Fender Roscoe Beck IV

[markyboy2106]

Hello all

Considering trading for or buying a Fender Roscoe Beck IV. They look like interesting pieces of kit. But I would love to hear your thoughts on it as I have not had the chance to play one. I currently play a Lakland Darryl Jones Skyline 4 and EBMM Honey Burst Maple 3EQ (this is the bass I'm looking to trade if possible). Your thoughts and opinions would really help me out. Alternatively, if anyone is in the Manchester area and has one of these basses then the opportunity to try on ene would be really useful.

Cheers

Mark

[silverfoxnik]

Hi Mark

I have a Roscoe Beck V and it's a fantastic bass! I've never tried the four-string model but as it has the same pick ups and electronics, I imagine it sounds pretty similar to the five..

Anyway, these bases offer a lot of tonal options because of the pick-up selector, the series/parallel switches and the tone control itself which is very useful.. However, because it's a passive bass, the output is quite low and that can be a problem if you're switching between basses during a gig for example. But the pay-off in terms of tone is worth it!

There's some useful reference about the Five String model here that you may find useful:

[url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fender_Roscoe_Beck_Bass"]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fender_Roscoe_Beck_Bass[/url]

[url="http://www.roscoebeck.com/Gear.aspx"]http://www.roscoebeck.com/Gear.aspx[/url]

[url="http://reviews.harmony-central.com/reviews/Electric+Bass/product/Fender/Roscoe+Beck+Signature+5-String/10/1"]http://reviews.harmony-central.com/reviews...e+5-String/10/1[/url]

Hope that helps?

Nik

[leschirons]

Just sold my Roscoe Beck V a few months ago and if I could have afforded to keep it, I would have. Mine was a 97 in Red and played like a dream however, it sadly had to go to fund another bass.

As mentioned before, the tonal variety is huge. Despite being passive, it could handle any genre of music. Marcus slap to Bernard Edwards and everything in between. Funnily enough, the only sound I hated on that bass was when I heard Roscoe Beck live, twice. But, that is personal preference. I suppose, any bass that is capable of getting every great sound is also capable of getting loads of crap ones as well. Just goes to show that it does it all.

Superbly balanced and a really easy neck for a five so the four must be sh*t hot quicker. Apart from the pickup switching, you also get the mid cut option with a pull out knob. It's possible to get the action down to Rizla dimensions and once in tune, it never needed correcting if kept in the hard case. Really stable and great build quality. Didn't even seem to get affected by temperature change either.

I would guess, if you are a Jazz bass type of guy, you could quite easliy find yourself never picking up another bass. You do need to wind the preamp gain up a tad but it remains noisless and was great for recording DI'd

[mybass]

[quote name='markyboy2106' post='443464' date='Mar 24 2009, 09:41 AM']Hello all

Considering trading for or buying a Fender Roscoe Beck IV. They look like interesting pieces of kit. But I would love to hear your thoughts on it as I have not had the chance to play one. I currently play a Lakland Darryl Jones Skyline 4 and EBMM Honey Burst Maple 3EQ (this is the bass I'm looking to trade if possible). Your thoughts and opinions would really help me out. Alternatively, if anyone is in the Manchester area and has one of these basses then the opportunity to try on ene would be really useful.

Cheers

Mark[/quote]

I once had the 5 string and still have the 4 string.
I think the 5, like all 5's I've tried sounds different to the 4 stringer, a little "softer" to my ears. I say this as I have owned and built several 5 stringers and that 5th string does do something to the sound of the other strings/bass.
Anyway, I've kept the 4 string and it is one of the best 4 string fretted basses I've owned. It records really well, whether on home studio or commercial studio systems, has a good neck, has a slightly better body shape than the standard jazz bass too.
With respect to another comment about Roscoe Beck's live sound, (he sounds excellent on recordings), I know from experience that a great stage sound isn't always relayed via big PA, sound engineers or the venue sound itself.

[ezbass]

Great basses, a truly awesome range of tones and all from a passive circuit. I had to sell mine unfortunately (a 4 string) but if I get the chance to own one again I won't hesitate and neither should you markyboy, you won't be sorry. [url="http://www.guitar-village.co.uk/product-detail.asp?id=7753&catid=8&manid=29&quantity=1&product=Fender+Roscoe+Beck+Signature+Bass%2C+Trans+Crimson%2C+Pre-Owned+EC%2B%2C+Inc.+Original+Case"]Guitar Village[/url] in Farnham have got a 2nd hand one at the moment which I can thoroughly recommend as it was mine.