Johnson mandolin anyone??

[smokey08]

I purchased a Johnson M-100 i think it is 7 yrs ago in the US. for around $300 by the time i received it here in Canada. Last yr i went and purchased Morgan Monroe MM-F9 with Fishman pickup -i paid $1000 for it-I'm sad to say that my Johnson is by far the better instrument(didn't come witha pickup-i installed one last yr though. The Johnson is so easy to tune and btw very 'true' up and down the board-the MM very touchy on the tuning. Anyone out there had any bad expereiences like that???

[Steelee]

Hello,

I bought my Johnson F-100 off the internet also - about 5 years ago. It was my first mandolin when I began learning how to play. It got me started and did the job but started having fret wear on 2 and 3. Migrated after a year or so from plywood to a F J Bovier for about $850. The J Bovier was much better sounding and easier to play. That was my experience.

Regards, Lee

[mandobassman]

I have a Johnson MA-100 that I got a little while back for my son to kick around with. It was pretty bad when I first got it but with a few adjustments it's not too bad. One funny thing about it is it is an A model with F-holes but the inside label says "MA-100 oval hole mandolin" I guess someone wasn't paying attention.

[JEStanek]

I have the Real Deal MA-100 A-oval Johnson that I got about 8 years ago. I still have it but I have better sounding instruments. The Johnson is a true beater and sits around for my kids to play with. I'm happy they have it. I don't regret buying it.

Jamie

[Verne Andru]

I picked up a Johnson MF-095 f-style a few years back on a blow-out. Man, what junk. It didn't cost much and it was my first mando, so I used it to learn to play and "fix" mandolins. The fretwork was the worst - most of the frets were cut too short to extend the full width of the fretboad or even reach the binding. I think they used mine to teach some newbie how to install frets - badly. And, speaking of the fretboard, it had a crack running the full length of it. The advertised "ebony" bridge was, in fact, rosewood. And I think they put the strings on before the glue in the neck was fully set because there was some bubbling in the paint at the neck joint and the neck had "lifted" enough to be a pain.

Over time I cleaned out the paint at the neck joint and added more glue to make sure the neck wouldn't lift anymore than it had. I did a fret level/dress, replaced the junky machines with high-end Grovers and installed a piezo pickup under the soundboard. Because I had a hole in the side for the 1/4" pickup jack, I was able to get in there with some flat files and grind off more than 1/2 of the tone "logs" they used for tone-bars, doing some rudimentary "tap-tuning" along the way.

When all was said and done, it played very well [as long as you didn't bend the strings so much so they fell off the ends of the frets] with super low action. The amplified tone was great - one area where the plywood top actually helped. Acoustically it sounded tons better when I was done than when I started, but it was still nothing special.

With all the work I did to it I was able to a] learn the basics of playing a mando, b] get some mando luthier experience and c] sell it for enough to pay for a new Paris Swing John Jorgenson gypsy-jazz style mando. The PS is solid woods and only required some minimal setup work to get it playing sweetly. The tonal difference is night and day.

The Johnson served it's purpose and I trust the new owner is getting value out of it as well, but I will never, knowingly, buy another Johnson product as long as I live.

[allenhopkins]

Seems to me this thread -- or the OP's inquiry -- is as much about his Morgan Monroe as about the Johnson, with which he's pretty satisfied.

What are the tuning problems with the MM? You say it's "very touchy on the tuning." Does that mean it doesn't note accurately up the neck, or that it won't stay in tune? Have you had it set up professionally?

Even a low-end plywood mandolin can seem "better" than a more expensive instrument, if it's properly set up and adjusted. Johnson instruments are all over the lot; different ones are presumably made in different Chinese factories, so generalizing about the various models may be misleading.

There are a lot of Johnson-brand instruments out there, especially resonator guitars, mandolins and ukuleles. Expressions here on the Cafe range from "satisfactory" to "very poor." I have a Johnson resonator ukulele, and had a Johnson tricone resonator guitar for awhile (traded it on an old National Havana). I wasn't unhappy; they were pretty much what I expected for the price.

[Patrick Hull]

While I don't see myself buying a Johnson mandolin, my first guitar was a Johnson, and for what I paid, it wasn't bad. Not good, but fairly solid. They seem to be rather sturdy, and generally playable instruments. I also had a Morgan Monroe mandolin a while back. Not at all surprised by your experience. Hope you don't need some custom service.

[bmac]

I purchased a Johnson resonater mandolin because I wanted the resonater sound and couldn't afford a more expensive one. It came with an awful settup (no settup) as is the case with most mail order instruments. So I learned to do a basic settup and it is fine now... It is surprising to me that the manufacture, fit and finish, is as good as it is... I can find no flaws anywhere. For a low end instrument I am quite satisfied.

[Verne Andru]

Seems like all those steel bodied resonators - Johnson, Recording King and Republic - are coming out of the same factory. Wish I knew which one. My Republic came with a suitably horrible setup as well, but it at least has an adjustable truss-rod so I was able to get it setup quite nicely. It's tons of fun.

[Nelson Peddycoart]

My first bass guitar was an acoustic Johnson. People quickly get tired of the joke about "pulling out the big Johnson." :)

It had surprisingly good tone.

[pager]

I think the question is that your MM is not in tune. It SHOULD be a much better mandolin than the Johnson. Adjust the floating bridge on the MM, to insure it is set correctly for intonation. If you do not know how to do this, do you have a friend that can help you with this? You want to adjust the bridge so that the harmonic on the 12th fret is the same as the fretted note on the 12th fret. Once this is accomplished, your MM should play in tune (in theory) unless there is something that I am forgetting here...

jillian

[smokey08]

I think the question is that your MM is not in tune. It SHOULD be a much better mandolin than the Johnson. Adjust the floating bridge on the MM, to insure it is set correctly for intonation. If you do not know how to do this, do you have a friend that can help you with this? You want to adjust the bridge so that the harmonic on the 12th fret is the same as the fretted note on the 12th fret. Once this is accomplished, your MM should play in tune (in theory) unless there is something that I am forgetting here...

jillian well how can i adjust the floating bridge on my Morgan?? the the pickup wire is right underneath the bridge-if i move it back or forward you can see the wire protruding through the hole.

[Mike Bunting]

well how can i adjust the floating bridge on my Morgan?? the the pickup wire is right underneath the bridge-if i move it back or forward you can see the wire protruding through the hole.

Is it more important for it to be in tune or is it more important that it looks good?

[michaelpthompson]

I have to confess that when I saw this thread, my mind returned to an Irish song in which the question is asked, "Do you want to ride my Johnson."

Oh wait, mandolins, yeah....

[smokey08]

I have to confess that when I saw this thread, my mind returned to an Irish song in which the question is asked, "Do you want to ride my Johnson."

Oh wait, mandolins, yeah.... yeahhhh you're so funny!!!!!!!!!!!!!