Rogue VB100 Violin Bass

No need to go over this in detail again. Covered in other posts. The bridge design is a drawback. The position of the strap peg behind the neck makes the bass roll down away from you. It's neck heavy, but that ain't saying much on an instrument this light. I like the little switches that let you turn the pickups on and off. It's very handy to turn both the pickups off when you want to set the bass down for a moment. You don't lose your volume settings.

The sound is very woody and warm. I put Hofner strings on it and they really make this instrument come alive. For me, this is a one sound bass, just the neck pickup with my amp set just so. That one sound is very acoustic, very live and responsive. It records great direct. I ran it through a PODxt using the tube preamp setting, notched the mids a bit, boosted the bass a hair, and got a wonderful tone.

Very well made, one minor cosmetic flaw. You have to wrestle with the intonation, like everyone here says, but it didn't take as long as I expected and it turned out spot on well up past the 12th fret. I expected it to take all day to get it right but was done in a couple hours.

It's a solid instrument, I don't fear it falling apart, but the tuning is sensitive to temperature change. For me, that made it unacceptable for outdoor gigs.

I've been playing for about 20 years, all told. If it were lost or stolen, I would buy another one as soon as I could spare the cash. This isn't my main bass; I'm using an Epiphone Allen Woody because I like the sound even more (that's saying a lot), it holds tune better when the mercury is on the move, it's more comfortable on a strap, and it looks even cooler. But this bass, the Rogue, is my second favorite instrument, and I would especially miss it in the studio. On some songs, not even my Allen Woody sounds so sweet.

Its a Korean hollow beatle bass (no F holes), 2 passive humbucking pickups, 3 switches (cheap quality,) two volume knobs (cheap quality), flamed laminated top (reasonably matched....actually looks quite good), 4 cheap-o strings you won't want to keep (when you order the bass, order new strings along with it), a cheap quality rosewood bridge (seems easily breakable to me), and pretty good tuners that seem to hold a tune quite securely). I'll give it an "8" because I think you get what you pay for, and a price to quality comparison would rate very favorably on this model. The bridge worries me....it'll need TLC to last.

Others have stated it sounds way better with different strings. They are right. It sounds waaaaaaaayyyy better. I ordered good quality flatwounds for it and I'm REALLY happy with the sound now. Another bass player played it at church today and said he never had more fun....and he loves the sound as well. Its round and boomy if thats what you're into. Others said this bass is no good for slapping. I caught him slapping all over the place and it sounded good to me. I don't slap so I don't care about that. I love oldies rock (60's and 70's) and this bass shines on that kind of stuff. I play through a Kustom 100 watt 15" combo using the speaker for a monitor and the amp's line out straight into the PA. I reach for a dark, warm, round sound and this bass does that easily. It is naturally boomy. I actually had to turn down the bass knob on the amp to about 11 o'clock. With every other bass I own I have to turn the bass up to about 2 or 3 o'clock to get the sound I want. This bass is naturally boomy. I expected crummy pickups because its a Rogue. I was going to take some fabulous staple pickups I have from an old 60's department store catalog Beatle bass I have (a Conrad) and I was going to replace them right away. Totally not necessary! These pickups sound real good. It sounded good on the recording I made today as well...VERY good actually. I use a compressor to balance string volumes. The A string was louder than the others. With the compressor it was perfect. I'm real happy. I'll give it a "9" because it isn't near as bright as, say, any active bass would be. It isn't super bright and trebly at all. The bridge pickup is softer than the neck pickup. But it beats the daylights out of a set of EMG Hz's I have in my Dean 5 string. These pickups have character. The EMG's are flat and boring.

Some people struggle with getting the intonation set. It took me 15 minutes. I did it as I was changing out the crummy strings. It wasn't near the headache some have described in their reviews. The finish was great. The neck is somewhat thin and VERY fast and comfortable. The action was a little low out of the box and I simply raised the bridge before setting the intonation. It buzzed much worse with the crummy strings than the flatwounds I installed (due to a little more tension). Don't buy anything larger than a .95 string for the E string or it might not fit. Light flatwounds work great. Its true as others have stated, that short scale strings will be too short to fit this bass. See if you can find Mediums. The bridge pickup is angled toward the bridge. They didn't compensate for the angle of the arched top when they set the pickups in the body. I suppose someone could shim something inside and correct the angle. I don't care much about that and probably never will.

