Johnson JM-998 Brass Bodied 'O' Style Resonator

http://www.ecologos.org/9.htm
Johnson JM-998
Style-O Bell Brass
9-string resonator guitar

I installed a Quarterman cone and a new biscuit-bridge, which I shortened to produce an action of 2.5-3 mm, and use ghs .009 flatwound strings.

Laurie

N/A

Listen to the sound.

I want to add some comments to what others have said. Mine was used and while it looked in great shape, when I got it home it had a rather ugly buzz on some notes. The problem was traced to a brace inside that was formerly glued to the back of the guitar which had come loose. I simply reglued it with silicone seal and like magic the instrument came alive!

Tone was 9 but sustain was weak. I have not changed the cone as of yet but it sounds like a good idea.

But what I DID do was investigate making this guitar electric. I taped on an old silvertone pickups at the end of the neck and also glued the piezo element from a Radio Shack buzzer onto the biscuit. This is simply IT! The magnetic pickup just brings the bass notes alive (note this is with bronze-wound strings) but the characteristic highs of the resonator tone are a bit missing though not completely gone. Then you mix in some of the piezo and the tone just kills!. I dug up some chickenhead knobs to give it the old school look and I think I've found a winner! I'm describing it here because it's the low low price of the Johnson that allows you to start drilling and gluing without wetting your pants with worry. I noticed that Agile now makes a similar model with only a lipstick pickup and Brownsville makes one with only a piezo pickup. I think you'll find that to really get that down-home tone you'll need both. Johnson really has a winner here if you take time to make it work.

Setup was high and excellent for slide though I don't know if it was factory or the previous owner that set it up. Strings on this guitar (as well as most resonator guitars) were WAY too thin. It made the high string have next to no sustain and very weak sound. A new set of strings with a heavy high string brought the sound to life. Rating is for after a new set of proper strings. Finish on the neck is rather cheap looking, so even with a great setup it's not going to be a ten, but the wood on mine still looks pretty new even though the guitar clearly had seen some use before I bought it.

The guitar so far seems quite durable under heavy playing

I just wanted to share my experiences electrifying this guitar. The low price makes it a great candidate for such modifications.

998 with the non-script Johnson logo on the headstock. Purchased used and unmodified

Delta style. Using a heavy brass slide and fingernails. Changed the cone to a National looking for more sustain - it worked! Hard to tell the tonal differences without comparing recordings. Biggest challenge with the conversion was the biscuit. The National was too high ans i ended up using the stock biscuit and bridge. Getting the height and the string break angle is critical to acheive any benefits from the conversion. In the end, its worth doing.
My spouse says it sounds like three squirrels trapped in steel drum - Perfect IMO.
National provided superb service over the telephone (right down to the drawl.

Couple of minor dings provided by the previous owner. I can't find any flaws in the workmanship, fit or finish. Cover screws are soft & you need to be careful with overtightening or cross-threading.

I rebuilt the inside of an old O-type hardshell case using expanding foam to make sure it didn't get any more dings. I think it will outlast my time here.

No dealings with Johnson. National is a dream, they must realize thier parts are being used to upgrade knockoffs!

Playing slide for 5 years on crappy plywood guitars. Fingerstyle blues on a Taylor. The Johnson really delivers that biting sound and responds well to an aggressive style. Does alright with sweeter fill playing too, but you won't ever get the sustain a tricone has.

Nickel plated brass body resonator. Made in China in 2000. It's heavy - but I have a mid 70's Les Paul and they are about the same weight. I don;t find it too uncomfortable to sit for an hour or so and play it, but I would not like to be wearing it for prolonged periods of time with a neck strap. Rosewood fingerboard - quite dry. Came pretty nicely set up (action might even be a bit low for slide playing. Comfortable neck, Gotoh tuners, cheap looking, but quite functional. Included a case and light gauge strings.

Like other reviews it has good projection (it's loud). I will upgrade to the Quarterman cone as it lacks low end resonance. Otherwise it sounds just like you would expect a bell brass resonator to sound like. I've used it for slide and fingerpicking, and as a campfire guitar and it has performed very well. It has a nice 'banjo' quality on the high strings. Like I said above, it does lack volume and tone at the low end.

Seemed to have been set up quite well. Action was low, no buzzing, frets were comfortable (no sharp edges or other irregularities). No cosmetic flaws. Seems to have been put together quite nicely. If the Chinese can make guitars of this quality so cheaply I'm not sure North American's will be manufacturing anything in a decades time.

It's a brass body guitar. I every reason to expect that it will outlast me by some time.

