounding basses to me were the Roscoe and the Tobias; they have the rich bassy sound I'm looking for.
Good tone (not the slap one IMO) from the Ken Smith soapbar pickups; good tone from the Fodera, although clearly different; best jazz-like tone goes to the Sadowsky bass ... Warwick and Sonus in these demos sound bad IMO.
Overall best goes to the Roscoe however, a little growlier than the Tobias ...
What do you think?
Really enjoyed the videos and seeing how different they all sound. To me the Roscoe, Smith and Tobias was head and shoulder better for what I like tonally. I thought the Sadowsky sounded terrible and not what I like at all. I hate to say it but the Smith probably sounded best to me as that’s the first time I’ve really heard a good final sample for them.
KenG made the videos not me (I'm not able to play like him; I'm more of an mature jazzy guy, not really interested in the, somehow boring, slapping thing) .. I'm just bringing them to the knowledge of the readers of this thread as a Roscoe bass is involved .. clearly the basses are of different make and model; I'm not dreaming nor I'm interested in stating what bass sounds better, as it is all a matter of personal preferences and inclinations (aside from the fact that, on the videos, the Sonus and Warwick basses sound objectively bad ... on the videos of course) .. I just stated what I personally found liking to listen to ... however I believe one can clearly notice that, aside from the Sonus model tested, basses equipped with large, soap-bar pickups (especially the Roscoe and the Tobias, sharing the same pickups brand and likely the same preamp brand) do exhibit a certain kind of tone whereas, for example, the Fodera sounds in a different way, although always good, and the two jazz bass copies from Spector and Sadowsky have clearly got the trademark sound of a jazz bass, which, allow me to say, I claim to know very well ...
You stated that your Roscoe bass, if my understanding is correct, doesn't sound at all like the one in the video .. it's a pity for me as, with two Bartolini humbuckers, that was almost exactly the sound I was expecting to hear and looking for (the model I'm looking at has got two Bartolini MM-style pickups) ...
Too bad .. waiting for additional opinions/replies then ..
My take-away from these videos is don’t go by just these sound clips as a determining factor for making your purchasing selection from these brands or basses. IJS
Last edited:
No issues .. however it will be difficult for me to test-drive the model I have in mind as it is in a store in UK (magnificent store I should say, but not in Italy unfortunately) ... anyway, I bought a lot of stuff sight-unseen for more than what the store is asking for this bass, so I may take some risks, also based on the excellent news about the way Roscoe's necks are designed and manufactured.
I've probably mentioned this, but a few years ago I got to play quite a few high end basses in a shop in Tokyo. All super high end stuff. In the end I kept going back to a Roscoe with Barts. For my taste, it's just the sound and feel that I prefer. It was amazing. I don't currently own a Roscoe, but have had 3 different ones in the past. If money allowed I'd have another. For a darker, low/low mid focused, creamy, dynamic sound (standard Bartolini setup)....they really can't be beat....The only other bass that day that blew me away was a Carl Thompson....that was a magical bass and a very different thing.
Last edited:
I will say that for myself it would have been impossible for me to try anything other than your standard Ibanez, Fender and Music Man basses. That is all I have within a 3 hour drive in any direction from my house. So by listening to numerous videos, feedback from owners and TB members and trading and selling numerous basses over the last 10 years I have had the chance to find what works for me. It also opened me up to a new world of bass gear that is far better than anything I imagined when playing my Ibanez and MM basses for years. Sometimes you don’t have the opportunity to lay hands on high end gear without taking a leap of faith and making a educated buy.
Last edited:
That's the great thing about Roscoes (and some other high-end gear, but not all): quality control and consistency is so great, that it is not much risk to buy a Roscoe 'sight unseen', without playing it, etc. I've been fortunate enough to buy 7 Roscoes without hearing them first, and I am even more fortunate to still have 5. No cable TV (and various other sacrifices), but I have some 'tools of the trade' for my various different performance opportunities.
That would be a fun topic: what did you 'sell/go without/give up' so you could buy another Roscoe?
A ton of variations around the P/Jazz bass concepts, but nobody is buying themThat's the great thing about Roscoes (and some other high-end gear, but not all): quality control and consistency is so great, that it is not much risk to buy a Roscoe 'sight unseen', without playing it, etc. I've been fortunate enough to buy 7 Roscoes without hearing them first, and I am even more fortunate to still have 5. No cable TV (and various other sacrifices), but I have some 'tools of the trade' for my various different performance opportunities.
That would be a fun topic: what did you 'sell/go without/give up' so you could buy another Roscoe?
Note:
Ads. on an Italian specialized site, not on TB.. just to be precise.
Yes.
Thank you for putting that, as that is what I think we need a lot more video/sound clips of bass related stuff as opposed to all the "talk".. Lets let the proof be in the pudding as they say..
And for those that say "you need to try them in real life..", well, yes, however if you can't take the sound of the bass in a video clip, then that probably isn't the bass you want anyway haha. (assuming the recording is of decent quality and now-a-days almost all phones record pretty darn good for the crap mics in them)
I mean I proved it to myself when I used to watch videos of basses and liked some and hated most, then I recorded my own bass with my Iphone/Android phone and put it up on youtube and you know what I found out?? I found out my bass sounded darn good from a stupid phone recording..
Try it, record your own bass and amp combo and put it on youtube and then listen to it with good headphones/speakers. I use a Bose speaker and Bose headphones connected to my computer when I listen to Youtube videos by the way..
Anyway, point is I enjoyed the Videos, and I'm upset there was no F-Bass to compare! Where is the F-Bass video!!?? haha
Because I've tried quite a few basses as well, and I so far only like Roscoe and F-bass!
I'm about to try a Kiesel bass though.. so I can let you know how those are soon!
also here is a couple of mine I was talking about:
Besides the strings being dead and I need to change them, it's pretty darn articulate wouldn't you say?
The second video is too low volume so you'll have to turn up the volume on the 2nd video.
I don't know if you guys like the sound or not, but I do like the sound of this bass as it sounds like a "Bass!" haha I didn't need to tweak knobs or anything, Everything flat and just center, same with amp.. So I hope you all get to hear and see the proof in the pudding now about "crappy recordings" or you need to "try the bass in real life"..
Last edited:
Since you're in Italy, what about Manne? My buddy Daniele plays them. Incredible basses. Will be a very different sound than a Roscoe for sure though.A ton of variations around the P/Jazz bass concepts, but nobody is buying them
Note:
Ads. on an Italian specialized site, not on TB.. just to be precise.
I've been tempted by F-Bass recently myself, haven't tried one yet though...Because I've tried quite a few basses as well, and I so far only like Roscoe and F-bass!
Well, I liked the Roscoe best of course. I also liked the Ken Smith. I had a couple of those a long time ago and thought they were fine basses. Probably my first time with a "boutique" bass. The nicest "jazz" I've played was a Sadowsky - 4 string not 5. I didn't like the Sadowsky 5 jazz that I had. IMHO, there isn't another neck (5 string anyway) that plays and feels like a Roscoe. It's one reason I haven't purchased another bass in a while.
