Hello! David Perry from Roanoke, VA here. I’ve done some slide playing on a strat I’ve got set up for it, but I’m new to lap steel guitar. On a whim I bought a $79 Rogue lap steel from Musician’s Friend on Stupid Deal of the Day and it arrived yesterday. I have to say I’m surprised by the quality. Fit and finish are excellent, the controls work, the legs are sturdy, the pickup sounds nice and there’s no extraneous noise. Tuned her up to C6 and off we go. I also bought a Shubb tone bar.
I really love the steel guitar sound—I’m drawn in my mind to roadside beer joints on Friday nights with cigarette smoke in the air, beer the perfume of choice and a pedal steel guitar playing with the country band in the corner. I don’t think this style of guitar will ever become my main thing (I’m too soaked in guitar rock and roll—I blame a proper upbringing of radio and MTV), but I hope to become an intermediate player. I’ve signed up for a month of “Lessons with Troy” online for $16, so we’ll see how that goes.
Welcome to the journey David!
Those Rouges are fine, I had one for a bit. Only problem is they have a really short scale and strings are a little close together.
But great to get started on. And once you become addicted... well... no turning back
"To live outside the law you must be honest." (Bob Dylan)
We have helped hundreds of folks worldwide, upgrade their Rogue's to a true 22.5 scale and better string spacings.
The 3D printed nut and bridge sound completely better.
Only takes an hour or so to easily upgrade your import to a playable lap steel.
Also; you will need to toss those strings that come with the Rogue, and get correct gauges for your tuning of choice. The forum store sells string sets.
Eric Dahlhoff wrote: 22 Aug 2025 10:39 pm
Welcome to the journey David!
Those Rouges are fine, I had one for a bit. Only problem is they have a really short scale and strings are a little close together.
But great to get started on. And once you become addicted... well... no turning back
Thanks. I don’t know any different in terms of scale length and string spacing at this point, so it all seems normal to me.
We have helped hundreds of folks worldwide, upgrade their Rogue's to a true 22.5 scale and better string spacings.
The 3D printed nut and bridge sound completely better.
Only takes an hour or so to easily upgrade your import to a playable lap steel.
Also; you will need to toss those strings that come with the Rogue, and get correct gauges for your tuning of choice. The forum store sells string sets.
Thanks. I’ve seen these. Might be something I look into later.
I'd agree with George Piburn's upgrades to the Rogue lap steel (you probably got it from a Stupid Deal of the Day on the Musician's Friend website). Having a longer scale length will make a difference.
I hope you enjoy your lessons with Troy. He does a great job!
Brad’s Page of Steel
A web site devoted to acoustic & electric lap steel guitars
Welcome to the rabbit hole - it goes a long way down.
When I started my biggest challenge was intonation, especially when doing slants (I sounded like a dying cat). But just stick with it, play while a tuner is in sight to check how far off you are, and play along with records, etc. and you'll get there.
Brad Bechtel wrote: 23 Aug 2025 9:34 am
Welcome, David!
I'd agree with George Piburn's upgrades to the Rogue lap steel (you probably got it from a Stupid Deal of the Day on the Musician's Friend website). Having a longer scale length will make a difference.
I hope you enjoy your lessons with Troy. He does a great job!
Thanks! Just starting out. He moves quickly but fortunately I know my music theory and he’s not losing me!
Last edited by David Perry on 24 Aug 2025 5:01 am, edited 1 time in total.
David DeLoach wrote: 24 Aug 2025 3:02 am
Welcome to the rabbit hole - it goes a long way down.
When I started my biggest challenge was intonation, especially when doing slants (I sounded like a dying cat). But just stick with it, play while a tuner is in sight to check how far off you are, and play along with records, etc. and you'll get there.
Thanks. I know from playing slide on an electric that your ear is crucial. And yes—what a rabbit hole. I had no idea!
Welcome, David, and congrats on taking the plunge into steel guitar!
I come from a similar background as you, and couldn't even imagine at the outset that steel guitar would be a big thing for me. Now, 4 years later, if I had to choose between steel guitar and "regular" guitar, I wouldn't hesitate to choose steel guitar.
Glad to hear that Rogue is a decent enough guitar. Hard to believe the SDOTD price on it!
I notice you have a Shubb style bar. I started with one of those, too, but went to a bullet bar type tone bar before too long. I'd recommend getting one. I find them more comfortable and much easier to do slants with.
Joseph Lazo wrote: 24 Aug 2025 9:03 am
Welcome, David, and congrats on taking the plunge into steel guitar!
I come from a similar background as you, and couldn't even imagine at the outset that steel guitar would be a big thing for me. Now, 4 years later, if I had to choose between steel guitar and "regular" guitar, I wouldn't hesitate to choose steel guitar.
Glad to hear that Rogue is a decent enough guitar. Hard to believe the SDOTD price on it!
I notice you have a Shubb style bar. I started with one of those, too, but went to a bullet bar type tone bar before too long. I'd recommend getting one. I find them more comfortable and much easier to do slants with.
Thanks. Yeah, I can’t compare the Rogue to other lap steels, but I know enough about guitar builds to say it doesn’t suck. When the paint and chrome are tidy, the controls and tuners work and you get a decent tone, you can’t really complain for $79.