I've always wanted a one of these guitars, but had a hard time justifying the price of a Dobro or National. It's perfect for me and what I do. I'm an amateur musician, I play for friends and do some home recording, and this is just the ticket. The price I got it for was just too good. I would not pay more than $350 for this guitar, but anything less than that and you've got yourself a deal. I love it, and would definitely replace it if stolen, lost or damaged.

I purchased the Powder coated brass Bodied resonator from my guitar tech, who owns a small music store, for $325 - I couldn't tell the difference (tone wise) from the more expensive resonators in the Johnson line, and the price couldn't be beat.

Works great for acoustic blues, fingerstyle, and fair for lap playing

Factory tone is LOUD but monotonous (yes, pun) Quarterman cone replacement a must

It's a beautiful instrument. However, the factory installed tuners were cheap looking and their quality was poor. Actually, poor is a compliment. I couldn't wait to get a set of grovers installed.

Solid and built to military specs - could double as a lethal weapon if needed. My band members are reluctanct to lend me their instruments because I drop them and bang them - and I have indeed lived up to my rep and dropped and banged this baby - still looks new.

my guitar tech is the repairman - he is great

I'v been playing 40 years - blues/jazz/folk - professional early on and serious amateur with a great day job for last 30 y. Have had a Chicago style blues band for last 22 years - recently got tired of the same old and we all switched to acoustical blues. Currently own a fender strat, a Fender 1954 music caster, Ovation custom, yamaha classical and yamaha fretless electric bass, Ovation mandolin, Gibson Les Paul custom, several harmonicas and a dog. Also have a home recording studio. I've owned Guild and Martin guitars acoustical guitars in the past. I purchased the Johnson because of the price ($325 new, from long-time guitar tech) and volume. hated tuners, sound was loud but flavorless. I followed the advice given by others and I did the Quaterman cone conversion. I also replaced the tuners with Govers. Did not do the biscuit bridge replacement, though (didn't want to wait an extra couple of weeks for the Luthier to be able to do the small amount of work needed to fit the bridge) - and the change in tone was plenty fine - Tone approximated a Gibson Hound Dog round neck owned by one of my band members (who paid $ 900 for the privilege). I use medium weight strings with a .15 for the high E, and this cleans up the rattles nicely. No problem with the action. Slide sounds clear and fingerstyle chords are no problem aven up high.

I use a combination of a generic shure mic and a Dean markley contact pickup for amplification when playing clubs. The contact pickup picks up the high frequencies and the shure the lower ones. I'm considering getting a Highland feather pickup in the near future.


Overall rating -before the conversion and new tuners - 5
After conversion/tuners - 8-9
Great value even if necessary to spend 125 bucks for necessary doo-dads

Chinese product probably made by people who get a lousy salary. The neck is not nice to play and have a cheapo finish, the frets are sort of sticky. Not nice. The cone inside were awfull so I got another one.
The tuneres were not very good. Overall the guitar looks nice. Poor quality all in though

No richness no power no soul. When the new National cone was in place the guitar got a lot better.

Set up was too low for slide guitar.

The neck does not look like quality, the rest of the metalguitar is probably very good.

I've been playing slide for 5 years now. Im a happy amateur.

A cheap guitar but no good sound. For slide guitar you can get a used seagull acustic that will sound a lot nicer than this. Nationals cost 3 times as much but they are good value for money. This one is not worth 700 usd.

If it was stolen ? Well I'd get another resonator guitar.

If you want to play slideguitar get a (used) high end resonator like Donmo, National, Fine Resophoncs, Beltone or Continenetal. They are bloody expensive but Cheap resonators sound awfull. You get better slide sound from a western or electric guitar in the same pricerange. I'd recommend a used Seagull or even a Seagull 12 stringer. They have pretty good sound for slide and other purposes.

You can hear resonaotr guitasrss on Nationals homepages also Donmo and BEltona. I recommend National. I admit it's expensive but hey its value for money.

This is, as indicated in other reviews, a Chinese-made instrument. Quality of craftsmanship and materials is quite good, however. No neck binding, and fret position markers are probably plastic. Neck is thick compared to regular wooden acoustic guitars, and the fretboard is flat, as I would expect on an instrument intended primarily for slide playing. I bought mine mid-2003. The nut width is 1 11/16", perfect for fingerstyle playing, in my opinion.

I wasn't satisfied with the original sound. It was okay with slide, but sounded too banjo-like when fretted, and the bass strings in particular sounded rather wimpy. As recommended by other reviewers of this guitar, I replaced the resonator cone with a National 9.5" resonator, and I'm now happy with the sound. I'd rate the sound 5 with the stock resonator, but 8 or 9 with the National.

