Twentieth Century American philosopher and educator Mortimer Adler
once said, “People value things in three
ways: as useful, as pleasant, or as intrinsically
admirable.” This quote came to mind
this past month as I reviewed three basses
from North Carolina luthier Keith Roscoe.
It’s not often that I get a chance to review
three instruments from the same company,
and I discovered that I valued them in all
the ways Adler suggests. Feeling a bit like
Goldilocks, I sat down to test each one,
but unlike our flaxen-haired bear-stalking
youngster, I found all three to be “just right.”
Street Standard 5, $2,200; Standard 5
Plus, $2,500; Signature V, $4,450
Pros Superb workmanship, tonal variety,
and ergonomics
Cons Concentric knobs can be a bit
tricky to tweak
From top: Roscoe Century V, Century Standard 5 Plus, and Century Signature V
KEEPING IT SIMPLE
The Century Standard 5 embodies Adler’s
comment regarding the value of usefulness.
Its solid ash body, pau ferro neck, and nofrills
electronics make it a perfect workhorse
for the gigging bassist. It was the first one I
grabbed and the one I played the most over
the past month. The wood choice, appearance,
and warm tone pleased the traditionalist
in me, while the active electronics gave
me that occasionally desired modern boost—
literally. Like maple, pau ferro is dense and
produces a bright response, especially when
compared to rosewood, and I dug the punchy
response I got from this bass.
Along with a stacked treble/bass knob,
Century basses come equipped with a midrange
cut/boost that allows players to adjust
two different frequencies. Pushed in, you can
alter your mids at 250Hz, while pulled out
you can tweak at 800Hz. In a live band setting
where the bass is getting a bit buried, I
find that a boost at 250Hz can really push
the bass forward in the mix; while soloing,
boosting in the 800Hz range can bring some
upper-mid punch and brightness. Having
onboard access to both frequency sweet
spots was nice. The treble/bass stacked knob
provides additional tone-tweaking opportunity,
although I prefer concentric knobs
to differentiate in size a bit more. I tend to
operate such knobs with my right pinkie,
and found that I often inadvertently turned
both while attempting to operate the bass
control. Other players, however, may experience
no problems, depending on how they
operate their tone controls.
A SPLASH OF CLASS
The Century Standard 5 Plus adds a bit of
fl ash to the base-level Century Standard.
Our test model boasted a quilted maple
top over an ash body. The layer of maple
was quite thin—somewhere between r" and
a" thick—so I didn’t perceive any sonic
effect, but it did greatly enhance the look
of the instrument. The wenge fingerboard,
however, did make a difference in feel and
tone, offering a nice, quick response, growly
lows, and crisp highs—common traits of this
wood. While testing the Standard 5 Plus, I
explored the Bartolini electronics common
to all three basses. Each of the Century
models includes a gain control, accessible
through a small hole on the back of the control
cavity cover. With a small screwdriver,
you can make adjustments to the output
of the preamp. I find this feature incredibly
practical, as it allows you to match the
level of your bass with a particular soundboard,
amp, or other bass.
INTRINSICALLY ADMIRABLE
The Signature V is the elite member of the
Century series. Everyone who came by
my place over the last month immediately
wanted to pick up this exquisite instrument
and play it. The koa top looks magnificent
sitting atop a beautiful hand-shaped Spanish
cedar body, and the wenge sapwood
fretboard completes the exotic look. I’d
place the sound of the sapwood fingerboard
somewhere between maple and rosewood—
it had a nice midrange pop. The Signature
model has a beautiful five-piece neck constructed
of wenge, purpleheart, and maple
that tapers toward the headstock. Whereas
the previous two models utilize over-thecounter
Bartolini electronics, the Signature
V boasts custom-wound pickups. Roscoe
claims these pickups offer more top-end
response and slightly less low-mids with a
little compression. Though the difference
is subtle, that assessment certainly rang
true in testing. The action can be set wonderfully
low on these basses, which I discovered
when tweaking the action on the
Signature V. The Signature V felt great at its
lower ranges, and was a joy to play up high.
All three basses feature 35" scale length,
but thanks to careful attention to ergonomics
and balance, I could hardly notice the
somewhat longer scale. Case in point: A
local 12-year-old bassist dropped by my
place this month, so I had him try it on for
size. He had no difficulty in navigating the
neck, which was quite impressive given
his smaller stature. As expected, the extra
inch aids in the stabilization of the B string,
which on all three Century basses was like
a lightweight prizefighter—tight and punchy.
Without question, the Century 5 series
offers players some great options for holding
down the low-end. I preferred the Standard
model, both for its simplicity and its price
point. But, if you want just a taste of flash,
a few hundred bucks can buy you a fancy
top that won’t affect that traditional tone.
For those desiring an overall more modern
and ornamental instrument, however, the
Signature V is the way to go, although it
will cost you quite a bit more. In the end,
these Roscoe basses provide players with
not one but three reasons to value them:
their obvious utility, their pleasant tones,
and their intrinsic beauty.
TECH SPECS
CENTURY STANDARD 5
Neck Three-piece maple
Body Ash
Fingerboard Pau ferro
Bridge Hipshot A Style
Pickups Bartolini soapbar
Preamp Bartolini NTMB
Controls Volume, blend, midrange,
treble, bass
Scale length 35"
Weight 8.62 lbs
CENTURY STANDARD 5 PLUS
Neck Three-piece maple
Body Ash
Top Quilted maple
Fingerboard Wenge
Bridge Hipshot A style
Pickups Bartolini soapbar
Preamp Bartolini NTMB
Controls Volume, blend, midrange,
treble, bass
Scale length 35"
Weight 8.75 lbs
CENTURY SIGNATURE V
Neck Five-piece wenge with purpleheart
and maple
Body Spanish Cedar
Top Koa
Fingerboard Wenge sapwood
Bridge Hipshot B style
Pickup Custom Bartolini soapbar
Preamp Bartolini NTMB
Controls Volume, blend, midrange boost,
treble, bass
Scale length 35"
Weight 9 lbs
Made in U.S.A.
Warranty Two years
Contact roscoeguitars.com
 |
| The Century Signature’s wenge sapwood fingerboard felt and sounded like a cross between maple and rosewood. |