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Roscoe

hasbeen

hasbeen

Commercial User
Sep 23, 2004
4,806
2,667
Disclosures
Executive Vice President, The Adam Hall Group
#1
Man....I think they are the most beautiful basses available.....and everyone that I've played has felt like "buttah".

I have many fine basses but alas, I don't have a Roscoe......in the future maybe.

Sorry..that's it. I just needed to make this cathartic statement after visiting a dealers website.
 
#6
hasbeen said:
Man....I think they are the most beautiful basses available.....and everyone that I've played has felt like "buttah".

I have many fine basses but alas, I don't have a Roscoe......in the future maybe.

Sorry..that's it. I just needed to make this cathartic statement after visiting a dealers website.
Click to expand...

Yup, I feel ya man. I own a SKB3005 w/buckeye top and back, Nords DC (routed with LG slants & coil splitter) and Aggie preamp. This is my one and only 5 stringer...best 5 string neck I've ever touched. I got rid of my early Ritter Classic 5 for this bass. Roscoes are somewhat underrated, I think.
 
#7
VroomVroom said:
I'm the "Norm from Cheers" of Gelb...I hope we can connect sometime. FWIW I can tell you that absolutely nothing in my arsenal sounds as awesome through my Shuttle 6.0-12T than my Roscoes. I've bored everyone here with too many sound clips already, but it is a marriage made in bass-tone heaven.
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The next time I'm heading out there, I'll try to post here somehow.....and we can meet.

Ed has really set up a nice shop there- nice selection of Zon's, Lull's, Roscoes...MTD's....well, you know.
 
#8
Funkinthetrunk said:
Yup, I feel ya man. I own a SKB3005 w/buckeye top and back, Nords DC (routed with LG slants & coil splitter) and Aggie preamp. This is my one and only 5 stringer...best 5 string neck I've ever touched. I got rid of my early Ritter Classic 5 for this bass. Roscoes are somewhat underrated, I think.
Click to expand...


I agree...VERY underrated. I have MTD 6's and Ken Smith 6...both top end. I love these basses but the Roscoe is right up there with them.

And for the price?????....they can't be beat.

I love Aggie pres BTW....have them in my Lulls and Laklands.
 
#10
VroomVroom said:
Sounds awesome! Ed is such a great resource...and the wicked sense of humor sure doesn't hurt either. :D I'll guess you've had the chance to play the myrtle/diamondwood fretless five-string? That's my favorite Roscoe in the store right now, and I keep trying to find a way to justify buying it.
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No...I haven't played it....I have been there for several months. Fretless is my "main bag" though, so you've got me GASing.

My main fretless is a 6 string Zon. It was my first 6 string bass. Now, after getting used to my MTD 635 and Ken Smith fretteds, I find the string spacing on the Zon too narrow.

Also, my 5 string fretless is a USA Curbow...which is wide. I should look into this Roscoe. The Curbow body is way too small for me.
 
#12
CrashClint said:
I can tell you and so can Vroom, Roscoes mate up very nicely with the GB Shuttle 6.0. Just like they were built to compliment each other. :hyper:
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that was lucky I guess. Basses we used in "voicing" were
Fender Jazz
Lull Jazz
Ken Smith 6
MTD 6
Lakland USA 5
Curbow USA fretted, Curbow USA freless
Zon fretless
Couple of Hamer USA basses with humbuckers.
Fender P bass

Perhaps, that is diverse enough of a selection to "bracket" the Roscoe tone. We also try to be "natural" enough to let the bass come through.
 
#15
Funkinthetrunk said:
Roscoes are somewhat underrated, I think.
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+1.

I have played almost everything available out there and a used $1700-2000 Roscoe is one of the best values around. The tone and workmanship is as good (and often better) as Ritter, MTD, etc.

I am back to gigging Fenders almost exclusively, but I will never be without a Roscoe. I sold a SKB3006 as I just didn't need a 6er.... But I will never sell my SKB3006.

A great bass to ovn IMO... And they look tres cool!
 
#17
I had one for a short time. IMO (and many other people's opinions), they're phenomenal basses. Keith Roscoe has a certain knack for building great sounding and playing basses combined with beautiful woods that (again IMO) not a great many top luthiers seem to do quite as well.

The one thing to keep in mind with Roscoe, as with other such luthiers, is that wood choice can make a big difference in tone, and the tone of a given bass may or may not be to your liking, which is what I found with the Roscoe I owned. I've played other Roscoes, however, that really spoke to me. If I'd bought one of those, I might still own a Roscoe.

One more note: Gard, who's a longtime member on this board, works for Roscoe and is a helluva guy! We've known each other for years, throughout the demise of our respective marriages!:eek:
 
#18
I've been through three of them. The first was an exibition myrtlewood body with a purpleheart fingerboard. Before Roscoe offered the Demeter preamps I put one in that bass....it was incredible. I still go back to those old clips once in a while to remember what a great sound that bass had. It was much too heavy though. The second had a spanish cedar body with the Bart/Bart setup. That bass didn't last beyond one rehearsal. I hated it with a passion. Talk about getting lost in a mix...mush, mush, mush. The last one was a mahogany body/maple top/katalox board. I put a Demeter pre in that one as well. That bass was lacking midrange for some reason. It had a wacky custom Tyler spec'd pre so it could've been something with that. That preamp didn't sound nearly as good as any Tyler I had played them in.

I think that even though the inherent tone of the Roscoe basses are similar, they can all be very, very different also. It takes some research to find what will work for you....but when you do find the right one, it's one hell of a bass. I'd love to own one again someday....I'm still waiting for Keith to build a 26 fret bass (will probably never happen...he has enough business as it is). They are some of the most comfortable basses to play, that's for sure.
 
#19
...well, how'd I miss this thread? :confused:

:hiding:

Hey man, thanks for the props from a fellow MI guy, good to hear from anyone else in the biz. And we dig your stuff as well, I've heard several rigs that were either all or part Genz Benz, and really thought they sounded great...

RAM said:
One more note: Gard, who's a longtime member on this board, works for Roscoe and is a helluva guy! We've known each other for years, throughout the demise of our respective marriages!:eek:
Click to expand...

I dunno man, if I were really "a helluva guy", would I be working on divvy #2? :hmm:

;)

Maybe I should just be single?

:eek:

(...don't tell the s/o, she is dead-set on being the next ex-Mrs. G! :help: )
 

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