Reddit reviews Rogue RM-100A A-Style Mandolin Black

Pedals, song books, lessons, strings... I go through a lot of strings. Nice straps are more expensive than most people realize, and they can make a big difference. A decent guitar stand (one of those Hercules ones) or, if you have a couple of guitars, one of the folding multi-guitar road cases...


Sometimes something non-guitar is nice too - My sister and I were both gifted cheap mandolins last year. At the time it seemed a very odd thing - she used to play keyboard but hasn't played in years, and I'm all guitar all the time... but we've both genuinely enjoyed plonking around on those things, even if we're not particularly proficient players.

Okay, so...

Watching the clip /u/TheJiggersUp posted below, I don't see him playing his mandolin, so I don't have much to offer on style... I would presume he's going to play in a more classical/European style, as opposed to an American, bluegrass-oriented style. He has a bowlback mandolin rather than a flat-back or carved-top style instrument, but I don't know of any playable bowlback models that cost ~$100.

What does exist is the Rogue RM-100A which is a not-great but more-or-less playable mandolin for under $100. (Some individual instruments seem to be better than others, but it's just a luck-of-the-draw thing.) If you were to get one, you'd also do well to get some different strings for it, get a decent pick designed for mandolin (a guitar pick won't work well for this instrument), and maybe consider having it professionally set up (or possibly even trying to do the work yourself... perhaps someone else can point me to the book available on setting up a Rogue to be less awful.) I would also highly recommend getting a chromatic tuner; you spend quite a bit of time tuning this instrument, and as a beginner, it's really helpful to have one of these. If you have a smartphone, a metronome app would also be a good thing to get; otherwise, there are a million cheap, electronic metronomes on the market.

So the Rogue is a cheap, low-quality instrument -- NOT a good instrument, just the least-bad at the sub-$100 price range -- but it can get you started. I know, because that's how I started. It's designed for bluegrass more than traditional mandolin music, but you can learn the rudiments of any/every style on it.

After that, to just start learning how to play, I recommend Don Julin's book. Yes, it's "for Dummies." It's still an excellent beginner's book. He focuses primarily on American styles, but he also covers other mandolin traditions, and when you're first starting out you really just need to learn the basics no matter what style you favor. He also does some nice intro-level youtube lesson videos. There are lots and lots of other mandolin lessons available on youtube, too, and are a decent way to start out if you can't afford private lessons.

Finally, start saving up some money for a better instrument. Sooner than you can imagine, you will reach the point where the Rogue can no longer keep up with you, and begins to hinder your progress, so you need the upgrade to keep learning. The most common recommendations I see are the Eastman 304 or 305 and the Kentucky KM-140. Both are solid student instruments that will serve you well for a long time, and both can be had with professional set-up and a hard case for ~$450. I have an Eastman 305 myself and I adore it. Or perhaps there's a more traditional bowlback model out there that you'd like better, if you aim to play that way. I know very little about those.

It's a great instrument, and fun to learn. And it's entirely possible to come from zero background with stringed instruments and still make good progress. Good luck!

Edit: Oh, also... certainly it would be a good thing to learn (or re-learn) how to read standard musical notation, but a lot of mandolin music is available in tablature (or tab), which is a much easier system to use and doesn't require the ability to read music. The Julin book I linked to above uses both.

Edit 2: Also, here's a recent thread on the Rogue, just so you can see some other people's opinions.

I got a $60 mandolin for christmas and I've been practicing every day since. It's been serving me very well as training wheels! I also recommend getting a snark tuner, it makes tuning a breeze and with a cheap mandolin that goes out of tune pretty quickly its worth it. Here's the link, hope this is helpful! http://www.amazon.com/Rogue-RM-100A-A-Style-Mandolin-Black/dp/B003LHV1X4/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&qid=1451520688&sr=8-12&keywords=mandolin It sounds great to me.

Btw, there are tons of websites and youtube videos to learn with. I jump around but I really enjoyed MandoLessons,com.
Good luck!

Rogue RM-100A A-Style Mandolin Black https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003LHV1X4/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_TxuQCbM7VTZ1F

Above is what I have, and so far it’s been great to learn on! Also available:

Rogue RM-100A A-Style Mandolin Sunburst https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002H0KG0/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_ZyuQCb8VEN2TD

Savannah SA-100-BK A-Model Mandolin, Black https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004WDQ5GE/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_.zuQCbG11VF2C

Super not an expert, so please don't take this as gospel or anything.. but personally, I ended up going w/this:

https://www.amazon.com/Rogue-RM-100A-A-Style-Mandolin-Black/dp/B003LHV1X4

It's definitely on the cheap end (at $70) but sounded totally ok out of the box. I've been "seriously" playing guitar for around ~3-4 years now and decided I wanted to experiment with a new sound, but couldn't commit a whole lot of cash.

I really enjoy picking it up and kinda noodling around here or there, and it adds a pretty cool texture to songs. Ultimately I don't think it's my fave instrument to play, but I ran it by my guitar teacher anyway just in case - he commended the good bargain, and let me know it was a good intro instrument.