Members kwakatak Posted March 17, 2011 Members Share Posted March 17, 2011 A friend of mine bought a Rogue acoustic guitar from MF last year and sometime after having it for 45 days she noticed that it wasn't staying in tune. When I asked her about it tonight I asked her to clarify and from what she told me it sounds like the intonation up the neck is bad and I also get the feeling that the action is pretty high too. To me that sounds like a classic tale of a neck reset and you know how that goes with regards to cheap guitars. Problem is that she's not sure if she has a warranty or not. It sounds like it's too late for her to send it back and she's kind of upset about it. She bought it to gig with and she thinks she's lost her money with it as an investment. I've never bought anything from MF and I've not familiar with the Rogue brand so I'm not sure what the warranty situation is. Can anybody here provide any info on this? If there is no warranty on this then I think she may want to explore having it repaired. Again, I'm not familiar with this brand so I don't know if it's even worth it. I've never seen the guitar in question so I'm even familiar with the quality. Is it worth it? Help me out guys. I feel like all I've told her so far is bad news and I want to tell her something positive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gitnoob Posted March 17, 2011 Members Share Posted March 17, 2011 Definitely not worth a reset. I got one free with a 10-pack of strings once. I don't think there's any warranty after 45 days unless she purchased their add-on warranty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Stackabones Posted March 17, 2011 Members Share Posted March 17, 2011 Yeah, same here as gitnoob. I've have good experiences with Rogue, but QC is all over the place on them. I think a neck reset would total it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Cortfan Posted March 17, 2011 Members Share Posted March 17, 2011 MF cheapo budget house brand. No investment value when new. Probably needs a trussrod tweak and some saddle sanding. Unless its under warranty, you have nothing to lose by learning how to do a setup. Theres always Craigslist. Nut may need reshaping/nut lube, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kwakatak Posted March 17, 2011 Author Members Share Posted March 17, 2011 Yeah, that's what I was thinking: she probably got a dud. She went all out with a dread in black with a cutaway and pickup/preamp too - and she didn't add the warranty either. I always thought they were scams anyway. Had she asked me what I thought in advance I'd have told her to walk away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gitnoob Posted March 17, 2011 Members Share Posted March 17, 2011 The one I had was robustly built and intonated well -- i.e., a real guitar. But it's all-lam, decal rosette, crappy tuners, etc. Basically an Esteban clone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DeepEnd Posted March 17, 2011 Members Share Posted March 17, 2011 Take a look at the guitar for yourself when you get a chance. It may simply need a setup and a new saddle as unlikely as that seems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kujozilla Posted March 17, 2011 Members Share Posted March 17, 2011 New tuners could help the staying in tune thing too. Rogues tuning machines are total shyte. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tony Burns Posted March 17, 2011 Members Share Posted March 17, 2011 Basically -at this point, i wouldnt waste my time with it -guessing its about a hundred dollar guitar ( most of those are, their intentions are to be a first guitar for a kid -and disposable ).After you put good tuners on it , made a new saddle , tweaked the neck- you still have a 100 dollar guitar , that will still self destruct ( essentially in the same realm as a Esteban guitar )Have her check into silvercreek or Bluridge , or my favorite or best bang for the buck -Seagull or simon and patrick -if shes budget minded -they tend to be stronger built, sound better and are good stepping stones to a better guitar down the road . I saw a Walden guitar that self emploded at my Salvation army store - that looked like it was only a few months old -we have to tell these folks -spend a little more and get something half way decent from the start - Im not trying to be critical -my first guitar ( a 10 dollar special ) had action a bow and arrow would be jealous of - and you had to have fingers like Frankenstien to play ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Pine Apple Slim Posted March 17, 2011 Members Share Posted March 17, 2011 No exp w/a Rouge acoustic, but I have an old tele copy you could use as a weapon.Check it out, could just need a truss rod tweak cause of seasonal humidity changes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members garthman Posted March 17, 2011 Members Share Posted March 17, 2011 As has been said it could just need a set up. It's certainly worth checking it out and trying a DIY job - it's pretty easy and there is not much to lose with a cheap guitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted March 17, 2011 Members Share Posted March 17, 2011 Neil, first, can you get ahold of it and take some measurements - both the normal neck angle thing, your perception of the action and check the intonation with a tuner. Post or PM me the results. If it sounds fixable (setup, compensation) I'll do it if it can be shipped to me. If the neck angle is bad, look inside to see if there is a bolt or two (might be covered by the label or a wood plug). I'd try a reset if it is bolt on or MT - even a dovetail would be good practice. Shipping across country would be $30-35 each way - maybe the group would pony up and make this a Caper. I hate to see a guitar that someone can't play - lets see if we can fix it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kwakatak Posted March 17, 2011 Author Members Share Posted March 17, 2011 Thanks, guys. She did mention the possibility of letting me look at it. I'll see her on Sunday and follow through with that. BTW, here's a pic of the actual guitar. I think she did pay less than $100 for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gitnoob Posted March 17, 2011 Members Share Posted March 17, 2011 Johnny Cash would have dug it. And Esteban. