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Roscoe visits Fender in
Scottsdale
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NEW
-- from the July 2003 NAMM
show in Nashville
At long last! I
know many players have been waiting years for this, and it's finally happening.
The bass you see
here in the photos is the most recent "production sample" of the Roscoe Beck
Signature four-string bass, shown recently at the Nashville NAMM exhibition.
While not precisely the finished product that will go into production (very
shortly), it's very close to what will be the production model, and can be
ordered now!
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Photo credit: Bob Boone, Courtesy of Fender Musical
Instruments
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Photo credit: Bob Boone, Courtesy of Fender Musical
Instruments
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Here's some specs
for the production bass:
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alder body,
expanded cutaway on G-string side for easier access to upper register
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graphite reinforced
maple neck, available with rosewood or maple fingerboards
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Bill Lawrence designed "Roscoe Beck" four-string pickups
(controls/switches configured as on the five-string model)
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knurled dome-style
"Tele" knobs
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new "parchment"
pickguard
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signature moved to
chrome neckplate
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Hipshot Ultralite tuning machines, with de-tuner on E-string gear
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Hipshot triple
string tree (not shown in photo)
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new design bridge
(still in production phase)
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available in five
colors:
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Honeyburst (shown),
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Three Color
Sunburst,
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Transparent Red,
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Transparent Cocoa,
and
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Lake Placid Blue.
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I believe the
Lake Placid Blue will be available with matching headstock on rosewood
models.
Everyone who seen or played this bass loves it, and I do too!
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Photo credit: Bob Boone, Courtesy of Fender Musical
Instruments
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roscoe beck plays Fender basses and amps
outboard (rackmount):
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SWR "Interstellar Overdrive" tube overdrive preamp
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LEXICON PCM-80 effects processor
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TC ELECTRONICS 1210 chorus/flanger
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DBX-166 dual compressor limiter
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ELECTRO-HARMONIX "Q-Tron" (converted to rack mount by
Lee Jackson)
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(2) JENSEN direct boxes (custom)
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pedal board (by LEE JACKSON and AUSTIN TONE
LABS/BILL USSERY):
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miscellaneous:
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switching bank by LEE JACKSON
and JEFF RIVERA
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strings by LA BELLA ("Hard Rockin' Steel" & 7720M Double Bass Strings)
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road cases by OPTICASE, Henderson, TX
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guitar stands by ULTRACASE, Anaheim, CA
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guitar straps by LEVY'S
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acoustic bass pickup by BARBERA TRANSDUCERS SYSTEMS, New York, NY
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Roscoe talks about gear
I usually take
three basses out
with me these days; the signature five-string of course,
my main instrument, but also a four string version of the signature bass, a
prototype built by Todd Krause in the Fender Custom shop that I just love.
Rounding out the essential basses is the trusty
Zeta UpRite bass. I've never played anything quite like it: it's as
sturdy as can be and has its own thing sound-wise.
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Outboard gear is
fairly extensive for a bassist, I suppose, but I don't have things in the
system that aren't used. The SWR "Interstellar Overdrive" is actually a stand
alone preamp, but I use it as an effect, basically as a bass fuzzbox. It's got
great warm, full distorted tone, much better than any stomp boxes I've heard. I
simply switch between the Alembic (A) preamp and the Interstellar Overdrive
(B). Another SWR product in the system is the "Mr. Tone Controls," 11
adjustable bands of parametric equalization; noise-free and very subtle
controls, they don't seem to add any undesired coloration, only what you ask
for. Very good buys, these.
