Johnson JD17

features are well recorded by other reviewers. the small tuners worried me initially - but no need. they're really effective, easy to turn, and hold tune well. the headstock and fingerboard inlays are ornate and won't be to everyone's taste (certainly not mine!) .... but i'm not deducting marks for that. this guitar has all you need for an entry level acoustic.

the first thing you will notice is the volume this guitar generates. boy, is it loud! it holds its own very well where there are a number of other players scrubbing away alongside you. tonewise, i like the sound when finger picking. it's loud and bright, but quite warm. however, i don't care for the tone when the guitar is flatpicked. i find it a bit too harsh for my ear - in my opinion, flat picking betrays the jd17 as a low cost instrument. that said, it is perfectly suited to most campfire/sing-song applications. and for 119 GBP what the hell?!

the action was great straight out of the box. very playable. the only noticeable flaw was with the scratchplate, which began to peel off almost straight away. i've removed it completely. no harm done.
as an aside, the sound hole emanates a rather disquieting, and slighty fecal, aroma. i may have been the victim of a dirty protest by the manufacturer. but this is fading, so no impact on score :-)

scratchplate aside, this guitar does seem to be built to last. i have no other complaints so far (and it's had a fair share of abuse already).

whatever at this price. it's pretty disposable - if it breaks i won't be troubling the retailer or the manufacturer. i'll have myself a repair project...

i've been playing for over 20 years. i started out with a second hand 1970s yamaha acoustic. that did me for a decade before i bought a simon & patrick sp6. i then upgraded to my first premium guitar - a gibson j45.
i bought the jd17 online, just after purchasing the gibson, as an instrument for me and the kids to abuse. to be honest, this is the worst sounding acoustic guitar i have owned .... but then it's also the cheapest!!
so, my overall rating reflects the fact that i can't fault the jd17 from the value for money perspective. if it was lost or stolen i'd probably have a little flutter on something else in this price range. but in the meantime, i'm very happy with it.

dreadnought, butterbean tuners,gloss poly finish,medium/ wide neck, made in 2008 solid spruce top ,laminate rosewood back and sides,mahogany neck, 20 frets abalone snowflake dots.china made,from the same shop that makes the recording king guitars.

big bold sound ,great bluegrass guitar, blues,low action, easy to play, with d'adarrio medium strings.Love these guitars ,almost as much as my jd- 27. Vintage sound right out of the box!

top is a little wobbly looking, so is my martin d-28,makes no differance to me,every thing else was fine ,way better than expected. peeled off the rubbery pickguards and put on a black martinesque pickguard(my preferance).

I bought this and one other for $ 120.00 each ,on e-bay with a few flaws,and installed a bridge doctor in each,( the bridge was belling a bit), set one up with medium bronze, the other with elixer light , and passed these around at a picking party, what a gas! They thought these were $1000.00 dollar guitars!The biggest bang for the buck, hands down,I can't believe they sell for $250.00 well built, nice neck,pretty mother of pearl.giggable? yes!poly finish ,very durable.

I bought these as project guitars,i do my own repairs, but have other carolina series , with no problems at all,the new ones come with 3 year waranty, but from my experience you probably won't need to contact johnson.

I have been playing for 20 years, and have had many,many acoustics, including a martin d -28, taylor big baby,yamaha fg 300,cort earth 500,tacoma jumbo,tacoma,chief,johnson jd 27,recording king rd 17,recording king rd 227, Fender tele. strat,sold many others,looking for "that sound", these have it. my favorite is the jd 27,because of the v-shaped neck, but sound wise this jd 17 is as good as they get.

