Johnson JD27

Now I own the JD27 a good year and here are some updates.

The sound depends a lot on the strings used. The guitar shows not only very directly the players errors, this guitar is giving a fast response to any changes in the strings. If there is someone with too less bass, then he should try 11th or 12th strings. For better playability and less bass, there is a good choice to use 10th. I prefere strings whitch are coated with nano. They have a lot of brilliance on this guitar, even they cost more than the twice, they stand 3 times longer. It is good to experiment a little with different string types because this guitar shows the strength and weakness of a set very clear.

After one year: very good. The guitar was in different locations: in the car, on the road, at the bar, in the hotel and so on. The guitar is in a nearly perfect condition after this year of playing. The frets are in a good condition too. I changed the stringholder pins to ones made out of brass. The Attack of the sound is slightly better after this. Not only a more boomy sound, you can have a popping sound too after this modification.

Well, one year is not enough to say a lot to reliability/durability. This guitar is very solid and in a good condition. But think of this: Transport was always in a good gigbag. Sure there are some little dings and dongs now from playing and handling, but nothing serious.

I did not need the customer support. All is well and the guitar is perfect.

Overall i give this guitar a 10 again!

This is an update of my former submission of last year, so you can read the other stuff there.

Carolina Series II

Style: Dreadnaught
Top: Solid Spruce,
Englemann
Back & Sides: Solid East Indian Rosewood
Neck: 1-Piece Mahogany
Finish: Glossy
Rosette: B/W Vintage
Fretboard: Rosewood
Fretboard Inlay: Snowflake
Frets: Nickel, 20
Tuners: Butterbean
Bridge: Rosewood
Pickguard: Tortoise
Truss Rod Yes
Strings: Martin
Nut, Width: Bone, 1-11/16"
Scale Length: 25-3/8"
Depth: 5"
Upper Bout: 11.75"
Lower Bout: 15.5"
Body Length: 20"
Total Length: 40.75"

This guitar has plenty of volumn.I play bluegrass,flatpicking and rythmn,and old country blues.It is good sounding,attack and sustain.seems balanced ,not too bassy.It does not loose any volumn up the neck,

.Soundhole inspection showed clean inside,nothing outstanding to see down inside,no excess glue,maybe some wood dust inside.Braces looked well fitted and clean.No crappy looking braces.The Engleman Spruce top looks good.Grain is straight and is about 1/16 to 1/8 +in width.all the edges are great,the gloss finish looks good, uniformity and quality seems well, all bindings look good .frets are good and setup is very playable right out of box.I like the v neck. Closer inspection.the bridge was like a dull black and dusty and left black powder on cloth,but it looks good after wiping cloth on it,neck fretboard looked dull but after i wiped this dust off it seems good too,the mop inlays on neck are great, and i like the craftsmanship mop on the peg head,a little much, for me but good work and well done, i like plainer and less shiny finish too."let the cost and efforts of making guitars be in the wood and quality instead of too much eye candy."On the back of guitar where the middle seam is it looks good , you can feel it where they join but you cant see it. My freinds d1 mahog back is done the same way .This guitar sounds very powerfull,it is balanced too,flatpicked ,and strummed.I strummed it pretty hard too when i was by myself.It has Martin light gauge phosphor bronze strings. i dont like the pickguard ,it is too shiny,and on the tip toward the neck and soundhole of it, a cloth caught on it,but it looks like it is on there good,color of pickguard is ok, but traditional black or tortoise I would prefer.HOW IT LOOKS,Not a bad looking guitar,solid rosewood back and sides are nice. HOW IT SOUNDS,volumn with a good balance between the lows and highs.plays great,frets are good,feels kind of loose and easy to note,plays well up the neck too.This instrument can make a statement even when played next to a D16 gt and D1,both cost much more, and this guitar is all SOLID woods. The sides and back solid East Indian Rosewood looks great,dark to black in color.When under bright light or camera flash shows up more red brown or lighter .The mop inlays are all neatly done,the transition from the inlay sides to the neck are done well.All the inlays shine up nice too at different angles.I love the solid but fast v neck too.Tuners are smooth,vintage looking,now these babies are a little off.The straight edges of tuner machines should be perfectlystraight,lookatpics http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t112/webbfeet65/Backpegheadjd27.jpg the tuner pegs are inline but square base parts are not.This is cosmetic ,Grover Tuners upgrade will remedy. All transition spots from bindings to wood are great,the heel to guitar body is great,the nut fretboard great .Play one, and compare. priorities to me are sound,tone,woods and marerials used,craftmanship,performance,quality,price,and warranty.Cosmetic and/or things I can change with minimal cost, if whatever it is bugs me is the other things that influence my decision http://x.myspace.com/images/blog/smileys/anxious.gif"> This instrument lists for around 800.00 , average street price is around 650.00 //launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/flatpiknjd/links

Other than a few cosmetic issues,the wood and craftmanship are great,and this baby is a player.I have owned and played dreads that cost 3 to 6 times more ,but I am amazed how Greg Rich , Team Carolina ,and Johnson ,can do this at this cost.I am glad they do and I thank them for making instruments of this quality at their good prices.I would feel good playing this guitar on stage or anywhere else.

limited lifetime warranty

playing guitar for 20 yrs.I have owned more expensive dreads and have played many .Try a late model j26 or j27 and compare,mine may lack ,on a couple of cosmetic issues,but the performance and construction is not.I compared it to two dreads after i got it. A 1993 D1 and D16gt,and the JD27 felt right at home in that jam session.My freinds were impressed too.my favorite features are the solid v style neck,bone nut and compesated saddle,the tone,action,and playability.I chose this instrument after 4 months of research.The carolina series dreads have gotten good reviews and awards.Plus the people at centsiblesounds.com were always helpful in this process during that time. In the price range for me too.