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Lately, I've
not been using compressors or limiters, preferring to challenge myself to play
more evenly; the DBX-166 is currently being used only to noise gate the
Interstellar Overdrive, which will hum like a 737 at idle when cranked up. The
TC Electronics 1210
chorus/flanger has
been an effects staple in my system for many years; it's pretty much like
having two chorus pedals in one rackmount unit. I set one side to a medium
speed, the other to a fairly quick one: any time I do the two-handed tapping
routine, one or both of these settings is on. Often I switch between them to
simulate the "slow Leslie/fast Leslie" effect. The Lexicon PCM-80 has a lot
more versatility than I make use of, I must admit: I pretty much use it only
for reverb settings, but reverb is my favorite effect, and this has several
good settings. Almost last in the rack, but not willing to settle for least, is
the outrageous "Q-Tron," son-of-Mutron III, or the "Dis'Scoe Box" as EJ has
labeled it. Pure vintage 70's schtick, what more can one say? A couple of
custom Jensen transformers (DI's) live at the back of the rack.
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The
pedal board has
been evolving for years, coming to its current stabilized state courtesy of
Lee Jackson Systems. Want him to make one for you? Don't even think
about asking him to do it. He's out of the business (right, Lee?) That's what
he says... Anyway, the project was started several years ago, by my friend Jeff
Rivera, then Robben Ford's guitar tech. The "switch bank" at the front of the
board was some kind of MIDI switcher that Jeff gutted and set up with on/off
and momentary foot switches. He also made the first "snake." Enter Bill Ussery
of Austin Tone Labs, who made the physical "board" itself, and started the
process of getting things laid out, creating hardwire bypasses for effects, and
whatnot. It was the whatnot part that was the most difficult. Enter finally,
Lee Jackson, who like a knight on a white horse swept in with his
energy and good vibes, making things tidy, with LED's for every function, a
power supply that simulates the sweet spot in a battery's short life, and so
importantly, making sure that all of the "George L." wire is undeniably and
irrefutably polarity correct. What does that mean? You don't really want to
know, believe me...
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The TC
Electronics chorus/flanger is yet one more chorus setting, this one slow.The
Sadowsky outboard preamp is the same one that is inboard on Sadowsky basses, I
use it primarily as a boost for solo parts. The
Morley wah pedal
was originally a volume/wah, but I found the volume pedal function messed with
the tone of the bass and it is now disconnected. A hardwire bypass was
installed and the sweep of the "wah" function was also modified, limiting the
screechy high end. Works great now.
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Voodoo Lab tremelo:
needs no explanation.
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The
Boss octave divider
might not have the best tracking in the world, but by golly gumballs, it hasn't
broken down on me in many years of hard road work. I tried another (who shall
go unnamed) company's highly touted octaver, and it broke within hours. I
notified a contact at the company, who promised to make good on said item; I
think that was maybe three or four years ago... I'm still waiting. Thanks, I'll
keep the Boss.
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You all know
what the Ibanez
"tube screamer" does
by now, maybe you even paid a highly inflated "vintage" price (I've seen people
try to "lift" mine off the board during a show!) Anyway, if it's that midrange
scratch you're looking for, this is the one that'll give it to ya. I used mine
originally on the Zap solo on Tones.
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Roscoe Beck
Signature Five-String Bass
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List Price: $1,399.99
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"Fender's best 5-string
yet...brilliant electronics...fat-sounding pickup...one of the finest 5's under
$1,500 we've played."
Read the review
-Bass
Player
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Dan Smith, Roscoe Beck, Mark
Kendrick, and Bill Lawrence display the first Roscoe Beck Signature Five-String
Bass in June of 1995
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Roscoe Beck six-string bass
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Guitars on a custom-order basis only; $4200)
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This six-string monster (with a low
B and a high C) sports
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two pickups
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a 24-fret rosewood or ebony fingerboard
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a curly maple body
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a one-piece maple neck with a graphite laminated truss rod
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Schaller tuning machines
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two pickup volume controls
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an overall master volume
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a master tone control
Also, you have a choice between a three-position pickup selector switch or a
balance/pan control. Options include korina/mahogany or quilted Honduras
mahogany body woods, custom colors, deluxe pick-guards, custom fingerboard
inlays, Shadow bridge pickups (with preamp), and active GDR electronics.
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For more information,
contact
Stevens Guitars
Box 1082
Alpine, Texas 79830
915.837.5989
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