Johnson JD-26 Carolina
submitted 5/22/2009
|
Submitter |
beegee |
Where Purchased |
Daddy's Junky Music |
Year Purchased |
2009 |
Price Paid |
($US) (bought USED) |
Sound
|
Great boomy dreadnaught sound |
Sound Rating |
9 |
Setup
|
Purchased as a project with back-bowed neck, loose braces , no saddle, no case. Two back braces are loose on one end or the other...no biggie. One has been reglued, the other hasn't, I will glue it eventually..no rattles or buzzes, though |
Setup Rating |
3 |
Appearance
|
Seems to have the polyester finish, Martin-style snowflake fingerbaord. Doofy-looking Johnson abalone logo and flowery peghead. Really tight Adirondack top, bone nut. Saddle missing when I got it(project, remember...) Really high stripe-figured solid mahogany.
D-28 style diamond at handstop. 1-piece neck |
Appearance Rating |
8 |
Reliability
|
Butterbean tuners, abalone bridge pins. After adjusting the 2-waytruss rod, and fitting a saddle, I strung the guitar with Martin Bluegrass strings and was immediately blown away by thge quality of the sound. |
Reliability Rating |
8 |
Customer Service
|
Quick ship, well-packed |
Customer Service |
9 |
Components
|
I'd like to see a nitro finish, if this isn't. It's way too shiny. |
Components Rating |
8 |
Overall Comments
|
I bought this cheap to fix and resell. I was really surprised what a killer guitar this is. Greta open and clean sound, plenty of punch.
These sell for <$500 and apparently are no longer offered, but I think thi is a keeper. It's a lot better and lighter in weight than my RK RD-227 I just sold. I did like the wide neck on my RD-227. Thls plays great and notes accurately all the way up the neck. |
Overall Rating |
9 |
|
Johnson JD-16
submitted 4/9/2009
|
Submitter |
beegee |
Where Purchased |
Daddy's Junky Music |
Year Purchased |
2009 |
Price Paid |
53.00 ($US) |
Sound
|
Bluegrass guitar. This guitar is a surprisingly good guitar. The sound is balanced and full. Plenty of punch even with light gauge strings. It's not a Martin,of course, but it's really decent |
Sound Rating |
8 |
Setup
|
The guitar was sold on ebay as a "project" guitar because they claimed that even after adjustment by their repair department, the guitar still rattled. Since I repair guitars, I figured, "What the heck?"
I bought it, no case. It came today and I pulled it out of the packing. It was tuned 1.5 frets low. I tuned it to standard and it did indeed rattle. I checked the neck and it had a very slight back-bow. I loosened the truss rod about 1/4 turn and the rattles went away, except for the flat frets where they had filed them trying to eliminate the rattles. I plan to replace the nut and saddle and frets ASAP. I think this will be a really good guitar, especially for the $$ I paid. |
Setup Rating |
3 |
Appearance
|
Solid Englemann top. Not a top-grade Englemann. The grain is wider at the outside and gets pretty even from the corners of the bridge to the center seam. There are a couple of darker grain streaks that run from the bridge corners to the top bout by the neck. Moderate silking, no bear claw. The back and sides are mahogany plywood. It has what I assume to be a polyester finish. I'd rather have a nitro lacquer on it. Single thin black strip at the center seam on back. Diamond abalone inlays and the doofy-looking Johnson peghead inlays. Ivoroid binding on the body with b/w/b/w/b horizontal binding on top and w/b/w on back and ivoroid heel cap. No fingerboard or peghead binding.W/B/W endpin seam. Kinda that reddish mahogany color, not as brown as a Martin D-18. The heel is slightly lumpy-looking, irregularly shaped. It could have been slightly smaller and cleaner-looking. |
Appearance Rating |
9 |
Reliability
|
Nickel butterbean enclosed tuners, Kluson-type housings, seem OK to me, smooth operation. No strap button on the heel, plastic button on the endblock |
Reliability Rating |
9 |
Customer Service
|
1st time buying like this. Quick ship, well-packed, no damage. Catalog included in box. These guys buy 2nd's and QC rejects and damaged lots ,etc and re-sell them on ebay. |
Customer Service |
9 |
Components
|
A little more attention needed to the heel contour. The pickguard is slightly curled at the edges, but it's a decent tortoise color. Bridge and pinss eem well-made. The saddle is compensated, but seems a little soft and needing re-contouring as part of a quality set-up. Frets are well-finished on the ends, but as mentioned above, I will replace the frets because they have been filed flat. The inside liners(the ones that you can see through the sound-hole)and the braces are clean and well-executed, no glue smears or drips. The muslin patch on the x-brass joint at the sound-hole is little ragged. I haven't felt or examined the top bracing or bridge-plate. |
Components Rating |
9 |
Overall Comments
|
These sell for $260-300. I had a Recording King RD-227. This guitar sounds better and is lighter in weight than the RK. I bought it because it was cheap and had good reviews. I'm well-pleased and if I don't turn it over for a few quick bucks, I'll probably keep it and do a little customizing on it. So far, it's fun to play and sounds good. |
Overall Rating |
9 |
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