Which are different than doobie highs
In which case, every preamp sounds groovy man. I can dig it!
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Roscoe Club
- Thread starter JOME77
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In which case, every preamp sounds groovy man. I can dig it!
Demeter is by far my favorite preamp in a Roscoe. Not everyone cup o tea but for me it had the magic
Since the discussion is about Glock, Demeter, and Bartolini preamps in a Roscoe, far be it from me to introduce the Nordstrand preamp into the comparison.
Mine, too. I’ve got a build under way. He still has a couple but doesn’t want to install because of previous issues with them.
I begged him to put one in my build and he wouldn’t either. Said he didn’t trust them anymore after having a lot of issues with them.
Well, I used to have a Demeter (Roscoe) in a Roscoe LG. It was okay, but I had to send it back to James, and it arrived with short stem pots too short to fit a Roscoe.
I’ve since replaced that Demeter with a Nordstrand 3-A in the Roscoe, and installed the Demeter into a MTD Kingston ZX5. Couldn’t be happier with the moves!
I’ve since replaced that Demeter with a Nordstrand 3-A in the Roscoe, and installed the Demeter into a MTD Kingston ZX5. Couldn’t be happier with the moves!
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Lol. Mine has a factory installed Aguilar preamp (J style bass).
Speaking of which I have to get in touch with Keith. I love this bass but there are some major issues with the electronics to sort out (18v system dies within a week, after placing batteries there is severe static all over the pickguard and pickups, the cavity on the back for the batteries wasn't cut large enough to actually install batteries, the pickups are stuck and don't adjust up properly). Also the pickguard (and thus cavities) isn't sheilded which really surprised me for a 3k botique bass. I really do love the vibe and tone but need to dig some on this. I wonder if it's when I emailed Keith with some initial issues with wiring he said he couldn't ask the tech because he no longer worked there?
Well I will then.
The Nordstrand 3B-4a has replaced the Demeter preamp as my favorite in a Roscoe. I love them both but the Nord pre is far more versatile than the Demeter. It doesn't quite have the glassy highs like the Demeter but the highs are very smooth sounding and with the passive tone control you can really quickly dial in a very modern or vintage sound. Add to that a very usable passive sound and you've got the whole package.
Hummm.
Do you have a Classic model? I've not heard of battery compartment size issues on any of the Custom or STD's. If it's an early Classic I could probably understand it because they did evolve a bit in the area of the Battery area (and probably in the pickup routing area's too; which would explain your inability to adjust the pickup height).
As for shielding in the battery compartment, mine are all shielded. Again, if it's an early Classic model maybe that area has evolved too.
I know the guy that did the wiring for Keith (Rik) did leave the company but the last time I spoke to Keith Rik still worked for him 1 day a week wiring up his basses. If the problem isn't in the wiring of your output jack then you have a bad pre. I've heard of a few bad Aguilars pre's lately with that same issue (Roscoe's). But it still could be in the wiring of the output jack because I never heard fromm the owners what the fix was.
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Yeah. They are still made on that primitive PCB covered with a piece of large heat shrink. Keith and Gard tired to talk him into going the epoxy module but he didn't want to spend the upfront money to get it done.
I'm not even sure that he's making them anymore. last time I talked to him he hesitantly agreed to make me one, and like Ray, mine arrived with panel mount pots that wouldn't extended through the thickness of the wood of my Roscoe.
Yeah it's a classic J that is new. It was an artist build and I bought it on here after thr owner decided it wasn't for him. He never used the preamp.
Good to know on the preamp. I think it likely has to be a bad one. The sheilding thing I mentioned was that I was surprised that not even the backside of the pickguard was sheilded (even cheap Chinese aftermarket ones are) and on higher end jazz basses cavity sheilding may also be done. It's not the end of the world and the noise level of the bass I can assess once the preamp is sorted out.
The battery compartment on the back simply needs to be slightly bigger and deeper which also surprised me. No matter what I do I can't get the batteries all the way in and the cover back on. Just an ovrersight I'm sure. Anyway I wasn't trying to whine I just thought these were unusual issues for a builder of this quality. Thanks for the response. I'll see what Keith says.
Right! The bulk design does make it hard to install. Making a wiring jig to fit the target bass helps in cutting the wiring for a custom fit, which was what I had planned to do when I first received it.
I've owned three, all Century Standard 5-strings. My since-departed mahogany JB was the first, and did a lot of gigs.. my cocobolo-top headless is a stunner and sounds fantastic.. but I gotta say the best Roscoe I've owned is my fretless. Ash body, primavera top, Bartolini MM pickup, skinny neck profile, and most important -- diamondwood fingerboard. It absolutely sings, even in my hands.
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Found this post on a search - was researching Diamondwood and I'm finding that it's pretty popular and sounds good. I have a fretless in the works now (SKB 5 fretless with diamondwood board - no lines - only tabs and dots on top edge of board) and didn't know much about Diamondwood. My last fretless was a conversion and the board was pau ferro, so I had the clear poly finish applied. From what I'm reading, this diamondwood is durable and sounds great.
What say you all with fretless / diamondwood boards?
I love mine!
Diamondwood, Phenowood and Rockwood are by far the best materials for fretless boards.
Can you say “mwah and growl”?
With my Curbow (w/Rockwood), I can achieve better 'guitar' tones than many of the guitars I have played.
My Rob Allen with Ebony fb sounds pretty amazing. Rob knows how to build a fretless that has that upright voice and the “mwah” is off the charts!
I don’t know how the Ebony holds up over years of playing on the regular and I guess I won’t be able to find out.
