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Rogue VB-100 Violin Bass (electric bass)


Lee Knight

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Hi Phil! Just wanted to thank you & all the members for the great info on this bass. My last bass was a 1969 Hofner. Yea im that old! LOL

Ive been looking at the Rogue for over a year & decided to try it.

Your insight to this bass helped me jazz this thing into something special for me!

First of all, I got rid of the pickguard. Cheesy & cheap looking.

As per your advice replaced the metal tuner knobs with Ivory knobs from Stew Mac. I got the good ones!

While there, I replaced the input jack with an upgrade.

Volume knobs were replaced with Hofner teacups.

Last but not least, the strings were replaced with Rotosound Black Nylons. Now it looks like something! My vision ended with a Vox t-60 Bass amp that is comming in today. I think I got one of the last ones remaining in the country. Very happy with my project so far, but have 1 question for you?

 

Would there be any advantage to upgrading the volume pots to 500K? I have a pair, but dont want to mess anything up on the bass. My soldering is holding me back at this point.

 

Thank you and all the members again. Any advice would be most welcome on this last bass I will ever own.

Will send pics when im done.

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Thought I'd chime in...

 

I have the Epiphone Viola, and I got it about four years ago.

 

It's been a great workhorse. I am primarily a guitar/keys/vocals guy, but every so often I'll have to overdub some bass parts. So, being a McCartney lover, I thought this was the one for me.

 

Not that it has extingushed the GAS to get a nice Jazz bass and a Rick, but, one thing at a time.

 

Anyway, it's got that great Hofner tone, bright/warm, and rich. The controls are great, but they are different than the Rogue (which I think is slightly closer to the Hofner version anyway). The Epi has no switches.

 

Fit and finish are great, and it has not given me any trouble. Check them out if you can.

 

Now, to finally put some flatwounds on it!

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Originally posted by 2manband

Phil


Thanks for the helpful input. The ~$100 fretless conversion deal you mentioned sounds like it should be perfect for me, but I'm not able to get the link to work. Could you post a URL?


I found it via a Google search. It was
www.guitarworx.net
but it's down for me at the moment too.
:(

I've dug a little deeper into my search for a piezo pickup and reallty like these:

http://www.gollihur.com/kkbass/bassteng.html

hopefully by removing the bridge pickup and control plate I'll be able to reach into the body and install them. The instrument is a full hollow body, isn't it? (no center block?) With these pickups I can try multiple positionings using the temporary 2-sided tape, find what sounds best, and then permenantly mount them.


They're fully hollow as far as I can tell, but they're made of pretty thick plywood.


In terms of sound, I'm definately not trying to convince anybody that it's an upright, but am just looking to (1) learn how to play fretless and (2) have a sonic texture to work with that I can't acheive with any of my existing gear (3) have a cool, unique instrument for a fairly small investment.


Well, if you want to experiment on something, the Rouge is pretty inexpensive. And while I doubt it's going to fool anyone into really believing it's an upright they're hearing, I do think it would at least be interesting and unique.
:cool:

It'll 'prolly be a few weeks 'till I get started, but I'll keep everybody updated.


Please do.
:)

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Would there be any advantage to upgrading the volume pots to 500K? I have a pair, but dont want to mess anything up on the bass. My soldering is holding me back at this point.

 

I honestly don't know. It really depends on the output of the pickups, and I think they're probably better suited to 250K's. But it can't hurt to try - unless your soldering skills are not up to it, and if that's the case, I'd recommend getting someone else to do it for you.

 

Oh, and the pots inside the Rogue are small in size, not standard full sized cans. Just thought you should know in case you have the larger diameter pots.

 

BTW, after a couple of weeks, I broke down and got the ivroy tuner knobs too. :) They look much better than the pearlescent ones, and go well with the teacup knobs. :)

 

I sound like a fashon coordinator or something. :rolleyes::D

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Was playing last night & having a good time. Then I looked down at those little switches & said, guess im not done? LOL

 

Has anyone replaced the switches with Switchcraft replacements with the Ivory ones?

 

Any model numbers would be great, as im not sure where to go at this one.

If not, guess im done then!

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  • 1 month later...

I didn't bother with the switches. I know that the Hofner switches (and even the whole control plate / switch / pot assembly) are available as replacement parts, but I don't know if they would fit into the Rogue without some modifications.

 

If you try it, please let us know if it works or not. :)

 

Here's a couple of links for you to check out:

 

Hofner Parts Link 1.

 

Hofner Replacement Parts Link 2.

 

Both places sell the whole prewired control plate... but it's more than the whole Rogue costs. :eek: The second link sells the raw switches, and at a more "affordable" price.... but again, caveat emptor, because a lot of the parts are probably not directly interchangeable.

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I've bought several things from NCM. Never fromthe other. It's crazy to buy the entire prewired control panel. Like you said it costs more than the bass itself.

 

I saw on some posting that someone actually painted them. I'm goint to try to find that posting and contact that person. I'd like to see if they can send pics on the paint job.

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Measure the posts on the poteniometer. I bought my teacup knobs from North Coast Music. I think my pot posts measures .23". Theres a screw to tighten them. They really make a difference.

 

I'm looking to change the slide switches, but I don't want to spen more than the guitar, you know.

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North Coast has the individual switches (white) available - "Price: $13.50 USD each". Link is in my previous post. :) Don't know if they'll fit the control plate on the Rogue without some modifications or not though. If you try it, please let us know how it goes - ditto that for any paint info you can track down. :)

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Well...I ended up painting the switches this weekend. They look great. I just used spray paint that is for plastic. I made sure that i used painters tape covering up the pot switches. For less than $5.00 for the paint, and 1 hour of work, I got the look I wanted.

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Well it took a little longer than I anticipated, but mine's on the way. I also ordered these:

 

http://www.gollihur.com/kkbass/bassteng.html

 

to install inside under the bridge - Can't decide whether to use a 1/4" stereo jack, or just drill a hole for a second jack. I'll look into posting some clips when it's done. I've decided to leave the frets on for now - I may or may not remove them in the future. Not many upgrades for me besides that - prolly remove the pickguard, but I'm not going to bother w/ the tuner heads, knobs, etc.

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