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Roscoe Club

I basically begged Keith to put a Demeter in my Cocobolo Roscoe really bad 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.
Yikes. Sorry to hear that. I was using them years ago and never had a problem.
 
My Blue Roscoe got a little TV airtime this week lol.
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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.

I tried a Classic P/J with Honey Badgers a couple of years ago at Rocket and it sounded fabulous - unfortunately Honey Badger is no more.
 
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Those of you commenting on the Bart CB or Roscoe Bart pickups being too dark or muffled for your tastes - I've posted this before, but in the 3 Roscoes I still have with those humbucker listed, I unsoldered one coil from each pickup. I love how they sound (both the CB and Roscoe Barts) in 'single coil mode'. I've never looked back. Tere was one time where I resoldered the full Roscoe Bart humbuckers in my century signature, but I quickly put them back to single coil.

I should also note you could make this switchable with a switch or push/pull, I believe, but i didn't want to add holes at the time.
 
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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!

Thats awesome. The bass I owned was actually built for one of James assistants at Demeter. I inquired bc it had pink bass strings. Gard said they sent it as a joke but the owner loved the tone and kept them. Last I heard she lived in Northern California at a winery doing jazz gigs.
 
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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.

You can order one from Demeter, just spec the Roscoe version. I wasn't aware of qc issues but had heard James was an arse and a half to deal with, maybe that played a part
 
What is your favorite wood/electronics combo for a Roscoe? Years ago I had one that was a one piece (!) Myrtlewood body with the standard maple/purpleheart neck and I think a two tone purpleheart board. Roscoe Barts and a Demeter preamp. Just incredible.
I like the ash body with exotic Top with standard Purple Heart maple neck and Paduk board or Wenge. I have an ash body and Cedar body SKB and the Ash is a bit snappier. I like both for different reasons .... but Bart/Bart setup is the beast to me
 

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You know, based on the comments about "our favorite wood combo's" I'd say all of us enjoy our Roscoe's. Regardless of the various flavors they still sound like a Roscoe.
I think a lot of the Roscoe sound is built into the neck and the choice of body wood, finger board and pu/pre tempers the overall sound.
  • Ash body=more aggressive midrange
  • Spanish Cedar body=more acoustic/smoother
  • Mahogany body=phat sounding/nice lows
  • add wenge to the neck=natural compression and growl
  • Roscoe Bart pu's=more compressed tone
  • Bart CB's=more open
  • Bart Pre= darker compressed tone
  • Aguilar OPB3 pre=more open aggressive tone
and on and on ...............

I know that I've owned them in just about every combo available and I've got to say that I've never owned a bad sounding Roscoe. You certainly can't say that about many brands!
 
You know, based on the comments about "our favorite wood combo's" I'd say all of us enjoy our Roscoe's. Regardless of the various flavors they still sound like a Roscoe.
I think a lot of the Roscoe sound is built into the neck and the choice of body wood, finger board and pu/pre tempers the overall sound.
  • Ash body=more aggressive midrange
  • Spanish Cedar body=more acoustic/smoother
  • Mahogany body=phat sounding/nice lows
  • add wenge to the neck=natural compression and growl
  • Roscoe Bart pu's=more compressed tone
  • Bart CB's=more open
  • Bart Pre= darker compressed tone
  • Aguilar OPB3 pre=more open aggressive tone
and on and on ...............

I know that I've owned them in just about every combo available and I've got to say that I've never owned a bad sounding Roscoe. You certainly can't say that about many brands!
Traditionally ash has more pronounced highs and lows, resulting in a slightly scooped midrange. That's what gives it that "snap". This varies from piece to piece of course, but across the board that's it's general character.
 
Traditionally ash has more pronounced highs and lows, resulting in a slightly scooped midrange. That's what gives it that "snap". This varies from piece to piece of course, but across the board that's it's general character.

Never thought of ash as having a scooped midrange. All of mine have had a boost in the upper mids. Most have been Roscoes though.
 
Since I'm jamming regular with a couple guys doing classic rock tunes I thought that I'd work a little on one of the new tunes that they wanted to play. The song is Zeppelin's "Good Times Bad Times". I was never much of a Zeppelin fan growing up. Not sure why, but it might have had to do with the fact that we never had a singer that could pull off Plant's crazy vocals. At any rate I never listened that much to John Paul Jones bass playing. I was surprised to see that he was quite good. At any rate I've been working on the tune this week (as well as "The Crunge") and removed most of the bass from the recording (using GoldWave). I've been working on it using my Fenders and thought that I'd try to see how close I could get to that "P-Bass on steroids" that Bass Player magazine talked about in their bass shoot-out in 92-93.
Now I know that JPJ used a Fender Jazz put I prefer the sound of a P-Bass.:)

After recording the part with my Roscoe 3005 (full neck PU with an upper mid boost) and recording the part with my 50's RW P-Bass I'm hearing quite a difference. Granted the P-Bass has La Bella flats and the Roscoe has D'addario XL Nickel RW's but I still would expect that classic P-Bass sound (which IMO is quite good with rounds or flats).

I'm sure that it would have been a better comparison if I had the same strings loaded on both basses but do you guys think that the Roscoe sounds like a P-Bass at all?
 

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1) Your Roscoe sounds better than a P (what else did you think I'd say?).
2) The Roscoe is more present in the mix on my studio monitors and headphones.
3) It might be an instance of higher mix level with the Roscoe, string choice, or?
4) Good job taking on a LZep tune. Most bands and musicians avoid that due to lack of skill for any of/all the playing positions.

Lol
I figured the sound of the Roscoe would get the nod on the Roscoe thread!:)
But do you think it sounds like a P bass with rounds?
That’s what I was going for.
IMO the sound of the P bass with flats is a broader sound while the Roscoe is more focused. Probably greatly influenced by the strings.
 
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I often do the “neck pickup, mid boost treble rolled off about half thing” al the time for my “P” bass tone. It works well.
I do have an old Mustang with flats that I use for jazz gigs and singer/songwriter stuff. Still almost always prefer my Roscoe...even if it isn’t “exactly the time, it’s usually close enough in my situations.