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Roscoe Club
- Thread starter JOME77
- Start date
Uh oh- @bebass is coming in strong as a Roscoe dealer... no affiliation, fyi, just saw it on the fb and 
I may need to send my new spalted PJ back to Keith for some neck/bridge rework. I've been getting into transcribing some of Bach's cello suites to bass so I've been playing up higher on the neck than I normally do. As an aside, my old teacher used to have me do this to help with my ear, and to help develop my left hand fingering and muting techniques. But it was hard and I was young and it was tough and I was impatient so I gave up after a short time and followed elsewhere. Now I'm older and more patient, and my studiousness has much improved. I start off on the fretted, and then when I feel saucy I move to the fretless.
No matter what I do, I can't get the action low enough above the 12th fret on the fretted. The neck is straighter than an arrow ( it measures .005 inch of relief at the 7th fret when I capo the first fret and hold the 18th fret- where the neck meets the body), and below the 12th fret it's like butter. But when I get up high, I have the saddles bottomed out and I still can't get below 1/8th of an inch at the 15th fret.
Only changes were to put on a set of medium gauge GHS Boomers- normally I go medium light, but they sent the wrong ones- told me to keep them and sent me another set. That minor change shouldn't have this kind of effect though. I didn't really play up high until I really started doing this Bach thing. So I can't really compare to before.
Before I spend the dough to send it back to Keith and Co, does anyone have an idea of what I'm missing? I've been setting up my own basses for years, and this is the first time I've bottomed out the saddles seeking action that I like. (FWIW, my fretless saddles are about 1/3 of the way down- much lower and I get too much buzz).
No matter what I do, I can't get the action low enough above the 12th fret on the fretted. The neck is straighter than an arrow ( it measures .005 inch of relief at the 7th fret when I capo the first fret and hold the 18th fret- where the neck meets the body), and below the 12th fret it's like butter. But when I get up high, I have the saddles bottomed out and I still can't get below 1/8th of an inch at the 15th fret.
Only changes were to put on a set of medium gauge GHS Boomers- normally I go medium light, but they sent the wrong ones- told me to keep them and sent me another set. That minor change shouldn't have this kind of effect though. I didn't really play up high until I really started doing this Bach thing. So I can't really compare to before.
Before I spend the dough to send it back to Keith and Co, does anyone have an idea of what I'm missing? I've been setting up my own basses for years, and this is the first time I've bottomed out the saddles seeking action that I like. (FWIW, my fretless saddles are about 1/3 of the way down- much lower and I get too much buzz).
Maybe @Joe BassPlayer will be able to give you some details on a Hipshot A bridge (replacement) that doesn't have the Roscoe neck radius contour built in, affecting string heights. It could be an alternative to a neck-pocket scribe at the factory, or DIY shim.
Also, here's a great recent club post from @donahue, with photo:
Also, here's a great recent club post from @donahue, with photo:
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Interesting. Yeah I'm getting nowhere near .060/inch at the 12th fret. It's more like 3/16ths (.18). Something is wrong here. I'd be happy with .060.
I had the issues of the fretsprout- could dry weather shrink the wood so much that this could happen? This is a relatively new instrument that never left the coastal NC environment until August.
I also replaced my Roscoe-Hipshot A bridge with an off-the-shelf Hipshot A bridge to eliminate the super thick base plate height. Great results, and an easy drop-in replacement. I went with the brass since there was going to be 'less mass', but I think it weighs more than my original Roscoe bridge.
+1
Yeah. I purchased stock Hipshot Type A bridges off of Ebay, Bestbassgear and Reverb and installed them on several Roscoes and they worked great. Super low action. You'll need the one with .708 spacing (which is of course tweakable).
You can get them from Hipshot but I found them less expensive on Ebay and Reverb.
5 String A Style Bass Bridge
Hipshot A Style 5 String Bass Bridge - Black / Aluminium / .708 | Fat Bass Tone, LLC | Reverb
Hipshot A-Style Brass 5 String Bass Bridge - Black - .708" 18mm Spacing - Best Bass Gear
NEW - Hipshot 5-String "A" Brass Bass Bridge, BLACK - CHOOSE YOUR SPACING! | eBay
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What, no pin router?
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Perhaps this and a neck shim? With my local guy it would be cheaper to buy the bridge and have my dude put it on and shim the neck.
Seems weird to me that this is an issue. Especially since my fretless, with the old "newer" style wilkinson bridge, has no problems getting super low at all.
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I had a new Roscoe with a straight grain maple board do the same thing. I rehearsed one night, put the bass in the case (in my music room) got up the nest morning and every fret end had sprouted. Enough to cut your hand.
Still not sure what exactly happened but it's the only time it ever happened.
What, no pin router?
Lol
Very funny Matt!
If I hadn't have really wanted a Plek too (on "Blondie") I would have just removed the shim and done the bridge change. That would have gotten my action down and certainly would have been less expensive.
But "Blondie" was dead set on getting a Plek. You know how stubborn those blondes are!
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What, no pin router?
Way to wake me up Fred!
After reading your entire post I'm thinking the pin router is your solution. It sounds like the neck pocket angle is incorrect and needs to be scribed. My Signature was the same way. The only way to get the action down was to use a shim (and that's just not the best way unless you use a full length shim; like the ones that Stew-mac sells). But who wants a shim in a $5000-7000 instrument?
Send it back to Keith and let him work his magic with the pin router.
Although the new bridge might solve your issue without a shim. It just really depends on how low you want the action.
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Just don’t request a new neckWay to wake me up Fred!
After reading your entire post I'm thinking the pin router is your solution. It sounds like the neck pocket angle is incorrect and needs to be scribed. My Signature was the same way. The only way to get the action down was to use a shim (and that's just not the best way unless you use a full length shim; like the ones that Stew-mac sells). But who wants a shim in a $5000-7000 instrument?
Send it back to Keith and let him work his magic with the pin router.
Although the new bridge might solve your issue without a shim. It just really depends on how low you want the action.
Way to wake me up Fred!
After reading your entire post I'm thinking the pin router is your solution. It sounds like the neck pocket angle is incorrect and needs to be scribed. My Signature was the same way. The only way to get the action down was to use a shim (and that's just not the best way unless you use a full length shim; like the ones that Stew-mac sells). But who wants a shim in a $5000-7000 instrument?
Send it back to Keith and let him work his magic with the pin router.
Although the new bridge might solve your issue without a shim. It just really depends on how low you want the action.
I want it low. This is not a bass that I dig into very often, and when I do, it's for the dug in, aggressive, overplayed sound.
It looks like we’re online again!
