Johnson JH-440N Las Vegas

Also called the "Las Vegas" model. 20 or 21 frets.. I forget... typical hollowbody configuration. 2 humbuckers, each with a volume and tone knob. Looks a lot like the Epiphone Joe Pass model. Gold-plated hardware. Natural finish over a flamed maple top AND back. Mahogany sides. Bound F holes, body, and neck. Tune-O-matic style bridge resting on wood (like an ES-137, but lower quality of course). Sealed, no-name tuners. Looks like medium frets on a rather comfortable neck with a fairly flat radius. Came with a cheap gig-bag and cable. I think it was made in China in 2003. Purchased from Grand Central Music on eBay. With shipping it came to $278.

The sound is the absolute high-point of this guitar. There seems to be a theme in these reviews... the buyer gets the guitar and it has some quirky problem. Once the problem is resolved, they love the sound of the guitar. It was the same for me... the cable couldn't be plugged into the jack. I had to remove the jack and bend the contact terminals into place (it still isn't smooth, I think I'll replace it) and of course I had to install a strap button to actually play it with my band. But once I plugged it in, WOW. It sounded exactly like I wanted it to. I'll be tempted to never switch it out of the neck position... it has that beautiful deep resonant tone that one wants from a big jazzbox. My brother recently ordered an Ibanez Artcore because he wanted that sound. Then he got a chance to play one in a store he hurried and cancelled the order because it sounded to cheap. When he took ahold of my Johnson he made a delighted "Oooohhh" sound. He's a veteran rocker of over 32 years, and about the Johnson he said, "This is everything I want from a hollowbody!" I agree. I process it through a Digitech RP7 (the one with the 12AX7 tube in it) and then into an old Peavey Pacer amp. It sounds wonderful!

The set-up was pretty shoddy. Intonation needs to be fixed. I think the neck needs a bit more bow to it but I haven't adjusted it yet. I'm going to put on heavier strings first, which I prefer, and that may be enough to get it just right. Intonatin needed adjustment. THe pickups are positioned great. I can see some little blemishes in the flamed maple... a couple of dark dots down under the glossy finish. The binding in the F holes has a couple of dark glue spots. The finish is not the quality of the Gibson Custom shop, but the thing cost less than $300 fer cryin' out loud! For what you pay, it's gorgeous!!! Overall, the flamed maple is beautiful and the book matching is adequate.

I plan to gig with this guitar. As far as hollowbodies go, it's pretty heavy. It doesn't feel flimsy to me. I don't foresee any problems. I always have a few guitars with me, because you never know what will happen.

Never had to deal with them.

I've been playing guitar for 26 years. I also play cello, keyboards, bass, and any other toy I can get my hands on. I currently play in an oldies band with my brother (whom I keep mentioning).

I own numerous other guitars of varying quality... Carvin, Yamaha, Baldwin/Burns, Squire Standard Stratocaster, Hondo, Contessa, Applause, Univox, and Epiphone. This Johnson can't match the quality of the Carvin, but it's fast becoming a favorite.

If one knows nothing about guitars and has no friends that can work on them, I wouldn't recommed this as a first guitar, since it will probably arrive with some quirk that needs to be dealt with. My brother and I, however, think it's great. He now wants one too, to go along with his Fender American Standard Strat and his Gibson Les Paul Studio that he gigs with. It's got that tone, man!

It would be nice if a little more attention could be paid to the finer details, but that would certainly increase the price on an otherwise GREAT bargin.

2002 (?) made in China. I'm guessing this is a laminate top, but it's pretty nice looking, and the sound's not too bad either. Flamed maple on top and back, looks like sapele mahogany (striped) on the sides for a nice two-tone effect. Also a mahogany neck. Two humbuckers, gold covered, adjustable, each pickup has it's own vol/tone and there's a 3-way toggle for pickup selection. I don't know who mfg the pickups but they are pretty clean and clear and suitable for each position (neck pick up is mellow, bridge pick up is hotter). Fretboard and bridge are rosewood. Bridge is rolloer-adjustable and free-floating. The finish is pretty glossy, overall a real nice looking guitar for the price. It looks like an Epiphone Wildkat or a Gibson ES 137 - nice big sound, but watch out if you plug it in and try to switch on a distortion of any sort! Tuners are sealed die-cast gold tone, not sure what brand, but they're pretty smooth. Neck has 21 playable frets. I got this guitar with a case.