Dreadnought
X Brace
Solid top
Rosewood laminate sides and back

Was looking for a Masterbilt Epi in the UK and could not find for love or lots of money !
A bit of an impulse purchase- but for ??129.00 from Coda Music thought I could not go wrong. How right I was. Just lovely - sweet- full tone- loud when you want it ! this is just a great guitar. Re-string needed- the supplied strings do not do it justice.
Great string to string balance. I know who is behind this guitar- and he knows exactly what he was doing. Brilliant,strummed, picked-folk, blues,country. A light, easy guitar to play

Action a little high- but very rewarding bringing the bone saddle on the bridge down.Easy job and better this way round than the other! I still need to set it up properly.
The tuners are just fine-I must admit I a bit of a convert to butter beans.Pickguard wants to peel off, but this is not a worry- I might take it off anyway -easy job and I think the guitar will look better.
Smells good !

I think this is going to last- I am sure my JO27 will play better in 10 years time -but who knows?

Carry on making guitars this good- and I will carry on support you by buying them

Find one- play it- buy it. The JD17 along with the other Carolina's are really good guitars. I actually managed to buy the JD17 and a JO27 for less than the EF Masterbilt I was after.

I guess the most notable feature of this guitar is its Pre-war bracing, which results in a very "live' sound. It a China made guitar, but gives up nothing to any other guitar anywhere near its price. Its very well finished, and beautiful...the headstock inlay is a bit over the top, but I like it!...gotta have a little flash when you spend that cash!
This is solid spruce top with laminated rosewood sides and back. Standard dreadnaught size.

Absolutely a CANNON! Man, does this baby let you know it has entered the room! I began its life by stringing it with Martin Fingerstyle Lights, and tune two clicks down to "D" , to minimize the pull on the bridge that could eventually cause bellying...a concern on the 'Forward X' bracing, which is why I believe Martin discontinued using it in the 1940's.
I play in a "picker's circle" with a bunch of martin guys, each playing a very nice, aged axe, and this guitar gives up very little to any of them. Its no vintage Martin, but it WAS only $200.00 !! (with a nice case)

No flaws that I've found, action perfect.

I've been picking on it daily for about a year now, and it seems like its cozy-ing up to me more every day. I have never had an acoustic that sounded this good, and I've had a few over the years, yet I'm not paranoid over leaving it in the car, parked on its stand at a party, etc. like I would if it was a $1,000.00 guitar.

Have never dealt with them, and doubt that I will ever need to.

I've been playing casually and professionally for 40 years. Mostly blues and rock, but this guy is my country and acoustic blues axe. I have a Spanish classical, some nice vintage Jap electrics I use for slide, and a lap steel. I have had number of Dobros and resonators also.

I would hunt down another in a heartbeat if this one were ever destroyed or stolen.

This has a solid spruce top, laminate rosewood sides and back. Nice ornate headstock, very pretty. Has the pre-war style forward scalloped x-bracing, for that incredible ound quality. Very shiny, a bit understated. Nice butterbean tuners, work ok. Normal fretboard width, not as narow as a Masterbilt AJ or Blueridge, for example. It is a dreadought, but is sloped a bit at the neck. Johnson puts real bone on the nut and saddle- thankyou thankyou. Should be a law.

If I could give it an 11, I would, or a 12. Super sweet, punchy, loud, rich incredible sound. Even better than the JD16 mahogany I have. Every single nuance in your picking is picked up- uncanny. Great sustain, sounds husky and bassy and powerful when strumming chords. Has a character all its own. I sold my all solid wood JD26 because...this laminate sounds a whole lot better. I have played maybe 80 solid wood or solid top acoustics in the past 8 months, this sounds a whole lot better than every single one of them.

I bought this new from an ebay dealer. It had some glue residue near the pickguard, which was also loose, so I added a dab of superglue.
The pickguards on the JD16/17 series have had some issues in the past. I could care less.

Not super heavy, not super light. The woods seem strong enough to withstand touring.

N/A

My opinion is that this is the best acoustic guitar for the money, hands down. Nothing from any manufacturer comes even close. I had the Blueridge Br40, no comparison, the Johnson sounds 100% better. I own 3 Epi. Masterbilts, all solid wood, this Johnson sounds better. I sold my solid DR500M because of this Johnson. I've heard and played dozens of solid tops, this is the best. I don't know how they do it, but thank you Johnson!