I play live with it without much concern. The hardware is nice. The finish is more than acceptable and I believe it will last. The strap buttons are solid enough. The neck is straight as an arrow. I would never play without a backup.....not because I don't trust the body, neck or duability of manufacturing....I just have learned not to trust jacks and switches. You never know when they'll mess up on you....and these are cheap ones. Others have said to replace the bridge with an ebony one. Yeah....I'd have to say "Amen!"

Musician's Friend has not done me wrong.....in fact the other day I discovered something I had ordered 63 days ago that I forgot to return and, after some pleading (and whining), they took it back anyway. Their return policy only allowed for 45 days. That was big of them. I ordered this bass about a year ago.....got a badly matched flame maple top and returned it. They have always been good to deal with. They don't hassle me at all if I'm not happy. I think they have integrity and I trust them. The person who packed my bass for shipping could stand a few lessons, though. It barely survived the trip.

I'm 46. Ive been playing the bass since I was 14. I've owned a Rick 4001, a Fender American Precision, a Dean 5 string, a Fernandes Vertigo, a Conrad Jazz Bass knock-off, an Electra Active 4 string from the 80's (blew the Fender and Rick out of the water sound-wise), a DeArmond Starfire bass (weak pickups but cool looking) and the Conrad Beatle Bass from the 60's (which was my favorite). This bass is a great buy for the money. If I had all the basses I've ever owned in one room I'd go for this one and the Conrad Beatle Bass most often I'm sure. I have scoliosis of the spine and heavy basses hurt after only 15 minutes....this bass weighs only 5 1/2 to barely 6 pounds and its easy on the spine. If it were stolen or damaged I wouldn't hesitate to buy another one. I would like to see Rogue put a better bridge on it and a thumb rest just above the neck pickup. Unless you really want wwwaaaaaaayyyyy more than you're willing to pay for, I think you'll really like this bass ....unless you're exclusively into pop and slap funky stuff.

Rogue VB100-L, Left-handed 4-string Violin Bass, 2003 (presumably), Korean made. Has a laminated arch-top, flamed maple with a high gloss finish with a basic perloid pick guard. Standard rosewood fingerboard with 22 frets, fragile-looking rosewood bridge (which I would recommend changing to a Hofner ebony bridge) and two mini humbucker pick-ups. The controls are simply two volume controls, a bass and treble switch, and a rhythm/solo switch, much like the '63 Hofner Beatle Bass. The strings that came with it are cheap and tinny - although I understand that they are or, rather *were* made by Gibson.

Once you change the strings, it's amazing how this bass sounds. I had wanted to change to a set of Rotosound TruBass RS88LDs but opted for Fender 9120 flatwound black nylons for budgetary reasons. The E string (.110) is a tight squeeze in the saddle, but the sound difference from the original strings is astounding. Instead of sounding like a banjo, it sounds like a bass: a nice deep, dark rumble, even through the Behringer Ultrabass BX300 I'm using. Honestly, I can't play with the volume past three without rattling the windows. I haven't played the bass out yet, but I can't wait. The sound is just fantastic.

I was initially disappointed that the strings buzzed so badly that you couldn't play a note without wincing. The bridge wasn't set quite right and the action was far too low. I adjusted the truss rod a bit and raised the action, plus the string change (which I just can't recommend enough) and now there are no problems. The controls are as basic as they get, so I set it to treble off/bass on/solo and haven't toyed with them any more. The pick-ups seem fine, though I believe the bridge pick-up could be raised. Maybe I'm asking too much, but I'd like to buy a guitar and play it, not spend hours fiddling with it, but that's just me.

Overall, the hardware seems solid - except for the bridge. I'm afraid it's going to snap. Of course this isn't the kind of bass made for a lot of slapping and popping, so I imagine the bridge will hold out just fine. It just seems so damned fragile. I don't throw my guitars around so I'm certain the finish will last. It's really gorgeous - far more impressive than the picture of it on Musician's Friend web site - and looks as professional as it gets. The neck is thin and comfortable and the frets are nicely configured for smaller hands. I have trouble reaching on some basses, but this fits my hands perfectly - no finger-dislocating struggle to reach anything, no missed notes or buzz from just barely making it to a fret, no looking down to see if you're anywhere near where you wanted to play. You can run the fingerboard with absolute ease.

