I had heard several good things about the impressive sound of Roscoe basses prior to purchasing the instrument. The only negative thing I heard was in a "5 String Shootout" article in Bass Player magazine a few years back that essentially said Roscoe basses sounded great but their workmanship and construction left a lot to be desired. I guess the test bass they received had some cosmetic flaws.

Prior to purchasing the bass, I spoke directly with Keith Roscoe and he outlined on paper a bass that would fit my needs. I wanted the larger 6 string body (without the slanted pickups) as well as a slightly wider neck on my 5 string. We talked about wood selections and color, etc.. I did voice my concerns regarding the negative article in Bass Player magazine and Keith and his public relations person assured me my satisfaction would be guaranteed. I was satisfied and he told me it would take approx. 8 weeks to build and deliver the bass.

I received the bass 15 weeks from the order date. I was told the delay was due to the fact that I ordered the bass right after the NAMM show and they were flooded with orders.

Upon playing the bass it felt and sounded great. It was everything I expected in terms of sound and playability. I did however notice a few cosmetic flaws on the bass. First, there is a small triangular area where the neck joins the body at the lower horn side that was unfinished. It was a raw wood color that really stood out. Even though it was a small area it bothered me the more I looked at it. Secondly, the nut was glued on in a sloppy fashion and didn't look very good. Thirdly, after playing the bass a couple of times I noticed that the black finish was coming off of the bridge saddles and exposing the metal underneath. I figure since I spent a few thousand dollars on this bass, it should be flawless.

I spoke with Keith about these problems and he said if I wanted to I could ship the bass back for repair. I was told that I would be responsible for the cost of sending the bass back to him and he would pay the cost of shipping it back to me. He told me it would take approx. 2 weeks to fix the problems.

I sent the bass back to Roscoe Guitars with a letter stating what the problems were and letting them know that I was not too happy with the fact that I was responsible for my end of the shipping cost. If the bass was inspected properly, it shouldn't have left the shop with the cosmetic defects it had.

The bass was shipped back to me in 3 weeks time and they did a great job of refinishing the small unfinished area as well as the nut. However, the bridge hadn't even been touched.

I finally got in touch with Keith and first of all thanked him for the fine work on the things he fixed, but asked why he didn't replace the bridge saddles. He told me that he had already done approx. $1000.00 of extra custom work on my bass when it was built (ie. wider neck) and hadn't charged me for that. He said he really wasn't set up to be a custom shop. The bridge on my bass was a custom bridge due to the wider neck and he didn't want to go to the hassle of getting new saddles. I told him that if he couldn't meet my needs he should of told me that prior to me purchasing the bass. It sure wasn't a problem when I ordered the bass. It sounded to me like he was trying to blow me off. I finally had to get a little nasty with him on the phone and he finally agreed to send me new bridge saddles. He told me to take them to a guitar shop, have them put them on, and send him the bill and he would reimburse me. I last spoke with him a few days ago and am awaiting the new saddles.

Make no bones about it, the sound and playability of this bass are fantastic. However, I am not at all impressed with the workmanship and/or customer service at Roscoe Guitars.

Would I buy another Roscoe? Do they treat Kim Stone like this? Who knows.

I probably should have listened to the folks at Bass Player.

Construction	50%
Playability	90%
Appearance	90%
Sound	90%
Value	80%
Cust. Service	50%
Overall	75%