Are Johnson Guitars Any Good?
Jason Danziger
I am looking at the JG-660 guitar which is a thinbody cutaway
acoustic/electric guitar.
It is only $157.50 here:
http://www.mandalaymusic.com/merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=1&
Product_Code=JG660TBL&Category_Code=1
Details can be seen here as well:
http://www.musiclinkcorp.com/fretted/acou_guit_11.html
I just love the way it looks in blue, and it looks like a good price for a
well-built guitar with built in pickup. This would be a second guitar for
me as I am currently using an $80 Arbor A10 I got a pawn shop a few months
ago. It does not appear to be built that well on the inside but sounds
pretty good. I think it has been treated badly over the years resulting in
its bad shape.
Thanks alot for any help you can offer.
Jason
Brent Barkow
I have one. It sounds dead unplugged - even with the solid top, but that's
not what I bought it for. It sounds very nice plugged in (IMO the
electronics are worth the price of the guitar -- if the guitar dies I will
be removing the electronics), and it's cheap enough so that I can leave it
at the church for anybody to bang on. If you order it, be aware that you may
have to do quite a bit of set-up. I had to lower the saddle, adjust the
relief AND slot the nut a bit deeper. All that being said, it's my opinion
that you get more than you pay for with this guitar. I really does sound
good amplified.
Brent
Jason Danziger <danz...@olin.wustl.edu> wrote in message
news:a8b945$8t1$1...@newsreader.wustl.edu...
Lumpy
> Does anyone here have a Johnson
> brand acoustic or acoustic/electric guitar?
I had a guitar student show up for his first
lesson with a $100 Johnson dreadnaught. I inspected
it and found cracked braces, cracked heel block,
bridge lifting, still smelled like lacquer.
It wouldn't tune, I presume due to the cracked
stuff inside the box. I had to turn the guy down
as a student till he got a guitar worth working with.
lumpy
MAIB
Here's a professional musician, and guitar instructor, with recent,
real-life experience with the instruments in question, providing detailed
and significant feedback. Isn't the Internet a great thing <g>?
OTOH, Lumpy is a jerk.
Mark
"Lumpy" <lu...@digitalcartography.com> wrote in message
news:a8ci3u$r2kg4$1...@ID-76024.news.dfncis.de...
Lumpy
> OTOH, Lumpy is a jerk.
Oh I'll bet you wouldn't say that if I
didn't have a gorgeous, sexy girlfriend,
several guitars and horses in the back yard.
"A man's gotta know his limitations"
dirty lumpy
Greg N.
> > ... a $100 Johnson dreadnaught. I inspected
> > it and found cracked braces, cracked heel block,
> > bridge lifting...
MAIB wrote:
> See, this is the kind of thing that makes this
> group such a great resource.
I would not assume that a significant percentage of Johnson Instruments
are wrecks like this one (UPS can turn *any* guitar into that state in a
day :-). The Johnsons I have tried in stores were cheap and a bit on
the rough side - about what you'd expect at that price point, but
essentially usable.
I'd say Lumpy's story says more a about that chiseler of a dealer who
did not hesitate to sell a smashed up instrument, than anything about
Johnson's quality or lack thereof.
Greg N.
MAIB
Mark
"Lumpy" <lu...@digitalcartography.com> wrote in message
news:a8e4i5$r57tg$1...@ID-76024.news.dfncis.de...
Robert
Geez
stay on the topic of guitars.
R
MAIB
Mark
Robert wrote in message <12847b5c.02040...@posting.google.com>...
Lumpy
> My Johnson is fairly beat up....
> I'm not letting Lumpy anywhere near it.
You shouldn't beat your Johnson.
You'll go blind.
masters and lumpy
Lumpy
> > > ... a $100 Johnson dreadnaught. I inspected
> > > it and found cracked braces, cracked heel block,
> > > bridge lifting...
GregN wrote:
> ...UPS can turn *any* guitar into that
> state in a day...
> I'd say Lumpy's story says more a about
> that chiseler of a dealer who did not
> hesitate to sell a smashed up instrument,
> than anything about
> Johnson's quality or lack thereof.
You're suggesting that cracked braces, heel block
and lifting bridge is a result of poor UPS handling
and not poor construction materials and methods?
This is a guitar made in China that retails for $99.
Wholesales for what, half of that? I would expect,
almost guarantee, poor quality at that extreme
low end of the scale.
lump
Greg N.
> You're suggesting that cracked braces, heel block
> and lifting bridge is a result of poor UPS handling
> and not poor construction materials and methods?
I'm suggesting that what you saw was a smashed up guitar. Somebody
broke it, and I guess it happened after the instrument left the
factory. Sure, my guess is no better than anybody's, but I can't
imagine cracked braces and heel blocks to be standard features, at *any*
price point, even in China.
--
Greg N.