I had no problems with Musician's Friend. Their customer support is top-notch and the delivery times are astonishingly fast for an internet site. This is the fifth time I've purchased items from them and will continue to do so. To be fair, I had ordered this bass from them, got it in two days, couldn't get it to play worth a damn no matter what I tried to do, called them, voiced my concerns, sent it back, and two days later got a replacement that was everything the first one wasn't. They had no qualms about replacing what I considered to be an errant "bad apple."

I had wanted this bass, drooled over it, for months until the price came down from $319 to $249. Ages ago I had a Hofner copy which didn't survive a move in one piece (or many) and when I found this I couldn't wait to have it. I've been playing off and on for about twenty years and, apart from 6 and 12 string acoustics, have a Yamaha 5-string bass that's okay, but this bass blows it away. They're worlds apart and really made for entirely different styles of playing, but I love the sounds from this Rogue. If it got destroyed in another move or stolen I would replace it in a heartbeat. It would have been nice to play it or at least see it in person before buying it - because I'm just anal about wanting to test things before I buy them - but I don't think you could go wrong with this bass. Just change the strings. Really. The set that come with it are such utter crap that you could just weep...

Hofner "Beatle Bass" copy. Tuners are better than the ones on a Hofner. Korean made. Came with a cheap cord, and a truss rod wrench..
The electronics function well,(after a solder joint clean up)but the wooden style tune-o-matic bridge sucks. Also needs better strings, as the ones that come with it are not that good.
For 249.00 this is an excellent bass.

This bass sounds great for that "Beatle" sound.
Nice tones from the "hollow body".

Out of the box, this bass needed some serious set up.
I adjusted the bridge to 30.5 inches, and backed off the truss rod a bit to eliminate some string buzz. Stays in tune. Good action, very easy to play!

Hollow body, so be careful....The switches are cheap, they may not last long with constant abuse...Set it and forget it!
The finish is outstanding, I was really impressed.
This bass looks very cool!

Never had a problem.....

If lost or stolen, I would get another one. Outstanding bass for the money. Hofners are a bit pricey, but the VB100 for the money is a a good way to go.

I believe this is a 2001 make from Korea, as it has a label indiciating so on the back of the headstock. The VB-100 has a beautiful laminated top, with no defects found. True to a Hofner 500 Cavern bass, the control panel contains two volume controls, a rhythm/Solo and bass and treble switches.
Two very clean and non-cheap looking single coil humbucker pickups are placed cleanly in the guitar body. I can't emphasize the beauty of the flamed top, back and neck of this well constructed instrument.

The bridge is the only downfall of this bass. It looks cheap and is cheap. I am awfully afraid of adjusting the hight as I might crack the rosewood it is constructed from. PURCHASE A REAL HOFNER EBONY MADE BRIDGE. They run approx. $50 US.

The tuners although deviating from the Hofner style, have a style of their own and very easy to use due to the extra leverage.

The scale of this instrument is 30.5, with a fairly thin neck. I have very long fingers, but find this instrument a breeze to play. The neck made of Rosewood is perfectly aligned. The inlays were in the proper place, contrary to other reviews that I have read here.

Included accessories: A cheap cable.

What would one expect for $249.00 plus shipping?

The sound booms and is clean, very much like the grand piano sounds that I have read here. I am using a Peavey bedroom amp, and would just once like to connect it to a real amp to really appreciate the sound of this quality instrument.

The bass came in perfect condition when it was shipped. As mentioned in other reviews, the strings are NOT good, and removed the piece of foam material under the bridge, and removed the plastic covering the pickups when I changed to strings to good set.

The bass provides hum free playing with no scratchiness in the volume and switch controls.

I find the bass to be very sturdy, except for the above mentioned bridge. I doubt I would pound on it and I use a pick to play. It seems the natural thing to do with this guitar, use a pick.

I have never needed support from Musicians Friend, so I cannot really say.

I have been playing the guitar for 20 years, off and on. I was hesitant when I ordered this instrument, as I did not read any reviews prior to purchasing. This is odd, because I always research before I buy. I was sold on this bass from the sheer beauty of it.
I would buy another if it was stolen or lost, for sure.

