MandoTom2 - Posted - 04/27/2019:  23:47:34

I've worked in several music stores in St. Louis (as a teacher and sometimes in sales):

Fazio's Frets n' Friends, Music Folk, Tower Music, Allegro Music, River City Music and now Music Makers in Farmington, MO.

Each time I came across a Rogue mandolin, both new and pre-owned, I was not impressed and definitely left wanting more...

My expectations were in line with an inexpensive, economy line instrument... I wasn't expecting to be overtly impressed, but you never know.

After trying each one, they all seemed to be lacking a set-up, i.e., nut adjusted to an easy playing height, bridge adjusted to an easy playing height and string-to-string widths could have been adjusted also. I have smaller hands for a guy and the string spacing, on all of the instruments I tried, were way too tight for me...

So, even for the low, entry level price, I felt that the instrument was more likely to discourage a student than to impress them and motivate them to spend the time required to play... I typically look at these things from a teacher's point of view. When I was a kid and knew absolutely nothing, I didn't know that a musical instrument COULD be adjusted to play easier, I would have been discouraged by the effect of the 'non-adjusted' instrument.

I remember complaining to my mom (poor woman!) of 'sore fingers' when I was looking to get out of practicing...

Oh, and I WAS looking to avoid practicing, more often than not in those days (1960s)...

By the time you pay a shop, store or private luthier to adjust the instrument to your playing satisfaction, you may already have invested enough money to justify the next level up in mandolins, which was probably set-up partially at the least (strings lowered to accomodate beginners), etc. Some music stores will adjust the instrument quickly and efficiently, sometimes while you wait there (Music Makers in Farmington,MO) for FREE... "IF" you bought the instrument there...

And how many people even know to ask about a set-up?

If you're a rank beginner, you probably lack the experience and knowledge of such things and are headed for the school of hard knocks...

This is obviously just my opinion and I don't expect everyone or anyone to agree with me, but a better instrument or even an inexpensive one that has been set-up really well for a given player (beginner, mid-range or better) can only serve to motivate the student to at least try and remove at least one reason NOT to practice...

Now, just for fun...

Let's take a look at the NAME "Rogue"...

Here's what I found:

That's not very easy to read... Sorry...

The first definition says:

NOUN

1. A dishonest or unprincipled man...

2. An elephant or other large wild animal driven away or living apart from the herd and having 'savage' or 'destructive' tendencies...

The last definition (VERB) says:

Remove defective or inferior plants from a crop.

.....

Even though the above definitions don't directly refer to musical instruments, they DO have something in common, i.e., they all seem to imply 'something less than normal, good or acceptable'...

So, as a manufacturer of ANYTHING, including musical instruments, what were the marketing people thinking?

I would have sought a name with more positive, inspiring traits...

Something else to think about...

I bought a Savannah mandolin (A-style) new for $119 (tax included) at Music Makers in Farmington. There was no case, no picks, no 'starter kit', etc. No books, CDs, tapes or any type of educational material with it.

Just a mandolin...

But...

For $119, it plays magnificently well... VERY easy to play...

Straight out of the box, no set-up required...

I put it in my studio to inspire some of my younger students who want to play more than one instrument...

Each young person enjoyed the experience of playing my new $119 Savannah...

That's what I hope to achieve, i.e., anything that will motivate anyone to practice and enjoy their time with their musical instrument.

That's all for now...

Tom

PS: My new MandoHangout Avatar is me playing the very Savannah mandolin I'm speaking of:

Edited by - MandoTom2 on 04/27/2019 23:53:48