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Roscoe Club

#12,221
J2Kbass said:
I also prefer an Alder body with a maple top. But with Pau Ferro board. I’ve played 2 with that combo and both were GREAT. But I also prefer the wenge in the back of the neck as opposed to the Purple Heart. I’ve had my LG5 with alder/maple/Pau Ferro/Bart single coils/Aguilar obp1 for 5 years and it’s never leaving me.

I also owned a mahogany body, cocobolo top, and birds eye board. By far the most beautiful bass I’ll ever own. But sound wise... it was lacking to my preferences and I sold it.

Jome77 had one of the best roscoes I’ve played. I believe it was a walnut top? Cocobolo board? Mahogany body? You remember that six string Joe? That thing was awesome.

Every bass is different. Even with the same woods. But I’d say it’s safe to stick with what one likes.

I also love the obp 1. But I’ve never liked the obp3. To each their own.
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Definitely remember that one Keith! Killer 6 string. Total work of art too.
I've I had stayed a 6 string guy it would have been the one that I landed on for the long haul.

mahaganut.jpg


emjazz said:
I also had had three Roscoes...all in a row. I remember one had a mahogany body with the bart/bart setup and one had spanish cedar with bart/bart. The spanish cedar was atrocious.....couldn't be heard in a mix at all...super compressed and soft sounding. Total drag. Every other Roscoe that I've played has been amazing though.
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KaseOfBass said:
Interesting. The SKB 5 I had with a Spanish Cedar body was definitely the most mild-mannered Roscoe of my three. I had always thought it was more of the Bart/Bart combo, but maybe not.
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It's been my experience that the sound of Spanish cedar and Roscoe's can vary quite a bit. Typically the heavier pieces sound really nice. The lighter pieces can be a bit too acoustic sounding and really lack definition (or sound "soft" as Andy states). The best Spanish cedar bodied Roscoe that I had weighed around 11-12 lbs. It had a great focused sound.
Of course the overall sound also differed based on the top wood and neck/finger board woods too.
 
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#12,223
JOME77 said:
Does it have the X5 or typical Jazz pickups?

Here's a pic of the X5 Bart:
View attachment 3479375

Most have the typical Jazz shape. I would suspect that it would be one of the Standard models. Just measure the basic dims the pickups on yours and match them up (with one in the pic).

View attachment 3479377
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I should have mentioned that the current pickups are bartolini singularities in the soap bar shell. I guess my question should be what is the normal pickup size on the LG3005 loaded with the custom bart soapbars?
 
#12,226
JOME77 said:
Definitely remember that one Keith! Killer 6 string. Total work of art too.
I've I had stayed a 6 string guy it would have been the one that I landed on for the long haul.

View attachment 3479378





It's been my experience that the sound of Spanish cedar and Roscoe's can vary quite a bit. Typically the heavier pieces sound really nice. The lighter pieces can be a bit too acoustic sounding and really lack definition (or sound "soft" as Andy states). The best Spanish cedar bodied Roscoe that I had weighed around 11-12 lbs. It had a great focused sound.
Of course the overall sound also differed based on the top wood and neck/finger board woods too.
Click to expand...
Exactly this. Mine was very light, and matched with the Bart/Bart combo it was very acoustic, soft and compressed. I was playing with a songwriter at the time. That bass was flipped immediately. These things happen though. I'm sure with a different set of pickups and/or preamp it would have evened everything out really nicely.
 
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#12,227
Bassworship1 said:
I know I will go against the grain here but I believe I like the Aguilar OBP-3 preamp paired with Roscoe Barts over the Bart Preamp. They both sound good but I believe the Aggie adds a little more clarity over the Bart Preamp.
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That’s a good way of describing it. I’m not a fan of the OBP-3 myself, but you’re right, it was a lot clearer than the Bart NTMB, which imho allows more burp/punch/growl to come through... that’s why there’s several to choose from :D

I am curious about the Demeter though...
 
#12,228
MattLplaysBass said:
That’s a good way of describing it. I’m not a fan of the OBP-3 myself, but you’re right, it was a lot clearer than the Bart NTMB, which imho allows more burp/punch/growl to come through... that’s why there’s several to choose from :D

I am curious about the Demeter though...
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If you don't want open and clear tone then the Demeter wouldn't be for you either from what I've read from those that have used them in their Roscoe's.
 
#12,229
Bassworship1 said:
If you don't want open and clear tone then the Demeter wouldn't be for you either from what I've read from those that have used them in their Roscoe's.
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The Demeter and Aguilar are totally different sounding.

Love the Demeter. It has glassy highs, clear and smooth mids and lows... The Aguilar in a word is aggressive sounding and IMO just doesn't match up well with Bart pu's.

Just my opinion but I do put my money where my mouth is!:D

Been there, done it and sold the bass (or changed out the pre).
 
