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Johnson
- Thread starter jthurston
- Start date
YES!!!!!!
I own a johnson precision bass that I purchased for $180 at a pawn shop.It's still one of the best basses I've ever played,and I've tried much more expensive ones.It was certainly better than the standard squier precision and some other basses ive tried.mine came with EMG split coil pickups and it just kicks ass and plays like a dream.If you find one,you can't beat it for the price.
I own a johnson precision bass that I purchased for $180 at a pawn shop.It's still one of the best basses I've ever played,and I've tried much more expensive ones.It was certainly better than the standard squier precision and some other basses ive tried.mine came with EMG split coil pickups and it just kicks ass and plays like a dream.If you find one,you can't beat it for the price.
No offence, but not worth it's money no matter how little. I had a fretless jazz (jj-800?),
probably same base model to yours, only in SB.
The body isn't real wood, it is pressed sawdust and glue.
On top of that, the pickups are pretty low in output, with a muddy tone (although they are
supposed to be EMG licensed copies or something) and my fingerboard had a few bad
spots.
The keys seem decent and I still use them in my current jazz rip off , but for 150-200$ (which
is the price of this bass new), I could probably get better keys...
At this price range, even though quite low, I'd choose pretty much everything else
and if you count the second hand market, then this bass is really an option with no
benefits, the way I see it.
Of course, opinions and experiences may vary, but the facts (fake wood body) do make a strong case on their own.
probably same base model to yours, only in SB.
The body isn't real wood, it is pressed sawdust and glue.
On top of that, the pickups are pretty low in output, with a muddy tone (although they are
supposed to be EMG licensed copies or something) and my fingerboard had a few bad
spots.
The keys seem decent and I still use them in my current jazz rip off , but for 150-200$ (which
is the price of this bass new), I could probably get better keys...
At this price range, even though quite low, I'd choose pretty much everything else
and if you count the second hand market, then this bass is really an option with no
benefits, the way I see it.
Of course, opinions and experiences may vary, but the facts (fake wood body) do make a strong case on their own.
Interesting. I appreciate y'all's input on the question of to Johnson or not to Johnson.
The reason I ask the question is, I've been playing this one (in the pic above) for about 2 months and have had zero functional issues with it. I wouldn't have gone out to buy one, but the opportunity came up and I took it.
No argument on the fake wood body, for instance, but I can live with that. I paid $65 for the bass, slapped some new heavy gauge Boomers on it, and it plays beautifully. It's not muddy, muddled or dull, although it is rather low in output like you mentioned (still, not any worse than my other passives). Nice, deep thump for the money, in my opinion. Clearly not comparable to a Fender MIA, but I'd put it up against a Squier Affinity any day (fit and finish will be better on the Squier though).
Cons: It's heavy and can feel rather ballbatish at times, and has an exceptionally ugly headstock. Action is a bit high on mine, but that can be adjusted. Tone knob is a little loose, but that's probably because it's used. I get a lot of comments on my "Johnson", especially in certain venues. And the finish, while certainly good enough for my purposes, isn't as nice as a lot of other instruments. Cheap plastic nut (as one would expect).
Pros: An inexpensive, playable bass with (in this case, anyway) good tone and enough punch to get me through, though not as much punch as some other basses. The neck feels more like a P than a J to me, but that might just be me. Easy to play; Nice, fat (level) frets and an easy-radius fretboard with no rough spots that I can find.
So overall I think it's a net positive if you can find one cheap enough (I probably wouldn't go over $100). It's definitely gigable. I just wondered who else had experience with them.
The reason I ask the question is, I've been playing this one (in the pic above) for about 2 months and have had zero functional issues with it. I wouldn't have gone out to buy one, but the opportunity came up and I took it.
No argument on the fake wood body, for instance, but I can live with that. I paid $65 for the bass, slapped some new heavy gauge Boomers on it, and it plays beautifully. It's not muddy, muddled or dull, although it is rather low in output like you mentioned (still, not any worse than my other passives). Nice, deep thump for the money, in my opinion. Clearly not comparable to a Fender MIA, but I'd put it up against a Squier Affinity any day (fit and finish will be better on the Squier though).
Cons: It's heavy and can feel rather ballbatish at times, and has an exceptionally ugly headstock. Action is a bit high on mine, but that can be adjusted. Tone knob is a little loose, but that's probably because it's used. I get a lot of comments on my "Johnson", especially in certain venues. And the finish, while certainly good enough for my purposes, isn't as nice as a lot of other instruments. Cheap plastic nut (as one would expect).