I use this guitar for blues and country music, texas swing, some rockabilly, etc. I can swing a few rock numbers too but even with no more than F-holes in the body, the feedback from the low-end can kill you if you play plugged in, cranked up and distorted. But I've done it.. played AC/DC to ZZ-Top - you can do it but I wouldn't recommend it unless you have a really good sound man. Neck pickup works well for smooth George Benson stylings. I usually play with both pickups on and just change hand position or picking style to change sounds, but if you kick down to the bridge pickup, you get a bright treble sound for leads. The only thing I'd change is the material the sides are made from - I suspect if the whole body was maple, I might not have as many low-end feedback problems when I crank up the volume.

I can't say anything about the factory set up because this guitar was set up by the seller (gigpiggy! on Ebay) - great job for my style of play and the strings they put on it. The onnly finish problem I see, well, I don't see it, I "feel" it - when I run my hand along the neck joint at the cutaway, I can tell where the neck ends and body begins but that's a rather picky thing on a hollowbody guitar that sells for less than $500... I had an Epiphone Dot archtop that wasn't any better constructed but that cost about three times as much as this guitar. No buzzes (strings, frets or pickups). Novices beware when changing strings - that's a free floating bridge, but makes it darn easy to personalize your set up and intonation. I read where one person in here was complaining about reversing saddle and all that... dude, scoot the bridge back about a 16th of an inch. It ain't rocket science. Haha. Knobs seem to have pretty good control, however, if you turn either volume knob all the way to 0, you lose all sound from both pickups.

Played live, played studio, played at home - pretty solid. The only problem I've had, I caused - I played this guitar for a rock number that was chock full of hard palm-muted stuff and I got so wrapped up in playing that I accidentally hit the bridge so hard that it shifted in mid-song. (note to self, play other guitar for that song). I play every gig with multiple guitars, so I'm never without a backup...

Haven't needed it, but the guitar comes with a 5 yr mfg warranty. Seller has been a breeze to deal with.

I've been playing guitars in general for over 20 years. I regularly buy and sell and trade in order to get to play a lot of different kinds of guitars. When you buy a cheap guitar, you usually get a cheap guitar - FOR THE MONEY this is a great guitar, not a cheap guitar, relatively speaking. I mean, I'd epxect this to cost about $500-600 without a case, not $300 WITH a hardshell case.

cherry sunburst finish,gold hardware.looks greaattt(TO ME) but remember i have been acused many times of bad taste.

great sound, but, if you want to crank it up, forget it. but I do not think that the manufacturers intended it to go up there anyways.

i cannot believe that this is a less than 300 dollar jazzbox,either i was lucky or johnson really knows how to treat their workers in china,this guitar is absolutely flawless,and i mean flawless,straightest neck i have ever seen in my life!every last screw is seated like something just begging to be hit hard! i had to fiddle with a few thing to put it my way but so what 20 min. of work big deal!can i give this a 10 plus?

this baby is built for abuse!

have not had to deal with them,but thumbs up to mandalay music,for rock solid shipping .

other than the uncrankable sound thing(which i have to think is my own unshakable stupidity to think i could crank a fat bodied jazzbox)everything else gets a 10 plus!if you want a cheapo for whatever reason GET THIS ONE!

Made in China in 2001 or 2002.
20 Frets.
Dual covered Humbuckers.
Passive Electronics-2 tone, 2 volume.
Quilted Maple top with "F" holes, Nato sides, back and neck.
Clear finish over Sunburst.
Full body jazz box.
Tune-o-matic style on Rosewood floating bridge, and "harp" style tailpiece.
Generic tuners.
Neck is typical Jazz box style with parallelagram block inlays.
Came with a decent cord.

The sound this thing produces is surprisingly good. The pups are hot (sensitive) and clear. They are not muddy in any way, shape or form. Combining the onboard tone controls with the volume settings produces outstanding sounds! I am a very big fan of DeArmond pick ups, and am surprised that these generic pups sound louder and better than DeArmond Gold Tones, or even the 2K's. The bridge pup can sound very bright and clear, or by simply toning it down, can sound warmer, yet is ideal for lead riffs. The neck pup is outstanding for carrying lows, mids and highs in a nice balance for superior Jazz tone or Blues. In combination, the sound can vary for just about any style or type of music you desire. I play through several different amps from practice to Princeton 112+, and almost always use a little reverb. This thing sounds great through any amp. I am hesitant to try using a Zoom pedal with it, but will use a Morley wah ocassionally. I might add this guitar generates no hum on any amp. Nice and quiet, and that adds to the full rich sound.