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#12,230
For what it’s worth, I do like the Aguilar OPB-3 with Nordstrand PU’s. I also really like with Aguilar PU’s The best Aguilar pre/Aguilar PU combo that I heard on a Roscoe was Greg’s (Rocketmusic) Signature Roscoe with the Aguilar JJ configuration with the OPB-2 (I believe). It sounded great!!! Not sure which model Aguilar Pickups that Greg had installed.

If I was going with a preamp other than the Bart 3-band with Roscoe Barts (or CB’s) I’d go:

1) Demeter

2) Pope Flexcore

3) East

4) Nordstand

In that order.
 
#12,231
JOME77 said:
For what it’s worth, I do like the Aguilar OPB-3 with Nordstrand PU’s. I also really like with Aguilar PU’s The best Aguilar pre/Aguilar PU combo that I heard on a Roscoe was Greg’s (Rocketmusic) Signature Roscoe with the Aguilar JJ configuration with the OPB-2 (I believe). It sounded great!!! Not sure which model Aguilar Pickups that Greg had installed.

If I was going with a preamp other than the Bart 3-band with Roscoe Barts (or CB’s) I’d go:

1) Demeter

2) Pope Flexcore

3) East

4) Nordstand

In that order.
Click to expand...

They do sound best with Nordstrand pickups IMO. Coincidentally the 2 best sounding Roscoes I've played have both had the Aguilar preamp paired with DCB Aggies and Roscoe Barts. It's not a huge difference but both have been great basses.
 
#12,232
JOME77 said:
It's been my experience that the sound of Spanish cedar and Roscoe's can vary quite a bit. Typically the heavier pieces sound really nice. The lighter pieces can be a bit too acoustic sounding and really lack definition (or sound "soft" as Andy states). The best Spanish cedar bodied Roscoe that I had weighed around 11-12 lbs. It had a great focused sound.
Of course the overall sound also differed based on the top wood and neck/finger board woods too.
Click to expand...

I think the one I had was around 9.5 lbs. Not super light, but definitely not heavy. Either way, I'd go with ash or mahogany over Spanish cedar just to be safe (and I certainly don't want a bass that weighs 11-12 lbs. :D).
 
#12,234
JOME77 said:
It's been my experience that the sound of Spanish cedar and Roscoe's can vary quite a bit. Typically the heavier pieces sound really nice. The lighter pieces can be a bit too acoustic sounding and really lack definition (or sound "soft" as Andy states). The best Spanish cedar bodied Roscoe that I had weighed around 11-12 lbs. It had a great focused sound.
Of course the overall sound also differed based on the top wood and neck/finger board woods too.
Click to expand...

Oh Crap! My SKB is Spanish Cedar and weighs less than 8 and 1/2 pounds. :eek:
 
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#12,236
JOME77 said:
For what it’s worth, I do like the Aguilar OPB-3 with Nordstrand PU’s. I also really like with Aguilar PU’s The best Aguilar pre/Aguilar PU combo that I heard on a Roscoe was Greg’s (Rocketmusic) Signature Roscoe with the Aguilar JJ configuration with the OPB-2 (I believe). It sounded great!!! Not sure which model Aguilar Pickups that Greg had installed.

If I was going with a preamp other than the Bart 3-band with Roscoe Barts (or CB’s) I’d go:

1) Demeter

2) Pope Flexcore

3) East

4) Nordstand

In that order.
Click to expand...
The East Pre would be such a great choice with the Roscoe Barts. I believe I started the whole Demeter pre in Roscoe basses (a long time ago). That's a really special match. For a more neutral, flexible preamp I'd probably try the East next. Great call.
 
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#12,237
emjazz said:
The East Pre would be such a great choice with the Roscoe Barts. I believe I started the whole Demeter pre in Roscoe basses (a long time ago). That's a really special match. For a more neutral, flexible preamp I'd probably try the East next. Great call.
Click to expand...

That's right Andy. You were the first to do the Demeter install and I was the second. We were all talking it up on the TB Roscoe forum so Keith and Gard had one of their CA dealers send a Roscoe to James Demeter and he tweaked the standard Demeter for a Roscoe (added the mid sw) and the rest is history. :)

Just a killer preamp in a Roscoe!
 
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#12,238
I basically begged Keith to put a Demeter in my Cocobolo Roscoe when I sent it in to be plek'd and have the pickups changed. Keith said he wouldn't install them anymore or recommend because their products had been terrible quality and just about everyone he installed would go bad or have issues. So I went with the Aggie pre and DCB pickups in it instead.
 
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#12,239
Nothing against anyone doing what they want of course, options are great, but I really think (for the “modern” basses anyway) that Roscoe/Bart is a thing.

Haven’t heard/played a classic so I can’t comment on what seems to be mostly Aguilar there.
 
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#12,240
JOME77 said:
That's right Andy. You were the first to do the Demeter install and I was the second. We were all talking it up on the TB Roscoe forum so Keith and Gard had one of their CA dealers send a Roscoe to James Demeter and he tweaked the standard Demeter for a Roscoe (added the mid sw) and the rest is history. :)

Just a killer preamp in a Roscoe!
Click to expand...
GREAT memory!! :)
 

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