Finish seems too thick. Body style seems a little smaller than some full sized dreadnaughts I've owned before. Tuners seem okay. Bone nut and saddle are nice. Frets seem a bit thin for my preference. Came with a really nice "Guardian Case". Solid spruce top and solid rosewood back and sides.

The sound seems a bit bright for my taste. Bass isn't as pronounced as I'd like it to be. Heard better bass on laminated Yamaha's I've owned in the past. Projection and volume are also low compared to Yamaha's I've owned. Was also displeased with the sustain it has for a solid wood guitar. I expected alot more than this.

Action is okay, a little high from the factory. Sold as new "A" stock, but I saw a finish flaw in the binding on the neck, a flaw on the headstock, and a couple of dings on the spruce top.

Appears like the body would hold together well. The spruce top seems a bit too thick to me. I can't help but wonder if that might effect the tone.

No opinion on the mfgr side of this. The online retailer, InstrumentPro, was very kind and easy to work with.

I've been playing for about 30 yrs and owned lots of low end and high end electrics and acoustics over the years. For what I paid it's not a bad guitar, but I would put it on the low side of sound quality for a solid wood acoustic. Maybe others have had a better experience, but I think this one was a bit of a dog. Low volume and projection, very bright with little bass to it. I'm going to send it back for my 30 day refund.

All solid wood Dreadnought w/Gloss Finish, Spruce top, Rosewwod back and sides, Pre-War Forward shifted X-Bracing, vintage style v-neck w/volute, bone nut and bridge, and Vintage style tuners and looks.

Very nice tone. Typical boomy mid-rangy D-28 Rosewood sound. Would wotk well for most acoustic work. Great either flat picking or finger picking. Very clear highs, but not brittle. Mids are strong, and the lows thump and are clear. No Mud! I play mostly 50's Rockabilly. I strum hard and this guitar has clear definition.

Set-up was great. Maybe even a little low for hard struming. First guitar in a long time from the factory/dealer that didn't need to be tweaked. Some minor finish flaws, but in this price range who cares. Nothing that affects playability. Neck straight with nice fretwork.

I have played over twenty gigs on it in the last 2 months along with practices at least once a week and I haven't done anything but change strings. Finish is scratching, but not any more than any other I have had. Everything has been solid and yes I gig it without a backup.

n/a

Have been playing just over 4 years. This is my 3rd acoustic. I owned a Blueridge BR-60 and a Martin standard D-28. This guitar blows them both away. The Martin became the biggest disapointment after I bought this guitar as a back-up and beater. I sold the D-28. The Johnson brand new already had better tone than my D-28 that had almost 2 years of play on it. I wish this was an American made guitar. If it was it would cost 3xs and I wouldn't have been able to afford it. Yes I would replace.

This dreadnaught guitar from Johnson is made with solid palisander body (back and sides) and a solid engelmann spruce top. Tt has a fully scalloped Forward-X Bracing (prewar style of the 1930s), Butterbean Tuners, Hand-cut Abalone/Mother of Pearl Detailing, Dovetail Neck Joint, Grained Ivoroid Binding, Palisander Neck out of one piece of wood and a rosewood fretboard. Bone Nut & Compensated Bone Saddle, Snowflake Position Markers and Beutiful Rose inlay on the peghead.

This guitar is a eyecatcher and most interesting for us: a absolutely perfect built and setup instrument.

I have to give it a ten here, because one would ordinarily pay more than a thousand for a guitar like this.

I play several different styles, from Country to Folk, classical elements, fingerpicking and strumming. The sound is very rich and bright shining. This guitar can be played very loud without harming the natural booming tone. The tone stands a long time (if wanted) there is a endless sustain. The only thing I dislike (hehe) is that this guitar shows you every players error, because of the tremendous good differenciation of the single sounds. Every note can be heared exactly as it was played. This guitar is very well balanced. If played near the bridge the JD27 shows a lot of shining hights equal to a Dobro. Moving the plec more to the middle gives more and more brightness and power. I never had a guitar like this in my hands (and I own a Martin DX1 which cannot stand the JD27, what a shame).

Absolutely a 10 for this most versatyle sound and richness

This JD27 has a low action and is set-up perfectly. It is very easy to tune and stable. Perfect finished and bookmatched wood. Bride and Saddle handmade and well inserted. Fretboard seems to be set-up by hand, this one is perfect too.

I have to give a 10 here

Hooo, I can say nothing about it yet about this JD27, but I own another Carolina from Johnson now since last year and there are definitely no probs.

No support needed, so no opinion.

This guitar is the best one I ever had in my fingers. I know what I mean I play since 1975