Rogue VB-100 Violin Bass (electric bass)

[shezza]

Hi there Plgrmsprgrs,I have just fitted black flat wounds to my Hofner Violin, As per the Get Back session on the roof of Apple.
They are Rotosound Tru bass Short Scale RS88S.
From www.stringsdirect.co.uk .........Pete.

[plgrmsprgrs]

shezza

Thanks for the reply. It is my understanding that the Rogue VB-100 is an inch longer than a Hofner (31" vs 30 ") which makes the short scale Rotosounds just a bit too short for the Rogue. In fact, I ordered a set of Rotosound shortscale (same as you put on your Hofner) and they were too short. Another concern is the gauge of the strings. The 115 in the Rotosound is too large for the nut of the Rogue. I suspect it's also too large for the tailpiece as well. I can't see anywhere that Rotosound makes the nylons in any other gauge, so I was hoping Vox (or anyone else) could comment on either where they found Rotosound Nylons at a gauge that worked on Rogues, or if they had to modify the Rogue to accomodate the 115 gauge.

Any light anyone can shed here would be greatley appreciated!

Thanks ---- Kyle

[shezza]

Yes you are right they are a fraction larger, But I opened the nut slightley with a nail file just one rub per side was enough.Tru bass are also supplied in medium scale....................Pete.

[Olias]

If inexpensive is what you're after... http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-2007-VIOLA-BASS-VINTAGE-SUNBURST-SALE_W0QQitemZ280032028495QQihZ018QQcategoryZ4713QQcmdZViewItem

I bought one of these (the 2006 version) last summer, and it is surprisingly good. It doesn't have the flame-maple like some of the other Hofner clones, and the bridge doesn't have the metal staples, but it seems to have the same quirky switches/knobs, it is visually appealing, and it plays and sounds good. Not at all the "wall hanger" I expected for the price.

[tubedude]

I ordered th Rotosound RS77M medium scale flat wounds 50-60-75-90 from MF and they fit perfectly om my Rogoe VB-100.

[Apowell]

I've had the Rogue for about a year and found this thread today. I have to echo the positive comments about the workmanship, pickups and overall quality. For the price, it's a superb value.

The only complaint I had was the original strings - they're nasty, tinny things that don't belong on a bass. I replaced them with the LaBella Hofner flats and the change was astonishing: immediately the sound was full, with strong bottom end and a very traditional sound. My band partners like it among the very best of my basses - and that includes a 1963 P.

Important: these basses take a longer string than a standard short scale bass, because of the bridge and tailpiece. The LaBella Hofner set is the correct length for this bass so you won't have any problems with them.

Personally, I like the pickguard and have left it on, and I added the pearl tuner knobs from Stew-Mac because they're a pretty good match to the pickguard.

All in all, it's hard to beat the value of the Rogue VB-100.

[deltapancake]

I've strung my VB-100 with Rotosound Flatwounds RS 77M, medium scale strings, but my bass never stays in tune. The low E string doesn't sound right either - I'm thinking about selling it.

[BeowulfKingsley]

I'm way late to this forum, but I'm surprised that no one's mentioned Pyramid Strings...which were mentioned in a Bass Player interview with Paul (by his bass tech) as being the brand he used extensively in the past and favors now. I threw some on my Jay Turser, and man, they made all the difference. Pricey (I think they were $50) but so rich sounding and they last forever.

[leftystratman]

what other basses have a similar neck profile / length to the Violin bass? I really miss it now.

[old mark]

I read this thread with great interest-I Googled Violin Bass forums and got this thread. Joined the Forum today because of the great information contained in it.
I recently ordered a (Chinese made) "Viola Bass" from eBay for a "buy it now" $100, and it just came home today.
It looks about 5 times better than I thought it would be, not fancy figured wood, but nice grain in the maple top and mahogany sides and back. Very smooth rosewood board, smooth, even frets. No name on the headstock, small dot inlays on the fingerboard, came with a gig bag, cord, strap and allen wrench. Has the humbuckers with the switches as the other brands, good, solid tuners that look like Schallers.
Woodwork is beautiful, only flaw in the whole bass is the jack nut was loose enough to turn with the fingers. Set it up, tuned it up, plugged it in-the little sucker is LOUD!!! Neck is very fast, tone is unbelieveably deep for such a small, light instrument. Everything works, everything fits, looks,sounds and feels very good.
I need to put LaBella HBB's on it, but I will spend some time adjusting the pickup heuigts to see if I can get a bit more variation out of it. With the bad strings, it's hard to really judge, but both pickups sound pretty good through my old Peavey amp.

