Does anyone have any first-hand experience with the Rogue RM-100A A-Style Mandolin. I’m sure there’s a wicked good reason Musician’s Friend is unloading them at 2/3 off, but I’ve always been mandolin-curious and just might pick one up if this can produce a decent tone & stay in tune, etc.
Any complaints? Any kudos? Anyone? Beuler?
No trussrod. Horribly high action. Might be ok for raw beginners, with appropriate mods, of course. Even they would grow out of it within a few short months. If you’ve got guitar experience, I would say pass on it.
I think at one point, they were on sale for $30. That should tell you even more.
Agreed.
If someone absolutely HAS to get a mandolin for less than £200/$400 then something like a Crafter M70e is much better than these awful cheap PacRim copies.
Bargain basement mandos are, with VERY few exceptions, more basement than bargain.
Edited to add: if you are mando curious, then one of these will not satisfy your curiosity. The difference between playing a real mandolin and ‘playing’ one of these Rogues is roughly equivalent to the difference between playing a Strad violin and heavyweight wrestling.
I sincerely try to find something good in every instrument I examine. A starter mandolin doesn’t have to cost a fortune but it needs to have, at very least, these five characteristics:
It must stay in tune for the duration of the piece being played
It must play in tune with itself
It must, with reasonable effort, be adjustable enough to achieve a playable action
It should be sturdy enough to last through the first year’s lessons
It should produce a tone that is at least recognizable as being a mandolin
These fail four out of the five, but you’re never sure which four it will be.
good feedback - i think we have a solid consensus here.
i was extremely wary of buying an instrument online to begin with, so i think i’ll spend some more time poking around the local shops & getting to know a few on a personal level.
any other recommendations on who makes a solid one at a decent price?
How much are you looking to spend? Certainly it wasn’t only the Rogue price tag that caught your eye, as you already had very wise reservations.
go for the varnish Collings – you know you want one 
Here’s a good writeup about selecting a mando. http://giannaviolins.com/esmando/info/Beginner1.html
Good shop to buy from, too.
Absolutely. Stephen from Gianna has a great rep over at mandolincafe.com. He is a very experienced and helpful chap. Gianna are Eastman specialists too. If you can stretch your budget the 500 series Eastman mandos are good quality entry level.
The new Kentuckys are getting good reviews, as are J Bovier mandolins.
You can get cheap Johnson mandolins off of ebay, thats what I would suggest for a first time mandolin player, It’s what I started on, and I’m not complaining.
Hmm… I’m sure there are several models, but the Johnsons I’ve seen were no better than the Ashbury and Ozark types that Hobgoblin sell.
Here’s a current Mandolincafe thread on them.
Domhnall, I reckon you got lucky with yours, mate.
You do a good thing when going to the shops instead of buying online. If you just want a mandolin to get started with, there are some that are good for low prices, I’ve had a Washburn A style mandolin that was good for 3000 SEK, the one I have now is F style mandolin, Gold Tone, that I paid 6000 SEK for (about 600 dollars). It’s extremely worth the money, I’ve played some other mandolins lately in that price range, and they weren’t even close to the quality of the Gold Tone. So, if you want to pay 600, go for a Gold Tone, or if you want to pay less, Washburn or Epiphone are to trust in my opinion. They are no super mandolins but you shouldn’t expect that for 300 dollars, but at least you’ll have a mandolin to start playing.
Two of my friends have this mandolin. At first they were impressed, but after a while the buzzing of the strings and other problems have made playing them less satisfying. If I remember correctly, something in the action was built badly and it wouldn’t be easy to fix it. It’s definitely not a quality instrument, but I find it amazing that you can buy anything that even looks like a mandolin for that price.
By the way, the Rogue guitar has similar issues but overall seems like a better instrument. I’ve played two of them. One of my friends is tickled pink with his, except that he’d like a lower action. To my ear, the Rogue guitar has a strong low end and weaker high and middle range, but that’s probably to be expected of a cheap guitar with a laminate top. If I was just starting out or needed a beater, I’d be happy with one of these. If you’re looking for a rich-sounding, smooth-playing instrument, this isn’t it.
