If you like music and want to get a cheap guitar to learn how to play or just simply play it on your free time, Rogue is a good company to rely on. They released many guitars at a very affordable price. Their products are famous as a gateway for a more expensive and advanced guitar. They don’t shy away at calling themselves the best guitar manufacturer at entry level.
In this article we’re going to talk about two products, Rogue RA 090 and RA 100D. These two guitars are some of the most popular ones that Rogue has ever released. Many beginners and experts alike who are looking for a cheap, yet good quality guitar is choosing between these two. Let’s get right into the reviews.
Rogue RA 090 Review
Rogue RA 090 is all about being cheap and lightweight, and still has great tone and playability. Many people are surprised at how good the quality of this guitar is. This guitar is released for entry level, and if you’re the target demographic, you should take a closer look at this guitar. Read also: Fender FA 115 vs Yamaha F310
The guitar itself is manufactured in China and Korea, to companies called Daewon and Samick for the design and assembly. This dreadnaught model originates from a China factory, as do so many other name brand instruments. How they can cover costs and profit margins from halfway round the globe for this price is a mystery to us, but nonetheless a bonus for the underfinanced customer.
Regarding this instrument: I have a fairly large collection of stringed instruments and merely bought the RA-090 to use up a soon-to-expire credit coupon. Curiosity about what a low-priced guitar would sound and play like drove my purchase more than anything else. It was received double-boxed and in good (new) condition.
The strings were slacked about 3-haltones to reduce shipment stress and wrapped in waxed paper. A chromed Allen wrench was included for truss rod adjustment. This was not needed as the neck was straight and I detected no fret buzz once tuned to proper pitch. Sight down the neck and note that the brassy fret wires are quite even.
| Rogue RA 090 | RA 100D | |
|---|---|---|
| Best Offer | click here | click here |
  |   |
|
| Shipping Weight | 4.5 pounds | 11.43 pounds |
There is just a slight hint of edgy-ness to the fret ends, but fine, really. We measured the body, neck, headstock, and bridge dimensions against my Martin D-28: almost identical. Rogue RA 090 weighs several ounces less though and sports a single full sheet of (birch?) plywood for its top. The outer finish is polyurethane, glossy but thinner than usual.
There are no edge bindings anywhere, no ivoried heel caps, no sound hole or seam marquetry. There are also no noticeable glue globs, bridge-to-top gaps, or generally nasty finish details to chastise. We rather like the sound hole surround decal – sort of a Greek urn style roping, gold over black to match the finish colors and wires. The tuners are unmarked Schaller-ish clones, but they are decently chromed and held tuning after the strings stretched a bit. The headstock nut is robust and cleanly cut. Nicely polished and rounded edges.
The saddle nut is similar material with no discernable compensation chamfers. Surprising accurate intonation when checked at the twelfth (bit of sharpness in the B and high E). Playing the guitar was a surprise. We expected high action, dull or wooden tone, and bad intonation. Instead we found reasonably low action (could be a smidge lower, but not bad) and a pleasant overall string tone with nice ringing treble notes. The midrange and lower notes are slightly muddy but benefit from the dreadnaught size. Fingerstyle and picking both work well with it. Hard strumming with a heavy pick might reveal its weaknesses.
Rogue RA 100D Review
RA 100D is to no surprise just as good as RA 090. The quality you get with the price tag, it’s just too good to pass. We expected something cheap with many parts of the guitar being compromised and we got something way better than that.
RA 100D is well built and the new strings are properly set-up. It plays and sounds just as good as more expensive instruments. You can easily take this guitar with you like on canoe, camping and other outdoor activities and it will hold well. If you just want to sit around a campfire and jamming with friends, this guitar provides a great value for that. Many people who consider themselves professionals have given their acknowledgements about this guitar.
Don’t forget to do the usual routine on a new guitar: removing the strings oiling the fretboard, filing sharp edges, and restringing with better strings (optional). The guitar can be so much better than before and that is saying a lot.
The sound of RA 100D is clear and bright and the sunbrush color is beautiful. Also, the delivery time provided by Rogue is exceptionally fast and not to mention, free. More about outdoor activities, this guitar can take a beating and still stay in tune.
Overall, when it comes to value there is no beating Rogue RA 100D other than its sibling RA 090. The sound and build quality are more than what you’d expect from a guitar at this price range. Our review on RA 090 pretty much summed up this guitar’s as well.
Rogue RA 090 Vs RA 100D
| Rogue RA 090 | Rogue RA 100D | |
|---|---|---|
| Best Deal* | Save Money Please click here | Save Money Please click here |
| Brand | Rogue | Rogue |
| Key features | - 6-string - Dreadnought design - Whitewood body - 25-3/8" scale length | - Genuine spruce top - Die-cast tuning machines - Nato neck - 25-1/2" scale length |
| Price | ||
| Customer Ratings* | 4.5 out of 5 stars | 4.1 out of 5 stars |
Verdict
There is no doubt about it, you can’t go wrong with either of these guitars. Both RA 100D and RA 090 are excellent guitars with very affordable price tags. We believe that there is very little difference between these guitars. RA 090 has a whitewood body while RA 100D has bound rosewood fretboard.
NOTE : Product prices, availability, ratings and save money information are accurate as of the date/time indicated on post time (as seen right bellow the tittle) and are subject to change. Any price, ratings, availability and save money information displayed on Amazon Site at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.
So, which one is better? One thing we noticed is that RA 090 is more popular than RA 100D. We’re not sure why because like we said both are basically the same guitar with minor differences. But RA 090 is cheaper by $10-20. One thing we know for sure is that, no matter which guitar you choose to get, you’ll be happy with it.