Has anybody had any luck with Rouge basses? Or any bad experiences? The dirt cheap prices seem too good to be true. I know a fellow bassist who`s friend bought one because it "looked nice", but fell apart. He called the company and they said that "you get what you pay for." Personally, however, I`ve never touched one....

Recently I`ve been thinking of playing bass (I play drums) and I`ve talked to a couple of guitarists and bassists, and they all say that Rouges are pretty good. However, I won`t be amazed if the one I buy falls apart considering how damn cheap they are.

What you REALLY got to think about is not so much the price of the Bass....BUT....what if I waste $100.00 and could have applied it to something a little better that may be a little more expensive....But alot more lasting and valuable as an instrument. I went through that on my last purchase...didnt want to spend a dime...but I knew if I bought that Fender for $150.00 more I would have used the other $100.00 a little wiser overall...think about that.

I`ve personally played the basses and guitars from Rouge. For the money you will pay for one you will not find a better instrument. They play like something 3x the money. Bass wise I play a Rouge LX406 Pro 6 string and paid $250 for it. I say it`s well worth $500 - $600. It`s a little lacking on mid-range but I`ve played more expensive basses and get the same problem. So my opinion on Rouge is if you want a quality instrument buy one.

i thought it was a good idea, but no. i got an sx100b for $99.99. seriously? it sucked. rouge sucks. if you`re lookin 4 a starter, get a squier or ibanez. the tone knob didnt work and the strings kept snapping out of the bridge and onto my poor hands. the one good thing about this bass was that it was tough. i dropped it all the time, and it still stayed in tune and didn`t break. but it`s hard to play and sounds bad. fat neck, small body (easy on the shoulders), and absolutely no tone at all.

rouge sucks, avoid it at all costs!!!

I don`t see what the color has to do with it. I have a blue, not ROUGE, Rogue bass, and I bought it new several years ago for $89 dollars. No complaints whatsoever. I play it through a Rogue amp (a black, not ROUGE, Rogue amp).

Let`s take these complaints one by one, however:

1) "the tone knob didnt work..."

I actually only tried the tone knob once. It worked, but maybe it doesn`t do as much (doesn`t have as wide a range) as you would like. In my opinion, you should equalize with your amplifier, not your tone knob. I don`t see a problem here.

2) "...and the strings kept snapping out of the bridge and onto my poor hands."

I can only suppose you have a violent manner of playing. I can`t imagine this happening to me.

3) "...it`s hard to play..."

It may be harder to play than certain other more expensive basses, but it isn`t harder to play in any way foreign to the instrinsic nature of the bass. In bass playing in general, for example, you have to learn to play on the fret to avoid buzzing. The Rogue may be less forgiving than more expensive basses, but that`s GOOD for your technique.

4) "...fat neck..."

Thin necks are for wusses.

5) "small body..."

So?

6) "absolutely no tone at all"

It sounds fine to me, but tone has more to do with the player than the instrument. Long notes should normally be played vibrato, and you need to cultivate a legato left hand approach.

well, the string thing happened whenever i changed em (the holes in the bridge were too big--i had to put rubberbands at the end to prevent it),
i kinda agree with the thin neck 4 wusses part, but i play way down low and this neck was even fatter than a p bass (by the way i love p basses),
i was saying the small body was a good thing,
and literally the tone knob simply didn`t work, it wasnt the amp, it was the wiring or something. about 1 year after i got it, the pickups died, so it was a technical error.
it probably had no tone on mine because the tone knob didnt work

Re: "well, the string thing happened whenever i changed em"

I`m not sure I understand this. Are you saying that the strings popped out while you were trying to change them or that although the original strings stayed put, the new strings didn`t seem to fit? What kind of strings did you change to? I`ve never changed my strings, but I`ve been considering a set of flatwounds.

Re: "(the holes in the bridge were too big--i had to put rubberbands at the end to prevent it),"

I`m going to have to look at my bridge when I get home because offhand I`m thinking that the bridge has grooves, not holes (although you have to thread the strings through holes, of course).

Re: "literally the tone knob simply didn`t work, it wasnt the amp, it was the wiring or something. about 1 year after i got it, the pickups died, so it was a technical error. it probably had no tone on mine because the tone knob didnt work."

What did the bass sound like? Was it too trebly or too bassy? What did you do when the pick-ups ceased to work? Did you try to have it repaired?