Re: To replace or not to replace
Your tuning issues may be related to the strings not the tuners. Weaving a bit of leather shoelace between the strings between the tailpiece and bridge will resolve some of the overtones you are getting. I have one of those inexpensive Johnson oval hole mandolins. It was one of my first ones. I spent as much on a set up on it as I did the instrument itself. It's not the best sounding box out there but it does the job fine. I've had it for 10 years and my kids use and abuse it and it still works fine. I would say, in my experience, that laminated top and thick finish make it sturdier than my nicer instruments. The tuners aren't the best but they work and hold tune. Mine intonates just fine in first position and even appropriately at the 12th fret.
Get a set up on your Johnson by someone who knows what they are doing (I will humbly submit anyone who has set up an instrument with a floating bridge (archtop guitar or mandolin or banjo) will be fine), put some new D'Addario J74 strings on it and go from there. Save your money ($15-30 a month) and in a year or so you can afford to get a better solid wood, carved (not pressed) or good flat topped mandolin that will make you much happier. And you'll still have your Johnson as a campfire mandolin.
If you actually have $500 to spend, look at the Eastman 304 or 305 or even the 504 or 505. Other folks speak highly of the Kentucky and The Loar brands. Those are archtop mandolins. I really love the flat top mandolins and would heartily recommend a used Mid Missouri or Big Muddy (same company), old Martin, or Flatiron Pancake mandolin in that range as well.
Welcome to the Cafe!
Jamie
Jamie
There are two things to aim at in life: first, to get what you want; and, after that, to enjoy it. Only the wisest of mankind achieve the second. Logan Pearsall Smith, 1865 - 1946
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