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Anyone know much about Johnson by Axl?

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punkypenguin

Jun 12, 2023
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#1
Long story short I've got a jazz bass that I got nearly 20 years ago. Freaking love the thing, but I didn't realize how rare it was until I started looking for another one. Then I started doing more digging and haven't come up with much. A youtube video review of one that is pretty spot on, but I can't find much about them as a company. What happened? They make a quality instrument for the price point, the few I have found are quite cheap (which I understand considering the bodywork construction choice). I'm just wondering why they didn't stick around. Or if maybe fender/squier absorbed them.

Does anyone else have these basses? I'd love to see yours and hear what you think of it. Here's mine, I bought it for the color. Kept it because it's a solid instrument. Put new pickups in it. Didn't really need to. Too lazy to put them back. Probably gonna make a Franken bass with them eventually.
 

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#3
The ones I know of, and @punkypenguin bass looks like one of those, were a budget brand for one of the music distributors who’s name escapes me. This was probably 12-15 years ago so they may have been MIK instead of MIC for whatever that is worth. I had a friend at the time who was a dealer for the music company so I got a couple at wholesale plus shipping. They were decent basses at the price point. Needed the usual set up stuff. I mostly got them to mod and they were fine for that.
 
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#4
There's a distribution company named Music Link, which sells a wide selection of musical instruments and products. All imports from Taiwan and China, mostly in the lower price range. They sell direct by mail order. I used to get their catalogs all the time, 20 years ago. They also sell to many of the smaller music stores, who carry their lines as their "entry level" models. So you may see them in guitar stores and pawn shops.

Music Link has a list of different brand names for their instruments, and they've changed over time. They started selling instruments under the Johnson brand name sometime in the late '90's. Electric guitars and basses, even some mandolins and acoustic guitars. Then they introduced the Axl brand name sometime in the early 2000's, and transitioned all the electric guitars and basses to that name from then on. I don't know if they even use the Johnson name any more.

If your bass is a Johnson by Axl, it's probably from around 2005.

I know about all this because of the name. I've had a steady stream of Johnson owners contacting me over the years, assuming that I'm the builder. Nope, I have no connection to Music Link.
 
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#7
Yes, I think Music Link is/was based in Europe. They got their start distributing instruments from Taiwan in Europe. Then they expanded to America in the mid-'90's. They had the instruments made marked as their own brand names, and some of them had a few mild custom features. They weren't exactly the same as other imports coming in at that time.

I've seen a couple of Johnson basses up close and they were okay. Simple, basic construction, acceptable quality. A decent low-cost instrument that you can use and play. At the better quality end of the cheap imports.
 
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#9
Bruce Johnson said:
There's a distribution company named Music Link, which sells a wide selection of musical instruments and products. All imports from Taiwan and China, mostly in the lower price range. They sell direct by mail order. I used to get their catalogs all the time, 20 years ago. They also sell to many of the smaller music stores, who carry their lines as their "entry level" models. So you may see them in guitar stores and pawn shops.

Music Link has a list of different brand names for their instruments, and they've changed over time. They started selling instruments under the Johnson brand name sometime in the late '90's. Electric guitars and basses, even some mandolins and acoustic guitars. Then they introduced the Axl brand name sometime in the early 2000's, and transitioned all the electric guitars and basses to that name from then on. I don't know if they even use the Johnson name any more.

If your bass is a Johnson by Axl, it's probably from around 2005.

I know about all this because of the name. I've had a steady stream of Johnson owners contacting me over the years, assuming that I'm the builder. Nope, I have no connection to Music Link.
Click to expand...


Yes! The Music Link. That’s the name I was trying to remember. Thanks Bruce.
 
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#12
SulzerType2 said:
Axl did some cool stuff. I remember a bass with a crackle finish and pre-rusted hardware that had a cool Mad Max vibe. I think they did an acrylic P Bass as well.

Quite a big entry level brand in Europe around twenty years ago. Far East production but I have half a memory of them being linked to Germany and early online retailers?
Click to expand...

I believe that model was called the Badwater, or something that implied being submerged underwater!
 
#15
Music Link started in the Bay Area and is still there, although most of their operations are now in Tennessee. The Johnson basses that the OP is referring to are likely from the late 90s (1997 the earliest) to around 2005 or so. The wood punches far above its price point. Extremely good materials. They are Chinese made.

I was the original product manager at the inception of the company.
 
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#16
Literally made a TalkBass account *just* to comment here because I've had a Johnson for years and have always wondered what its deal was. Finally decided to do a bit of googling and stumbled on this thread. Very happy to have found it!

I got mine when I was playing in a MA pop-punk band back in 2008. I'm normally a guitarist, but they needed a bass player, and I didn't have a bass, so one of the guitarists gave me his old Axl by Johnson. By a stroke of luck, it turns out I landed one of those fabled "magic" Johnsons myself. It sounds super tight, punchy, and kind of "grindy" (if that makes sense) and imo it stacks up to some of my friends' Fenders. Several engineers I've worked with over the years have also commented on how surprisingly good it sounds. I still play in mostly punk and punk-adjacent genres, where it works perfectly.

When that guitarist gave it to me back in '08, the pots were missing and I still haven't replaced them. I've just twiddled the nubs for years, cause I rarely ride the volume on my bass. Does anyone have a tip on where I could buy replacement pots for this online?
 

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#17
PXL_20240224_152122680.MP.jpg I actually have 3 Johnson Basses. I bought my first one in the late 90's on eBay. It is a "Longhorn" black 5 string Jazz bass. My wife's cousin bought a blonde Jazz, decided bass wasn't for him, so I have it now. It sounded fine, but I can't leave things alone, so it has a set of Lace Sensor Man 'o War pickups and a Shotvalve wiring harness now. A co-worker saved a P-bass from the dumpster as he was taking off his trash. I gave him $50 for it and put in Geezer EMGs and a high mass bridge. It came equipped with "EMG by Johnson" pickups, but they were a bit rusty, so I never tried them out.
 

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#19
arbiterusa said:
Music Link started in the Bay Area and is still there, although most of their operations are now in Tennessee. The Johnson basses that the OP is referring to are likely from the late 90s (1997 the earliest) to around 2005 or so. The wood punches far above its price point. Extremely good materials. They are Chinese made.

I was the original product manager at the inception of the company.
Click to expand...
Is there any info online anywhere about specs and or different model designations of the earlier basses? I have 3, only one that I purchased new and would like to know a little more about them. Old brochures or something would be really cool. Thanks!
 

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