# RSS News Feeds > RSS News Feeds >  Wanted: Cheap Mandolin

## NewsFetcher

A lost or stolen instrument notice has been posted on the Mandolin Cafe Classifieds:

Ad #121057 posted Fri, 16 Feb 2018 13:44:48 CDT - Looking for a cheap/beater mandolin to practice with at work or take to Asia and not worry about getting stolen. Was thinking I could make that happen for under 100$. Thanks.  ...



Those of you on social media please go to the ad in the Classifieds and share it out. More eyes that see these the better chance they have of being recovered.

See full ad desciption...

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## Jess L.

> A lost or *stolen instrument notice* has been *posted*...


No, it has not. The NewsFetcher automated system is apparently taking a word out of context. 




> ... Ad #121057 posted Fri, 16 Feb 2018 13:44:48 CDT - *Looking for a cheap/beater mandolin* to *practice* with at work or take to Asia and *not worry about getting stolen*. Was thinking I could make that happen for under 100$. Thanks.  ...
> 
> See full ad desciption...


Looks to me like a *WANT TO BUY* ad, not a stolen-instrument ad.

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## MikeEdgerton

Damn those robots.

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## Jess L.

> Damn those robots.


 :Laughing:   :Smile:

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## MikeEdgerton

I also had to ask myself, what is cheaper than a $50.00 Rogue mandolin with free shipping?

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/folk-...style-mandolin

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## Jess L.

> I also had to ask myself, what is cheaper than a $50.00 Rogue mandolin with free shipping?
> 
> http://www.musiciansfriend.com/folk-...style-mandolin


Unless... (thinking out loud)... the person might want a *used* mandolin that has a (theoretically) greater likelihood of being *already set up*... 

And/or one maybe looking for a bargain on a used mandolin that [is perceived to] sound better than the $50 one.

I actually *bought* a $50 Rogue (from a different company) back in 2015, shortly after I got back into mandolin and after I realized my vintage Favilla mandolin would probably come undone if I kept string tension on it (old peghead crack that was starting to show movement). To have a good qualified luthier carry out repairs on the Favilla would have been prohibitively expensive, yet it deserved better than some amateur repair attempt, so I sidelined the Favilla (after detuning the strings) and ordered the new $50 Rogue so I'd have something to play. As expected, the new *Rogue* I received *needed setup*, and - _not_ as expected - I managed to bungle the setup  :Crying:   :Whistling:  even though I theoretically knew better (I was out of practice, been a long time since I'd tried it), I ended up cutting the Rogue's nut slots too low which led to a whole 'nother set of circumstances.  :Laughing:  The new Rogue's bridge also didn't fit very well when I first received it, which probably didn't help the tone (such as it is) & volume, so I figured while I was at it I might as well sand the silly bridge down a ways too and try to get it to fit better... I did a rather sloppy job of that too  :Whistling:   :Redface:  (got tired and I quit sanding  :Chicken:  before it was 'perfect') but still my oddly-adjusted Rogue is easier to play (lower action) than how it was when it first emerged from its shipping box. 

But I can see how a person might wish to skip all that setup stuff and just buy something that was ready to play without spending extra. A used $100 instrument *might* fit that bill if some previous owner(s) took the time to set it up correctly. Whereas a new $50 Rogue is pretty much guaranteed to not have had any setup work done. Sound/tone quality differences between those options, who knows, depends on what the choices are.

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## MikeEdgerton

Funny, I actually pick up the Rogue's at the local Guitar Center now and again. Amazingly enough they are sometimes pretty playable. I actually preferred them to the Gretsch mandolins hanging next to them.

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## Baron Collins-Hill

Rogues can be decent, but you never know what you are going to get in the mail. I ordered one from Musician's Friend recently, and it showed up with the top delaminating and caving in. Took me a week of emails and unresponsive tech support to actually get the thing in the mail back to them. I'm not saying this will happen every time, but it happened to me. I've always steered people away from buying them sight unseen from Musician's Friend or the like, but never had actually done it myself, now I've experienced the headache first hand and stand by my opinion that this sort of experience is not what a beginning mandolin player needs.




Thanks,
Baron

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## MikeEdgerton

Agreed, but the guy in the ad obviously isn't a beginner.

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## James Miller

There's that Rover mandolin over at Elderly that surprisingly has a truss rod. Unsure about the bracing, if that would affect the tonal qualities. Was temped to get one for a traveling mandolin since Elderly would have it set up before leaving the shop. Would only have to get a soft case and be set.
https://www.elderly.com/acoustics/ma...l-mandolin.htm

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## MikeEdgerton

It's more than $100.00 and I actually sent two of those back because they had problems. I was trying to buy one for someone as a gift.

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## James Miller

Rovers are bad news?  :Frown:   /sigh

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## MikeEdgerton

I think they were having some quality control issues. The first one I got the binding was coming loose. The replacement that came is in the picture. I sent it back too. Maybe they have corrected that issue I don't know but I'm not willing to buy one without seeing it first. I ended up spending a little more and getting my son-in-law an MK.

I just realized I had a picture of the first Rover as well.

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## Rob Meldrum

If you can play and want a campfire mandolin, the Rogue is the way to go.  If you are toying with the idea of learning mandolin and don't know if it will stick, the Rogue is the way to go.  One Rogue, $50, new strings, $10, feeler gauges, $5, ebook on how to set it up, free.  For under $70 you get a nicely playable instrument.  

Oh yeah, the ebook is still free.  Email me at rob.meldrum@gmail.com for your copy.  Thousands of satisfied customers.  Never had one ebook returned.   :Wink:

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Jess L.

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