Unplugged, this is a nice guitar that produces adequate sound pressure levels for living room or campfire. The tone is pretty good, but doesn't approach a true acoustic, but generates a very pleasant hybrid tone.

I purchased this guitar from an eBay seller. I don't know if he took the time to set up the instrument before I took delivery. Taking the guitar out of the box, it was horribly out of tune. This suggested that it wasn't set up by the seller. After tuning it correctly, I found the action to be good-not as low as I'd like but lower than most new guitars. No fret buzz, no high frets, and the frets were nicely dressed. No sharp edges, and wonderfully polished. The bridge was left absolutely alone. I didn't move it at all, and the tune-o-matic saddles were intonated. Pretty amazing for a very inexpensive import.
Now, the gold pups still have plastic over them. I haven't touched them. I haven't moved the height on them, nor adjusted the pole pieces. They are fine the way they came from the factory. They are hot, clear and detailed.
The top is quilted/curly maple in a Sunburst finish. The woodgrain is very nice. The sunburst finish in very nice. The multi ply binding around the body is well done, and the binding on the f holes is very nice. The inside of the body was free of debris. No paint drips or overspray, no sawdust, nothing except a desicant packet to absorb moisture in shipping.
The headstock is nicely bound as well as the neck. The back of the body is bound with a very nice inlaid wood stripe. The sides, back and top are pretty much flawless in wood selection (very nice grain patterning) and finish. Where the set neck meets the body, there is evidence of poor masking. There are lines of stain on the edges of the binding under the clear finish.
The pick guard, although somewhat cheesy is a very tight fit around the pup rings, and is sized to within the boundaries of the body.
The gold plating on the pup covers, the tailpiece, the tuners and the bridge looks a bit rough, but no matter, as it will wear off soon enough.
The tuners work fine, and the nuts are all tight.
The jack is also gold plated and the nut is actually tight!
The selector switch is not very smooth, but it certainly is positive.
Overall, this thing is remarkeable for the price.

I believe this guitar to be very solid, and reliable. I have another similar model somewhat older, and haven't had any reliability problems with it.
It only comes with one strap button and it's solid.
I would use it for live performances without question.

The eBayer I purchased this from is local to me, and is a musical instrument dealer. He stands behind his merchandise.

I've been playing off and on (mostly off) since around 1965. I own a large assortment of instruments (I like to play around with them, but aren't proficient with any) including a dulcimer, a violin, a trumpet, harmonicas etc. My guitars include: a very very nice Squier Fat Strat (best one I've seen), Fender Stratocaster, Dearmond M-77, Dearmond M-77T in Tennessee Orange, Dearmond M-77T in Black, Dearmond X-155 with Aluminum bridge, Applause AA-31 deep bowl acoustic, Applause AE-28, Ovation Celebrity Deluxe CS-257, AXL Telecaster Deluxe with EMG pups, Raven RM-2000 (Les Paul Standard Lite[double cutaway]), Mitchell (Samick) MD-300 dreadnaught, and Johnson JH-480N.

If it were lost or stolen, I'd replace it immediately with another.

The tone this thing produces is awesome. Sounds better than my Dearmond X-155.

The controls will be replaced eventually with pots that offer more linear performance, and the switch will be replaced just I did on my other Johnson Jazz box.

I own another Johnson that wasn't set up at all. The factory installed an oversize pick guard on it, and the mounting screw was installed right into the body binding which blew out. The fit and finish in some areas was bad. In fact there was overspray, dust, paint, glue drips in the interior, and masking problems on some of the binding. I was going to return it to the seller, but after a quick set up, and plugging it in, I couldn't part with it. The tone was awesome! The curly maple natural finish top was to die for as well, even with the other flaws! It's one of the nicest looking pieces of Maple I've ever seen.

The guitar I'm reviewing here has even better tone than the first one I purchased, and the factory seems to have overcome many of the problems present in my first guitar's fit and finish. After purchasing the first one, and being so surprised by the tone, I went to a few music stores and played the high priced models. I played Dearmonds, Guilds, Gibsons, Epiphones. Some were prettier, but none sounded better, and they were all much higher priced.

I would love to send pictures of both instruments to anyone interested, and I highly recommend this instrument. Really I can't say enough about the tone of this guitar. Sounds as good as the most expensive guitars on the market, and even better than some that cost several times more. The quality of construction or appearance might be improved on somewhat by the factory or by purchasing a competitor's instrument, but there's no way you could find a comparable instrument for anywhere near this price.