I started playing in 1963, have played a few different basses, and I really like this one-easily worth 4 times as much, but I won't tell'em-they import other types of basses and guitars as well.

Thanks for a very informative thread, great people on this forum, but then you are all bass players, so it's just natural.

mark

[Bryer M.]

well the one paul mcarteny used has a sweet tone, i've never played one for myself

[martinday1988]

hi, im new here. i signed up just so i could be a part of this topic.

first i would just like to say thank you to the person who started this topic,

 

because of you i had some good idears for my own violin bass.

 

this is my bass, its a violin bass copy made by "tanglewood" its just like "rogue" and "jay turser"

 

ive had it about 6 years or so and ive made a few modifications to it,

 

i swapped the tuning pegs for the banjo nobs from macdonald, your right the smaller ones would have been better. maybe i could just file down the ones i have. the hofner truss rod cover is black, mine is white so i just turned it over so the back underside is showing.

 

 

for a more hofner vintage look i painted my strap buttons white, as you know some hofner basses have white plastic strap buttons, at some point i will replace them with strong plastic ones but i just thought this would be cheaper.

 

 

i also painted the 3 little black switches white, i dont have any hofner tea cup knobs so i just put 2 gibson style "GOLD/GOLD" "TOPHAT" knobs on.

 

 

you can buy hofner style tailpieces now, but for money reasons i just changed mine a little, i removed that horrible metal thing that sits in the middle of the tailpiece.

 

 

sometimes i just like to remove the pickguard. the bass does look good without it, but when its screwed on my bass it looks like this.

 

 

see what ive done? ive moved the bracket to the other side of the "horn", now its where a hofners go. i also made the pickguard float like a hofners does. i put 2 little foam circles inder it and put the screws threw them.

 

 

the last thing i did was this, did you notice that hofner basses have white stripes on there floating bridge? well thats what ive done to mine, 8 little white plastic strips glued in to the groves on the bridge. looks good.

 

[animal69]

I want to sell mine. My parents are telling me I have to leave home and I have to part with some of my possessions. I replaced the tuners with ivoroid tuners that match the Hofner. I also stained the pickguard & control plate with tea to age them and to make them better match the Hofner's ivory colored pickguard and control plate. I added 95-45 flatwounds just like Hofner. All it needs is a tailpiece to be a complete clone. If anyone's interested PM me.

[martinday1988]

hi, im sorry to say i cant buy your bass but i would love to know how you stained your pickguard and control plate. did you just rub tea on them or leave them to soak? would you mind posting a picture of your bass please?

[animal69]

hi, im sorry to say i cant buy your bass but i would love to know how you stained your pickguard and control plate. did you just rub tea on them or leave them to soak? would you mind posting a picture of your bass please?

 

 

the effect is very subtle and with flash photography looks the same. just use strong tea, a lot of tea bags, and soak it for days, almost a week maybe.

[Gone_Acoustic]

sorry, this is an older thread, but...

so, you're saying the alnico magnets from stewmac were an exact match size-wise?

thanks!