Standard features, left handed, with nut and bridge switched to play right handed. nice little bass for the price

It sounds great, I wanted a bass just to have around for studio work, I play guitar and wanted something for low end, and rhythm work on tracks. its great for blues, some funk, and art rock stuff. I'm giving it a 10 for the sound to amount paid ratio.

The set up was okay, the bridge kid of sucks, you have to re-fret it to adjust position, but it wasn't too hard and the nut was easy to replace. not the best but I just wanted something cheap.

I don't normally play bass out, I just use it in the studio for sound re-inforcement. The finish has lasted so far and with moving and weather changes the neck hasn't warped. some modifications to the hardware are probably in the works, but that's for another day.

haven't needed it.

after deciding I needed a cheap bass for studio work, and just playing around on, I had ordered a different less expensive bass from a catalog and after paying through the nose for next day air was rather upset for not getting it the next day, I called the supplier 2 times and they said that my bass was on it's way, 4 days later this lefty bass (at about 3 times the cost) arrived at my house. After waiting as long as I had, and not wanting to go through the hassle I kept it, and converted it to right handed playing. I had always wanted a viola bass and I got it. So it's a great bass for it's value. If it was lost or stolen, I probably would get a fender P-bass or something else, but I can't beat what I got it for, and it sounds great too.

i won't go into all the details as everyone has already read about them....but i will say that this hofner copy is a great instrument...i does come with some cheap roundwound strings that i replaced with some rotosound flat wounds..i also replaced the cheap bridge with a hofner bridge and the volume knobs with hofner's...

this bass is a gem all the way around

i have had no problems with musician's friend

i've been playing since 1970 and have owned everything from a fender telecaster bass all the way up to a ric 4001...sold my gear upon graduation from college..something i have regretted to this day...the rogue vb100 was purchased by myself 2 years ago because i wanted to get back into playing.

2002 Rogue Violin Beatle Bass. Beautiful flame maple top and back in sunburst finish. Accessories include: cheap pearloid pickguard, body binding and sunburst extending through the neck to the back of the headstock. Electronics include: two volume controls and three switches (two on/off swtiches for treble and bass pickups, and one for "solo/rhythm"). Two pickups. Wooden tune-o-matic bridge. Trapeze tailpiece. The neck is a short scale HOWEVER...the trapeze adds twp inches to the string length, so short scale strings won't work. More on this later, I found out the hard way...All in all a very nicely appointed bass with a wonderful look.

Now for the string part. Obviously, strings that this bass came with are crap. I did some research and found out the type of string that Paul used in the Beatle days. He used a Rotosound Trubass set, coated with black nylon, from "Revolver" to the end of the Beatles. Because I figured this bass was short-scale, I bought short scale strings...they didn't fit. But when I finally got the long ones, BOY WHAT A SOUND!!! It comes booming out of the amp like an upright bass on steroids. It has a wonderful dark sound and you can almost hear Paul when you do the slide work from "Come Together." Strangely enough though, I didn't really buy this bass to do Beatle covers; I got it to play in a rock band. it handles it quite well. I wouldn't think it capable of Metallica covers, but it'll work well for the most part. And since the band I'm in plays mostly original music, we just work with the bass rather than against it. I do beautiful ringing chord-type stuff on one string that just BOOOOOMS!!!

The action was surprisingly good out of the box; all I had to do was heighten the bridge a smidgen. Once I did that, the bass really intonated beautifully and the pickups ring very, very well. Nothing else to say but pretty good stuff here...

Although this bass is a semi-hollow body, it feels quite sturdy. The neck is very well joined to the body, the pickups are very well saddled, the trapeze is well jointed. The knobs and switches seem on the chinsy side; I would think of replacing them or just being careful. Also, the bridge has a history, I've read, of breaking during shipping. I imagine this is also true during gigging. Be careful! This is a tank-ish Squier or Ibanez...it's a bit more delicate than that. But you shouldn't be afraid of using it.

Unknown, so I will not try to comment.

Overall a good bass for the price range. Not for every style, but if you play light to moderate rock it will fit the bill nicely. Not to mention any Beatles' covers you maybe doing!

