Rogue Mandolin with Oval Soundhole 

Comments about Rogue Mandolin with Oval Soundhole:

sounds as good as any other mandloin to me. playable action. even holds a tune, which I was concerned about for such a low priced instrument. Obviously not a work of art but it looks fine too. Great deal for the money. Exactly what I wanted!

Comments about Rogue Mandolin with Oval Soundhole:

I have had good experiences with Rogue brand instruments, for my students, and to have around just to practice on without using my high-$$ instruments all the time. I ordered this one on special from MF thinking it would be good as a beater, and for the price I figured it couldn't be too bad. Wrong. When I opened the box and sighted down the fingerboard (always the first thing I do with a stringed instrument) it looked like a ski jump - - VERY warped, and as a result the action was too high, making it unplayable. Sad, and this model does NOT have the truss rod for neck adjustments, so no fixing it.

Too bad, he finish was nice, and the workmanship was clean, as with all Rogue products, but regrettably I had to send it back. Maybe I just got a bad one, but this happens from time to time with any instrument or brand. It's just a chance you take ordering sight unseen, but MF was great and took it back with no problems.

If you're looking for a nice beginning mandolin I would definitely suggest finding one with an adjustable truss rod, so if the neck does warp at least you have a chance to correct that issue.

Comments about Rogue Mandolin with Oval Soundhole:

Been playing stringed instruments for 40 years. I own a dozen vintage and quality instruments. I wanted a cheap but playable mandolin for campfire type jams. Needed somethig I could make play well and sound adequate. This meets those requirements. I play celtic and folk music not bluegrass so a bluegrass musician may judge the sound differently. I was disapointed when I tuned it up and the finish cracked where the fretboard meets the soundboard. I almost sent it back. With cheap instruments and quality control a replacement may have worse issues. This instrument plays well, sounds well, and seems to be stable. Does what I need to do so far. My main instrument is guitar with some pro experience but I also play Banjo, Bass, Dobro, Uke, and some mandolin and keyboard.

Comments about Rogue Mandolin with Oval Soundhole:

The tone of it is great. I honestly was looking to purchase an f-style, but I am very satisfied with this one. The price is right and the quality is excellant. I recommend the Rouge with the round tone hole, not just the beauty of it, but the sound is awsome! She has a fantastic bark to her! The fingering is easy on your fingers as well.
I have been playing for many years and truly fell in love with this one! It has a great sound and plays very easy. It also has a beautiful appearance. I have also baught an Ovation Celebraty Series accoustic/electric guitar from Musicians Friend and still play it. In my opinion, Musicians Friend is great dealing with. I definately recommend this mandolin whether you are a beginner or a professional player. It is totally awesome! Great price!

Comments about Rogue Mandolin with Oval Soundhole:

This is my 3rd mandolin purchase. I was looking for a good sounding mandolin that I could travel with to parks, use on lunch breaks, etc. My other mandolins are a Loar LM-400 with a cumberland bridge and my cheap-o savannah f-hole low end mandolin which I must say sounds awful. What attracted me to this oval hole rogue was the promise of a solid spruce top. The mandolin is very beautiful and looks professional. The tuners however, are terrible. I read others talking about upgrading tuners and someday I may, but for me it's just not worth it at this point. Straight out of the box, it is a bear to play. The Setup: I immediately took the string off and properly fitted the bridge to the top to make a solid contact. I then properly grooved the top of the bridge and deepened the grooves in the nut to lower the nut end action. I re-strung it with some nice medium elixir strings and properly located bridge for good intonation.
The End Product: With the bridge properly fitted to the top of the instrument, snugly agains't the spruce top with it's placement perfect- it sounds wonderful for the cost. The sound is bright and full and each note is proper up to the 12th fret. I'd say it's a GREAT buy for a cheap mandolin, but it needs to be properly setup to bring out its best. Look online on how to properly set it up. ...Even my wife says it sounds surprisingly good, which is a huge compliment considering she rolls her eyes each time I pickup a mandolin. If you're just starting, or already playing and want something cheap that doesn't sound cheap, it's the right choice.

Comments about Rogue Mandolin with Oval Soundhole:

This mandolin was purchased for me as a gift for Christmas and my birthday from my girlfriend, just got it today played around with it for about and hour and then tried to tune it. I know I can't expect much from stock strings but this is ridiculous. When I was tuning the high E it snapped, I wasn't too angry because I could still play it, but then after about another 15 minutes of playing the second E snapped and lashed my left eye. It sounds pretty good thought, I would recommend it to anybody who is looking to spend money on eye surgery. Maybe I'm just mad but I would not buy this product again or advise anybody to.

Comments about Rogue Mandolin with Oval Soundhole:

i purchased the mandolin/uke kit, but learned that the oval sounbdhole model has a spruce top! so i bought one, changed out the tuning machines to individual mini-Gotoh's & dropped the bridsge all the way down, put on a set of light gauges strings, with the Gotoh's tuning is easy. it plays incredible well & sounds so-o much better then the plywood top f-hole.

Comments about Rogue Mandolin with Oval Soundhole:

I've played 6 string and 12 string guitars, along with several other fretted & stringed instruments for over 30 years and I am very happy with the sound of this mandolin. I was a little worried because there doesn't seem to be a truss rod in the neck, but that doesn't seem to be a problem. I tuned it up, right out of the box and it sounds great. This is definitely a fine addition to my collection of fretted strings.

Comments about Rogue Mandolin with Oval Soundhole:

This was my first mandolin and I got it on a stupid deal of the day. I've played good ones before but didn't want to drop a bunch of cash on my first. The finish was nice, the fret work was a bit rough. When I first tuned up it would go out of tune every time I played it. I got some Martin strings and after a few days it was staying in tune much better. The tuners are not very good. One is really tight and other is really loose. But it does stay in tune mostly and I've gotten a lot of enjoyment out of it. I would recommend it if you're tight on cash but there are much better ones to be had, just not for this low price.

Comments about Rogue Mandolin with Oval Soundhole:

Got this on sale and it made it an even better deal. Must be a hit miss on quality, because mine is perfect. Great finish, great sound, and I am enjoying every minute of playing it. Good mando to learn on and that is just what I needed.