As for dealing with Musicians Friend, in my experience they’ve shipped quickly and the purchases were problem-free.
I would sincerely recommend waiting until you can afford something like an Eastman, Bovier, one of the solid wood Kentuckys or Washburn (which I have also heard fair reports of). If you can’t wait, then perhaps go for a Crafter M70e.
The thing is that all these are playable. The Eastman, Bovier and higher end Kentuckys actually sound like proper mandolins. The Crafter is a little weak acoustically (but acceptable - I’ve played one in sessions in Ireland without criticism), but it is electro too and sounds surprisingly good when amplified.
The cheap laminated ones are very rarely set up well - and at those prices it would be a lot to expect. Even when they are set up, the thickness of the tops and finishes means that the sound is thin and dead. I really do think that more prospective mandolin players are put off by early exposure to bad instruments than by anything else.
ennistraveler was spot on with “You do a good thing when going to the shops instead of buying online” even if it is just so you can compare these cheapies with ones from the next level up for playability and sound. If everyone did that I suspect the bottom would drop right out of the cheap laminate mando market.
Mandolins aren’t like whistles. There is no low-priced, Feadog-equivalent gem (at least not since the Fullerton Gloucesters ran out!)
One last point. One CAN set up some cheap mandos so they play better. It is generally not possible to significantly improve the tone.
By the time one has paid for a good set up (done by someone who knows mandolins rather than a guitar tech who may have done one or two before), perhaps replaced a nut or bridge, dressed uneven frets… Damn it, the money adds up to pretty near Eastman and Bovier levels anyway.
Do not be cheap. Really, don’t do it.
Mandolin is a beautiful instrument. These plywood suckers are not real mandolins.
OK, you’ve talked me into it. I won’t rush my purchase & I’ll shop around for a while.
Thanks for all the great insightful feedback. Much appreciated. I’m going to bookmark this thread for future reference.
I’ll throw in something else here.
Don’t rule out a good flattop. I have had and played some decent pacrim mandolins, but frankly none of them have really come close to a good handmade flattop like Mid-Missouri (now called Big Muddy).
One day, a few years back, i walked into the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago and played every mandolin that was hanging on their wall. That meant everything from the Gold Tones to the Weber Yellowstones. The mandolin that blew everything else away was a maple-back Mid-Mo. If i’d have been feeling flush that day i would have dropped the $500 or whatever they were asking for it.
If you’re looking for the Grisman sound or bluegrass, it probably won’t fit the “Bill” (actually, though, the maple back MM had a good enough chop to pass). But it’ll handle pretty much anything else and the workmanship and customer service are excellent.
Right now i see Gryphon’s got a couple of Big Muddys for ~$450US and The Podium’s got a used M4 with a rosewood back and wide neck for $399US. I’m sure if you hunt around you can find more, and if you’re patient you can find a used one for a good price.
Yup. That’s a very credible alternative. If you’re going to be playing any bluegrass then you’ll want an f-hole archtop, be it A or F style. If you’re playing folk, ITM or most other genres then a flat top would be a less expensive road to fair quality. The Mid Mo’s and their successors have many fans.
That scroll work and top carving on the Gibson clones doesn’t come cheap.
And too, with all the good advice given here, don’t forget that this is supposed to be fun. If you look hard enough, you can find a good beginner’s instrument in your price range. It’s critical to have a decent working instrument to learn on so that its own flaws don’t interfere with your development. If you get a good, playable mandolin that doesn’t have the “perfect” tone, so what? Do you really know what that is at this point anyway? In a year or so you’ll be able to judge what you really want and go after it. Maybe you’ll find that the mandolin wasn’t for you in the first place. Just make sure the mandolin you get is good enough to let you decide for yourself, and not because it was a piece of junk that never gave you a chance.
But remember, nothing happens if you don’t start.
YOu might do well to look at the “for sale” forum on Mandolincafe. Lots of mando freaks there upgrade from their beginner instruments to better ones and you could very well find a good inexpensive one perfectly suited to a beginner.
If you’re at all handy, you can do a basic setup yourself:
http://www.gibson.com/Products/Places/Repair/Tech%20Tips/Mandolin%20Set%20Up/