2002 Rogue Violin Beatle knock-off (VB-100). Made in Korea. 22 Frets. Solid maple top and back. Passive electronics. Flamed top and back, vintage sunburst color. Tuners are chrome butterfly. The controls are replicas of the original Hofner basses, which featured volume controls for each pickup as well as on/off switches and a "rhythm/solo" switch (still figuring this out). Trapeze bridge with wood tune-o-matic. Rosewood fretboard with thin frets. FRICKIN' GORGEOUS!!!

This bass BOOMS out of the amp. For some strange reason, I have a feeling Rogue switched my controls around, because when I turn on my treble pickup and shut the bass off, I get a throaty deep sound and when I do vice versa, a cutting trebly sound. But at least both sounds are there. And, boy, are they ever. I believe this bass came with roundwound strings which are much easier on the hands. The sound of this bass likens incredibly with The Beatles' style. I've read some other reviews that this bass is not good with any other styles...well, it's a BASS. I mean, bottom end is usually bottom end, to my ears. I haven't been playing bass for all that long, being a guitar player first and foremost, but I love the sound on this bass. It makes sure I am heard above the din. I play mostly rock and hard rock. Some metal, some punk...I play everything. I even used this for drop-D. Aside from some string rattling when I got too nuts, it sounded fine for that.

This is what REALLY impressed me about this bass. For something I paid around $250 for, this is incredibly nice looking. The flame top is just gorgeous. There is creme binding on the body and it adds a touch of distinction. One of the best things is this bass is going to turn heads. No matter where you are, if you strap this thing on, you get glances. It's damned nice. I bought this bass "scratch and dent" from Musician's Friend. Myself and friends have both tried to find what exactly the blemish is. I cannot find it. I even removed the pickguard and looked under there. Nothing. But if I had known this bass was this nice, I would have definitely paid the full $300 for it. The action was beautiful right out of the box (which really, REALLY surprised me). Nice and low and straight all the way down the neck.

Despite it being semi-hollow body and a ROGUE, this bass feels exceptionally well put together. I usually do a cursory check of a few things when I first take it out of the box, like tugging on this and that, such as the pickups, to make sure everything is tightly put together. Everything checked out nicely. The lightness of this bass is wonderful as well, meaning less back strain. But it does not feel like a toy. It feels real and gets great response and harmonic. The only thing I may question is the electronics. There are two humbucker "style" pickups, which I believe are actually single coils. They seem fine. But the switches and knobs seem flimsy to say the least. During live playing, you may have to train yourself to be careful with them if you're constantly switching (easier said than done, I know), but upon normal, humane use they should be fine.

This is where I tell everyone about Musician's Friend and how great they are. I have never placed an order with them that has taken longer than 4 or 5 days to arrive at my doorstep. I'm not sure what I do for "support" in case the bass broke, or something, because Rogue itself is not very reachable. So I guess I'll just take my chances...

This bass is not overrated from what I've seen so far. It can rock and roll, and has a beautiful sound. The Beatles are my favorite band, so obviously that had a hand in my buying this, but I was pleasantly surprised that it capable of so much more. And this thing is so damned beautiful, you want to put it on your wall and frame it. Worth every penny.

You all know all of this by now.
However, I did not know if this bass was 30" scale or 30.5".
So...I went to a Hofner website and found that they are 30.5"
More on this later.
It has all the features as advertised.

I am not a bass player. I bought this bass cause I like the looks and needed a bass around for impromtu jams.
However...I play it a lot!
I like it alot better now with the Pyramid Flatwounds.
Sounds big and round through the Behringer amp I got for it.

The truss rod was not engaged into its nut. Pretty easy to fix.
The action was ok for the strings it came with.
The intonation was pretty far off.
As mentioned earlier, I set the scale to 30.5" and moved the bridge saddles to the appropriate grooves. The intonation is now within 2 cents.
Pretty good for a guitar of this type.
Also...the bridge did not sit flush with the top of the axe.
So I taped some fine sandpaper to the top of the bass (where the bridge sits) and lightly moved the bridge back and forth until the curvature of the bridge matched the curvature of the body.
Now the bridge sits perfectly on top. This improves the transference of string vibrations to the body.
The rest of the axe is great bang for the buck.

So far so good.

Great bang for the buck IMHO.