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guildfire Posted March 17, 2011 Members Share Posted March 17, 2011 I don't know man. You gotta weigh the time and cost of fixing that thing vs chalking it up to experience and getting her another guitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members seagullplayer77 Posted March 17, 2011 Members Share Posted March 17, 2011 I've not had any experience with Rogue guitars either, but gitnoob is right---those were the ones they gave away with the ten-packs of Elixirs a while back. A friend of mine bought the package deal, sold the guitar for $100, the kept the strings. I think he actually made some money on the deal. From the picture, it looks like this is what we're dealing with: http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/product/Rogue-Dreadnought-Cutaway-AcousticElectric-Guitar?sku=519292 There's no mention of a warranty in the description, so my guess is that there isn't one. It looks like it's all-laminate as well and for $130, it would be tough to justify a fix. It sounds like she's particularly attached to this guitar, which is unfortunate, because I think it's giving up the ghost. OTOH, as other folks have said, it could just need a setup . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted March 17, 2011 Members Share Posted March 17, 2011 OTOH, as other folks have said, it could just need a setup . As I said, if you can get it to me, I'll do what I can. No promises. One of the things I do locally is buy old yard sale guitars, try to make them playable and give them to our local music program. Several kids are playing on guitars that they couldn't otherwise afford. The main thing that I try to do is make them as easy as possible to play - I'm willing to give this a shot too, but if you feel it isn't worth the shipping costs, I understand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Opa John Posted March 17, 2011 Members Share Posted March 17, 2011 I feel for the young lady, Kwak. I really hope you can take care of it for her. I have an old friend by the name of Ray Sparks who builds mandolins (mainly) and also guitars and banjos. For kicks, a couple of years ago, he ordered a $69 Rogue from Musician's Friend. Gave it one of his setups, bone saddle, new strings and the thing sounds like a much more expensive guitar. He just did it to see how the Rogue's were built. After he did the minor upgrades, he told me he wouldn't be opposed to buying another one. If you google "Ray Sparks" you can find some of his custom mandolins on the Internet. He works cheap. His "A" style mandolins start at ~$800. His "F" styles start at around $1400. He's definitely not in it for the money. He just loves to build mandolins. I've played 'em.....they're good ones! He's been building mandolins since he was 14. He's real close to 80 now, so I don't know how much longer he intends to do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Cortfan Posted March 18, 2011 Members Share Posted March 18, 2011 My memory is slow, but i remember a neighbor of mine that had that same Rogue guitar. Seems his neck was coming unglued and making the action about 3/4 of an inch high. We just "reset" the neck by re-gluing it, with Elmer's wood glue, and pressing it down to close the gap next to the body, with a clamp. It worked, and made the guitar playable, even decent again. The stock tuners was fairly servicable. i think the fretboard needed gluing down, too. Anyway it worked, and we didn't know exactly what we were doing, but didn't have anything to lose. Check the neckgap at the body. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Starrshine Posted March 18, 2011 Members Share Posted March 18, 2011 Well, I have the Rogue Mandolin A style and I guess I got lucky. I bought it on one of MF's stupid deals for $39.99. After spending some time tweaking on it, it plays well. The tuners suck and I would like to replace them, but I haven't found anything that fits. Most likely will have to put individual ones on. I put JJB piezos in it and it's great that way, in fact I am gigging with a band tonight. Of course it doesn't hold a candle to my L & H, but it sounds good.Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kwakatak Posted March 18, 2011 Author Members Share Posted March 18, 2011 I just shot her an email. Hopefully it's just a truss rod thing - but I doubt it. If so, my friend Yamaha Junkie has all the stewmac toys and a capucinno (sp) machine to steam off necks with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DeepEnd Posted March 18, 2011 Members Share Posted March 18, 2011 You'll probably also need to lower the saddle and replace it with one that's properly compensated. Personally, I'd check CraigsList for a replacement before I'd try a neck reset but that's me. BTW, it's spelled "cappuccino". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kwakatak Posted March 24, 2011 Author Members Share Posted March 24, 2011 OK, she brought the guitar to practice last night and I've got it here with me now. My first impressions were both right and wrong: this is a cheap guitar but OTOH it's got a good pickup (some kind of Fishman with I assume an UST in it) and the neck seems to be solid and straight. The problem is that the bridge is lifting. It's got a black finish that was sprayed on after the neck had been glued to the body. Fortunately, I don't have to take THAT apart but in the case of the top - which is still nice and flat with no belly - the footprint for the bridge was not fully blocked off. You more experienced guys would recognize this: the glue on the underside of the bridge only comes in full contact with the finish that is underneath the edges; the "meat" of the bridge isn't as strongly-bonded to the bare spruce top underneath. That's both good and bad because even though the bridge lifted - I can actually fit a .073m guitar pick underneath it - the separation is nice and clean. Apart from the UST this would be an easy repair: just cover up the top with a caul to protect the finish, apply heat to the rosewood bridge and then just pry it off gently when the glue melts. After that it should be a matter of cleaning up the area and regluing it, right? Anyhoo - here's some pictures: BTW, get a load of this glue work on the kerfing: Not gonna comment other than to say: note the color of the glue. Its aroma is remarkably similar to another glue that comes in a little white bottle with an orange cap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Pine Apple Slim Posted March 24, 2011 Members Share Posted March 24, 2011 Agree should be simple. Just be careful with the UST wires when you pull it off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Terry Allan Hall Posted March 24, 2011 Members Share Posted March 24, 2011 Agree should be simple. Just be careful with the UST wires when you pull it off. When I've done this sort of repair, removing the UST is the 1st thing I do...if one is careful, it's pretty easy to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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