Rogue VB100LH Left-Handed Violin Bass Guitar Vintage Sunburst

Most Liked Positive Review

Great Bass for the Price

I've been playing bass for a while and was curious about adding a "Beatle-style" bass to my collection. Based partly on the great reviews of the Rogue, I decided to pull the trigger. I'm very happy with my choice, but there are things to consider when dealing with any instrument at this price point. I was fortunate that GC was running a deal (When are they not?). An incredible deal for what you get. Personally, I enjoy tinkering with a new instrument about as much as I do playing it, but if you're not one of those people then realize that before going in. You have to take a moment and think about what corners are going to be cut that allow you to buy an instrument for less than $200 compared to one costing $2000. Part of that is cheap labor combined with cheap parts and a large production run, where each individual instrument receives minimal attention and QC varies quite a lot. For example, my bass arrived with the control panel attached backwards; someone at the factory wasn't paying attention and no one caught the mistake down the line. It was easy enough for me to undo the four screws, pull it out of the body and reinsert it in the correct way. If this is beyond what you feel comfortable with, then you may wish to save your money and buy a more expensive instrument less likely to come with similar issues, but I'd recommend instead that you attempt to perform as many of these little guitar tweaks yourself so that you really get to know your instrument and it in turn reflects what only you know to be its proper playability. Probably the single biggest compromise on my bass is its poorly formed plastic nut. It's too high and the grooves were cut rough, making tuning problematical. I've ordered a synthetic replacement. If you've ever played an instrument with a plastic nut and then switched it out for a bone or synthetic one the difference is truly striking. Whole new worlds of tone open up. It's not a hard procedure at all, and there's plenty of info out there on the Internet to show you how to do it. Still, it does play just as it is, and if you're just starting out, it'll still work for you. Just know that a correctly formed nut along with the proper neck tension can make any instrument so much more playable, which is especially important if you're thinking that it's you that's the problem. Another thing to know is that there is a thin foam piece between the floating bridge and the body. The bridge is held in place by string tension only, so if you change strings, do so one at a time. The intonation was perfect from the factory, so if you're going to remove this foam piece, mark the bridge position with some tape so you can remove the foam and replace it exactly. The foam only protects the finish during shipping, but as the bridge transmits the string vibration to the body, the last thing you want in there is insulation stopping that process! Those issues aside, the bass itself is beautiful and the paint and wood striking. Just to mention, it looked like last year's model, with a darker outer stain, and was not the orange and yellow sunburst pictured with this year's version. Whether the photo reflects an actual change in the production run coloring or is just a bad photo I have no idea, but either way, you're going to wind up with a beautiful instrument in your hands. As is common to all guitars of this design, there is a bit of neck plunge, but not as bad as I expected. I mostly play sitting down anyway, so it's not an issue. The neck itself is thin and smooth and a joy to play. My hands aren't the largest, so I like basses that feel like this. I'd recommend treating the rosewood fingerboard as well as the bridge with something like Dr. Duck's Ax Wax, as the wood comes very dry and dirty from the factory and is in need of some cleaning/hydration. You'll be amazed at the difference in both look and feel. Polish the frets while you're at it. This is one of those steps that gets done at the factory for a $2000 instrument, so it's up to you to do it instead. Better that crud goes on a towel than on your fingers and new strings. One thing that surprised me was this: This bass takes medium scale strings, not short scale ones. The strings measure 33 and a half inches from the tail piece to the nut; short scale strings won't work. I ordered some Rotosound RS77M flatwound strings, although others are available. From what I've read, these basses fairly scream for a flatwound string instead of the roundwound ones that come from the factory, which on mine measured 45 60 75 95. Know that if you move up to a heavier gauge, you'll have to tweak the truss rod, which is accessed under a three screw panel at the top of the headstock. An hex wrench came with the bass, along with a low-quality audio cable. But even with the factory strings and aforementioned high plastic nut, the sound of this bass is amazing, kind of like a shotgun wedding between a solid-body P-bass and an acoustic. Really it's own thing. Warm and woody is probably the best way to describe it. I play through a Fender 25B with the volume only set to 4 and it's plenty loud for my purposes. You can also play it unplugged and still hear a lot of tone, so I'm thinking it might be a nice shadetree instrument out on the back porch or tailgate. With it's light weight and unique sound, it's just a blast to play. So to sum up, if your willing to live with some little imperfections and work with them, the Rogue VB100LH bass is an incredibly affordable and fun addition to your musical arsenal. I couldn't be happier with my choice.