Well set up beater mandolin??

[Em Tee]

I got a boerboel puppy recently and she chews absolutely everything. It's this reason that I've packed up my mandolins and stuck them in a closet. I've been looking at getting a Rogue, aka mandolin I really wouldn't give a dang about should my pup decide it makes an excellent chew toy. Problem is there's no luthiers in my area and I prefer not to set it up myself because I haven't the skill. Is there anywhere at all that sells a Rogue with a store set up or is this a pipedream of mine?

[allenhopkins]

What's your budget? If it's <$100 I think you may be outta luck. Cheapest one I could find with a reliable shop set-up was a Rover RM-50B at Elderly Instruments, and that was $255.

Lots of stores selling the low-end Rogues, but none of them offer set-up. I checked folkmusician.com, where a variety of entry-level (and below, IMHO) mandolins are listed, but not sold or set up through the store. All have the caveat, "Only buy one if you're comfortable doing your own set-up."

Set-ups don't require a Ph.D. in Mandolin Astronomy, and Cafe member Rob Meldrum offers a mandolin set-up e-book free to all fellow members. As Honkety Hank stated in a recent thread:

Just send an email to rob.meldrum@gmail.com with "mandolin setup" in the subject line and he will email you a copy of his ebook for free (free to all mandolincafe members).


And after all, how wrong can one go monkeying with a $79 mandolin? And, of course, your alternative is to keep your mandolin(s) cased and closeted when not playing it(them). Second alternative is to invest in serious, punitive dog training...

[DavidKOS]

And after all, how wrong can one go monkeying with a $79 mandolin?

That's the kind of mandolin on which to learn how to do a good set-up.

[Em Tee]

I don't have the tools. A basic set up kit from stewmac costs 120 dollars. At that price I might as well get the rover from elderly, but unfortunately that's not in my price range.

[Sue Rieter]

You can get all the the stuff you need for short $ at Harbor Freight. Rob tells us this in his book. I bought everything he suggested, and I think it set me back maybe $20.

[Jim Garber]

All my instruments have always stayed in their hard shell cases when not being played. You will hate playing a $100 mandolin. Why not just keep your good ones in their cases? Or if you prefer mount a good hanger high on the wall to avoid small children and teething dogs.

[Em Tee]

All my instruments have always stayed in their hard shell cases when not being played. You will hate playing a $100 mandolin. Why not just keep your good ones in their cases? Or if you prefer mount a good hanger high on the wall to avoid small children and teething dogs.

My dog is an 85 lb four month old. She jumps all over her humans and displaces whatever we are working on most of the time. I wouldn't feel safe playing my mandolins around her. Hell, she tried to take a kalimba out of my hand last week. Lol

[Jim Garber]

My dog is an 85 lb four month old. She jumps all over her humans and displaces whatever we are working on most of the time. I wouldn't feel safe playing my mandolins around her. Hell, she tried to take a kalimba out of my hand last week. Lol

Doesn’t she have a crate? Don’t you have doors on your house? Plus you will spend a couple of hundred + an hour or two of learning to set the cheapo mandolin up and the dog will destroy it altogether. Either forget playing mandolin for a few months or get that dog trained.

[sblock]

I you already have a decent mandolin, then NO, you don't need to get a "sacrificial" Rogue that can be chewed! That's a step backward. Instead:

1) Store your fine instrument in its case. You should do this anyway.
2) Optionally, you can keep it handy on a wall hangar, mounted well above a dog's reach.
3) Train your dog!

Problem solved.

[Mitch Stein]

For less than $20, you can get a dog gate and confine the dog to whatever room is next to where you want to play. Get the dog used to listening.
Oh, and keep them cases out of reach too. My dog is not only a chewer but vindictive.

[Jeff Mando]

Our puppy (6 years ago, now a good dog) chewed everything in sight -- chair legs, books, screwdriver handles, shoes, remotes, well, the list is too long -- she would also bite anything approaching her face, like my hand or fingers.......the good news is that dogs will outgrow it and calm down. Thankfully she didn't chew on any instruments.

I had a small collection of vintage toy robots that I enjoyed looking at. They were on a shelf, but obviously they looked very similar to her stuffed squeaky toys. Most of the metal ones she left alone, but one of my favorites was plastic and I found the pieces in a pile on the floor one day. I put the pieces in a ziplock bag and put it on the shelf next to the other robots. The robot was not irreplaceable, but it would be difficult to find another without spending a lot of money. I told the story to my Mom and she said "what are you going to do?" I said "nothing" -- I like the dog more than I liked the robot!

I guess I would feel the same if she chewed an instrument. Some of the screwdrivers with the chewed handles always give me a chuckle and seem to be the first ones that I reach for. It all works out......

[Em Tee]

Our puppy (6 years ago, now a good dog) chewed everything in sight -- chair legs, books, screwdriver handles, shoes, remotes, well, the list is too long -- she would also bite anything approaching her face, like my hand or fingers.......the good news is that dogs will outgrow it and calm down. Thankfully she didn't chew on any instruments.

I had a small collection of vintage toy robots that I enjoyed looking at. They were on a shelf, but obviously they looked very similar to her stuffed squeaky toys. Most of the metal ones she left alone, but one of my favorites was plastic and I found the pieces in a pile on the floor one day. I put the pieces in a ziplock bag and put it on the shelf next to the other robots. The robot was not irreplaceable, but it would be difficult to find another without spending a lot of money. I told the story to my Mom and she said "what are you going to do?" I said "nothing" -- I like the dog more than I liked the robot!

I guess I would feel the same if she chewed an instrument. Some of the screwdrivers with the chewed handles always give me a chuckle and seem to be the first ones that I reach for. It all works out......

OH, do I relate to this with my dog. She's chewed up all the furniture. Lol. She's a large dog, but still a small baby mentally. Being 85 lbs at four months old is a lot of power for a dog that understands very little. She's smart and is learning commands as fast as she can, but I have no desire to risk my mandolins, especially because I cannot afford to replace them. Her breed grows to be about 170 lbs, and she will be teething and mouthing for quite some time. Better to get a beater I don't care about than lose something I cannot replace.

[Nevin]

Products like bitter apple and the brand Phooey are very good chew deterrents. I wouldn't put them on an instrument but they should be fine for a case.

[Cobalt]

You can get all the the stuff you need for short $ at Harbor Freight. Rob tells us this in his book. I bought everything he suggested, and I think it set me back maybe $20.

The only think I bought was a cheap set of feeler gauges which became my files for nut and bridge. Cost about £5. Oh, and a new blank nut after I messed up by going too low.

[Sue Rieter]

I also ended up buying some sandpaper and stuff, because I had to sand down the bottom of the bridge (this was on my Kentucky KM200S). Which was not too bad to do, just time consuming for me. (And I've got very little woodworking skill)