Visited the Roscoe Shop

bassist_25 · Post by **bassist_25** » Mon Jun 07, 2010 10:07 pm

This past Saturday, I went down to the Roscoe bass shop in Greensboro, NC and got to hang out with the general manager, Gard. It was a pretty cool experience. I checked out some built Roscoes and some Roscoes in the middle of the production phase. I also got to meet Keith Roscoe for a brief moment. He was a pretty nice guy. Most of all it was also very cool to see a shop where a small amount of master craft workers churn out some high quality basses.

Sapo · Post by **Sapo** » Mon Jun 07, 2010 10:45 pm

Based on conversations with Gard, I have come to the conclusion he is a jerk-off. But that's just one guy's opinion. Glad you had a good time.

bassist_25 · Post by **bassist_25** » Mon Jun 07, 2010 11:13 pm

I can see how Gard would be off-putting to some people, because he can be pretty upfront about things; but we got along pretty well. It should also be of note that I'm also living not too far from another famous bass luthier. Oh yeah, I'm talking about the legendary Wish Bass.

Sapo · Post by **Sapo** » Tue Jun 08, 2010 10:42 am

haha! Are you going to get one?

bassist_25 · Post by **bassist_25** » Tue Jun 08, 2010 9:20 pm

Sapo wrote:haha! Are you going to get one?

Honestly, Todd, as evidenced by Wishnevsky's performance on one of his own instruments, I don't think I have enough madd bass skillz to do a Wish Bass justice.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_u35sHICjE

RFBuck · Post by **RFBuck** » Tue Jun 08, 2010 9:56 pm

Looks like an interesting bass, but in all humor it sounds like he's tickling a cow

Sapo · Post by **Sapo** » Tue Jun 08, 2010 10:05 pm

The first time I saw that I thought it was a joke. Crazy stuff...what tone!

MOONDOGGY · Post by **MOONDOGGY** » Tue Jun 08, 2010 11:56 pm

That's awesome! What urged you to visit his shop? Were you just in the area? I've heard different things about different luthiers. I've heard a lot of people say Ken Smith is a complete jerk unless you show up at his shop with money or are on the phone ready to buy a bass. However, I talked to him just about strings and ended up spending $50 in strings, hardly a big profit for him. I had a great experience.

I've heard mixed things about dealing with Roscoe too. I say, if they let you take a tour, then that's good enough for me!

Questions!!!.... Did he have any CNC, pin routers, or automated machines? With his prices, you'd think they'd all be completely hand made, but then again, he only has like 3 standard body shapes. If I was a luthier with only 3 different body shape options, I'd go with CNC. I checked out pics of his shop, and it looks fairly primitive.

Very cool!

MOONDOGGY · Post by **MOONDOGGY** » Wed Jun 09, 2010 12:07 am

Never mind. I dug a little deeper into his site and found vids of his shop and manufacturing process- some nice jigs for routing rough shape and control cavity, then a automated 3-axis router for the top contours. Still a lot of hand craftsmanship and still incredibly beautiful basses.

bassist_25 · Post by **bassist_25** » Wed Jun 09, 2010 12:10 am

Hey Dan, Gard and I got into a conversation unrelated to bass on TB, and when he found out I was just down the road, he invited me to the shop.

They had both computer-operated and human-operated CNCs. I also got to check out some of the stencils for the bodies. They build their necks in house, which I thought was pretty cool. They're doing some really cool stuff with different finger board woods, whereas other builders stick to the big trifecta of Rosewood, Ebony, and Maple. They had some really sweet pieces of Walnut there too, which I, being a big Walnut guy, definitely dug.

The shop itself is pretty low-key. You could drive past it for years on your way to work and never realize that it's a boutique luthier's shop.

I think you'll dig the Ken Smith strings. I used to use Rockmasters pretty regularly.

hicksjd9 · Post by **hicksjd9** » Tue Jun 15, 2010 1:30 pm

Is that wish guy wearing any pants?

These are really attractive basses, but do they play nice when someone with talent holds them?

That one he is playing sounds like....

RFBuck · Post by **RFBuck** » Tue Jun 15, 2010 9:34 pm

Go ahead... say it, JD. I did. But I was making light of it.

bassist_25 · Post by **bassist_25** » Tue Jun 15, 2010 11:10 pm

I've never played a Wishbass, but they do sound alright when handled by someone who understands basic things like intonation and not plucking the string so hard it whacks off of the finger board:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lw-oXQXv ... re=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ffd71HG4XW8

I must admit that the Scroll bass is cool.

hicksjd9 · Post by **hicksjd9** » Tue Jun 15, 2010 11:31 pm

They sound really mellow. They are the exact opposite of my tastes (stingrays)...I like a bass with a nice bite. I'm guessing he doesn't make fretted basses. I don't really dig that either. I DO dig his style though and the wood he uses. These basses are beautiful! I think it's cool that he uses walnut and other woods you don't normally hear of. I think I'd like to own one some day for the studio. Pretty unique.

bassist_25 · Post by **bassist_25** » Wed Jun 16, 2010 12:08 am

hicksjd9 wrote: I think it's cool that he uses walnut and other woods you don't normally hear of.

In tribute of Mr. Coleman: Whatcha talkin' 'bout, JD?

I'm a Walnut fiend here. I have two Walnut-topped basses. True, Walnut isn't used as much as Alder and Maple, but it's still a pretty popular tone wood. Timbre-wise, it's kind of the opposite of Maple, which is really bright. Walnut is a much darker tone wood.

There are fretted Wishbasses, but fretless is the standard out of that shop. I dig aggressive sounding basses too. However, IME, you can really wreck the tone of a fretless by trying to get it to sound too aggressive. With that said, I dig roundwounds much more than flatrounds on a fretless, even with the inevitable fingerboard wear that comes with rounds.

Just IMHO, of course.