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Roscoe Club

#11,781
JohnnyR said:
"Standard" neck on a Roscoe Custom (Purpleheart center)
View attachment 3443380


Upgraded neck with Wenge center on a Custom
View attachment 3443379

"Wedge" neck on a Roscoe Signature
View attachment 3443381
Click to expand...

I love that Wenge Maple Wenge neck and would love to have a Roscoe one day with that setup. Wenge makes a huge difference tonally I'm convinced. That Goncola Alves Roscoe of mine sounds amazing with the wenge fretboard and Mahogany body. I never knew a bass could get so much lowend and still have the growl and clarity to cut through a mix.
 
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#11,782
A few years ago I began noticing Michael Tobias using a lot of wenge in his necks and fretboards. Not many other luthiers were using it at the time. I began wondering if Mr. Tobias was on to something. Apparently he has good ears for picking woods.

I will scratch my wenge itch with my new build. Wenge wedge neck with a wenge fretboard. Keith said he’ll add a veneer between the two. It could turn out to be wenge overload, but I really want to hear this combo. Every time I’ve played a bass with wenge in the neck or fretboard, it impressed me tonally.
 
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#11,783
I had a MTD with Wenge neck and it was my favorite MTD of the 6 I've had over the years. Love wenge necks.

My current Roscoe has the maple/wenge/maple neck with wenge fretboard and it is my favorite combo of the Roscoes I've had. One of my Roscoes had the maple/wenge/maple neck with birdseye maple fingerboard and that was probably my second favorite. All of my other ones had maple/purple heart/maple necks.... I think.
 
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#11,786
Bassworship1 said:
I had a Ibanez Prestige 5005 that was Wenge body and Wenge neck and fretboard lol. That was the best production bass I’ve ever had. It’s nit my favorite wood looks wise but there’s no denying it sounds really goods
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Talk about wenge overload!:thumbsup: Mine will have a single piece swamp ash body. So there will be plenty of contrast visually.:cool:
 
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#11,788
My wenge/maple/wenge, wenge fretboard is my favorite of the 5 Roscoes I've had over the years, all the others being maple/purple heart/maple. Of course this one also has Noordies/Aggie, so it's hard to say it's only the wenge. These days I tend to favor a bit of growl in my tone (my last purchase being a Mike Lull Thunderbird T5) so I'm sensing a trend).

That said, a Phat Phuk will also put a little hair in your tone, but also might take a little bass out. The good news is, most Roscoes have plenty to spare.

My second favorite Roscoe was a fairly rare (AFAIK) 2 band SKB 3005, which had maple/purple heart/maple, spalted purple heart board.
 
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#11,793
The customs and signatures are nice, with all their curves and glossy finishes and fancy necks, but I’ll put my standard plus up against any of them in looks and playability and sound. That’s what I like about Roscoe. My “standard” bass had it’s neck fit to it’s body just like a signature. I think Keith even did the frets on it. Same guys. Same shop. Standard or Signature.
 
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#11,795
Bassworship1 said:
I love that Wenge Maple Wenge neck and would love to have a Roscoe one day with that setup. Wenge makes a huge difference tonally I'm convinced. That Goncola Alves Roscoe of mine sounds amazing with the wenge fretboard and Mahogany body. I never knew a bass could get so much lowend and still have the growl and clarity to cut through a mix.
Click to expand...

Purpleheart is a great wood for neck construction. It's strong, stable, rigid, not brittle or course, and finishes very nicely.

Wenge takes rigidity to another level but it does have drawbacks. It's more expensive, has a more course texture and has more open grain. The more open grain can make finishing a bit of a challenge sometimes. But IMHO it's worth it.

When I ordered my Century Custom it included a Wenge tone plate (between the Mahogany body and Walnut top), Wenge neck center and a Wenge fingerboard.

Good stuff

;)
 
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#11,796
JohnnyR said:
Purpleheart is a great wood for neck construction. It's strong, stable, rigid, not brittle or course, and finishes very nicely.

Wenge takes rigidity to another level but it does have drawbacks. It's more expensive, has a more course texture and has more open grain. The more open grain can make finishing a bit of a challenge sometimes. But IMHO it's worth it.

When I ordered my Century Custom it included a Wenge tone plate (between the Mahogany body and Walnut top), Wenge neck center and a Wenge fingerboard.

Good stuff

;)
Click to expand...
All the wenge...

My understanding too is that it is difficult to work with and even dangerous (splinters can cause sepsis and dust is an irritant). But it does sound good...
 
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#11,798
Bassworship1 said:
I had a Ibanez Prestige 5005 that was Wenge body and Wenge neck and fretboard lol. That was the best production bass I’ve ever had. It’s nit my favorite wood looks wise but there’s no denying it sounds really goods
Click to expand...

I had a 6 banger of that model (actually where I met you Shane) and there's no denying that those are really good sounding basses! Tight spacing on the 6 (16.5mm) but they play and sound incredible.
 
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#11,799
Did someone say "post a pic of the back of a Roscoe wedge wenge Sig neck"?

Hummm..... maybe not but .....

IMG-0879.JPG
 
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