Product: Johnson JB-160 Banjitar
Price Paid: UNKNOWN
Submitted
09/05/2006
at
01:12am
by
toomanytoys
Features
:
No Opinion
Mahogany neck and resonator, rosewood fretboard. Well-filled glossy finish. 19 frets, 24 brackets, arm guard, adjustable tailpiece, all chromed. The neck is banjo-style, flat, with no radius. A product of that Mecca of the luthier's art, China.
Sound
:
8
Good sound, especially for the price. Sounded a lot better after I tweaked the set-up. Sounds clear all the way up the neck and out-shouts most guitars. This is a hybrid guitar/banjo mutant and the sound does not at all compare to my girlfriend's Deering Boston, but for $250, that isn't happening anyway. This should serve my purposes admirably.
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
7
The thing was allegedly set up by the seller before shipping, and the bridge was indeed placed perfectly. The dowel rod was loose, however, and the rim brackets were not even finger tight. Ten minutes of effort corrected all that. The dowel rod makes it easy to get a really great action, and this thing has a better action than most of my guitars. I didn't touch the truss rod in the neck, and shouldn'y have to. The bridge is pretty cheap and will be replaced. I bought it with the optional hardcase, which came with a rim bracket tool. Comes with a Remo head. The resonator pops off and turns this critter into an open back plunker with a reasonably sweet tone. Had the dowel rod and brackets been properly tuned I'd give a higher rating, but I'm generally happy with it.
Reliability/Durability
:
8
This unit is quite solid, and if it can't stand some live playing, I'll either warranty it out or just get another one. The hardware looks good, no sharp edges on the metal and good plating. Nice mahogany throughout. Came with two strap attachment rings alrready attached, but they seem rather light to me. Time will tell. Backup.......c'mon, who buys more than one of these things, really? Best guess on the rating..............
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
Comes with a decent warranty (a year, I think) that I hope never to activate.
Overall Rating
:
8
Been playing ever since I figured out that guitar players got as much attention from the girls as the jocks, and didn't get beaten up as often. I own an Ibanez NW-350 dread, a Fender mandolin, a Strat, and play mostly country and bluegrass. This will give me and my band a banjo sound without me having to learn to play banjo. I bought this basically on a whim, and might or might not replace it in the event of a disaster or theft. I'm glad I took the plunge, but this sure ain't a pre-War Gibson.