2002 LAs Vegas natural finish. 20 frets. laminated top. 3 position switch. 2xVol. 2xTone. 2 humbuckers. Gold hardware/3 per side tuners,tuneomatic bridge, harp tailpiece, pickups. Mohogany sides and back. Nato neck. Muti ply binding on front and back of body. Single cream binding at sides of rosewood fingerboard and around rosewood faced headstock. Tortise look multi ply pickguard. No case. Bought it new on ebay. I shall rate this piece on what it is, not on what it is not.It is a hollow body guitar that costs $250.00

Sounds as i had hoped. Bridge pickup is bright. Neck pickup has very mellow tone but not muddy at all. Both pickups combined give it the usual mixed tone but nice and full with the hollow body. This is through a fender frontman 25r combo. lots of full bottom end from this guitar even from this little open backed combo amp.

Action was ok from dealer. I had to intonate the guitar. Had to reverse the G and B saddles on their adjustment screws to get them far back enough for correct intonation. The low E saddle should go back a 1/2 turn more but its against the back wall of its slot already. Not too far out though.Finish is moderate.Nice enough wood on top and back. Poorly filed fret wire on high E side. I dragged my fine file along the binding a few times so i wont open my hand on the on the rough ends. Pickup selector switch doesnt have the best feel but works fine. It has a slight side to side play. Only 1 strap button on the end of the giutar.I shall have to place 1 near the neck.

The gold on the hardware looks like on other moderate priced guitars i've had. If so it may fade and dull after a while. The gloss finish on the guitar seems like it will last. The guitar looks quite nice. If a guitar behaves well then i have no problem using it to gig. I dont have to be holding the holy grail to enjoy the gig.

N/A

I've been playing for 26 years. I've owned many guitars. 4 gibsons, 5 fenders,2 washburns,2hamers,1 robin, and at least a handful of other misfits that i gave love too. I bought this one to have some fun with a hollow body.This is a very nice guitar for the price. Not the best deal i ever got. That would be the 59 tele in the case, along with a 1959 vibrolux amp with slip cover, both from the original owner, who gave me the sales slip..........all for $500. That was a long time ago. All that has gone now. The tele help to buy a nice house,where i shall be in the spare room playing my new guitar.

I recently bought a Johnson Las Vegas Jazz guitar through Mandalay Music. (www.mandalaymusic.com) This was a 2002 model made in China. Mandalay offers a week to evaluate the guitar during which you can return it for any reason. The cost was $250.

It has 20 frets, a carved maple top (probably laminated), mahogany sides and back, and a nato neck. The guitar is a gibson L-5 copy, as is Epiphone's "Emperor." It has two humbucking pickups, 2 volume and 2 tone controls, Electronics are passive. There is a single cutaway with a rounded end.

The bridge is basically a version of the Gibson tunamatic, and like all budget guitars I've ever seen, needed adjusting. (If you don't know how, just set the bridges for the the high E and B string as far back as they will go and you'll be close.)

The neck was very playable, and straight. The guitar stays in tune very well, which is more than I can say for an Epiphone I recently tried.

I got the tweed gig bag which was only $23 if you bought the guitar. Very good bag for that price.

Mandalay claims that the Las Vegas is equal to guitars costing 2 or three times the price. It does not claim to be equal to the Gibson L5, which would cost you about $3500-5000. It basically claims to be equal to an Epiphone or other Gibson copy.

While it is no Gibson, this guitar is definitely equal to an Epiphone. I have played guitar for 39 years, and am still passionate about it. I have a Martin HD-28, a Taylor 510, and a Carvin AE-185. So why did I buy this? Simply to have a jazz box to mess around with. I had thought that if the Johnson was basically solid, I would replace the pickups and have a project guitar.

I was shocked at how good this guitar is. Dollar for dollar, it is the best guitar purchase I have ever made. Once I replaced the acoustic strings (non magnetized... you lose volume with them. Why they put acoustic strings on an electric guitar is beyond me) with some decent electric guitar strings, set the intonation, and lowered the action, I had a beautiful guitar that plays very well, and sounds great too.

If your main guitar is a jazz guitar, maybe you might consider an Ibanez for around 8-9 bills. But if you, like me, want a jazz box that is worth every penny you pay and then some, I highly recommend it. One of the other reviews mentions a flawed finish. Mine is perfectly georgeous.

I will rate the guitar considering its price, and compared to other similar copies like a Samick, Epiphone, or Washburn.

