Johnson 660-TBL

I would assume my guitar was made this year(2002). I just got it ordered from Music Link Corporation by a whole saler. Mine's the 660 thinline in a sunburst blue. it's got a 4-way equalizer. they say the guitar consists of mahogany sides, back, and neck. it has a spruce top, and a rosewood fingerboard as well as a rosewood bridge. the tuners are die cast which i'm not too sure about. if you set the guitar up right they seem to do good. i however am going to replace them. i just want better tuners. i don't think the stock ones are bad, it's just that there are better ones out there. The guitar came with a case and a johnson guitar chord....wooohooo...like any guitar place wouldn't give you those things with your new guitar. the manufacturers seem to hand these out as freebe's with guitars now. if the place you buy your gear at doesn't hook you up...that means they are holding out. screw 'em and go somewhere else.

the guitar sounds f*cking great. i play a lot of csny, dave, jack johnson, jgb, etc. i love the sound. i never expected to get such a great tone from a thinline guitar made in china. the current amps i run this through are a fender practice amp and a peavey ltd 400. sounds good through the amps. i'm getting an equalizer pedal and a pre-amp to get a better sound though. it's not that the sound is bad, i just like a true acoustic sound which is hard to get in an acoustic electric. it seems like a lot of artists are using equalizer pedals and pre-amps in their effects set ups for a better natural acoustic sound. i would describe the sound sort of full and bright. don't get me wrong....if you have $3000 to blow.....go out and hook your self up with a top of the line taylor. it will obviously sound better.

the guitar was set up okay b/c i warned the shop i was buying it from that i was a picky bastard and it better not be set up shitty...haha. one thing i am going to do is lower the bridge. it will be a pain in the ass. if you are wondering about this go to www.frets.com. that's where i got my info on how to do this. great site with lots of cool set up stuff for the do-it-yourselfer. i think i'm going to add a bone nut too to help out the tone. it can only make the tone better! the frets were fine. there wasn't anything wrong which i was worried about before i ordered it. the hardware was in excellent shape and works fantastic (i'm still puting new tuners and a bone nut on it though b/c i'm picky like that). the one thing i was not too happy about was the quality that the company put in to the trim of the guitar. you can only tell up close but there are flaws in the trim. way to go johnson....i will rag on you for that! the company definately needs to put more craftmanship in their guitars and strive for superior quality control.

yes, this guitar will withstand live playing. i'm sure the hardware will last if you have your guitar set up correctly and take care of it. i still think you should invest in some nice tuners and a bone nut. as far as the finish, i'm not too sure about it. don't get me wrong, i'm hoping it will last if i take care of the guitar properly. if you abuse the hell out of it...as if you do any guitar...say buh bye to the finish. i haven't used a strap yet so i can't tell you how well the strap button is set up. before i do i will give the strap button a good tug. my friend spent $500 on his fender acousic and his strap button fell off. i say screw the people in charge of quality control. if it falls off use some glue and set it up right. this guitar is dependable and you shouldn't need a backup. why ruin a nice guitar doing gigs? get an inexpensive one and let it take the beatings!

i haven't had to deal with them and hopefully i will never have to. the guitar came with a 2 year warranty. woohooooo...like that's a long time. way to go Johnson again for trusting your products. If your company believed in them you would make a longer warranty. i like a good warranty and this is a shitty one. 2 yrs...i mean come on.

i'd give the guitar a good rating for the price i paid. hell, it sounds better than my friends $500 fender (which isn't a thinline and isn't acous/elec). i paid $139. who's paying for the name brand? the guitar cosmetically had a few flaws but is overall very good. the frets are great. the action is great (with a few adjustments....frets.com people...i'm telling you...that dude is a god). if the guitar was stolen.....oh well...i'd get a new one for the price i paid. my favorite feature is the cutaway...gotta have it for lead and slide. compare it to some of the bottom line thinbody ovations, fenders, and martins...not the bottom bottom ones but the 400-600 range. i thought this guitar sounded better and properly set up it plays just as well. the only thing it didn't have on those guitars was the craftsmanship. i chose this guitar b/c it had mahongany sides, back, neck, rosewood fretboard, thinline body, cutaway, 4 way equalizer, and the sound was just as good if not better than the models that were severely overpriced by the major guitar makers. as i said before...i wish a bone nut and better tuners came standard. oh yeah...and a longer warranty would be nice (COME ON JOHNSON....TRUST YOUR PRODUCTS AND SUPPORT THEM!) definately a good buy. just make sure you get it set up to your liking when you get it. the set up is almost everything.