The National resonator drops right in, but is slightly higher than the stock resonator. Also, the National biscuit/saddle is higher. I first put the stock biscuit that came with the guitar on the National Resonator (even that requires shaving down the saddle), but subsequently installed the National biscuit, which improved the sound even more. The National biscuit is higher quality, made out of harder wood, and the disk portion (as opposed to the saddle) is thinner than the one that comes with the guitar.

So to get the best tone, in my opinion, replace both the resonator cone and biscuit (they're sold together) with the National cone and biscuit. You'll need to shave down the saddle about 1/8" (a little more on the high E-string side) so that the strings will clear the cover plate. I recommend keeping the action as high as possible without the strings touching the cover plate.

The sound with the National resonator cone and biscuit is excellent for blues: quite loud and robust, with rich overtones, good sustain, and pleasing bottom end. As on most acoustic guitars, you'll get noticeably better sustain, especially on the bass strings, with a fairly heavy brass slide, as opposed to glass or porcelain, if you can get used to the extra weight and avoid banging the neck.

Mine was set up well when I received it. Fairly high action, just right for slide. Body is brass, with smoot, flawless chrome-plated finish. I got the wild rose engraved model, which is in my opinion very cool-looking. No finish flaws of any kind on mine.

It's been in my home the whole time, so it hasn't been road-tested, but it appears to be quite durable.

I haven't tried to contact the company.

I've been playing for over 30 years. This guitar is an excellent value, especially if the resonator cone and biscuit are replaced with National components. I got a nice-looking and good-sounding metal-bodied resonator guitar (including the National resonator) for under $500, about 1/3 the cost of a new low-end National. Looks like the price has gone up $100 or so since I bought it, but it's still a great value.

This one is probably from 2000 or 2001. It was hanging in the shop window for a long while, and every time I walked by I'd start drooling, and finally my wife surprised me with it as a gift...go figure.

Features are the same as all the other reviews. Don't know what the neck is made of, but it's a beautiful, dark, smooth and solid-looking wood and really pleasant to play on. The fretboard on the other hand is kind of patchy looking--maybe just color variations, second-grade rosewood.

Since I love the neck and the look of the box, I give it a 8...it's got all the features you'd want from a resonator...(well, they had a tri-cone model in the window after this one...)

I'm still learning, I can't say I have a style. Been playing fingerstyle (John Hurt) but also trad fiddle music on it, both sound good. I've played both with metal fingerpicks and with bare fingers, with the fingerpicks the sound just rolls out, very nice combination. With bare fingers the sound doesn't get enough definition on this guitar (but that might just be me). I don't play slide...yet. Right now it's tuned to open D, and it's tons of fun.

I love listening to other (better) guitarist play this thing--I like watching their fingers itch when they first see it too! The sound is quite aggressive when played loud--a nice kind of overdriven sound. I've tried Martin Bluegrass strings on there, helps to brighten up the sound...

You don't buy a guitar like this to play Simon and Garfunkle music. It's for pretending you're sitting on the couch on the front porch of your shack looking out over your private swamp...

Action's good, no complaints there. Intonation is good too. I haven't adjusted anything. The neck seems perfectly attached. And this thing never goes out of tune. No problems with the frets (but I'm not so sensitive there)

The bridge is made of a thin piece of lightweight-looking wood...makes me worry! Occasionally a string seems to buzz off of there, but that always goes away.

Overall, I think the quality's pretty high for a resonator at this price point.

Like I said, that bridge...One day some over-eager guitarist is going to grab the thing and start whacking away at it (like my brother-in-law) and I'm convinced that bridge is just going to snap...doesn't look all that easy to replace either...It looks like flimsy wood that will wear down pretty quickly. On the other hand, it's been a year and a half now, and no problems yet. The rest of the guitar is quite solid

I expect nothing. Maybe the dealer who sold it will take care of me if there's every a problem. Maybe.

I played for a few years, then stopped playing for much longer. Now I'm back to playing again...this time it's for the rest of my life. I like eclectic guitars--I've got an old Hofner archtop, that's my baby, and an old Gibson Melody Maker, which is getting replaced by a cheapo Asian Gretsch sparkly thing ripoff...
I wouldn't get another if this guitar was stolen, it doesn't really fit what I like to play (although I play clawhammer banjo too), but I do love the sound and the look of the thing. On the other hand, one day I'll sit down and learn to slide, and then I'll be happy to have it...

I got this guitar in the summer of 2001, and I think it's six months to a year older than that, as it was hanging in the store for quite some time.

The guitar was made by AXL in China.