My bass player bought Rogue's violin bass and I too was impressed by the overall quality of the instrument. As the band's self appointed gear tech, I have performed a few mods to improve the sound and playability. I replaced the strings with some pure nickel roundwounds. I didn't consider flatwounds, maybe next time. On the bridge, I lowered both fingerwheels to the bottom and used small brass washers to set the height of the bridge. I also stuck sandpaper to the body where the bridge rests and formed the base of bridge to the body more. I did a very light dressing to the frets, they didn't need much. I simplified the electronics by setting the two front switches as on/off for their respective pickups (rendered the rear switch moot.) I also made the front knob a volume and the rear a tone (with a paper-in-oil .022 or .047 tone cap, can't remember right now.) Installed a switchcraft jack. Put some tele style knobs on it. I slotted the nut slightly. Eventually I'll replace the mini pots with full size ones. Recently I replaced the ceramic magnets in the humbuckers with alnico V magnets I bought from StewMac. These mods have solidified a bass that was juuust that close to being awesome. Now it sounds and plays great. The pickups really benefitted from the alnico magnets, warmer and fuller.

 

[larrypoppins]

Cool thread. I just bought a rogue from MF a few days ago, along with some flatwound rotosounds and am eagerly awaiting their arrival.

 

I also read somewhere that the rosewood bridge is a little weak, so I bought a Hofner ebony bridge off ebay betting that the two basses are similar enough that I should be able to switch them out. Anyone know for sure if this will work? Are the bodies EXACTLY the same? Or at least similar enough that this will be possible?

[Gone_Acoustic]

yeah, the bridge is floating - it should work fine. i read about others replacing the bridge. i would love some sort of an intonatable bridge, or else something similar to the gretsch (guitar) bar bridge, wonder how that'd sound!

[Gone_Acoustic]

just bumping my question (anybody?)

sorry, this is an older thread, but... so, you're saying the alnico magnets from stewmac were an exact match size-wise? thanks!

 

[Phil O'Keefe]

I don't think you can do a direct swap with a Hofner bridge - it would probably require some sanding work to get the height correct... but I have never personally tried it. Five years in, and my original bridge is still hanging in there.

[mil0001]

I want to get one of these (Sorry for the bump but yeah ) I can only find one place to get them and it says it's going to take over 150 days to get.. AND I'm in Australia. (All the most annoying problems in the world eh? ) Any other places to get them and do they actually still sell them?

 

The best strings to get after I'm sick of the stocks?

 

If I can't get this bass. Any other decents?

 

Adam.

[Phil O'Keefe]

Hey Adam,

 

Musician's Friend now ships to Oz on a lot of items. I believe that is a recent development, so maybe the situation has changed since you originally inquired. As far as I know, MF is the only company that sells the Rogue brand. Hofner makes a very similar bass; I've heard rumours that it is made in the same Korean factory as the VB-100, although I can not confirm that. It is more expensive here in the USA than the Rogue VB-100: $349 vs. $179-199 for the Rogue.

 

As far as strings, I use Rotosound flatwounds in 40-100 gauge. I'd be uncomfortable with using anything much heavier than that on this particular bass.

[Ara Ajizian]

I'd like to add to this thread that the amazingly talented Alain Johannes has been playing one of these with Them Crooked Vultures on tunes where John Paul Jones is playing an instrument other than bass (or is playing his big, badass slide bass).

 

 

I wanted a bass with a smooth sound through a DI. I ended up going with a Rogue Violin Bass, which is one of my favorite basses.

 

 

[video=youtube;-KJwJlx1Z9g]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KJwJlx1Z9g

[mil0001]

Just a follow up.

MF now has discontinued this little Bass. Oh well might look into other brands like the Hoff ect.

[jarll]

They have more now. I bought one 01-07-11. They have changed. No more floating pickguard because it is mounted flush to the top. And since the top is plywood anyway, I doubt if there is much, if any, tone difference. Because there is no bracket, there would be two holes if removed. I have always thought floating pickguards were junky and knew I would quickly remove, but this one is solid as a rock and I don't think I will ever take it off.
I have always thought the Hofner tailpiece looked better, never held one but from pictures they appear to be hindged together. The Rogue tailpiece hooks together and can easily be disassembled for cleaning. The mounting holes are in different places so I wouldn't even think about up/downgrading it.
The bridge saddles appear to be fretwire and cannot be moved, OK with me.
Neck is perfect.
All in all, this is one of the most perfecty manifactured instuments that I have ever seen, right down to the loose output jack, standard on all models.