Pros: An inexpensive, playable bass with (in this case, anyway) good tone and enough punch to get me through, though not as much punch as some other basses. The neck feels more like a P than a J to me, but that might just be me. Easy to play; Nice, fat (level) frets and an easy-radius fretboard with no rough spots that I can find.
So overall I think it's a net positive if you can find one cheap enough (I probably wouldn't go over $100). It's definitely gigable. I just wondered who else had experience with them.
Ok, I might have been quick on calling this wood a fake one. This discussion
got to me to dig up the body and check it again.
The neck pocket does indeed have the appearance of a fake wood, but I got a
second opinion by someone who knows a bit more about wood (still non-expert
though) and I was told that the small splinters around the holes in the pocket
might be an indication that this is a real wood.
Also, all sites that have it, list it as solid alder. I haven't concluded either way,
but given the lack of certainty, I apologize if I have spread any misinformation.
In any case, I've decided that since the fingerboard is slightly faulty, I'l give it
the poly treatment, change to somewhat better pickups and put it back in
circulation.
Thanks for the stimulus.
got to me to dig up the body and check it again.
The neck pocket does indeed have the appearance of a fake wood, but I got a
second opinion by someone who knows a bit more about wood (still non-expert
though) and I was told that the small splinters around the holes in the pocket
might be an indication that this is a real wood.
Also, all sites that have it, list it as solid alder. I haven't concluded either way,
but given the lack of certainty, I apologize if I have spread any misinformation.
In any case, I've decided that since the fingerboard is slightly faulty, I'l give it
the poly treatment, change to somewhat better pickups and put it back in
circulation.
Thanks for the stimulus.
My big Johnson...
No really, my Johnson is huge. I'm not just saying that to impress anyone. It's hard to wrap youself around how this huge Johnson is!
No really, my Johnson is huge. I'm not just saying that to impress anyone. It's hard to wrap youself around how this huge Johnson is!
Sorry, no Johnson joke from me. Unless Johnson makes a UBass size.
I apologize ahead of time for the following comment:
That Ovation guitar is sweet. Those are great guitars!
I apologize ahead of time for the following comment:
That Ovation guitar is sweet. Those are great guitars!
Yeah that one plays like a dream. It's his primary gigging guitar, uses it for all the shows. So in this pic, there's me (I'm the fat guy with the Johnson JBass), our frontman playing rhythm with his Ovation, and the lead guitarist with one of my MIM Fenders. That was a fun show.
And it is a short scale? I have a Fender BG32 and it looks proportional to your Johnson. Ugh. That sounded funny.
And it is a short scale? I have a Fender BG32 and it looks proportional to your Johnson. Ugh. That sounded funny.
Long scale and actually pretty damm loud for an ABG. The electronics are so-so but they get the job done. Action is about average for a bass with a bridge like that, fret job is decent and you can adjust the truss rod from the sound hole. I'm actually quite happy with it. The only noticable step up in an ABG I found was the Tacoma Thunderchief but it was about 5X expensive.
FWIW, I have a couple Johnson guitars - a Tele and a Strat. I swapped out the pickups with Fender Samarium-Cobalt, and a steel trem block for the Strat. I'd say both guitars sound great, are easy to set up with very easy action. Mine are both real wood. That said, I'm not crazy about the chunky necks. Oh well, I got them both for $50 each on Craigslist.
mine is real wood(trust me I know) and has excellent finish in candy apple red. the nut is plastic,which is kinda lame but other wise its very solid and I enjoy it.the emg pickups on my precision are almost TOO punchy and my bass always ends up sounding really overpowering.I bought mine new three years ago and gigged with it without having any problems.
Here'smy Johnson. It wasa freebie, was at a meeting and asked to get change. The lady who runs the place opened her office, and it was sitting in a cardboard case by the door. Asked whose it was, and she said "Its your if you want it. Someone left it here a couple weeks ago, I've called three times and he still hasn't come back for it. I was going to put it in the dumpster tonight, but if you want to take it go for it." Opened the case and asw a very dirty cutaway, corroded strings in contact with the fretboard, new backbowed all the way. That was the bad. The good was it wasn't broken anywhere that I could see, although someone had used drum sticks on the back of the body. Figured I could probably get the truss rod to turn and loosen the neck. If that didn't work, I'd get a free set of 3+3 sealed tuners out of it.
