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Topic: Rogue Lap Steel - With a Few Mods |
Tony Oresteen
From:
Georgia, USA
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Posted 22 Dec 2023 11:58 am |
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Back in 2021 I bout my 3rd Rogue lap steel. It was on sale new with free shipping for $80. I already had two - what would I need a 3rd one for?
It laid unused for a year then I did the fist mod:
Lined it up on the table saw:
You could say I am not a fan of the 21" scale length.
Yep, brand new, never played!
I made an insert piece 1.5" thick and 5.5" long
I doweled both sides and glued it back together. Once dry I realized that my saw blade was not parallel to table. I had a bow in it. Ugh! I let it sit for another 6 months before I tried to fix it.
I decided to cut two relief cuts 1.25" deep leaving 0.250" uncut at the bottom. I then then clamped it down on the table bed and drove wood wedges into the saw cuts with lots of TiteBond glue and let it dry for 72 hours. It is now flat so I did a lot of sanding to smooth it down and get it ready for paint.
Both of my Rogues came with the tuners on backwards. I doweled the screw holes,then swapped the tuners around to the other side
Wrong:
The vertical tuner shaft does not go on the bridge side.
Fixed:
The gear goes toward the bridge side.
I painted the Rogue a tropical blue except for the headstock. Installed the George Boards 26" fretboad, aluminum nut, DiMarzio "The Chopper" DP184BK pickup. Why this pickup? Well, it's freq response works well in the baritone range:
It's a noiseless Strat size pickup that fits the Rouge and it has good bass & mids freq response.
I prefer Fender Jazz bass knobs on all my Rogues:
The legs that came with the Rogue are a joke. I got a set of real legs & sockets from Gary Sill and installed them:
One issue with the Rogues is how to clip on a tuner? I just screwed a bit of wood to the headstock painted black and the tuner works and doesn't get in the way.
Looks ugly but it works.
OK, so what tuning should I use? I came up with 4 possibilities: E6, D6, Open D and Db7.
I started with E6 as it's a fourth down from A6 (my other 2 Rogues are C6 & A6) and I had the E6 strings on hand. I just got a string order in and I now have strings for all 4 tunings so I will give them all a go before I settle on one.
For me, the Rogue is much improved with the neck stretch. My other 2 Rogues have George Boards 22.5" stretch kits on them (highly recommended!) so no more 21" scales work for me.
I just might just stretch another Rogue to 30" for a Bass VI type guitar  .
_________________
Tony
Newnan, GA
Too many guitars, not enough time to play
'72 Sho-Bud 6139, '71 Marlen 210
'78 Fender Stringmaster Quad black
PedalMaster D8
Last edited by Tony Oresteen on 23 Dec 2023 7:28 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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George Piburn
From:
The Land of Enchantment New Mexico
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Posted 23 Dec 2023 10:33 am Lookin Good
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Tony, your mods look really good.
It looks form the photo that you are using aluminum angle from a home center for the nut. Please correct my observation if am incorrect.
If you did use aluminum from a home center , that material is el cheepo and lacks resonance. 6061 is machinist grade.
I have real brass angle nuts raw cut with 3/8 spacing scribes.
Some easy file work and drill a pair of hold down holes, presto instant "Way better sonic quality - sustain - tone " from 1/8" Brass.
About the tuners, on my upgraded Rogue type imports I actually bore out the through holes and install heavy duty import tuners - same thing - way better action - hold tunings better too. I've got a few spare sets if you want them.
Photos might help get a better visual.
Again congratulations on an awesome upgrade, well worth the effort on your behalf.
_________________
GeorgeBoards S8 Non Pedal Steel Guitar Instruments
Maker of One of a Kind Works of Art that play music too.
Instructional DVDs
YouTube Channel |
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Mike Neer
From:
NJ
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Posted 23 Dec 2023 10:40 am
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Looks cool. I wonder if maybe your next project would be to build from scratch with a nice piece of wood for the body. I’m sure you’d do a great job.
George, your parts offering is so cool man! Thanks to you, many instruments can be improved or brought back to life!
_________________
Links to streaming music, websites, YouTube: Links |
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Bill Groner
From:
QUAKERTOWN, PA
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Posted 23 Dec 2023 11:41 am
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WOW...you must really hate 21" scales. I liked the shape of the Rogue and made one sort of like the Rogue but at 22.5", and changed the head. The Almond Pearl one on the right in the pic. Tony I admire your work. Did you consider adding material to the butt end? A skim cut on the table saw up against the fence would have been a piece of cake to remove the paint for a good solid glue joint. The new piece could start where the corner radius stops on the original body. You could also screw and glue the added piece. Put a radius on the corners of the new piece to make look like it was designed that way. Just a thought to make an easier job of it. Cutting that neck looked like a lot of work.
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Currently own, 6 Groner-tone lap steels, one 1953 Alamo Lap steel, Roland Cube, Fender Champion 40 |
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Tony Oresteen
From:
Georgia, USA
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Posted 23 Dec 2023 7:23 pm
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Thanks all!
George, it is aluminum (I corrected the post) but I have no idea where I got it. My other 2 Rogues have your brass nuts and your 22.5" scale upgrades which EVERYONE should use on their Rogues. It is a no brainer. Why learn on a 21" when the standard short scale is 22.5?
George, thanks for the offer but I have a bunch of 3+3 tuners that I could use and depending how my 26" Rogue works out l may upgrade them.
BILL, that's a great idea. I have a project that I have been working on that does exactly that but for a different reason. Stay tuned. The reason I cut the neck where I did was it was the narrowest part and I could use a smaller piece of wood fill.
Bill, you have a nice set of lap steels. I like the 4+2 headstock. Musicman may not like it 😕
And no, I don't hate the 21" scale - I hate stocking string sets for 21" lap steel AND 22,5" when my other short scale LAP STEELS are 22.5". With George's 22.5 scale kits, all my short scales are the same scale so I stock less strings.
This really was a proof-of-concept project for me and so far I am happy with the results.
My other two Rogues have DiMarzio Area 58 pickups which really sound great. Noiseless single coils.
_________________
Tony
Newnan, GA
Too many guitars, not enough time to play
'72 Sho-Bud 6139, '71 Marlen 210
'78 Fender Stringmaster Quad black
PedalMaster D8 |
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