The sound is great. There is no hum at all. It even has a sweet "Gibsony" sound to it. It sounds better through a 12" speaker than through something smaller... more like a jazz guitar. You won't get a fat jazz sound if you have a little practice amp. You need a good 25-40 watts and a 12" speaker. Good for jazz, country, old style r&b, some blues, or the sweeter side of rock. NOT a good choice for outright rock or metal. Good for church worship settings where you want a sweeter sound. Very woody sounding, which I like, but you may not.

I had to set it up. I lowered the bridge pickup, and set the intonation, and lowered the bridge itself. The bridge is nice, the wood beautiful and matched. No noise or loose controls. Beautifully finished... a small overspray on one part of the f-hole binding, which I scraped off with my fingernail. A little bit of discoloration on the fretboard. The fingerboard inlays are plastic, and close inspection revealed some tool marks. They may or may not stand the test of time. The frets were well set and filed. No problems there.

The pickup selector switch could be more beefy. It works fine, but may need replacing in a couple of years.

I have already played it for hours. I recorded with it, and it sounded great. It seems very solid. It has one strap button... you need to put in the front. I feel I could depend on it. I almost always bring two or three guitars to a gig... if for no other reason, string breakage. I would not hesitate to use this without a backup except for my string beakage.

The company (Mandalay Music) answers their emails right away. The warranty is for two years. I had no other dealings with them. So I'll give them a 7... so far so good.

I am delighted with this guitar. It isn't equal to an real Gison L5,it has a few weaknesses, but it sure is equal to the other copy cats, and is cheaper than they are by far. If it was lost, I would definitely get another.

I played many of its competitors, and found it to be their equal. I chose it because of the price.

It's a beautiful guitar, and really has an authentic thick but defined jazz sound.

If you want a jazz box to mess around with, even to play out with, and want to watch your pennies, get this box. All you risk is the shipping cost if you hate it. Don't expect a Gibson, but do expect a very decent copy.

21 frets,thin neck,sort of hummbucker pickups 3 way,2 tone 2 volume.
rosewood roller-bridge(nice), trapeze tail-piece and diecast tuners. multi-ply body-binding, plastic toilet seat like material for neck inlay, "tortoise shell" pickguard, vintage-style F-holes.this is sold as a jazz box,with a flamed maple top,im not going there.

from the factory the sound was terrible as was the set up.the neck pick up can produce a jazz like sound,the body pick up a rockabilly type sound when set up correctly.i have to tap the pickups to make them work,i am playing this through a mesa boogie studio 22,i think the amp is doing alot of the work here.the knobs work surprisingly well,1 is quite 5 is med,10 is loud.

terrible factory action,pickups were so high,they just about fell out of the guitar,way too many flaws to list but the worst are the lacquer
over spray,and bubbles,the neck inlay is out by up to 1/8 of a inch,the head stock actualy has wood filler in it,rust bubbles on the tail piece,very dry fret board wood.did i mention it has a nice roller bridge.

i would not use this at a gig,it is a beginners guitar.is it durable,well..yes it looks like it is,i have only had it for a few days,so hard to say,do not know the glue quality ect.so my rating is a guess....about 7.

2 year warranty

ok now to lighten up a little on this poor guitar,i am comparing it to my normal guitars,custom elite ovation,m77t, and gretch,it does not really stand a chance in thier company,compared to other 200 dollar guitars,it is as good as any and better then most,and it is pretty from a distance,are you a beginner and very poor or just poor and need a jazz box,then i would say buy this one,at the price i paid it will not lose any value.comared apples to apples i will give it a very generous 8,to oranges 2 so it averages a 5.

rosewood roller-bridge, trapeze tail-piece and diecast tuners. multi-ply body-binding, inlaid headstock, multi-ply "tortoise shell" pickguard, vintage-style F-holes.
The quality is good for a sub-$300 guitar. The pickguard was cheesy, the pickup selector switch not so good, the trapezoidal mother of toilet seat inlay is gaudy, as is the "cherry-burst" finish. There was evident overspray from the top onto the sides.

The sound is very good for the price. Not super-fat, but again we're talkin' about a $249 jazz box here.

Action was set high, but with a little careful adjustment this guitar plays quite well. Sloppy glue on inside. Finish OK, not stellar. The top of this guitar has some dark grain patterns, not all that attractive.

Guitar is very new, but my first impression is that it seems to be quite solid enough to gig on.
Comes with only one strap button.

2 year warranty

Been playing 20+ years and I bought this guitar simply to see what kind of "archtop" could be had for $249. It turns out that although the top isn't the prettiest piece of wood and despite the expected shortcomings of low end hardware, this is really quite a playable guitar. Make no mistake, this isn't a pretty guitar, but I enjoy playing it. Killer deal.