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Thread: Rogue A Style Tuner Upgrade

  1. #1
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    Default Rogue A Style Tuner Upgrade

    Well, like many (most) Rogue A Style owners I realized quickly that the tuners are about the worst part of the instrument. Mine were barely usable, but they were able to hold it in tune for the most part. There were a few individual pegs that worked ok tightening but when you reversed went totally slack for almost a whole turn. Replacing them is a major pain as the holes are slightly more spread out than normal.

    I saw a post somewhere where the poster mentioned how he fixed older mandolins where replacement tuners are just not available because of the same issue, tuner hole spacing. The poster explained how he would cut a current set along the screw holes which let him adjust the position of each peg yet use the screws to hold each side with a slight separation between them. I contacted the poster and he confirmed the idea but said he had no suggestion as to which tuner set would work on a Rogue. He most likely works only on quality instruments! It was a long shot I admit but appreciated his help and encouragement. One thing I did not want todo was to spend moreon the tuners than I spent on the mandolin!

    So I did quite a bit of research and found a set that looked promising yet still was inexpensive and finally settled on the following;

    https://www.ebay.com/itm/High-Qualit...72.m2749.l2649

    When it arrived I was pleased that it matched the original tuners exactly other than post spacing. Whether the next shipment matches up is still a gamble.

    I finally got around to doing the deed and here is the result. The tuners are rather tight, but equally so and with a bit of lubricant are decent. The knobs are "pearly" but so what! Look closely and you can see the slight space between two pegs where the screw holds them together.

    I only needed to separate two pegs on each side and I chose the sets closest to the nut as I felt the string tension would be lower. Probably makes no difference. All it took was a fine tooth hacksaw, a sober eye, and a small file. Hardly to be described as "Luthierie" but I'm still happy I was able to do it myself for a pittance and about an hour's time!

    So a big MC "THANKS" to pops1 and perhaps another Rogue user will benefit from this.
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  2. The Following 4 Users Say Thank You to ukenukem For This Useful Post:


  3. #2

    Default Re: Rogue A Style Tuner Upgrade

    I just bought an ultra cheap set on ebay for a similar cheap repair, and despite the supplied drawing, which showed the common 23mm spacing, it actually was 25.4 or 1”. No idea what that’s supposed to fit, but the tuner construction was below junk, even for my purposes! From your photo, you might have that hole spacing, adding a 1 mm gap in two places.

  4. #3
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    Default Re: Rogue A Style Tuner Upgrade

    True, the Rogue A's peg hole spacing is 1" but modern standard is slightly less. At least the name brand decent tuners usually have diagrams with all the specs. The cheapo ones sometimes do but the accuracy is highly questionable. I put Martin Monel 11's on mine and tune it a step low. It sounds "better" that way.

    The Rogue A's tuners are a big part of the gamble but replacing them for $50 seemed folly. Plus it ruins the "Junk-Schway!"

    Good luck with your project

    Bob

  5. #4

    Default Re: Rogue A Style Tuner Upgrade

    If the new tuner are tight, you need to make sure that when inserting the tuner thru the 4 holes, it should go in smoothly. If you have to force it, this mean the alignment is a bit off causing the tightness.
    I convert guitars to octave mandolins many times and this is a common issue I ran into. The new holes I drill are a bit off causing the exact same issue.
    To fix this, I use a round file to file the hole(s) that do not line up well with the shaft to open it up a bit. Once all 4 line up properly, the new tuning hardware just slide in and they are not hard to turn.

  6. #5
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    Default Re: Rogue A Style Tuner Upgrade

    Thanks for the tip! I doubt I will ever do this again, but never say never, ya know? The dual peg parts slipped in normally but I did notice (after the strings were on) that some of the round thingies the pegs slip through did push out a wee bit. I will have to take the tension off the push them down or wait until I change strings.

    I do not think it is affecting anything as is a very tiny amount like less than half a mm.

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