Johnson and Recording King Resonators

[wsgumby]

Hi all,

Earlier tonight on the Cafe home page the Random Builder liink that popped up was Johnson. I clicked on the pic of the mando resonator and wound up on Elderly's Recording King mando resonator page. Are the Johnson and Recording King resonators considered the same instrument? They appear to be two different companies. Are they made in the same Chinese factory? I'm confused.

Bill:confused:

[Folkmusician.com]

Hi Bill,

The Johnson and Recording King line are owned by the same company. The resonator mandolins used to be made under the Johnson name. A few years back they were migrated to the Recording King Brand. The only difference is the overlay on the headstock, and the logo. :)

[wsgumby]

Thanks for the reply Robert.

I tried to email the moderator about this but he just told me I was clueless and should Google it. I tried. I guess I didn't look at their pages closely enough. Thanks again.

Bill

[Paul Hostetter]

The Johnson and Recording King line are owned by the same company. The resonator mandolins used to be made under the Johnson name. A few years back they were migrated to the Recording King Brand. The only difference is the overlay on the headstock, and the logo. :)

It's a little bit more complicated than this. Cone sources (which are a big deal) have changed, and assembly shops have changed. Johnson and Recording King are both Music Link brands, but the products themselves, regardless of the mark, are in constant flux. Pinpointing the variations may be tough. :confused:

[Big Joe]

Yep. Same father, different mother. They may be similar, but not the same. There is a high profile bluegrass group that will be featuring the Recording King resonator mandolin in their band in the very near future.

[allenhopkins]

Cafe´consensus seems to be: Johnson resonator mando, not so good; Recording King, somewhat better. As pointed out above, the resonator cone has been upgraded, while the basic body, a clone of the old National metal-bodied instrument, seems identical or nearly.

The cone is the vibrating element in a resonator mandolin, so changes there have important effect on the instrument's sound. In either case, however, don't expect the quality of one of the new National resonator mandolins. Of course, you won't be paying the price, either.

[Folkmusician.com]

I stand corrected. :grin:

It has been a while since I saw a Johnson version. Even being told, I don't recall any obvious differences. Of course it has been a couple of years, and I can't recall what I had for breakfast this morning either. :))

[Paul Hostetter]

Cafe´consensus seems to be: Johnson resonator mando, not so good; Recording King, somewhat better.

Not necessarily. I've seen enough of both scattered over recent years to not assume anything, which is why I mentioned the ever-changing nature of the product coming to market. One issue with having things made in contract shops overseas is getting production to match the prototypes you thought you've developed. (Mario Maccaferri's and Maurice Summerfield's, um, adventure with their Suzuki/Ibanez Selmers back in the '70's comes to mind.) You get it all dialed in and then order a big batch. Nine months later the container arrives and they're all a bit different because someone in production made a change in specs, or could no longer source a component such as the good cone, etc. Sometimes you slap a bargain mystery name over the original brand and unload them on eBay, sometimes you try to save them in the stateside setup shop. Next batch comes along, and something else may have changed. It's complicated, especially with a Rube Goldberg thing like resonator mandolin, and can be really frustrating.

I worked over a couple of Johnsons for customers which had great cones, but really dreadful biscuits and saddles which canceled out the quality spun and embossed cone, and thereby the general sound. After a real setup, including replacing the biscuit and saddle, they really sang. That was Johnson brand, not RK.


As pointed out above, the resonator cone has been upgraded, while the basic body, a clone of the old National metal-bodied instrument, seems identical or nearly.

The general trend is constant improvement of course, but in sideline instruments like the reso mandolins, you never know from shipment to shipment what you're going to get with certainty. I think Music Link is concentrating on their guitars, carved mandolins, and banjos—the things coming from their own new shop in Shanghai, where they have real control. The other stuff has always been procured from various contract shops.

[John Kinn]

So, mr. Hostetter, what is your opinion about the Recording King dreds, especially the RD 316/326? (if any?:-) No mando content, but I'm planning to buy one..)
Thanks,
John

[Paul Hostetter]

To be honest, not being real big on square-shouldered 14-fret dreadnoughts in the first place, I have hardly played any of those models. I have played a few of the RK slope D's which don't hit the mark for me aesthetically but sound so good I'll forgive the details. At the risk of sounding like a shill (since I do work with Music Link, mostly on mandolins), pretty much all their guitars sound great and are nicely constructed, for example the Schoenberg models, and the archtops, and the smaller flattops, which I know better. I am involved in developing a guitar with them, but a smaller item, like a deep 00 body Nick Lucas with a long scale and 13 frets. It's not on the market yet, but when it eventually shows up, it'll look a lot like this:

http://www.lutherie.net/recording.king.full.1785.sm.jpg

How are you managing to lay hands on one of these guitars all the over in Norway?

[John Kinn]

Thanks for the reply! I'm about to buy one from Big Joe in Nashville, with a 2002 A9 as part of the bargain. I have heard so many positive things about these guitars, and Big Joe seems to like them a lot. So now I just have to wait for the big day when it's delivered to my door. And sorry, I had no intention to hijack this thread, especially with no-mando content. I will play my old Gibby A40 afterwards to make up.:mandosmiley:
John

PS! What a nice looking guitar the Nick Lucas!