Rogue Soprano Before and After

I picked up a Rogue Soprano recently because I was ordering some stuff from an online music retailer that turned out to be rediculously on sale. So, I couldn't pay $7 shipping for $6 of mercandise so I threw it on the pile! I figured it would be a good learning tool if nothing else and my only other uke is a concert. Could not resist for $30.

While on it's way I picked up a pack of the new Martin Fluorocarbon strings. Here are two brief videos showing the before and after. It's certainly not the loudest or best sounding ukulele, but at least now it is usable. I may try some Diaddario nylons to soften up the sound.

BEFORE

AFTER

That sounds a lot better! How would you say the Rogue compares to a Hilo or a Mahalo cheapie?

You can really hear the difference. You made a sow from a pigs ear.

UkuEroll said:

You can really hear the difference. You made a sow from a pigs ear.

Click to expand...

I was concerned this project would be filed under "polishing a turd" It is fun to hack something and make it work better plus I have learned so much from this board I wanted to add the our collective knowledge.

I'm glad it sounds better from your prospective, sometomes it's hard to judge instruments you are playing. Intonation is really close which raises the enjoyment factor for me. There is still the issue of the dip around the 5th fret but I can't play up too high in a soprano anyway, I think I'm basically a concert guy.

I can't compare it to the others mentioned, the only other uke I own is a Makala Concert. I played a Mitchell and a Cordoba (nice neck on that one) (both concerts) and a soprano (that might have been a Hilo but I don't remember) at GC. They all sounded much better that the Rogue.

After I put the lizard sticker on it (my wife's idea to place it under the strings) I wondered if it might choke the top but I don't think it mattered. I think the "wood" this thing is made of does not have much resonance (big surprise!) and the Fluorocarbon strings sound very bright and thin to my ears but the Makala has Aquillas (low g) on it so that might be part of the difference (other than body size/wood). I will try some Diaddaro nylons some time - and make it a BEFORE - AFTER - AFTER review!