So, took it home. Loosened the truss rod until the nut would freely turn and took the strings off. Cleaned the finish with a damp rag and a dab of dish soap (It was that dirty), then a little Stew Mac preservation polish on a foam pad with my cordless driver. Some restoration rosewood oil on the very dry rosewood (soaked up a lot, had to applu a second coat to have some to wipe off) then an unopened pack of strings (not regular brand, bought them in a pinch).
As I was cleaning the guitar up, I heard a pick or something inside the body. Turn it over and shoook it, until a dust bunny the size of my fist fell out with 3 cheap plastic picks. When I picked up the dust bunny, there was a crumpled up dollar bill inside! Now I was one dollar in the back on the guitar- the strings I had and wasn't using, the polish and oil I had plenty of, and the time I spent was also free.
After letting the neck sit over night I tried to adjust it to the proper relief. Nothing happened that morning, so I left it alone until that evening. Was working the neck with my hands (truss rod was bound in the channel) and suddenly heard a loud CRACK! Thought I'd broken something, but after looking and not seeing anything I realized what I'd heard was the truss rod breaking free.
Tuned it to pitch, and adjusted the truss rod to get the best action and intonaton I could. Not perfect, but enough for a campfire guitar.
Fast forward a year, and I was on craigslist cruising the guitars and saw an ad that a guy was looking to trade a Tokai tele for a good acoustic. Hadn't played the Johnson more than a few times in a year, after setting it up. Contacted him about a trade, sent him the pic and he agreed.
Purple Tokai tele turned out to be a purple Disney by Washburn Hannah Montana Secret Star, 3/4 size guitar.
Met the guy's girlfriend and verified the guitar wasn't too small to play and was in decent shape (it was probably in better shape), so I made the trade. Only cost out of pocket was the gas to drive the 20 mile round trip.
And there's something cool about a pre drug and slutty Miley Cyrus guitar that isn't made anymore. Sounds better than I'd expected and was able to find the right knobs on eBay for $4 each free shipping.
It was a decent acoustic, and I've played a Johson mandolin and LP copy. Both were good, the mando better than the LP.
So, took it home. Loosened the truss rod until the nut would freely turn and took the strings off. Cleaned the finish with a damp rag and a dab of dish soap (It was that dirty), then a little Stew Mac preservation polish on a foam pad with my cordless driver. Some restoration rosewood oil on the very dry rosewood (soaked up a lot, had to applu a second coat to have some to wipe off) then an unopened pack of strings (not regular brand, bought them in a pinch).
As I was cleaning the guitar up, I heard a pick or something inside the body. Turn it over and shoook it, until a dust bunny the size of my fist fell out with 3 cheap plastic picks. When I picked up the dust bunny, there was a crumpled up dollar bill inside! Now I was one dollar in the back on the guitar- the strings I had and wasn't using, the polish and oil I had plenty of, and the time I spent was also free.
After letting the neck sit over night I tried to adjust it to the proper relief. Nothing happened that morning, so I left it alone until that evening. Was working the neck with my hands (truss rod was bound in the channel) and suddenly heard a loud CRACK! Thought I'd broken something, but after looking and not seeing anything I realized what I'd heard was the truss rod breaking free.
Tuned it to pitch, and adjusted the truss rod to get the best action and intonaton I could. Not perfect, but enough for a campfire guitar.
Fast forward a year, and I was on craigslist cruising the guitars and saw an ad that a guy was looking to trade a Tokai tele for a good acoustic. Hadn't played the Johnson more than a few times in a year, after setting it up. Contacted him about a trade, sent him the pic and he agreed.
Purple Tokai tele turned out to be a purple Disney by Washburn Hannah Montana Secret Star, 3/4 size guitar.
Met the guy's girlfriend and verified the guitar wasn't too small to play and was in decent shape (it was probably in better shape), so I made the trade. Only cost out of pocket was the gas to drive the 20 mile round trip.
And there's something cool about a pre drug and slutty Miley Cyrus guitar that isn't made anymore. Sounds better than I'd expected and was able to find the right knobs on eBay for $4 each free shipping.
It was a decent acoustic, and I've played a Johson mandolin and LP copy. Both were good, the mando better than the LP.