The body is nickel-plated brass, that is engraved with the "Wild Rose" pattern. The neck is some unknown (to me) sort of wood, with a dried out piece of wood for the fretboard.

The saddle is wood that looks like balsa or something, the nut is plastic and is very poorly slotted.

The tuners are decent.

It sounds just wonderful. I play blues and Celticy stuff with it, both slide and fretted. I have not changed a thing about it since I got it, save the strings. I currently have a set of .013 - 0.056 Fender 80/20 bronze strings on it. I tune to open-D (D A D F# A D)

I play with a large porcelain slide (Mudslide) or a slightly less massive (but still huge) brass slide (Dunlop). I play fingerstyle, sometimes with a thumbpick, other times just my bare thumb, but always without fingerpicks.

When I first pick it up and start playing, there's a buzz that comes from the cone, but it soon goes away.

The tone is just beautiful. It sounds better to the player if played lap style, but only because the cone is pointed at your face and not away from you - make sure you try all resonators lap style to hear what it really sounds like!

The intonation sucks, especially on the low D. The action is great - high enough for slide and low enough to fret (don't have to fret about it - rimshot).

The neck joint feels a bit wobbly if you swing it around by the neck, but I'm not too concerned, it's not like a wet noodle or anything, just a bit less than perfectly stiff. Maybe some viagra would shore it up.

The nut is slotted really poorly, not straight at all. Strings touch tuning posts on the way to their tuning posts.

The fingerboard looks really dried out - I've oiled it a bunch, to no avail, so maybe it's not.

The thing is beautiful though. Mirror finish on the body.

It's a tank.

N/A

I've been playing for 15 years, and have been playing slide for about 3 years. This guitar is jsut great. I won't be able to afford a higher quality reso (like a National) for many years, as I am 22 and just finished university.

Really nothing special here. The tuners where a better quality than some other cheap imports I looked at. The all metal body (nickel plated bronze) made in China, looked really good, better than I expected. The neck was another issue. They are not all seated the same and are a little rough when playing. (This could be resolved with a professional set-up. For my limited use, I will play as is. But if I find I play it more, I'll pay for a professional setup and some fret work.

I didn't want to spend a lot on a resonator since I saw this as an occasional use instrument. My model is a little more expensive than the plain one. I got the etched rose pattern (well done). The sound was disappointing. I really expected it to be louder, more open and with more National sound. However, at the recommendation of a National collector, I ordered a 9.5 inch Quarterman cone designed for a National. Wow! I strongly recommend that anyone buying this spend the extra $50 bucks. It's a whole new instrument. Much louder, more tone and clearly more sustain. Now it sounds like I hoped it would. Without the Quarterman I might have ranked the sound about 4.

The body was great. I found one little flaw in the metal that was very small and virtually unnoticeable. As good as the body was, the fretboard / neck is an embarrassment. The frets were the worst. They were not all seated properly and there is a rough feel going up and down the neck. This can all be corrected with a professional setup. And even with the extra $$ for the set-up and Quarterman cone, you are still way under the price of a National. And in a blindfold test, I doubt that people could tell which was which. So if I could rate the parts separately, the body would get a 9 and the fretboard a 2. My rating is the compromise.

I think the body will last forever. Hey, it's metal and it is very heavy. The neck and fretboard - who knows.

I haven't tried them, but for the setup issues i've mentioned, I would just as soon take it to someone I trust. By the way, if you buy one of these new, shop around. Most places were selling this model with the engraving for around $550 (the plain model was about $50 less). But search around. If you want a new one, I bought this for $432, they offered a good hard case for $50 with the purchase of the guitar and invested another $50 on the replacement cone. So for a total of $532, I've got a really nice sounding instrument. (I'd probably have to add $100 to $150 for setup and fret work, but it's still a whole lot less than the cheapest used National).

I'm primarily an acoustic finger style player, so this is a change of pace instrument for me. I'm not an expert by any means on steel body resno-phonics. This instrument is probably better suited to a flat-picker because the neck is relatively narrow. I'd have prefered a 12 fret to body model with a wider measurement at the nut. I have acquired a lot of guitars over the years and play primarily steel string Martins and Lowdens. Picking this one was based on price and a decent review in Acoustic Guitar. I've been playing for 40 years. Mostly folk and blues and have played in the same group for the last 25 years. But i have no plans to quit my day job. I'd suspect that if you want a resonator guitar but don't want to spend much, you might pick up a deal on ebay. If you want new, I think the imports from Johnson, Regal, etc. are probably pretty comprable, with each having its own pros and cons. But I'm willing to bet that the Quarterman will do wonders for any of them.