NGD Freebie dreadnought!
Posted: Sat Jan 09, 2021 8:34 pm
A very good friend of mine taught classical and folk guitar at a local college for 20 years or more (he's also a great jazz and Latin player).
He recently retired, and inherited a Rogue RD100S from the department. He just passed it on to me, and I have to say I'm impressed with the quality of it. I've never been a big dread fan, preferring auditorium cutaway models, but, "hey, it's free …"
Fret work is more than decent, needs a light touch with a crowning file but nothing major.
Fretboard looked like it had never been cleaned or oiled, and this thing must be a decade or two old!
The neck is really nice for me as I'm primarily an electric player—a little thicker than my Ibanez SA, a trifle narrow but I'll adjust.
Strings were horrible, but it came with a new set of D'Addario bronze 10-47's. Not a big fan of bronze but will try them out and more than likely switch to Thomastik steels …
Action was real good at 1st fret but (for my taste)too high at Bridge saddle, so I took it down carefully (three passes)—good on low E, but I might reshape it a tad to bring the high E down just a teensy weensy bit.
Scrubbed the fingerboard with Murphy's Oil Soap, polished the frets and am now waiting for a thin application of Howard's Feed-N-Wax to soak in to the board and the bridge plate before deciding if it needs a second coat.
Closed tuners are very good, unbranded but smooth and not a hint of play.
I'll string it up and see how I like it.
All that's left to do is to install Straplocks, buy a new strap if I have to, and maybe get a nice pickup system.
This thing's a winner!
Pics to come …
He recently retired, and inherited a Rogue RD100S from the department. He just passed it on to me, and I have to say I'm impressed with the quality of it. I've never been a big dread fan, preferring auditorium cutaway models, but, "hey, it's free …"
Fret work is more than decent, needs a light touch with a crowning file but nothing major.
Fretboard looked like it had never been cleaned or oiled, and this thing must be a decade or two old!
The neck is really nice for me as I'm primarily an electric player—a little thicker than my Ibanez SA, a trifle narrow but I'll adjust.
Strings were horrible, but it came with a new set of D'Addario bronze 10-47's. Not a big fan of bronze but will try them out and more than likely switch to Thomastik steels …
Action was real good at 1st fret but (for my taste)too high at Bridge saddle, so I took it down carefully (three passes)—good on low E, but I might reshape it a tad to bring the high E down just a teensy weensy bit.
Scrubbed the fingerboard with Murphy's Oil Soap, polished the frets and am now waiting for a thin application of Howard's Feed-N-Wax to soak in to the board and the bridge plate before deciding if it needs a second coat.
Closed tuners are very good, unbranded but smooth and not a hint of play.
I'll string it up and see how I like it.
All that's left to do is to install Straplocks, buy a new strap if I have to, and maybe get a nice pickup system.
This thing's a winner!
Pics to come …